Shu Uemura Natural Brush 8HR- Eye Shadow

The Shu Uemura Natural Brush 8HR comes from the "where has it been all my life?" department. It's that good. I have a thing for makeup brushes in unusual shapes, so that's why I originally picked it up, but ever since it joined my collection I've been reaching for it to perform a myriad of tasks in and around the crease.

The Shu Uemura Natural Brush 8HR is made of sable and designated for powder eye shadow. I've mentioned before that I love slanted eye brushes, and in this Shu we get a curved round slant that has more movement. The bristles are significantly longer than in crease and contouring brushes and not as densely packed, yet the brush picks quite a bit of product and distributes it perfectly. The brush is very soft, very precise and when in a hurry one can also use it for blending and diffusing. I use it in the socket (especially if I'm going for a very defined crease)and to blend the darkest colors together on the lid and near the lash line.

Bottom Line: It's that good.

Shu Uemura Natural Brush 8HR ($63) is available online from shuuemura-usa.com. Outside of North America people can still go to the Shu Uemura counters and check it out in person.

All photos are mine.

Shu Uemura Stage Performer Signs Off & Instant Glow

It's not exactly a secret that the lifestyle of a model is rarely conductive to waking up bright and early, going to work and looking all pretty and glamorous, which is kind of a problem when your job is actually to look pretty and glamorous. Of course, in cases like Kate Moss the only solution is photoshopping her until even a vodka bottle wouldn't recognize her (seriously,  I cringe every time I see her on those huge ads right before the Lincoln Tunnel). But we're here to talk cosmetics and not extreme virtual makeovers.

Shu Uemura's new(ish) Stage Performer line offers two products that were supposedly created to help the makeup artists working on models' faces hide the signs of last night's debauchery and make them look fresh and perky (or at least like flawless corpses in the case of certain fashion designers). Stage Performer Signs-Off is a liquid in a pen that is supposed to plump up skin with extra moisture that temporarily diffuses the appearance of fine lines, especially those that are a result of fatigue and dehydration. The pen has a soft silicone applicator tip that I like very much, a couple of clicks dispense enough for both eyes (I use is under my eyes, as a base for YSL Touche Eclat).

My nerdy suburban life style is not exactly the stuff of which legends are made, but like many of us I can use a little help in the under-eye area. I can't say Signs Off is making me 21 again (and that's a good thing, believe me), but I can see an overall improvement in the way my makeup ends up looking- there is a certain brightness that is lacking if I don't bother with this Shu Uemura product.

The results from Instant Glow are easier to spot. This is a thin lotion in a tube that goes over your skin care (the same as with Signs Off, by the way) and under any makeup you're using or even on. You need to wait at least 30 seconds before applying primer and/or foundation- I usually give it a couple of minutes because I love seeing the full effect before makeup. Instant Glow combines light-diffusing, moisture-locking and a similar brightening effect like what you get from NARS Brightening Serum or Blanc de Chanel. Considering the amounts of Cle de Peau skincare I use, it's hard to tell if Shu Uemura Instant Glow provides any long-term results, but I can tell it affects the way my makeup looks- everything is smoother and looks enhanced.

Both Instant Glow and Signs Off contain dimethicone, but I still find that topping them with a primer is preferred for long lasting makeup. It's probably not necessary if you're only doing your makeup for a night, but I do some of my testing as a 12-16 hour day, just to be sure what I have on hand. Both products contain ingredients like ginko bilboa, plant and flower extracts and sea water (that's the number one ingredient, actually), but also various silicones and titanium dioxide, so take that into account if you're sensitive to the stuff.

Bottom Line: I'll take any help I can get.

Shu Uemura Signs-Off ($45) and Instant Glow ($49) are available online from shuuemura-usa.com and from various retailers outside of North America.

Photos of Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Steven Meisel at a 1990 party from some fashion message board. I  couldn't find the source.

Shu Uemura Morphorium Blue Palette Spring 2011

Very few Spring 2011 makeup collections managed to entice me, and so far the only item I actually bought is this very bright Shu Uemura Morphorium Blue Palette. It's so different than the usual spring pastels, not to mention doesn't have all that pearly shimmer of Chanel and Dior that's been putting me off their spring collections. I can't help it. I'm not a pink person and pastels look dreadful on my skin.

Shu Uemura Morphorium Blue Palette looks straight out of a 1960s tropic-inspired ad, and that's exactly why I love it so much. There's also a brown one, Sunset Gold, which has an even nicer packaging but less interesting colors.  I'd never wear more than one of the eye shadows at the same time and would not suggest you do that, either. But keeping everything else nakedy-neutral and just using one of the bright colors (purple, turquoise or parrot green) as a liner/accent, this is a happy and inspiring palette.

The eye shadows come in different textures: The purple(1)is matte, the turquoise has a medium shimmer and the green is high shimmer (or perhaps it's an illusion because the pigment itself is so bright)- in any case, that's the one you'd want to be a little more careful when applying. The fourth eye shadow is a cream brown bronze with a very smooth texture and a remarkable staying power. I'm planning to use it a lot in the summer (do you remember summer or is it just a myth?).

The blush is probably the weakest item in the palette. It's very pretty and looks like a healthy pink, but the glitter overspray that creates the lovely design gets in the way. I've had the palette for over a week now and finally getting close to having this crap all cleaned out. It was a pain to remove the particles that spread onto the other colors (and everywhere else. You can see the random glitter on my arm). The last photos show the palette mid-cleanup.

Bottom Line: Beautiful, shiny and happy. But the overspray was a very bad idea.

Shu Uemura Morphorium Blue Palette for Spring 2011 ($69) is available from the company's website (shuuemura-usa.com) and if you're not in North America, chances are there's a Shu counter in your local department store.

Photos of the palette by me, fashion photograph by Norman Parkinson for Vogue UK, 1961

Shu Uemura High Performance Cleansing Oil Advanced Formula

Six or seven years ago as I was trying to figure out was going on with my skin*, my searches led me to several message boards and to the oil cleansing method. I tried various oils- from jojoba to olive and everything else I had at home (you'd be surprised how many different oils can be found in your various cabinets). It was fine, I guess, but not enough to make me stick with anything specific or with the method itself. Yes, oil really helps to  break down grime and grease and remove makeup; as long as it's a good pure oil it doesn't have any additives and other questionable ingredients, so that's a plus, too. But I'm just not a fan of using food stuff on my face, dealing with the smell or feeling too crunchy.
I probably got the bottle of Shu Uemura High Performance Cleansing Oil Advanced Formula because it was on some serious sale and I've heard many raves and gushes about it, so I had to try. It's a cosmetics bottle, with a pump, so the mess is kept to a minimum and it doesn't have a Birkenstock aura,so that's a plus. And it's Shu, so I'm already a fan.
The good news about the Shu Uemura cleansing oil is that it cleanses really well. The high performance advanced formula keeps its promise to remove even the clingiest waterproof makeup (including mascara), which is a nice perk. It has also proven to be efficient in unclogging the occasional pore (the beauty blogger's biggest occupational hazard). The thing is the Shu oil is so efficient it completely strips my skin of every last bit of natural oil, which is not the best idea when one's skin can get very dry. Especially not in winter. I've found myself with such a tight dry skin I have to slather my face with the heaviest creams I own right after I finish cleansing. That's not my favorite thing to do during my nighttime routine- I prefer to start with something lighter than use serums, and only add the heavy guns right before bed.
Bottom Line: Scarily efficient. I'm saving the bottle till summer.

*My skin issue back then? It turned out I needed a lot more moisture and to avoid Clinique 1-2-3 system.
If you're in the US, Shu Uemura High Performance Cleansing Oil Advanced Formula ($28, 5oz), just like other Shu products, is only available online through the company's American website (shuuemura-usa.com).
Photo: style.com