Shiseido Maquillage True Eye Shadow BR264 Palette 2012 review/ swatches

Maquillage true eye shadow palettes are from 2012 collection. They look like a total revamp in packaging which I'm thoroughly impressed about. 

I purchased my default go-to shade of earthy beige tones first, and picked BR264.

These eyeshadow palettes contain 5 shades and two double ended brushes. One is sponge double end the other is a brush and a very fine firming sponge tip for liner application.

Comes in brand new champagne gold packaging which is super pretty!

Back of box mentions some application tips.

Even the compact has dramatically changed against previous versions- it's a bit like a white lucite surface with a pink base, then rest of the compact in shiny champagne gold. You have to see it to appreciate how well made and pretty these palettes look!

As usual the plastic separator prints the color shade names and suggested use. Top left is 1, top right is 2, bottom left to right is 3,4,5.

Picture below is the most accurate color representation, based on my monitor at least:

Shade 1 (top left): champagne beige, it's shimmery and sparkly but not super glittery. It's a base color.

Shade 2 (top right): is a warm wheat brown. It's shimmery and soft.

Shade 3 (bottom left) is a very finely milled, pale beigy powder, it has a really subtle sheen, not shimmery or glittery. This shade is NOT an eyeshadow shade, rather it's meant to be an under eye highlight (i.e. dust it over your concealer over the dark circles), it really does illuminate well without having that typical fake highlighter look since the shade is so subtle. I also like this for a brow highlight.

Shade 4 (bottom middle) is a neutral brown taupe, it doesn't have enough purple or grey to quite fit into the taupe description, but it's not a full true brown either. Shimmery again but not glittery. 

Shade 5 (bottom right) is the liner shade, it's a very dark cappucino brown shade, can look almost blackened if applied with the sponge tip. It's very pigmented and relatively finely milled compared to shade 2 and 4. It has a subtle sheen, no visible shimmers.

Swatches in same placement order as palette:

Picture here you can see the 'shimmer' factor better for each shade:

Again, bottom left shade is for your undereyes so it really blends into my skin well.

Overall I love this palette- it gives a polished look and I don't think my swatch pictures are bringing out the lustre or richness of the colors as I had to use flash photography to pick up the swatches. It's more vibrant in real life.

I also ordered the VI shade (which is purple series out of the palette colors these year) and can't wait to try that one either!)

Retails for between 35-45USD generally like most maquillage eyeshadows. Overall rating 4.5/5.

Shiseido Maquillage Nail Color BE223 swatch/ review

This is probably the Maquillage nail polish released in 2010 or maybe late 2009- from 2011 on the packaging has changed.

I always felt the change was probably due to the 2009/2010 nailpolishes being of inconsistent and sometimes poor quality, especially the more metallic or frosty shades- they tend to be quite uneven, gluggy and streaky at times.

However, for the creme, pastel and pearly shades, they perform quite well. Here's BE223 (BE stands for 'beige' tone).

Comes in a nice elongated bottle- contains 10ml which is the standard size for most Japanese department store brand polishes.

Here's the nail swatch- my nail was actually in pretty poor condition for the last 2 weeks because of the weather- it's weak at the tips and breaks easily. However this polish seems to mask that quite well.

On the nails it's a soft beige peach, a tinge of pink, but slightly more beige peach. It's soft enough not to turn into a muddy beige or look like a bandaid shade. Well balanced nude color. I would think it looks nicer on pale skin than tanned skin due to the beige tone though.

It has a pearly finish- not frosty. Good coverage with 2-3 coats. I'm wearing 2 coats on all nails.

Overall rating is 4/5. It wore reasonably well, a good 4 days before small chipping while I was travelling.  I would recommend trying the french and pastel/ softer shades from the Maquillage Nail Color series in this design and really do avoid most metallic or frosty shades. (the very shimmery or foiled shades seem to be fine though). Not sure about the current 2011 versions and overall performance just yet- I will get to those shortly!

Spring makeup must see! Armani/Albion/Paul & Joe/Maquillage/Coffret D'or / Aube Couture (February Spring Biteki special edition)

Biteki is one of the top Japanese beauty magazine much like Voce and Maquia (comparable to what Allure is in the US I suppose). Every quarter they release a special pamphlet which features almost EVERY single brand's seasonal collection (not just usual boring promo pictures but literally every item of the actual product), so you can see lipstick shades in actual colors and all the eyeshadows or even eyeliners/ eyebrow pencils all under professional photos!

Along with the pics you also have with a quick description of the product (e.g. this eyeshadow is meant to feature a sheer iridescent finish, or this lipstick line is a pigmented creamy finish), and whether product is Limited Edition (yes the word that makes all women crazy.. =P ) in addition to Japanese RRP prices and color codes/ full names (unfortunately not with English product names too- but I can always figure it out in the end by comparing against official website). Best of all is the main magazine body often uses those products on models, and in this little pamphlet it also notes like 'please refer to page 90 of the main magazine' where a product in the pamphlet featured in spring collection was applied to a model. How neat is that! so you can see great swatch pics on the model. (of course there's some photoshopping but I find the colors quite accurate).

Here are some extracts from magazine on things I want to get, there are so any pages in this supplment, I only took a few pics of the ones I'm interested in, respecting the copyright of the magazine, I highly recommend purchasing the magazine if you could (though this magazine RRP is 550Yen in Japan yet I can only find it for $19AUD in Australia, hello! what a ridiculous markup!)

(Japanese brands below can be purchased from http://www.adambeauty.com/ (cheaper but less choices and slower updates) or http://www.ichibankao.com/ (more expensive but quicker updates)). Not affiliated with either sites.

Maquillage

Suqqu

Suqqu is a Japan exclusive so far I believe (and also UK as a reader pointed out! thanks!), it's quite pricey...

Jill Stuart-

The same pink looks...

Shiseido Integrate

(Which is a drugstore line)

Est and Eprise (both are premium makeup lines)

Kanebo Coffret D'or (I dont find the lipstick swatches too helpful though- neither is the main website, however if you like light to medium shades, most colors are really user-friendly and foolproof, other than a few really dark ones in the swatches you might want to check out first before purchasing sight unseen.

Ayura- again, mostly sold in Japan.

Sofina Aube Couture

Aube Couture is the new line replacing "Aube", it's a bit more pricey, however I think they are also trying to grow into a more mature brand. I'm quite excited about this! purchased a few items already, need to find time to try them.

Giorgio Armani Pink Lights collection- again, super overpriced brand as we all know it...I think the botton left is the 'Blending Cheek Duo' in #4- Rosewood and something..can be seen on official website, RRP60USD (booo)

Shiseido International

Estee Lauder and Clinique

Very interested in that EL palette, I've seen gorgeous pics elsewhere of it!

Clinique ones features 4 Limited Edition eyeshadows in the blossom print (in previous years they've been releasing blushes in that print).

Guerlain Paradis

Guerlain new collection features many single eyeshadows and the Paradis palette #404, unfortunately it's one of those brands that seems to grow in price exponentially...

Paul & Joe Ingenue Collection (reviewed in my blog) and the regular line additions - see my earlier posts for reviews on the Ingenue collection.

RMK Translucence

Lunasol- blossom collection

YSL

hrrrm a tad weaker this year, nice colors but not very exciting, just variations of spring shades really..

Hope you find these helpful! I compared some actual product pics against my photos above and they match quite reasnoably well.