Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Lipsticks PK356, PK341, PK332, PK339, PK319, BG932 reviews and pictures

Shu Uemura released a lot of the limited edition Rouge Unlimited Lipsticks in various pinks and nudes for 2011 Spring sakura pink collection.

These ones feature pink tube packaging instead of the normal lucite clear ones.

From left to right are: PK356, PK341, PK332, PK339, PK319 and BG932.

PK stands for Pink, while BG stands for Beige. this is how Shu Uemura color code works.

PK356 is a medium brightened fuschia pink. It's not neon fuschia, but definitely brightish.

PK341 is still a slightly brighter medium rose pink. It's a bit more neutral toned.

PK332 is a cool pink with a touch of rose- very office appropriate shade and understated.

PK339 is a slightly pastel cherry blossom petal pink. It's not a very soft pink, but there is a slight creaminess to this color which makes the color a bit less translucent looking than the others.

PK319 is a cool mauve pink. On its own the mauve is not so obvious but once placed with the other shades, you can see it's a cool mauve undertone.

BG932 is a nude beige with peach undertones- it's not those dead nude color but a very wearable, everyday nude beige peach. It doesn't scream 'brown' based but is very flattering on warm skintoned girls.

All the rouge unlimited lipsticks are quite true to color in the tube, as Shu Uemura prides itself in the its pigment technology. I find that while being true to the color in the tube, it doesn't necessarily mean being flattering when worn. They are slightly creamy, light shine, but not full opaque. It's emollient enough without being slippery or too creamy looking.

I'll try to update some swatch pictures- still trying to master how to make color swatches look good.

Overall rating 4/5. Definitely worth trying a few shades out =)

Shu Uemura Shimmer Eye liner 01 black review/ swatch

Shu Uemura shimmer eye liner was released in 2009 I think. They don't seem to be part of the permanent line.

I got the shade in #01 Black.

It's a twist pen mechanism which will release more liner liquid when you twist the end. It is in a brush bristle tip which is somewhat firm. But the end is quite fine.

Here it is on the skin. Personally there's barely any shimmer so it's just a plain black eyeliner liquid with very few flecks of fine shimmers.

Compared to Kanebo Kate's ultra fine eyeliner below (the tube for kate is a bit battered from my handbag! lol).  The top one is Shu and bottom is kate.

Personally I tend to tightline and only need an ultra fine line, I do like lining on the top too but for both jobs, Kanebo Kate eyeliner does a much better job. I find the Shu Uemura liner just not quite black enough and hard to control the width of the eyeline on application.

Overall 3/5. Might work better for those who do a more obvious line, but I don't find it oustanding in terms of color, application or longlasting. It will smudge a bit by end of the day.



Shu Uemura Mini Nail Trio- Phantasm (2009 Spring Mirage Collection)

While I'm compiling other Spring collection posts I thought I'd better keep the blog flowing...here's a quick one! This is the Spring 2009 Shu Uemura collection which includes two limited edition nail polish trio sets (they are a fair bit smaller than the full sized Shu Uemura nail polishes, exactly half the size- 5ml each, full sized ones are 10ml). Retails for 800NT in Taiwan, which is about 24USD. I got the first set 'Phantasm', which features three shades, Lilac, Glitter and Soft Pink:

• "Lilac" a pure lilac creme with glossy finish, no shimmers or glitters, very opaque in two coats.

However it's a disaster since perfect lilac creme just doesn't look right on the nails... (as sweet as it looks in the bottle i think it's one of those shades that struggles to look good on common nails, much like pale green cremes or pale blue cremes....unless u were doing a photoshoot or makeup promo..or using in small doses for decals or small prints.)

Swatch below playing with all the colors:

Right to left: (I dont like this pic and certainly would prefer better looking pics on my blog but for the sake of the review...): - Lilac topped with lots of glitter shade - Lilac topped with the smaller glitters (the glitter shade is versatile...you can put more or less depending on preference) - 1 coat lilac, with pale pink shade over it- looks like a strange grey pink- not good. - Pure lilac, 2 coats- you can see it does have a good finish. But on my fingers..the lilac base look so wrong..

• "Glitter" shade- this is much like the limited edition releases in Sonia Rykiel's Christmas polish collection and I know some Japanese brands occassional release glitters like this size. It's a clear nailpolish base with tonnes of various sized glitters (from standard small shimmers and glitters to larger circular glitter circular flakes), gives a very dramatic and cool effect if you do like glamorous or more into the intricate Japanese type of sparkly nails.

Here's my sloppy pic with glitter shade topped over the lilac. Personally I think the glitter shade would look amazing if you were doing a candy soft pink nails with sparkles or a dark vampy shade with dramatic glitters.

If you like pre-mixed glitters of varying size similar to this but in a pre-colored base, I suggest the Kanebo Coffret D'or line- they have some good glitter topping shades in red/pink/blue/green etc. The consistency is great too. I'll do a separate post on all the Coffret D'or polishes I have down the track.

• "Soft pink". A frosty pale pink pearl, it's like a silvery pale pink, I dont really like frosty shades but this is half frost + a pearly finish. It's a decent office shade and reminds me very much of OPI 'Pistol Pack'in Pink' polish. This is a little bit too generic a color, I'd wear this but not my top pick shade.

Here's my full mani photo with it, 2 coats, daylight soft flash, no base coat but with Seche Vite top coat:

Daylight, no flash, shade.

Shu Uemura brushes are good even in the smaller polishes, the pigment is rich and even for these three shades, unfortunately because the pale pink one is a frost finish, it has the same tendency as most frosty polishes that you'd need two good well painted coats to minimise streaking or uneven finish. One coat looks too uneven on my nails.

They are not quick dry, a good 30min later they'd still get dented and smudged without a fast dry topcoat (I applied Seche vite top coat). Werability is decent - I always use a topcoat though. Day 3 and still looking perfect.

Comparison of the regular sized nail polishes against the trio, mini ones are 5ml and regular full sized ones are 10ml: (the red one is "Deep Velvet", I think it's a limited edition shade from one or two collections ago).

Back of box set

The other set is called 'Rapsody', which features a pale blue creme, a glitter shade (looks same as the Phantasm set), and a frosty pearl champagne sand beige). I didn't get this set because the glitter looks the same (although it's good glitter!), the frosty pearl beige I probably got similar colors everywhere (and I dont really like frosty finishes), and the creme blue- what would I do with it!