Another entry in my 'enduring loves' series, I purchased most of these Shu Uemura shadows upon release back in June 2012 (which also features a pristine photo), and they've become absolute beauty necessities since, as my laziest one-minute eye makeup-that-involves-shadow-at-all consists of a messy cream/creamy powder wash topped with a partial pigment highlight (usually at the centre of the mobile lid and inner corner, but sometimes slightly offset outwards, and at other times to overlap / surround the main shade -- for three looks with movable highlights, see this post.)
![Shu Uemura glitters Glitter White Rainbow, IR 115, G646, G135, G251, G745, Prestigious Bordeaux, Smoky Velvet]()
As you see, my beloved ShuxKarl Lagerfeld palettes of Christmas 2012 also included glitter pans in this formula. The white-gold in the EU version of Smoky Velvet (here) is very similar to and thus supplanted the G Gold 311 from my original haul, while the US version of Smoky Velvet included a mini G White Rainbow -- in that case, I kept the single and ditched the palette. Similar glitter pans have also been included in Shu's Spring 2012 Celestial Garden trios, and Autumn 2012 Chocolat Donna palettes, so if you've tried any of those, you'll be familiar with the texture and performance of these singles.
Which are pigmented-but-translucent, delicate, dryish* glitter topcoats, designed to be pressed unto the skin (or over cream/powder shadows) with a fingertip or dense synthetic brush. Worn as topcoat, adherence is excellent -- with my dry skin I often experience powder fallout, but these wear beautifully on me with nary a speck of glitter dandruff throughout the day/night. If I want to pack these on for a more intensely blingy effect, I'll use a cream base underneath, and because of the translucent base in which these glitters are suspended, you can create different effects by using bases of various colours and finishes.
*the exceptions in my collection are G White Rainbow and IR Pink 115, which are both 'silk smooth' shadows -- with a far greater degree of silicone slip, they feel almost creamy to the touch and lift from the pan in soft 'clumps'. ....I swear they're nicer than that description would imply. Anyway, because of the especially clear siliconey base, those two also shift most when swatched over another shade:
![Shu Uemura G White Rainbow swatches]()
![Shu Uemura IR Pink 115 swatches]()
![Shu Uemura G Pink 135 swatches]()
![Shu Uemura G Orange 251 swatches]()
![Shu Uemura G Blue 646 swatches]()
![Shu Uemura G Purple 745 swatches]()
Base consists of two RBR cream shadows: Atlas Swallowtail (pewter-flashing sand) over the lid, outer corner darkened with a dab of Batiste Grayling (warm smoke). IR Pink 115 dabbed over the centre of both lid and lower lashline.
No liner -- both because lazy, but also because it keeps the look more undone. But purple mascara (YSL Singulier Nuit Blanche 4 Vibrant Violet) because I CAN.
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2. Tinkerbell on acid -- or, I wonder how many of these I can fit onto my lids, anyway?
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3. Can glitter be badass? A modest inquiry.
Base is the warm black glitter from Smoky Velvet, washed messily up from lashline following the natural shape of my lids and smudged into lower lashline. G White Rainbow arced up from inner corner through socket, IR Pink 115 in its banked-coals mode in the centre of the lower lashline.
Bolder lashes with L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash WP.
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^I often do a version of this look for holiday events -- it's a not-too-done nod to the season (starry black, iridescent-snow-white, banked coals, you feel me?) when I want a break from the gold-eye-red-lip usual.
Anyone else a glitter fiend regardless of season? Often dubbed 'only for teens,' I find them infinitely more flattering on my crepey textured dry lids than most mattes, let alone frosts or metallics. What are some of your favourite shades/formulas, and how do you like to wear them? Give me sparkly ideas!
The collection:
Which are pigmented-but-translucent, delicate, dryish* glitter topcoats, designed to be pressed unto the skin (or over cream/powder shadows) with a fingertip or dense synthetic brush. Worn as topcoat, adherence is excellent -- with my dry skin I often experience powder fallout, but these wear beautifully on me with nary a speck of glitter dandruff throughout the day/night. If I want to pack these on for a more intensely blingy effect, I'll use a cream base underneath, and because of the translucent base in which these glitters are suspended, you can create different effects by using bases of various colours and finishes.
*the exceptions in my collection are G White Rainbow and IR Pink 115, which are both 'silk smooth' shadows -- with a far greater degree of silicone slip, they feel almost creamy to the touch and lift from the pan in soft 'clumps'. ....I swear they're nicer than that description would imply. Anyway, because of the especially clear siliconey base, those two also shift most when swatched over another shade:
Swatches made over bare skin and a sheer wash of KATE black gel liner
(patted on with a fingertip; I tried to include several degrees of fuzz in the shots)
G White Rainbow mixes a holographic rainbow of sparkles (mostly from the yellow-blue portion of the spectrum) with finer white and silver shimmer, all in a clear base.
IR Pink 115 floats several tones of pink, vermillion, violet and gold, again in a clear base -- its 'banked coals' effect really come out when layered over a dark shade. True to its 'IR' (iridescent) designation, its gleam shifts from cool pink to warm rosy-gold depending on angle.
The other shades are drier, more conventional powders, albeit as loosely packed as the first two glitters, and containing several sizes and shapes as well as various colours of sparkle:
G Pink 135 is another holographic shade, like G White Rainbow, but incorporating the indigo/violet end of the rainbow, and sitting on a more pigmented, uniform and finely milled icy pink base.
G Orange 251 is my favourite and probably one of my top ten shadows. At some angles it's a molten gleaming coral-gold, and at others it's a diffuse fiery sparkle. The most pigmented of all these glitters, I prefer to wear it over bare skin or a sheer powder -- a cream underneath seems to flatten all the complexities of its base, though a cream base does reveal the variety of sizes and shapes of the white-gold to amber sparkle within this shadow.
G Blue 646 is a turquoise base packed with cooler, truer blue glitters from cornflower to icy blue-white. Equally pretty alone or over a darker base, but in two very different ways -- like the sky at noon and on a spectacularly starry fairytale night.
G Purple 745 is a proper fairy-ish lilac glitter, which shares the light-base-darker-sparkle pattern of G Pink 135 and G Blue 646 [I think G Orange 251's inversion of this may be why I don't like it as much over a dark base]. It's the most finely milled and therefore least complex of all of these, but its delicacy makes it versatile -- and, I mean, LILAC SPARKLY THING. How critical do you expect me to be, exactly? *drooling(
Some Looks
1. A representative lazy two-minute eye i.e. how I usually wear these glitters / make them somewhat work safe.Base consists of two RBR cream shadows: Atlas Swallowtail (pewter-flashing sand) over the lid, outer corner darkened with a dab of Batiste Grayling (warm smoke). IR Pink 115 dabbed over the centre of both lid and lower lashline.
No liner -- both because lazy, but also because it keeps the look more undone. But purple mascara (YSL Singulier Nuit Blanche 4 Vibrant Violet) because I CAN.
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| Atlas Swallowtail's cooler flash make it look like I have 2 different shadows on my inner corners XD |
Daniel Sandler Luxury Matte lipstick Valentina on lips and cheeks.
2. Tinkerbell on acid -- or, I wonder how many of these I can fit onto my lids, anyway?
...Apparently, six. G Purple 745 pulled up from inner corner, G Pink 135 over centre of lid, G Orange 251 patted into outer v, G Blue 646 as an outward-of-centre lid highlight. On the lower lashline, from inner to outer corner, G Purple 745, the white gold from Smoky Velvet, and the warm copper from Prestigious Bordeaux.
Again, no liner. Because I'm aaaaaall about the restraint and tastefulness. Fluttery Fasio Full Dynamic Volume lashes.
Just add Addiction Damask Rose cheekstick, Fresh Sugar Rosé balm and a vacant expression....
3. Can glitter be badass? A modest inquiry.
Base is the warm black glitter from Smoky Velvet, washed messily up from lashline following the natural shape of my lids and smudged into lower lashline. G White Rainbow arced up from inner corner through socket, IR Pink 115 in its banked-coals mode in the centre of the lower lashline.
Bolder lashes with L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash WP.
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| artificial light was the one way I could capture the holo |
A neat combo of both lip products: Fresh Sugar Rosé all over, with a miniscule quantity of Daniel Sandler Valentina patted onto the centre of the lips. Addiction Amazing CS on cheeks.
Anyone else a glitter fiend regardless of season? Often dubbed 'only for teens,' I find them infinitely more flattering on my crepey textured dry lids than most mattes, let alone frosts or metallics. What are some of your favourite shades/formulas, and how do you like to wear them? Give me sparkly ideas!