Luckily, the magnificent Kate of Drivel About Frivol managed to swatch the new blushes in her travels through Asia. If you don’t already read Drivel about Frivol, it’s a GREAT (read: very dangerous) resource for swatches and “Face of the Day” photos of Asian brands.

I’ve heard that the new blushes are softer, creamier (they’re still powders), more pigmented, and longer lasting than the original blushes — though I haven’t tried one myself. The only Shu blush I own is M55 (which I got just before Shu left the U.S.), and it’s pretty pigmented. Click here to see previous blush swatches.






Kate says, “P light silver 005 and P light gold 010 are both sheer, with microshimmer and a very slightly gritty texture. P light pink 315 and P light peach 510 are both pigmented, silky, with a sheeny finish. 315 has a slight pearly pink/lilac iridescence while 510 gives a glowy neutral peach sheen. On skintones of NC/W15 and darker, they would both make beautiful, subtle highlighers.”

Unfortunately, Americans, the range of blushes you can buy is a much curtailed version of what was swatched here.

The film (inspired by a collection of poems by Charles Bukowski, Burning in Water; Drowning in Flame) is called Mask. The actress is Sandrinne Pinna; makeup by Kakuyasu Uchiide.

The corresponding collection is gorgeously, sumptuously conceived and packaged (and eminently giftworthy).

Shu is probably best known for their lashes, brushes, and cleanse-off oil, and the holiday collection offers all three.

The premium edition “dance in glitter” lashes are $75; the point/accent rhinestoned “jeweled love” lashes are $27.

The Flashing Gold mini brush set is $69, and contains a cream color brush, powder brush, eyeshadow laydown brush, and “precision” brush (for eyeliner or lipcolor). The case features an image from Wong Kar Wai’s film.

The collection also includes Shu’s brightening (purple) formula of makeup removing cleansing oil, in limited edition lenticular packaging. It’s $80 (for 15.2 fl. oz.); just $2 more than the regular packaging.

As for color, the themes of the collection are “rouge et bleu” — and sparkle.

The collection includes three Rouge Unlimited lipsticks ($26 each, special packaging). Glitter Fuse is sheer peach-pink with dense, very fine, iridescent gold shimmer (it reads mainly as gold shimmer on the lips). Pink Flush is a sheer, “frozen” blue-pink. Rouge Luster is a strawberry red-pink with a few tiny gold sparkles. Shu’s lipsticks are lightly scented — something floral, but I can’t put my finger on what it is. The fragrance doesn’t bother me.

There’s also a limited edition Lustrous Glow pressed highlighting powder, Pleasure Rose ($55). It’s a very delicate, subtle pale pink — more “glow” than shimmer. I think you could easily wear it all over the face. Some kind of production issue delayed the powder’s arrival for sale on Shu’s U.S. site, but it will be available there no later than next Wednesday.

There are also two nail polish duos: Festive Rouge and Bleu Splendor (each $32).

Festive Rouge includes a burgundy shimmer and a glitter topcoat (golden shimmer with larger round silver mirrors). The glitter polish has a gel/jelly consistency so it transfers the sparkle from bottle to brush to nail very nicely. Both polishes are SO smooth. I swatched (1) three coats of the burgundy (though it was opaque in two), (2) three coats of the glitter, and (3) two coats of burgundy + one coat of glitter.

I think I actually prefer the color combination of the second duo: creme royal blue and silver shimmer with holographic round pieces.

And finally, there’s Glorious Masquerade glittery mascara, a clear, “topcoat” mascara with tiny, very subtle orange-gold iridescent sparkles ($30).

For Americans, these products are only available through ShuUemura-usa.com (and you can get free shipping at any price with code WKWHOLIDAY or WKWSHIP, valid through the end of the month). The U.S. did not receive the Burning in Water and Drowning in Flame eye and cheek palettes.

Shu Uemura provided these products for swatching purposes.

They offered me the opportunity to swatch part of their fall collection, and I gratefully accepted. Shu is still a brand I admire, and I miss having them in-store.

Shu’s fall collection is called Novadiva, and the explanation of who and what a “novadiva” is… is almost David-Lynch-ian:

The diva has arrived.

Amid silence and darkness,
with a single gesture
her radiance breaks the ice.

Suddenly the stage lightens,
the diva reappears.
The same woman, yet totally different.
Her face is transformed as spotlights shine on her from different angles:
coquettish; sweet; sensual; even evil.
She transports the audience to a different time and place…
Novadiva, the modern diva.

The 2011 A/W mode makeup collection reveals the novadiva inside, capturing the light and shadow of every stage for the many roles all women play.

Choose your face. Choose your role. The world is your stage.

Though I don’t have swatches of everything, let’s start with the eyes. Almost as beautiful as the eyeshadow itself, this collection introduces a limited edition, refillable, empty palette ($15). The Prima palette is printed with lace, and though I don’t currently own enough Shu products to fill it, I want one.

Shu has created four color quartets for this collection, though each eyeshadow shade is sold individually for $15: Cool & Mystique blues (G white rainbow, ME soft light blue 665, P dark blue 696, M black 990), Fairy & Fresh green and gold (G gold, P light green 432, P dark green, 595, P black 995), and Elegant & Romantic pinks and browns (G bronze, ME soft pink 140, ME medium brown 885, M dark brown 895).

Of course, you’re also not getting the complete Shu experience without lashes, and Novadiva offers “Tutu laceflare” (limited edition, $28), tiny skirts for your eyes.

There is also new, limited edition, liquid Shimmer Eyeliner: “Comet Silver,” a bright shimmery, sparkling white ($24).

And there are two limited edition products for cheek: a Cream Cheek (blush? contour?) in Amber, and a Cream Shimmer Highlighter in Radiant Pearl — both $21.

With Novadiva, Shu also introduces a new formula of lipstick — Rouge Unlimited Supreme Matte ($30) — though all these shades are limited edition.

Brilliant Gold is a shimmery silver white with gold sparkles. Darling Beige is warm pink. Angelic Pink is cool pink. Evil Pink is a fuchsia-strawberry, an azalea pink. Alluring Brown is a muted wine-pink. At this moment, only Evil Pink, Angelic Pink, and Darling Beige appear on the U.S. website.

The formula wears quite comfortably. It applies with a “water-based” feel (perhaps on account of the hyaluronic acid it contains?), but dries down to a not-unpleasant, somewhat powdery feel. This is my first Shu lipstick, and I did not detect a scent.

Finally, this collection includes two limited edition nail polishes ($16). Mysterious Green is “light and metallic, to match the Fairy & Fresh eye look.” I don’t have it to swatch. Coquettish Brown in the bottle looked like not-my-cup-of-tea, but oh! on the nail!

It’s silver taupe with a hint of purple, nearly a nail polish version of Chanel’s Rose Platine eyeliner. It’s also a foily frost (not quite a smooth frost, it looks slightly glittery/gritty – though it feels completely smooth under topcoat).

Coquettish Brown paints on in thin, fast-drying coats. I recommend applying two coats, and not worrying too much about brush strokes — the topcoat will even it out.

Novadiva is available at ShuUemura-USA.com, and if you place a $65 order by September 11, you’ll receive a pretty excellent six-piece sample set with code FAVES.

Light swatches:

Heavy swatches:

I think the Glow-On blushes are really lovely (and glowy!), but I wasn’t as enamoured of these three highlighters. They’re all quite white.

P Gold 91 is warm white, just barely gold. P Silver 91 is bright white. P Pink 31 has a pearly pink sheen. Like the blushes, these would have been $23 each.

Do you use and love these? Am I missing something important?  Educate me!

Shu’s blushes are called “Glow-On” because even the matte shades contain light-reflecting pigments — and they do seem to possess an almost magical glow. They’re $23 each, and for Americans, the only option is to purchase them online.

Here are the light swatches:

Here are heavier swatches:

Blush swatches can be misleading. Something that looks very light in an arm swatch can be perfectly lovely on a fair girl’s cheek. (I’m not the world’s palest person, but some of my favorite blushes, I’ve swatched and thought, “Is that all there is?”).

M Orange 55 is such a lovely color! But I have to apply it at arm’s length or it goes on too strong.

And as for soul and echo, I’m not going all e.e. cummings on you; those were two limited edition, split-pan shades that I happened to find testers of. I couldn’t tell you what collection they came from, but I thought I might as well include them.  The big swatches are the blended color.

In case you were also curious about the individual shades, I swatched them with eyeshadow applicators. Soul is on the left; Echo on the right.

I know I didn’t swatch every shade. There are shades listed on the website that I’ve never seen, and there are shades I’ve swatched that aren’t listed on the website (which makes me think at least a few have been discontinued).

Hopefully, between the work of my absolutely wonderful guest swatchers and what I was able to find myself, we’ll be able to answer most of your questions. (Click here for aggregated Shu swatches.)

Today I have for you… an armful of pink blush. Here are the light swatches:

Here are the heavy swatches:

I find Shu’s blush-naming convention a little odd. We already know that M stands for Matte and P for Pearl. But as to that color name in the middle… I wouldn’t have called the wine shades “wine.” They’re just a more intense pink.

If that wasn’t complicated enough, sometimes there’s an extra letter at the end of the shade name, as in M Pink 31A and M Pink 31C (available on the website). The blush I swatched did not have a final letter; it’s just M Pink 31. Why is this system so confusing?

M Pinks 30 and 31 look similar to me. 30 is a brighter pink; 31 is more muted and just slightly mauvier. Does anyone own both?  Would you care to elaborate further?

P Pink 34 has a very slight sheen to it (I don’t think you’d see it unless you were looking for it). It seems brighter and cooler than M Pink 30. The Wine shades are definitely more vibrant (both cool), and P Wine 25 has a pearly white/silver sheen in a heavy swatch.

Though Shu cosmetics have withdrawn from the U.S. market, their website is still alive and well — and counters continue to thrive in other countries (like Canada).

Glow-On blushes tend to elicit passionate declarations of love from their users. Bellamelly (who guest-swatched several of these) said, “I found them really blendable — as creamy as a powder can be.”

The blushes come in two formulas: M for Matte and P for Pearl. The shades really do seem to glow — even in an arm swatch.

Here’s a light swatch:

Here’s a heavier swatch:

M Peach 43 is a peachy beige. M Amber 82 is a beige (neutral, dusty, like my old Volvo) pink. M Amber 86 is even beigier. P Brown 76 is a warm, orangey brown with a few sparkles. These blushes are $23 each, and according to Shu, you can use them wet or dry. I’ve never heard of anyone using a powder blush wet… would you do it?

As a sidenote, in case anyone was panicking, Shu Uemura Art of Hair was unaffected by the U.S. withdrawal (makeup/skincare and haircare are treated as two different brands). Those products are still sold in plenty of brick-and-mortar stores around the U.S.

She and I were jointly lamenting Shu’s departure from the U.S., and she bravely volunteered to swatch the last vestiges of her Shu counter, to help those who still want to shop online.

Aishatherese is approximately NC35.

Aishatherese’s notes: RD165 is the gloss version of their best-selling Rouge Unlimited PR165 (which was voted by Allure magazing as the best universal red).

Aishatherese’s notes: Matte White is an awesome base for pastel shadows, and P Taupe is perfect for instant smoky eye — these really are creaseless!

Aishatherese’s notes: : M Blue 685 is the perfect “vibrant navy.” It’s awesome to smudge/smoke-out liners for brown-eyed girls.

Aishatherese’s notes: M Brown 02 is the darkest, richest brown pencil I have ever used and it never budges.

Stick foundations are generally versatile: foundation and concealer in one.  Nobara offers medium to full coverage with a good amount of “slip” (stick foundations can be dry), and seems to be the darling of many a makeup artist. Nobara is $42.

Shu foundations are numbered. The first digit tells you how pink or yellow the foundation is: 1 is the most pink; 9 is the most yellow; 5 is neutral. The second digit goes from black to white. A second digit of 0 has the most black/is the darkest; a second digit of 9 is the lightest. The third digit tells you chroma — whether the undertone of the foundation is blue or violet (all Nobara shades end in 4, so the point is moot).

I’m missing a few shades (784, 934, 504); those testers were already gone by the time I got to swatching.

Click here to see swatches of Shu’s Face Architect Smoothing Fluid Foundation or Face Architect Cream Foundation.