Shu-Uemura Eyeconic Collection 2013

Shu Uemura is a well known and respected company, which needs no introduction buy me. Well known for its high fashion and collaborations with Greats like Karl Lagerfeld last year, they are well respected in the cosmetic world. 

So with that being said with the 30th anniversary upon us, it was going to be a bold collection of colour and more exposure to the new "make your own" palette system, being introduced already at present. More for the line plus a limited edition holder are being released.

From the Promotional material the colours are bold, retro and obviously just an explosion of what Shu Uemura want to be, fore-runners to the fashion elite in looks. So the collection contains the palette which is separate to the pans of colour for eyes and cheeks. Amazing eyelashes with vibrant colour and rich matte lipsticks plus other additions. So you can imagine my utter joy and gratitude to being asked to review such a respected brand.  These are the people whom i watch make magic happen on the Runways in far away lands i dream of. Might be to personal but this was me thinking wow.

I was so lucky to trial 2 of the colour wave palettes plus a Supreme matte lipstick. 

The colours of the pans were 

Allure Mauve - A wave of light pink shimmer, Purple/Mauve centre and a White glitter

Utopia Pink - Peachy wave followed by the light pink then a off white/pink shimmer.

To look at they are visually stunning however they are small, plus initial cost shows 1 pan alone will be £22 without the holder which is another £10 on top. Its a lot so i was expecting so much in respect of pigment, payoff and just overall wow. The Supreme Matte's are to be valued at £19. 

So shall we start with the looks i did as i wanted to show this to the max, full and in depth review like i always do with my cosmetics, but when your talking these prices i want to inform you fully. I see my collection as an investment that i get great joy from, believe me i will buy drugstore and save for high-end. Because I'm that passionate, but its still 1 person (mines) opinion.

 Allure Mauve look and pan

Now we are purely basing the eye makeup, all else is the base i use for all my reviews to ensure fairness. I will always use the Urban decay primer potion plus i always have clean and workable tools for each review. No contamination at all for eye products. Well how can i say this without breaking my heart because i will tell you now, my beauty friends will tell you. I was in such a stitch with this, i expected them to adhere, be a marvellous pink in the corner to highlight and just explode my eye with these colours. I just couldn't, you know me i will pack eyeshadows on to show pigment and quality plus swatches. I could not get any swatches, my flash backed each try as the glitter was too intense. Now i thought hang on it must be me, so i looked into other blogs and the actual press release material on the looks, also the swatches of all the pans were barely apparent. So i knew it wasn't just me. While she seemed very enthused of the whole collection. So maybe this just is not for me.

Im going to put Utopia pink looks below, as the same problem i could not even get a pigment to swatch, they are so pretty and it does break my heart as i saw the blue and green, thought i will invest in these of the colour payoff is amazing.  However you can barely see the Mauve/purple to the depth of colour in the pan plus the fallout is intense. I looked like id just had a battle with the 70's, it was everywhere. Mainly accounted that to the pink as it was shimmer city and the white reminded me of the chunky old Urban decay glitter, where you almost have to press it to stick like gold leaf. Blending it only just made the colour less effective to a patchy mess, I read the press and i know that its meant to be a blend-able 3 step process but for the money i really would prefer to dip my brush lightly its that pigmented then have to work so hard. Plus i expect that from the price that is what i should be getting.

Honestly i know i will probably be shooting myself in the foot as its not a good review. I want to just say yes its amazing, 1 pan is worth £22 and feel good but it would be a lie. Plus I could guide you to a million other colours with triple the pigment for a look like this at a fraction of the cost. I have the feeling the Utopia pink will be the same. Just as i suspected Utopia Pink was the same and i tried it wet which only middy intensified the pink, however on blending the colour just ended up as one with no real definition. It was so glittery my eyes were so sore from it as you can see, i did get a lot in there scratching from just the sheer amount you need to make it show and the dent in all 3 colours means this pan wont last long.

Utopia Pink look 

Supreme Matte lipstick in beige 

The saving grace of this review is the lipstick, its not my colour as i don't suit nudes normally. I have to say though its lovely, richly pigmented and for a matte lipstick its surprisingly hydrating feeling. I own 1 matte thats how dry my lips are and as a result i don't wear them. If your after a high end lipstick, look to this end of the collection, the colours are more aimed to be subtle as the eyes are the main feature. However for £19 and if you have the budget for this then please go and check them out. They are lovely and thats coming from a person with such a picky taste in lipsticks.

So in all honestly i was heartbroken, I'm not usually heartbroken but when your given an opportunity to do a review for a brand such as this, you want the products to live up to the name and sing it from the roof-tops. I can only assume the purpose i can use these pans for is now as a glitter layer if i need to shimmer a matte shade. I doubt i will as the fallouts so intense so to a younger woman whom likes glitter these would be perfect or someone who is just starting out a collection with money to spend.

Whats your opinion ? Do you own any Shu-Uemura ?