makeup

Makeup Review: RMK Christmas Palette 2008

by PJ on Wednesday, November 26, 2008

in -RMK, 2008 Holiday, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup, makeup - base makeup, makeup - base makeup - powder, makeup - blusher, makeup - eyeshadow, makeup - lip gloss, makeup - mascara

For the last few holiday seasons, RMK has brought out luxury makeup palettes that include items for eyes, cheeks, and lips. Today I am reviewing the 2008 version of the RMK Christmas Palette.

The holiday palette for this year is presented in a rectangular gold pouch with a chic metallic finish. The palette itself is black.

The palette includes four eyeshadows, a travel-sized mascara, a travel-sized lip gloss, face colors, and pressed powder. The pressed powder, powder puff and blusher brush are in the pull-out drawer on the bottom layer.

– Eyeshadows

The three light shades (gold, pink, and green) are very sheer and mainly add (quite sparkly) shimmer to the eyes. The brown is less shimmery and a lot more pigmented. It can be a subtle eyelining shade or part of your smoky-eye look.

– Face Colors

At first, I thought the coral-orange blusher would be too warm for my liking, but it goes on as a nice warm coral-pink that looks surprisingly natural. Both the blusher and the highlighter have shimmer. (The shimmer in the highlighter is more pronounced.)

– Pressed Powder

It goes on luminously matte and has good pore coverage. However, compared with products like Kiss Mat Chiffon Powder and Lavshuca Face Powder in Lucent, it lacks shine control and will not suit those with oily skin.

– Separate Curl Mascara in 01 Black (travel-sized)

This waterproof mascara is part of RMK’s regular mascara lineup. The brush is slightly curled. For me, it creates more volume and definition rather than length. On my lashes, it doesn’t clump or smudge.

– Gloss Lips in EX-11 (limited-edition shade, travel-sized)

This is a semi-sheer gloss with a hint of beige and should suit most complexions. It has very pretty multi-colored shimmer. As far as I remember, RMK’s lip glosses come with a brush applicator. This one has a sponge applicator.

Overall, this set creates a warm and glowy makeup look for the holiday season. How you use the pigmented brown eyeshadow will determine how dramatic the overall look is. If you have been thinking about trying items from RMK, this set (including the brand’s popular items like the mascara and Gloss Lips) is worth considering.

If you would like to see swatches and FOTDs of this palette, please head over here and here. Enjoy!

Review: RMK Fall 2008 Collection

Can’t Live Without – RMK Cleansing Oil

Beauty City Guide – London

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CHICCA Spring 2009 Collection

by PJ on Tuesday, November 25, 2008

in -Chicca, -Kanebo, 2009 Spring, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

(image from www.chicca.jp)

The Kanebo-owned CHICCA will release its spring 2009 collection in Japan on February 4th, 2009. Titled “Touch the Flowers”, the collection includes:

– Enticing Lipstick: 10 new shades
– Enticing Lip Gloss: 4 new shades
– Enticing Lip Pencil: 3 shades
– Enthralling Powder Eye Shadow (duo): 4 new variations
– Flush Blush: 2 new shades
– Perfect Readiness Face Protector (SPF 37, PA++)

(info from Nikkei Net)

Like Lunasol’s spring 2009 lineup, this collection seems to be inspired by floral shades. I will update this post when I come across any image of the collection.

Related Posts:

CHICCA Holiday 2008 Collection

CHICCA Fall 2008 Collection

Brand Launch: CHICCA

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Anna Sui Holiday 2008 Collection Update

by PJ on Monday, November 24, 2008

in -Anna Sui, 2008 Holiday, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

(image and info from www.annasui-cosmetics.com)

The Anna Sui Cosmetics website has been updated to feature the second part of the holiday 2008 collection. All items are limited editions and will be released in Japan on December 4th. (See part one of the collection here.)

The collection will include two sets of Rouge Collection. The once very popular (and later discontinued) Ring Rouge will make an appearance in each of the two sets. It is paired with a special edition of Mini Rouge, with an added charm. They are presented in the Original Jewelry Box.

Also in the second part of the holiday collection is Beauty Mirror (Rose) W, which will please some of those who collect Anna Sui’s beauty accessories.

To Buy or Not to Buy – Anna Sui Makeup Color Collection D

My Anna Sui Foundation Cases
(including a photo of Hand Mirror G from holiday 2007)

Loving Japanese Brands – Anna Sui

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Shu Uemura Spring 2009 Collection

by PJ on Monday, November 24, 2008

in -Shu Uemura, 2009 Spring, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

(image from i-voce.boxerblog.com/newsflash/)

The Voce blog now has images of Shu Uemura’s spring 2009 collection. Spring collections from Japanese beauty brands are usually the most colorful out of all the seasonal additions, and Shu Uemura’s new lineup, titled “Mirage”, certainly has some vibrant shades. Do enjoy the images!

Updated on December 17th, 2008:

Please see more images here.

Shu Uemura Holiday 2008 Collection

Viktor & Rolf for Shu Uemura

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Shiseido Maquillage Spring 2009 Point/Base Makeup Collection

by PJ on Monday, November 24, 2008

in -Maquillage, -Shiseido, 2009 Spring, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

(image and info from www.nikkei.co.jp)

Maquillage will release its spring 2009 point makeup collection in Japan on January 21 and base makeup collection on February 21, 2008.

The new point makeup collection includes:

– Moisture Rouge (Color-on Type): 12 shades (including 6 Clear-Fit Colors)
– Moisture Rouge (Sheer Type): 9 shades
– Lip Essence EX (lipstick base)
– Eyes Creator (3D): 5 variations
– Face Creator (3D): 4 variations
– Eye Color N (Powder): 15 shades
– Eye Color N (Cream): 10 shades (as base or eyeliner)

The cases (which include the brush/ sponge tip) of Face Creator/ Eye Color N are sold separately.

The Eyes Creator (3D) palettes include four powder eyeshadows and a cream eyeliner. (I will pay attention to VI367, presumably a lilac palette.) The Face Creators feature a blusher as well as shades to highlight and contour the face.

The new base makeup items include:

– Lasting Powdery UV (SPF 25, PA++)
– Lasting Liquid UV (SPF 25, PA++)
– Styling Keep Base UV (SPF 24, PA++)
– Concealer Stick EX (SPF 25, PA++): 3 shades

Maquillage is quite widely available in Asia. According to Nikkei Net, it is sold in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia. It will launch in China in 2009.

Maquillage Holiday 2008 Collection

Maquillage Lasting Climax Rouge in RS310

Maquillage Clean Contrast Eyes 2 in SV844

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What’s Next in Japanese Makeup?

by PJ on Thursday, November 20, 2008

in all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup, makeup - eyeshadow, makeup - lip color, What do you think? Beauty topics and thoughts

(image from Shiseido)

For me, Japanese makeup is constantly innovative and progressive, and, on the whole, it is leading the rest of the field. Today I’d like to talk a little bit about the product development of point (color) makeup, and I’ll probably touch upon base makeup in a later post.

If you have been following Japanese cosmetics for the last decade, you will probably remember that, in the late 90s, a lot of the innovations were about creating lipsticks with a beaming watery shine. It was all about “gloss in a stick”. I still remember some ads from Shiseido PN featuring Arisa Mizuki with very glossy lips. The image you see above, from Shiseido PN’s spring 1999 collection, is what I remember the most from that period of time, and it really reflected what was then going on with Japanese makeup.

After the millennium, the development moved onto eyeshadows. The pigmentation level became more varied and there were more textures available (mousse, cream, liquid,…), both of which offered more choices for us. Also, the texture of the powder as well as blendability the staying power improved quite substantially. As far as trend is concerned, Japanese eyeshadows were getting more and more shimmery. They created dimension for the eyes, but it became increasingly difficult to find matte eyeshadows from Japanese brands. (It is almost hard to believe that Sofina’s Aube used to release eyeshadows that were completely matte.)

Now, we are back to lipsticks, as we have come full-circle within the last decade. While it was mainly about the finish ten years ago, it is now about the inner strengths. Major brands like Shiseido and Kanebo have been working on improving lipsticks’ moisture level and lasting power. Marketing-wise, lipsticks are often taking center stage as key items in seasonal collections, whereas, only a few years ago, they seemed almost secondary to all the eyeshadow palettes.

Lavshuca spring 2009 collection features
Dramatic Memory Rouge, which incorporates
“moisture wrapping oil” for continual moisture
and “fit stay oil” for lasting color
(image and info from www.nikkei.co.jp)

Unlike eyeshadows, I don’t think we are going to see a shift in the finish of lipsticks. (It seems that most Japanese customers still prefer moderately-pigmented lipsticks with a mildly glossy shine.) But we will hopefully be experiencing lipsticks that are even more lip-conditioning and with even better lasting power. So far I haven’t seen the drastic difference across major brands that I saw in eyeshadows (in terms of texture and staying power), but this is where the advancement of technology can potentially work its trick. We’ll see what happens.

Precursors of tomorrow:

Maquillage Lasting Climax Rouge

Coffret D’Or Full Styling Rouge Color

SUQQU Creamy Lipstick

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Dior Luxury Holiday Collection 2008

by PJ on Tuesday, November 18, 2008

in -Dior, 2008 Holiday, makeup

(image and info from woman.excite.co.jp)

For the holiday season in Japan, Dior usually releases a luxury set which allows customization of part of the contents. Last year, customers were able to choose the lipstick and nail varnish they liked for the TOTALLY DIOR Cannage set. This year, the Shimmering Party Makeup collection includes:

– any lipstick (from Dior Addict High Shine, Dior Addict High Color, or Rouge Dior range)
– eyeshadow single (limited-edition shade only available in this set)
– Diorshow Powder in 001
– silver mirror
– silver pouch

The set is priced between 8400 (87 USD) and 8610 JPY, depending on the choice of lipstick. It is a lot cheaper than the Cannage collection in 2007, which was around 300 USD and featured a much more luxurious-looking bag. Maybe this is partly due to the current economic climate…

Dior Holiday 2008 Collection

Dior Night Diamond for Holiday 2008

Golden Dior Luminizing Makeup Jewel

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NARS New Year 2009 Collection

by PJ on Tuesday, November 18, 2008

in -NARS, 2009 Spring, makeup

(image and info from woman.excite.co.jp)

NARS will release the New Year 2009 collection in Japan on January 2nd, 2009. According to Woman.Excite, the two limited-edition duos include the best-selling shades from The Multiple range. One of them is for highlighting and contouring, while the other can be used as a blusher and a cheekbone highlighter.

(The website hasn’t specified which shades from The Multiple range are included in these two duos.)

NARS Makeup Review

NARS Fall 2008 Collection

NARS Holiday 2008 Collection

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Holiday 2008 Focus – Dior Night Diamond

by PJ on Monday, November 17, 2008

in -Dior, 2008 Holiday, makeup, makeup - base makeup - powder, stash focus

As some of you might already know, I like many of Dior’s seasonal limited-edition items. For holiday 2008, after seeing the initial images of Night Diamond Allover Diamond Dust, I was pretty sure I would be getting it. (Please also check the link above to see all the collection updates.)

Dior’s holiday 2008 collection was out in the US much earlier than in the UK. It was released here about two weeks ago and I got the Night Diamond powder as soon as it was available.

In the US, only 001 Beige Diamond is sold, but in the UK (and the rest of Europe, I think) and in Asia, there is also 002 Pink Diamond. The one I have is Beige Diamond.

Beige Diamond is a pale champagne gold with multi-colored shimmer. The finish is shimmery without being overly sparkly. (I also tested Pink Diamond at the counter. It goes on as a very shimmery platinum and looks noticeably more sparkly than Beige Diamond. It doesn’t look particularly pink when worn.)

I actually haven’t used Beige Diamond on my face yet. (Unlike a few other Dior seasonal limited-edition items, I will be using this one…but I will wait until a bit later to dip in.) Based on the light swatches on the back of my hand, it seems that the shimmery particles are quite fine and the effect looks dimensional rather than flat.

I also like the design of the case. With all the bling, the case still manages to look elegant and it definitely oozes glamour. The metal case is also quite heavy, which I like. It certainly has a very substantial look and feel.

The compact also comes with a brush (which is not stored in the compact). Both have their own velvet pouches.

Usually, Dior releases items for lips for the holiday season (wristband-style bracelet for 2002, ID tags for 2003 and 2004, dice charm for 2005, heart charm for 2006, and necklace for 2007). This is the first time in years that we are getting something pure and simple (although very bejewelled) that doesn’t double as something else. But my other half did say that it is heavy enough to be a paper weigh. (What a luxurious paper weigh it would be…)

(Both my friends The Muse at Musings of a Muse and Betsy at Autumn Masquerade have reviewed Night Diamond Beige Diamond on their blogs. It seems that we all like it!)

My Personal Take on Dior

Dior Eyeshadow Duo in DiorLagoon

Dior Diorissime Palette

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