Sonia Rykiel Beaute -- haul and swatches

Like Jill Stuart, Paul&Joe and Elégance, Sonia Rykiel is one of those French brands whose cosmetics are designed and manufactured in Japan, and are mainly sold only in East Asian countries.

Having tried two of the eyeshadow quads and a foundation earlier this year, and been highly impressed with everything, I took advantage of Hong Kong's cheap prices (about half the Japanese retail) to pick up these:

 

Eyeshadow quads in 03 and 08 (HK$320 each) and Sublime Lipstick in 02 (HK$180)

Swatches and reviews to come -- I had to fly off to Beijing on Saturday with a minimal makeup bag, so have not yet given these the time they deserve. But isn't the SR-signature stripy packaging adorable?

While at the counter, I also swatched the mousse eyeshadow pots, being a sucker for cream textures and shiny things.

artificial light and flash

The textures of these were very...odd. I want to say they reminded me of MAC's Big Bounce from earlier this year, but I only swatched those once. They're not a thick whipped mousse like Chanel Illusion D'Ombre, but a very wet, emulsion-like formula. Once set, they seemed pretty unbudgeable and I experienced no fallout from the tightly-packed glitter after wandering about all afternoon.

I have not succumbed to these yet but I know someone else who has and will be stalking her blog in hopes of a review before deciding whether the purple needs to come to momma.

Something else to look forward to: these adorable Christmas coffrets, each containing a potted gloss, blush, two shades of cream eyeshadow and a miniature powder puff, in three colour variations.