My spring/summer review pile is giving me major stink-eye (yes, it's so large and has been piled up so long it has now attained sentience), but la la la let's look forward to the next season's pretties anyway!
As always, the September issues of the big three Japanese beauty mags (Voce, Maquia, and Biteki) each include a collections booklet, detailing the upcoming releases in exhaustive detail; my choice this year was Biteki, as its freebie appealed most -- a deluxe sample of the bestselling, very highly rated on @cosme Motemascara from Little Witch.
Purchased from JP-Books, which after the closure of Mitsukoshi Regent St. is due to move to its own standalone shop on Denman Street shortly (conveniently located next to the delicious Shoryu ramen shop). The old points card will still be valid (yes, I asked...maybe a bit too anxiously, to the vast amusement of both cashiers).
As I've used up / cleared out / sold on so many products over the past few months, I've built up quite a bank of 'outs' to spend on new 'ins' to fill in the gaps that have emerged in my collection. It's become clear that most of the products I'm happiest with texturally (which is by far the most important factor deciding a product's longevity in my stash) are made in Japan, and this season has several promising releases, including shades I've struggled to find in Japanese brands in the past.
Sonia Rykiel is one of my favourite made-in-Japan makeup brands, and I'm very excited for their quartet of cream blushes (right page, left side) -- long time readers may know that I have an ongoing goal of replacing all my powder blushes with creams and 04 may be the pink-toned neutral to displace my beloved RBR Gracilis. Intriguingly, they'll be supplemented by a trio of gel blushes (left page, right side) -- I wonder how these textures will differ? The stripy powder blushes look similar to the SR blushes I've played with in the past i.e. frosty and sheer, so my heart doesn't flutter. A huge fan of the SR jelly lipsticks, I'll be curious to see how these new mattes perform.
Addiction continues to be the exciting, texturally innovative brand we're all so hooked on, with seven shades of shimmer-free liquid blush (bottom left) to anticipate. Womanfully resisting another rendition of my adored Revenge, I am however very tempted by Suspicious (the cheekstick proving too dry for me). As Addiction's Psychadelic and Miss You More are two of only three lipglosses that I've kept, I may yet cave in to one of these new shades (top left): perky Garland or vampy Raisin or Crimson maybe?
The main mag had a ridiculously pretty look with the orange liquid blush shade, Fresh:
More blushes -- powders this time. Part of Visée's complete revamp, these powders include what look like an excellent range of contour shades. The bottom stripes in PK-5 or OR-6 seem very pasty-person-friendly, especially if these are sheer in the manner of most Japanese drugstore offerings; swirled together, you have the option of brighter or more muted colours, as well as controlling the proportion of each main shade.
The rest of Visée's relaunch:
Another drugstore brand which recently relaunched, Lavshuca expands its lineup with eyeshadow palettes which bear striking similarities to the luxe Ladurée offerings, and ombre blushes which recall several Estée Lauder group ones (from MAC, EL etc.) The new Candy Bonbon lipsticks will come in a more pigmented 'colour' finish (top left), balmy/jelly? 'clear' line (middle left), and a shimmery 'shiny' line (right), but I wonder if any will match up to the (discontinued) Dramatic Memory Rouge RD-1 I so love from them. So far, Lavshuca's 'new' offerings have been style over substance, but Japanese brands change so quickly I won't be writing these off until I can try them in person.
That's also my mantra when it comes to Lunasol -- it's impossible to tell season-to-season whether their latest eyeshadow palettes will be gritty dandruff shedders or silky complex deliciousness but I do like the sumptuous colour story, especially quad 01. Also appealing, lipstick 18 and liquid lipstick 24 -- both lip formulas I know to be reliably excellent.
Changes are also afoot at Suqqu with another new kind of quint and the by now usual limited edition embossed face palette. Rouge Deluxe has linked to several early swatch posts, and I'm hoping that these cooler, clearer ones prove truest to life. Irritatingly, the one which most appeals to me (EX-15) also seems exceptionally close to Hisuidama from spring/summer, so I'm pinning my hopes on EX-17.
Here's a showcase from the main mag, with Creamy Glow Moist lipstick EX-13, quint EX-17, the face palette, and both nail polishes -- I'm totally stealing that mani idea, by the way.
One of the realisations of my stash-editing shenanigans has been that THREE is rivalling or even supplanting Suqqu as my fav'rite brand. You probably can't really tell this from the blog, because I'm just lazy like that (working on posts, honest!), but it's true nonetheless and one reason is that whereas many recent Suqqu releases have proved too monotextural for me, THREE's 4D eye palettes have kept to a consistent textural mix of dry, complex cream, satin shader, delicate shimmer, and sparkle topcoat. I'm earmarking 09 -- it looks like a richly velvety autumnal quad, with that killer warm pewtaupronze glitter! -- but would happily wear all three (har har).
Their discontinuation of the chubby lip crayons (before I even had a chance to review my gorgeous Ruby) inspired a bit of impotent fist-shaking, so I'm very glad two new shades will be on offer -- 02 looks right up my street, and I hope they haven't buggered up the formula in the meantime.
I will, however, be taking a break from my Chicca investigations, as their autumn collection seems to be a rehash of their core offerings without new flush blush shades -- dusty eyeshadows, jellied lips, all in shades I already own. This is however a brand whose USP is ultra-refinement of finish and texture, so unsurprisingly suffers in pictures <---- please remember that should I buy something and have to eat my words.
For more focused frivolity (the fashionable term now is 'wardrobe planning', I believe....), my Suqqu Koju quad (from spring 2009, far right) is on its last legs, so I'll be hunting for a warm grey replacement.
Among the possible contenders is this lilac-tinged Cosme Decorte AQMW quad (024), a great excuse to try a brand I've been eyeing for a while:
....although KATE's new quint (BK-1) may be a better (and much cheaper) bet -- I tend to prefer Kanebo shadow formulas to Kosé ones, and KATE also made my second-favourite grey palette (Deep Trap Eyes GY-1, discontinued) which is also showing substantial dips.
And in the category of I-need-another-one-like-I-need-a-hole-in-my-head-but-I-can't-resist-them, Paul&Joe are releasing liquid lipsticks! In several gorgeous brights :D The collection is called Fairytale, and also features goodie boxes of eye makeup, liquid liners, and more lipstick (and lipstick case) shades.
Shiseido are also expanding their liquid lipstick line with four new shades (in Japan, six in the US), and they all look gorgeous on The Makeup Blogette. Personally I'm hoping RD413 Sanguine works as well on me as Disco (worn on 'Wednesday' here), and that RD314 Deep Coral will prove a non-drying version of Perfect Rouge RD142 Sublime.
Sub-brand Maquillage's autumn collection came out before I left Hong Kong, and I will be reviewing both True Rouge RD382 (worn in the second look here) and True Eyeshadow palette RS721 (worn here), which will replace both pink/taupe quads I posted above in my empties picture, and ousts Suqqu Usumomokurumi too.
What are you looking forward to in the next beauty season? Rouge Deluxe, A Touch of Blusher and Makeup4All have further previews.