Shu Uemura x Maison Kitsune Holiday 2015 Collection

I’m always excited by Shu Uemura’s holiday collections as they have always chosen to collaborate with edgy and cool designers.  And rather than produce products that are merely packaged with designer labels, Shu Uemura has consistently managed to release carefully curated selections of colours that manage to be true to the Shu Uemura aesthetic and fashion forward at the same time.  In the past, we have seen collaborations with top fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, famed pop-art artist Takashi Murakami, and award-winning film director Wong Kar Wai.  And this year, Shu Uemura has chosen to work with Maison Kitsune for its 2015 Holiday Collection!

Maison Kitsune is a French design house that was founded in 2002, and it incorporates fashion, music and design under a single label.  Inspired by the Japanese culture, Kitsune means fox in Japanese and is a symbol of versatility.  Maison Kitsune’s designs are chic yet laid-back, comfortable street wear with a cool edge.  And for the Holiday 2015 collaboration, both Shu Uemura and Maison Kitsune present their re-interpretation of beauty and culture in a East meets West crossover.

The Shu Uemura x Maison Kitsune collection consists of 22 items including makeup, skincare and beauty tools.  I have a small selection of the pieces, and will be reviewing them today.

There are 2 eye & cheek palettes in the collection, both inspired by the Western classic smokey eye and the Tokyo street girl’s high cheeks.  The one that I have here is the Beauty Remix Indigo Smokey Eye & Cheek Palette (retails for SGD98).

I swatched the palette from left to right, top to bottom so you can take a look at the variety of colours, textures and finishes.

Swatches of Shu Uemura x Maison Kitsune Beauty Remix Indigo Smokey Eye & Cheek Palette. Please click on image to enlarge.

As you can see from the swatches above, this palette comprises of 2 dark smokey eye shadows, 1 light eye shadow for contrast, and a bunch of glitter shades.  Here’s a closer look:

Shu Uemura x Maison Kitsune Beauty Remix Indigo Smokey Eye & Cheek Palette top row swatches

The top row shades from left to right are:

• Deep blackened navy with a matte base and some very sparse, fine light blue shimmers
• Dark sooty grey with a satin finish and some very sparse, fine silver shimmers
• Light blue with a satin finish and fine silver shimmers that give this shade an almost metallic finish

Shu Uemura x Maison Kitsune Beauty Remix Indigo Smokey Eye & Cheek Palette 2nd row swatches

The middle row shades, from left to right are:

• Light golden shimmers with a translucent base.  This shade works best pressed over the other shades in the top row to add some golden shimmers.
• Shimmery white with some slight translucency.  This one is wonderful as an inner corner highlight.
• Shimmery golden olive with some slight translucency.  This shade can work on its own, but it performs better layered with the darker navy or grey.

Shu Uemura x Maison Kitsune Beauty Remix Indigo Smokey Eye & Cheek Palette 3rd row swatches

And the bottom row swatches, from left to right are:

• Light baby pink shimmers with a translucent base.  Again, works best layered over the darker shades in the top row.
• Light medium neutral-toned pink cheek shade, which can also be used on the eye!

Unlike past palettes from Shu Uemura, this Beauty Remix Indigo Smokey Eye & Cheek Palette is much more straight forward in its direction.  At its core, it creates a very beautiful blue-toned eye look with minimal fuss.

To create the look above, I first applied the sooty grey from the top row all over my lid, followed by the light blue on the inner half of my lid.  Thereafter, I used the blackened navy to smoke out the outer corner.  To finish, I dabbed on a bit of the shimmery white from the middle row on the center of my lid for dimension, and on the inner corner of my eye to brighten.  I also used a bit of M Indigo Play & Remix Drawing Pencil on the outer half of my upper lash line to define, and lined my lower lash line with the sooty grey.

The Japanese love to play with glittery eyeshadows, which is why in this East meets West production, Shu Uemura has included 4 glitter shades to be added at will to the top row shades for your own customised look.  Of course, you may also wish to wear the glitters on their own, as they are quite sheer, the effect is not in-your-face-bling and can be rather fun.  You may also want to add them to one of the Drawing Pencils from the range:

There are 4 new and limited edition Play & Remix Drawing Pencil (retail SGD33 each) in the collection – 2 glittery (Gold & Silver), and 2 matte (Indigo & Plum).  I have here the 2 matte shades, I had jumped the gun here, used them before I had the chance to photograph so please pardon the blunted tips!

Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils are some of the creamiest and budge-proof pencil eyeliners I have tried, and these new ones are no exception.  The names, though, are a bit of a misnomer as Indigo is a medium brightened blue, and Plum is a medium mauve.  These have a bit of time for blending before setting, and they make lovely bases to work with the shimmers from the palette.

And to pull the entire look together, there are 3 Laque Sparkler [retail SGD40] to choose from.  Earlier this year, Shu Uemura released a whole new range of liquid lip colour called Laque Supreme [reviewed here] and they are one of my favourite liquid lip formula by far.  These new Laque Sparklers take the formula 1 step further with fine gold pearls to create even more glamorous looks.  The one I have here is Plum Shimmer.

Laque Sparkler in Plum Shimmer is a cool-toned red with very fine golden shimmers and an incredible glossy finish.  It needs perhaps 2 coats to be fully opaque, but is perfectly lightweight and comfortable on the lips, and stays for a good 6-8 hours.

And to put everything into context, here is my Shu Uemura x Maison Kitsune look!

Apart from the items shown above, I also got to preview the rest of the collection at a recent press event, and would like to share some of the pictures I managed to snag along with pricing information.

In the center of the picture above is The Lightbulb UV Compact Foundation.  The limited edition case design retails for SGD20 and can be filled with any of the existing refills.  Below that is 1 of 2 limited edition false lashes.  The one shown here is Tricolour-in-a-blink which retails for SG34 per pair.  On the right of that, you can make out part of the specially designed Curious Eye-Opening Premium Curler.  This is a special 24k gold plated version of Shu Uemura’s famed eyelash curler, and comes with the Maison Kitsune logo charm.  Retails for SGD30.  Above that, you can see all 3 shades of the Laque Sparklers.

At the top of the picture, from left to right, you can see all 4 shades of the Play & Remix Drawing Pencils.  Next to it is the POREraser UV Under Base Mousse in beige and pink, each retailing for SGD65.  Finally at the upper right corner you can make out part of the Stage Performer Glow Creator in Pure Glow, which retails for SGD62.

Apart from the makeup items, there are also 2 limited edition Party Mixer Glitz Nail Enamel in Indigo Glitz and Plum Glitz.  They retail for SGD29 each.  And to carry it all around in, there is a beautiful Curious Eye-Catching Premium Make-up Box which retails for SGD500.

Standing tall in the picture above is the Ultime8 Sublime Beauty Cleansing Oil available in 150ml [SGD65] and 450ml [SGD160].

Somehow I neglected to photograph the other eye & cheek palette but you can take a look at Meryl’s guest post here and refer to her review here.  I should also mention that there is a Deepsea Hydrability Moisturizing Lip Balm that retails for SGD48; and a 4-piece New Youth Must-Have Premium Brush Set that retails for SGD125.

Have you seen anything here that piques your interest?!

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