Suqqu Spring 2013 Quads

...feature duochromes! Some early swatches courtesy of keely_姬 on weibo.

For more product pics and swatches of the three Creamy Glow Moist lipsticks, hop over to Sweet Makeup Temptations.

All items in this collection are limited edition and are already out in Japan (and up on Ichibankao). They will be launching later this month in the UK.

Shu Uemura Smoky Velvet....s Swatch and Comparison

Not sure how I contrived wind up with double the Dora at the end of this holiday season (uh, not that I'm cramming this belated post into the last day of January or anything....) but hopefully this comparison between the two different versions of Shu Uemura x Karl Lagerfeld's Smoky Velvet palette (LE for holiday 2012) will prove helpful for sale-stalkers, and any collectors/ebayers visiting from the fuuuuuuture *woo-woo noises*

identical red-eyed evil...

...but what lurks within?

On the left is the version sold throughout Europe and Asia, which I originally swatched here.
On the right is the one sold in the US and Canada -- excellent swatches on Planet Martha and The Notice. (Please avert your eyes from the dented black silk smooth shade here -- spontaneous depotting aint all it's cracked up to be. Literally, when your creamilicious cake of sparkly black lands on the edge of your palette. Woe.)

The top two (silk smooth) shades are identical, but the other three eyeshadows are substantially different. Texturally, the Europe/Asia version of Smoky Velvet is symmetrical to Prestigious Bordeaux; the North American version replaces one satin shade (middle left) with another glitter. [In my opinion, the blush pans (bottom right) differ very slightly, with the North American version being a hair warmer and more red-toned. This was admittedly so minimal my camera couldn't capture what I thought I could see, and might be attributable to batch variation.]


All pictures taken in natural light without flash; only the angle and extent of focus/fuzz varies.

Middle Left

The European/Asian version has a light grey satin with a gunmetal base and silver sheen (respectively visible at different angles). The North American version features a holographic white creamy-feeling powder glitter -- i.e. a smaller pan of Glitter White Rainbow in the core line, swatched on the far right.

Middle Right

The textures of these were identical this time, so only the colours differ: Europe/Asia got a silvered turquoise, North America a soft spring green.

Bottom Left 

Again, both are the newest kind of Shu Uemura glitter -- beautiful, if ridiculously sparkly, sheer topcoats, best pressed onto the eye with a fingertip. The European/Asian palette has a cool white gold and the North American a yellow-toned old gold with sparse flecks of warmer copper and red.

Which version do you prefer? And why do you think Shu chose to release two versions of the 'same' limited edition palette, without fanfare?

Two Looks with Guerlain Coup de Foudre

As mentioned in my review/swatch post, this is my new favourite toy and I have already amassed a hefty backlog of looks, some more successful than others. In an attempt to structure the blog a bit better this year, I'll be posting them in slightly tenuously connected pairs -- today's theme is spring vs winter(ish), and both looks incorporate all four shades from Coup de Foudre.

Spring

Mint all over lid and lower lashline, grey to shade outer v, olive-bronze to line upper lashline and outer third of lower lashline. Coral blended through socket and pulled slightly up and out.

The coral from Coup de Foudre again, used as blush (this is sufficiently pigmented and blendable to work beautifully as blush and reads as satinny with no visible gold microshimmer on my cheeks -- woot!) And paired with my favourite lip product from spring thus far, YSL Glossy Stain 27 Coral Cerra-Cola (this is 2 coats):

Better look at how Coup de Foudre's coral shade works as blush:

Winter

If the Spring look showcases how well the coral plays with the green tones in this quad this one illustrates how un-green, un-spring, Coup de Foudre can be.
Coral in the centre of the lid, grey to darker outer corner and mixed with the mint to blend inner socket. Mint layered with olive-bronze on the lower lashline. More of a rounded shape, following the natural contours of my eye, rather than the elongation of the Spring look.

Lip and cheek choices motivated more by "I wanna play with my other new shinies" than ye higher aesthetic considerations: Dolce&Gabanna Nude blush and Bite Beauty Scarlet chubby pencil. 

(After some strategic covering up of various bits of these pictures, I think the blush is to blame for this look's lack of tonal cohesion. I'll try to show it off to better advantage in its own forthcoming review post.)

Suggestions for tweaking these looks, and ideas for future looks / pairings would be very welcome too :)


In both looks: L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash WP macara, Shu Uemura Stone Grey eyebrow pencil, Shu Uemura UV Under Base Cream Pink as base, Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea of Tranquility to highlight, Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer SX-01 to spot conceal and Burbery Sheer Luminous concealer 01 under eyes.