For me, Blend Eyeshadow quad EX-12 Hisuidama (翡翠珠, jade pearl) is the standout product of Suqqu's tenth anniversary "Vintage Pearl" spring collection. As with all Suqqu products, the EX- prefix indicates 'limited edition'; like the core quads, this retails for £45 in the UK.
For this collection, Suqqu has changed to frosted iridescent white casing and debuted a new pearlescent eyeshadow formula and I am a huge fan of both, because no fingerprints woot! and the new formula feels incredible, respectively. It differs from the dry, tightly-packed silk of the core quads 01-06, from the gossamer sparkle of 07/08 and from the denser, molten-creamy feel of the later metallics in quads 09 onwards; instead it is silk so smoothed and lustrous it feels almost literally fluid -- weightlessly liquid, like a dry-oil.
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While all three quads feature the same new eyeshadow texture/formula (feel) they differ in terms of finishandpigmentation (looks). Which is why it isn't EX-11 Sumiredama (which has been making the biggest waves online) but EX-12 Hisuidama which has my heart. [More specific drivel about Sumiredama will follow in its own review post. While also shown here, I did not acquire EX-13 Ginsudama for myself -- a friend let me photograph hers.] Admittedly, skintone is a factor -- Hisuidama is likelier to please the paler/cooler, just as Ginsudama the warmer/darker, while Sumiredama is balanced in between.
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*Top left: icy blue-white pearlescent duochrome with tonal sparkle, pigmented
*Top right: soft sage shimmer with rose-gold reflect, pigmented
*Bottom left: cool brown satin base with subtle green duochrome and blue, green and pink microshimmer, pigmented
Bottom right: cool cherry-blossom pink matte base with sparse silver sparkle, medium pigmentation
The three starred shades are duochromes, but in a subtle way, much less pronounced than the blue shift in the taupe and purple shades of EX-11 Sumiredama. But what what I find uniquely interesting is this quad is the shift in opacity which makes all four shades look alternately icy (transparent) and soft (milky) in different lighting or at different angles; just like jade, in fact. In my opinion it's not the green shade Hisuidama/Jade Pearl is named for, but this cloudy/jewelled aspect of all four colours.
I'll let the menny menny pictures which follow illustrate this -- if you have a neater way of explaining it, please leave me a comment!
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I still wasn't happy with how the brown shade photographed -- its green duochrome flash is subtle, but definitely there, and distinct from the flashes from its pink, blue and green shimmer -- so took some more pics -- can you see the base flashing green at the very centre of the swatch?
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I've only done basic two-shade mixes, but you can absolutely meld all four shades together with a visible increase in complexity each time and zero muddiness. As the individual swatches showed, each of these shades already contain microshimmer that echoes another shade or two in the quad, so in effect you're just amping up a particular flash whose potential was already there.
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Drab lighting aside, Hisuidama is noticeably softer, both tonally and texturally. THREE Tranquil Oasis isn't really photographing as clearly as I'd like, but it mixes two glitter topcoats (top left and bottom right), a pigmented metallic cream (top right) and a sage green satin with pink glitter (bottom left) -- as if the top right sage green in Hisuidama with its warm pink flash had the contrast turned way up.
The Suqqu palettes I own which overlap with Hisuidama are 07 Komorebi (brown/green), 08 Mizuaoi (pink/blue), and 02 Koedama (sage green).
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Skipping the bottom right primer shade in these, I swatched them next to Hisuidama on the gloomiest day ever (sorry.)
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Top right sage green with Rouge Bunny Rouge Periwinkle Cardinal, the top two shades from Suqqu 02 Kokedama (individually and mixed together), the starred shades from KATE Deep Trap Eyes GR-1, Kiko Super Color Eyeliner 113 Olive Green and Addiction Eye Lacquer WP Swimming Pool.
Yes, I may have a bit of an addiction to sage green shadows.... but hey, no real dupes! The closest I can get is from mixing the top two shades of Kokedama, which is coincidentally the 'out' that allows Hisuidama in.
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Bottom left cool brown with Suqqu single EX-22 Nibidama (disc.), Rouge Bunny Rouge Eclipse Eagle and Blackpepper Jay. Hisuidama's brown has a noticeably unique green flash in comparison to the more usual purple- or grey-tinged cool browns.
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Bottom right pink with Shiseido PK305 Peony, Shu Uemura G135 and ME126 (both current Colour Atelier shades), the pink (top left) from Suqqu EX-05 Usumomokurumi (LE Christmas 2011), pink (bottom left) from EST Emotional Aura Eyes 03 (disc.), pink (bottom left) from Sonia Rykiel 10, and Rouge Bunny Rouge Capricious Nightingale.
Hisuidama's pink fills the satin-pastel niche in my pink collection, perfect for the 'modern '60s' trend bandwagon I'm currently hitching a ride on.
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For this collection, Suqqu has changed to frosted iridescent white casing and debuted a new pearlescent eyeshadow formula and I am a huge fan of both, because no fingerprints woot! and the new formula feels incredible, respectively. It differs from the dry, tightly-packed silk of the core quads 01-06, from the gossamer sparkle of 07/08 and from the denser, molten-creamy feel of the later metallics in quads 09 onwards; instead it is silk so smoothed and lustrous it feels almost literally fluid -- weightlessly liquid, like a dry-oil.
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| angled to suggest the cases' iridescence |
All three spring quads: EX-11 Sumiredama, EX-12 Hisuidama, EX-13 Ginsudama
While all three quads feature the same new eyeshadow texture/formula (feel) they differ in terms of finishandpigmentation (looks). Which is why it isn't EX-11 Sumiredama (which has been making the biggest waves online) but EX-12 Hisuidama which has my heart. [More specific drivel about Sumiredama will follow in its own review post. While also shown here, I did not acquire EX-13 Ginsudama for myself -- a friend let me photograph hers.] Admittedly, skintone is a factor -- Hisuidama is likelier to please the paler/cooler, just as Ginsudama the warmer/darker, while Sumiredama is balanced in between.
Closer Look
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| angled to capture the duochrome/reflects |
*Top right: soft sage shimmer with rose-gold reflect, pigmented
*Bottom left: cool brown satin base with subtle green duochrome and blue, green and pink microshimmer, pigmented
Bottom right: cool cherry-blossom pink matte base with sparse silver sparkle, medium pigmentation
The three starred shades are duochromes, but in a subtle way, much less pronounced than the blue shift in the taupe and purple shades of EX-11 Sumiredama. But what what I find uniquely interesting is this quad is the shift in opacity which makes all four shades look alternately icy (transparent) and soft (milky) in different lighting or at different angles; just like jade, in fact. In my opinion it's not the green shade Hisuidama/Jade Pearl is named for, but this cloudy/jewelled aspect of all four colours.
I'll let the menny menny pictures which follow illustrate this -- if you have a neater way of explaining it, please leave me a comment!
Swatches
One swipe with the included sponge applicators onto bare arm, various spammy angles because I couldn't capture the flashes/textures of all four stripes at once :/
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| natural light, overcast |
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| angled, sunny |
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| even more angled, still sunny |
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| dark + flash, deliberately fuzzy |
Mixed Swatches
Suqqu textures have traditionally been a joy to layer and mix, and it's something I've really missed doing with the denser textures and more uniform finishes of the more recent palettes (09 onwards -- none of which I've liked enough to keep :P). So I'm thrilled that the lightweight dry-oil feel of these quads again make mixing an unadulterated pleasaure -- Hisuidama in particular, with its four distinct finishes (vs four pearlescents in Sumiredama), is a dream to layer.I've only done basic two-shade mixes, but you can absolutely meld all four shades together with a visible increase in complexity each time and zero muddiness. As the individual swatches showed, each of these shades already contain microshimmer that echoes another shade or two in the quad, so in effect you're just amping up a particular flash whose potential was already there.
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| different angle to show the duochrome/flash effect of layering these |
Palette Comparisons
Does it surprise anyone that I have a weakness for springy icecreamy combinations? The most comparable ready-made palettes in my stash are THREE 4D Eyeshadow Palette 06 Tranquil Oasis and Sonia Rykiel Quatre Eyeshadow 10 [also swatched here].
The Suqqu palettes I own which overlap with Hisuidama are 07 Komorebi (brown/green), 08 Mizuaoi (pink/blue), and 02 Koedama (sage green).
Skipping the bottom right primer shade in these, I swatched them next to Hisuidama on the gloomiest day ever (sorry.)
Individual Comparisons
Top left blue-white with the blue (top right) from Suqqu 08 Mizuaoi, Addiction Ice Storm, the blue (bottom right) from Sonia Rykiel 09, the blue glitter (bottom right) from THREE 06 Tranquil Oasis, Shu Uemura P 610 (first gen, disc.)
Top right sage green with Rouge Bunny Rouge Periwinkle Cardinal, the top two shades from Suqqu 02 Kokedama (individually and mixed together), the starred shades from KATE Deep Trap Eyes GR-1, Kiko Super Color Eyeliner 113 Olive Green and Addiction Eye Lacquer WP Swimming Pool.
Yes, I may have a bit of an addiction to sage green shadows.... but hey, no real dupes! The closest I can get is from mixing the top two shades of Kokedama, which is coincidentally the 'out' that allows Hisuidama in.
Bottom left cool brown with Suqqu single EX-22 Nibidama (disc.), Rouge Bunny Rouge Eclipse Eagle and Blackpepper Jay. Hisuidama's brown has a noticeably unique green flash in comparison to the more usual purple- or grey-tinged cool browns.
Bottom right pink with Shiseido PK305 Peony, Shu Uemura G135 and ME126 (both current Colour Atelier shades), the pink (top left) from Suqqu EX-05 Usumomokurumi (LE Christmas 2011), pink (bottom left) from EST Emotional Aura Eyes 03 (disc.), pink (bottom left) from Sonia Rykiel 10, and Rouge Bunny Rouge Capricious Nightingale.
Hisuidama's pink fills the satin-pastel niche in my pink collection, perfect for the 'modern '60s' trend bandwagon I'm currently hitching a ride on.
