Anna Sui Mystic Snow Holiday 2015 Thawed Heart Set

Hello there!!  Gosh it’s been a super long and tiring week for me… I was in Hong Kong for 3 days on business, and it was non-stop meetings and entertaining over meals from the moment I landed until I left.  I’m not a natural-born extrovert, so all the endless talking and meeting people tired me out.  The worst part of it was I wanted to take an afternoon flight home that was supposed to get me back by 11pm, but just getting on the damned flight was a journey in itself – the airline told us to check-in at Terminal 2, which was a good 20minute hike from the main HKG terminal, only to make us board a train afterwards to bring us effectively back to the main terminal where all the customs and immigration check-points were.  Thereafter, I found out the actual boarding gate was another 20 minute walk AND a bus-ride away.  After all that, it would have been a relief to just settle in and enjoy the 3-hour flight home, except the damned plane was late, the toilets were stuck, and we landed 30 minutes late.  It was almost midnight by then and everybody was anxious to get off, but the plane’s auxiliary power was lost and irrecoverable, and despite the pilot’s raspy apologies, it took another 30 minutes to just open the doors for us to disembark!  And as I was standing in the crowded aisle in complete darkness and no ventilation, it occurred to me that the same thing had happened the last time I took Tiger Airways!  So blame it on my own foolishness and short memory.  This long and unhappy preamble serves as a personal reminder, and for those of you who are planning inter-Asia travel, be warned!!

But it is Friday, and the weekend is here… so turning to much happier topics on hand – I’d like to show you this beautiful, whimsical holiday 2015 coffret that I had originally planned to review last Wednesday.  It is from Anna Sui‘s Mystic Snow Collection, and its called Thawed Heart – ENJOY!

It is a tradition with Japanese beauty companies to release a few coffret sets for the holiday season, and Anna Sui is no exception.  This year, the theme is Mystic Snow, and the makeup coffrets are decked out in beautiful snowflakes and flowers against a mysterious black backdrop.  The interior is lined with purple velvet for a plush feel, and the entire gift box feels luxurious and definitely something I would keep and repurpose as a jewelry box!

There are 2 makeup coffrets to choose from, and the one I have here is the Thawed Heart (02) set.  Both sets come in the same gift box shown above, and contain a Rose Cheek Color N, Lip Stick M, and Color Powder.  Thawed Heart is warmer-toned in general, featuring peach/coral shades, whilst the other Frozen Love set is cooler-toned featuring more pinks.

The Rose Cheek Color N is one of Anna Sui’s best-seller, and understandably so when you open up the intricately ornate compact to reveal the beautiful rose-engraved palette within!  This special shade 02 consists of white, beige and 2 shades of pink in the same palette.  To use, simply swirl a brush across the entire thing, and apply on the cheeks.  There is some slight shimmers, which gives the cheeks a luminous quality.  As is common with Japanese blushes, this is not very pigmented, so several sweeps of the brush may be needed, but I like that it allows me to build up color to get that flush-from-within natural look, and then I concentrate my brush on the darker pink and pop that on the apples of my cheeks for a bit more color.  What is cool is the colors are big enough that I can pick up the shades with an eyeshadow brush and use them on my eyes too!

Another popular item from Anna Sui’s makeup line is the Lip Stick M.  Apart from the ornate casing, the lipstick itself is shaped like a shooting star, and the M-formula boasts of a two-toned marbled effect throughout the lipstick!  This shade 02 is a very neutral-toned, my-lips-but-better shade that has a slight shine to give that juicy pout effect without having to resort to a separate gloss!  I love how comfortable and hydrating this feels on my lips, although I generally prefer to wear it with a liner to extend the wear.

And to jazz it all up, Anna Sui has included a Color Powder in each of the makeup coffrets.  The one I have here is shade 02 which is a metallic mauve pink.  This is essentially a loose pigment with a strong metallic sheen, and can be used on the eyes, cheeks, body, hair or even nails.  I’ve used this on my lids over a cream eyeshadow primer and did not experience any fallout!

Each of the pieces are easy to wear on their own, or in combination with something else that you have.  Worn together, they create a very soft, pretty daytime look as follows:

I’m having terrible hair lately, please pardon the crazy mop!  I kept the base fresh and glowy using simply the La Mer The Reparative Skintint (partly also because my skin is just disastrous after the crazy week I’ve had).  To get the lip color to show up a bit more, I first filled in my lips with The Lipstick Queen Lip Liner in Pink, and then went over it with Anna Sui Lip Stick M 02 from the coffret.  Rose Cheek Color N 02 on cheeks, for a natural flush.  And I used a combination of Color Powder 02 and bits of the Rose Cheek Color N 02 on the eyes.

Nothing fancy for the eyes really, I just applied a light layer of cream eyeshadow primer on the lids to hold onto the pigments, dusted a tiny bit of the beige rose cheek color to set, and then patted on the Color Powder 02.  Finished with black winged liquid liner, and I left the bottom lash line fairly clean.  I dusted a bit of the pink rose cheek color along the lower lash line and popped the white into the inner corner.  Neither are very visible on the close up, but you should be able to make out the effect from the complete look above.

This is a look that I think is very consistent with the Anna Sui aesthetic, soft, girly and pretty. It is suitable for any day, and if you’d like to wear the same coffret for evening parties, I suggest maybe adding a dark eyeshadow base first, and then patting the color powder over as a pop!

This Anna Sui Thawed Heart Holiday Snow coffret is limited edition, and retails for SGD88 here in Singapore.  I think it’s a really beautiful gift, I would have bought it just for the box alone!

_{This post featured products that were kindly provided for my consideration.  Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.}