And now for something completely tasteless

I've been keeping it pretty classy lately with mostly Suqqu, and there's more yet to come as I work through all my quads for reviews/swatches. This has been seeping into all other aspects of my frivolous life, leading to an impulsive final-cut-absolutely-no-returns sale purchase of a dress which is far too ladylike for me to feel comfortable in. I wore it last night anyway, and tried to undercut it with The Power of Makeup. (With a Little Help from Clompy Shoes.)

Dries Van Noten, S/S...ages ago. Nod to the geta to play off the dress' play on origami and qipao? Uh, it was, like, a cultural-appropriation-themed party?

Apologies in advance for quality of all pictures, hastily snapped in the bathroom.

Eyes

Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Fyrinnae Wake Not the Dead on the lid in a fairly rounded shape and under the eye, orchid-pink base with holographic glitter -- blue, green and gold. At least. :D

RBR Grey Go-Away Lourie in the socket for a cut crease...until I changed my mind and blended it out a bit with Papyrus Canary. Unforgettble Oriole in inner corner.

Shu Uemura Eyelight white pencil on lower waterline

B&C Makemania super fine eyeliner (it sets GREY! do.not.want.)

Eyelure Girls Aloud Cheryl falsies (the old style, not the new -- see here)

KATE eyebrow gel BR-3

more evenly lit angle, but even more derp.

 Other Products

Suqqu Makeup Base Creamy

Graftobian HD Glamour Creme Lady Fair -- bit pale for me at the moment but not too obvious at night-time. No need for concealing, I even look less freckly!

Chanel Rouge Allure Laque Dragon

 Overall effect, or as much as I could capture in the bathroom mirror. It would've been nice if I'd left time to do my nails... neon orange perhaps. ;)

Things wot I learned 

1. Falsies + uneven eyes = eyes that look even more uneven. Even. After spending last year mastering application... sigh. Also, heavy. Also, needs balancing on the lower lashline.

2. Strong eyes and strong lips = needs more contouring.

3. Clothes shopping when on a makeup diet = bad plan.

More lessons / constructive criticism would be very welcome! Save me from myself etc.

Suqqu Creamy Glow Lipstick stash swatch

As I may have mentioned once or twice, this is my (a profligate fly-by-night lipstick-ho's) favourite lipstick formula ever. Because:

1. Intense pigment. I tried and failed to make sheer swatches for reference; the lightest swipe deposits pure, full-coverage colour.
2. The most moisturising formula I have ever tried (i.e. they actively boots moisture in my very dry lips, rather than just not drying them out further) -- I can skip balm under these on all but the coldest of winter days, and wear them even on chapped, cracked skin.
3. But not too much slip. For me, the ultra-creamy YSL Rouge Volupté formula just results in mess and migration. It would feel faintly blasphemous (okay, not really. I'm just lazy.) to use a dry lipliner base under these luscious Suqqus so I'm glad they have enough traction? heft? to stay neatly on the lips without it. (Seriously, I've found Rouge Volupté smears on my earlobe. Possibly because the scent makes me flail wildly in 'get it off me!' frenzy...)
4. Scent- and taste-free. Not unscented because that usually means crayony and vaguely bitter-oily and gross, these really don't taste/smell of anything.
5. Flattering finish. Just because something is emollient doesn't mean that it will necessarily look good on dry lips. Even the paler/milkier and darker/brighter shades in this line do a great job of smoothing out my vertical lip lines. (Pretty Jess' too.) The fact that all eighteen shades are creams, with no hint of any microshimmer anywhere, also helps.
6. All this talk about moisture and creaminess might lead you to think they are heavy balms like Chantecaille Lip Chics or buttery creams like Rouge Bunny Rouge Colourbursts, but once applied, the Suqqus feel weightless. This alchemy starts as soon as you pick up some colour from the bullet, when the creamy solid changes into the consistency of very thin single cream; once 'set' on the lips, they are like water.
7. Good wear. Vanishingly few long-wearing formulas work for my picky lips; I'd rather have lips that look nice and plump even if the colour has gone after a few hours than lips that stay coloured all day and look dry and cracked (which is what Rouge D'Armanis, MAC mattes and Illamasqua lipsticks do). The Suqqu lipsticks apply as very slightly glossy creams. After two hours the glossiness fades to a soft sheen but the colour stays true, and after five hours the colour will usually fade leaving moisturised, evenly-stained lips -- no outer ring of death or leprous mottling. They won't stand up to a meal, but I always reapply my lipcolour afterwards anyway.

Now the negatives. Niggles really:

1. I need a lipbrush to apply the bolder shades. Not a big deal as I always prefer a lipbrush anyway, but it's not optional with the brighter shades in this extremely silky formula.
2. The severe shortage of bolder shades. I know, I know, it's not really Suqqu's métier but really, I wouldn't complain about six browny roses if there was just one measly fuchsia or eye-searingly bright coral-pink... how am I to build an entirely Suqqu lip wardrobe, PTB?

Everyone who read this far gets a cookie. And pictures.

My stash

1 Saebana // 2 Kyoganoko // 6 Umegasumi //12 Hiwada //18 Karakurenai

Arm swatches, natural light

1 Saebana

2 Kyoganoko

6 Umegasumi

12 Hiwada

18 Karakurenai

Over the next few weeks (sun allowing) I'll be comparing these to older shades from Suqqu and to the lipsticks I own from other brands, to give a better idea of where they lie on the shade-map.

Guest Post: Shu Uemura 10 Natural and Kolinsky 11 Comparison by toto850

Another great head-to-head comparison between one of my favourite brushes (#10 natural) and one I've long been curious about (#11). Thanks again, toto!

Shu Uemura #10 Natural vs #11 Kolinsky comparison by toto850

Let us start with the difference between the type of hairs. Shu Uemura always put sthe name of the hairs on their brush handles, so everyone would know the difference between each brush.
The #10N is a mixture between Kolinsky and Sable hairs, which makes the brush very firm and a bit stiff. The #11 is made from pure Kolinksy (hence the hefty price point) and it's more flexible (and less stiff) but still firm like the #10N.

Also the shape of these 2 brushes are different. The #10N is more rounded and tapered, while the #11 is more square like with rounded edges (if that makes any sense). As you can see on the pics the #11 is also bigger than the #10N
I find the #11 a little bit denser than the #10N, b/c it's longer and contains more bristles. The biggest advantage from Kolinsky brushes is that the bristles won't splay as much like other natural hair brushes tend to do.

I tried to push both brushes down to see if there is a differene in resistance between these brushes. 

Because the #10N is shorter, a bit stiffer and has less bristles, so it gives more resistance than the #11 brush. The longer and softer hairs makes the #11 more bendable, so it's better for blending than the #10N.

The #10N pushed down:

The #11 pushed down:

I will be brief about the application of e/s colour. Both are firm enough to pack on a good amount of colour with great pigmentation.
Here is swatch comparison of the purple colour in the Suqqu #06 Ginbudou quad. On the left I swatched the colour with the #10N brush and on the right I swatched the same colour with the #11 brush. Not really much of a difference.

And last but not least: here is comparison with the MAC 252 and MAC 242 brushes as a reference for the differences in sizes.
The MAC 242 is definitely shorter than the #10N and the MAC 252 is a little shorter than the #11 in length (but wider sidewise).

Suqqu Creamy Glow Lipstick paper swatches

Due to the popularity of the YSL Glossy Stain paper swatches, I now offer up the Suqqu Creamy Glow lipsticks. (BTW, thanks so much to everyone who reads, links, comments, or emails me about the blog -- I'm a little frazzled/fragile at the moment and honestly they cheer me up like nothing else.)

These come in 18 shades, released in Autumn 2010 in Japan and March 2011 in the UK. They replace the previous Blend Lipsticks and Creamy Lipsticks, and combine the strengths of both those formulas.

Unlike the YSL stains, these do look very different on paper than on lips -- in a separate post I'll be swatching the shades I own on arm and lips and writing more about the formula. In brief: these are my favourite lipstick formula ever, and one of the few I can wear on my very dry, picky lips without lipbalm even in winter.

natural light

Pink: 1-3 are all bright, clear pinks: 1 Saebana is a neutral/cool cherry-blossom shade, 2 Kyoganoko is a brighter, deeper candy pink, 3 Tsuyazakura adds some peachy warmth.
4 and 5 are more muted pinks: 4 Yamamomo softened by beige and mauve, 5 Suzumecha warmed and rounded by peach and rose tones.
7 and 8 are both lightly browned (toasted?) roses: 7 Asasuou is warmer, more muted and has more red, 8 Keshiaka is brighter and heavier on the pink.

Peach/Coral: 6 Umegasumi is a soft, neutral coral, 9 Hanarenga is a brighter and warmer peach. 10 Urumishu is a warm, bright "persimmon coral" (as FrontRowBeauty excellently put it) and 11 Sharegaki is its more muted sister with additional brown warmth.

Brown/Nude: 12 Hiwada is a neutral beige with balanced peach and rose tones.
13 Tsukushiiro is a warm yellow-peach beige and 14 Amairo an even warmer orange-peach beige -- both have strong brown undertones.
As do 15 Kogarecha, a cool browned rose, and 16 Akanecha, a richer, deeper browned rose with more red in its base.

Red: 17 Ichijiku is a vampy warm brick red. 18 Karakurenai is an uncompromisingly loud'n'clear neutral red.

You can see all eighteen shades on the beautiful cinnamongal here, though as with all lipsticks, they will look different depending on the skintone and the shade of your bare lips.

Suqqu is currently only available in Japan, the UK and Bangkok, Thailand. In the UK the Creamy Glow Lipsticks retail for £27 each. International readers can order from Selfridges (by phoning the counter on +44 207 318 3809) or from Dollyleo online.

Halcyon Fakes

As fellow UK'ers will know, it's just gone all wintry over here, so naturally I'm, like, so over those vampy plums and reds and all about bright oranges and beachy corals! Well, until next week...

Becca is my go-to brand for that effortless beach girl/angel thang, and I've been resisting their Halcyon Days palette since its release last summer. Their palettes usually manage to be both pitch-perfect combinations of flattering shades and textures and to dexterously conjure up mood, scene and story through those combinations. And while they don't offer the innovative and inspiring juxtapositions of brands like Suqqu, Shiseido or Addiction, sometimes an old tale told simply and well is just what's needed.

Products

Shu Stage Performer mixed with RBR liquid bronzer as foundation

RBR liquid bronzer mixed with Sea of Tranquility highlighter as blush

Visee x Smacky Glam Glam Glow Eyes BR-7 Bitter Brown (peach/coral on the lid, dark brown to line, bronze-taupe on lower lashline)

Ellis Faas Glazed Lips L307

Helena Rubinstein Lash Queen Fatal Blacks waterproof mascara

(not pictured: Ellis Faas concealer S201, KATE brow gel BR-3)

natural light

after about six hours of wear, artificial light with flash (becuase that's all the sun ration we're allowed)

I apologise for the excessive amounts of posiness / derp in these. My hair was even more wayward than usual and kept flopping into my face and hiding the bronzer/highlight which I especially wanted to show.