review: takashi murakami for shu uemura holiday collection 2013

about the collection…

this year, shu uemura has collaborated with japanese pop, animé and otaku artist, takashi murakami, for their 2013 holiday collection. murakami is known for his “superflat” style which uses classical japanese painting techniques to create pop art.

his upcoming artwork is called 6 heart princesses (6HP), which is an animation film that will be aired as a TV series next year. the premise of the series is 6 regular girls transform into 6 good princesses who fight against 1 evil princess. the transformation is reminiscent of sailor moon!

the shu uemura holiday collection consists of one of the good princesses (pink princess) and the evil princess (black princess). the theme for the collection is “dual beauty” which suggests that every woman has two sides: naughty and nice. the two palettes, pink and black, allows us to express both natures.

how to use the colours…

pink princess palette 

the pink palette contains 7 warm eyeshadows and one powder glow on blusher. the darker brown shade is typically used for the lash line and contouring. the reddish brown is used for the centre of the lid whereas the orange shade is used to blend out the reddish brown to create a flawless gradation. but of course those are just general guidelines on how to use them, you can use the however you’d like!

the iridescent white and yellow shadows are used for highlighting (the brow bone, the inner corners of the eyes) and the iridescent pink shades can be used to highlight the centre of the lids or used to soften edges of the brown shades for nice gradations.

swatches…

 

black princess palette 

this palette is perfect for creating colourful smoky eyes, which is the trend for this holiday season. it’s easier to create a smoky eye using the new gel liner to start (lining the eyes), then using the black shadow along the lash line blending upwards. following the liner, use either the dark violet or gold shadows on the centre of the lid, blending into the black shadow.

the green shade can be used to soften the black shadow edges to create gradation and the silver or the iridescent lavender can be used as accent highlights to the inner corners of the eyes are the bottom lash line.

swatches…

review of the palettes…

the texture of the eyeshadows are phenomenal. they are similar to the velvety shadows in the karl for shu palettes – extremely smooth and intense colour payoff. the difference that i noticed is that these shadows feel almost creamy to the touch; when applied, it feels like cream but has a powder finish. it’s like the cream and cheek stain of this collection.

the shadow are, however, very delicate. so be careful when transporting the palette because i find that the shadows can break apart if not handled with care. the black shadow of my black princess palette cracked on route to me in the post.. so sad! but there are, of course, ways to repair broken eye shadows using alcohol. i’ll be fixing my palette!

the new s curler…

this is the new generation s curler by shu uemura. it’s designed so that you can curl sections of lashes at a time. this curler is ideal for smaller eyes which may be harder when using the original lash curler since not all of the lashes seem to get curled.

personally, i’ve never had a problem with the original curler, but i love this new one when . i like to clamp my real lashes to the falsies using this curler so that they merge together – avoiding the horrible 2 set of lashes look!

this new curler is far improved from the the original mini curler by shu uemura because it doesn’t have the side bars which got in the way of curling before. i was so happy when shu came out with this curler! i was using another korean brand mini curler before this, but the padding is nothing compared to shu uemura’s!

 

new pencil gel liner…

this is the ultimate liner for me. i had always been using the shu uemura painting liner (a gel liner that dries completely waterproof, even when i use it on my waterline; no smudging). the only thing that i found tedious was having to clean my brush every time i applied liner. with the new gel liner, i can get that gel finish without the brush.

the finish is smooth and it’s soft so it’s easy to apply when tight lining eyes.

 

cream and cheek stain…

so when i first got this, i was thinking that my lips would look like i just ate a popsicle or a lollipop because that’s what tends to happen whenever i try a lip stain. but the finish of this stain is different. it comes out of the tube creamy but as you smooth it out, it becomes velvety and soft.

the colour is more like what i’d expect from a lipstick as opposed to a lollipop! personally i love this because it’s super easy to take out with me for my cheeks and lips. it’s great for those lazy or busy days (which i’ve had many lately) where i can just add some colour to my face so that i look less tired without having to do the whole works with my eyes.

 

the nail polishes…

the collection features 2 nail duos: pink and glitter & purple and gold. i have the purple and gold one which is a nice change from the typical red nails for the holidays! the shades can be used alone since the gold polish has a thicker consistency compared to previous glitter polishes by shu.

you can use them together to create some nail art…

i used 2 coats for the purple polish; it goes on smooth without streaks. for the gold polish, i just used one shade as embellishment.

i’ll be doing some makeup looks soon!