SUQQU 2013 Christmas Makeup Kit A: EX-18 Aoboshi

Happy mid-week!!  Christmas fever is hitting hard and strong, and if you are still in search for that perfect gift to put at the top of your wishlist for your special mister to hunt down, I have just the thing for you!

Just like every other beauty brand, SUQQU has its own Christmas coffret, and this year’s rendition is extra special as SUQQU celebrates its 10^th anniversary.  The Christmas collection is titled “Yozora” which means Night Sky, and is designed to replicate the beauty of a night sky upon your eyes.  The coffret comes with a limited edition eyeshadow quad, a deluxe-sized Mascara Volume Long EX-03 in Black Navy, 40gm Reset Cleansing Cream, 30gm Refining Foam, a magnifying compact mirror, and a lacy clutch.  For me, most of the items in these holiday sets are throwaway stuff, so I’m not buggered about the poor quality of the clutch or the size of the mirror.  Instead, my main attraction is the limited edition palette, and there are 2 eyeshadow quads of your choice.  I, obviously, went with Ex-18 Aoboshi.

I was beyond the moon when I first saw early press images of Ex-18 Aoboshi.  I mean, look at that glittery navy!!!  After spending a good part of this year collecting purple palettes, I was very happy to see something blue, and not just any blue… I personally think this shade alone is the star of the entire Holiday 2013 collection!

The blue shade has a midnight blue base, and is packed with pink, purple, sky blue, and silver micro-glitter, it twinkles in the pan just like a clear night sky.  There is a slight graphite cast in the base note, such that if you sheered it out, it almost looks black.  The glitter does need to be packed on for it to show up, and when it does it is very subtle, not crazy tacky disco.  I wore it all day and experienced no fall-out, although I did wear it over my NARS primer.  This shade alone shot right through me like a bolt of blue (sorry, I couldn’t resist the Bizarre Love Triangle reference!!) is because it is interesting enough to be worn on its own (not muted like most other SUQQU shades), and yet it can be blended out to be quite wearable as a liner or just for a hint of depth for normal everyday work wear.

The rest of the shades are classic SUQQU.  Clockwise from top left:

• Cool-toned, light pink with a metallic finish
• Warm-toned, medium salmon-pink with a metallic finish
• Cool-toned, white with a hint of pink and a matte finish

And here are the swatches, left to right corresponding to shades on the pan in clockwise direction starting from top left:

All the shades are well pigmented, the only exception being the matte pinkish-white which tended to be somewhat sheer on me.  The textures are all fairly consistent, fairly soft and finely milled, with the pinkish-white being the softest.  Unfortunately, they don’t seem to feel as soft as some of the older SUQQU palettes.

And here is a really easy, party-ready EOTD using EX-18 Aoboshi.  It’s always such a breeze to create awesome looks with well curated palettes!  I applied the salmon-pink on the inner half of my lid, followed by the midnight blue on the outer half.  I used a fluffier brush to first apply and then a smaller stiffer brush to pack on the glitters.  Then I dabbed some of the light metallic pink on the middle of my lid, and blended.  Lined my bottom lash line using the midnight blue, and highlighted the inner corner using the light metallic pink.  Finally, I used the white just under the brow bone as a highlighter.

SUQQU launched these Christmas Makeup Kits on 1 November, and they are very limited in quantity.  I ordered mine off of Selfridges’ website last month, and they soldout almost immediately.  If you are lemming one, do get to work asap or live to regret it!

xoxo