Monday 23 November 2009

Jill Stuart Sweetness Collection

Due to an incredible stroke of luck, I was able to get the Jill Stuart holiday makeup coffret for the first time in 3 years (and at retail price too). I finally received it today and certainly it did not disappoint. The set right down to the accompanying shopper bag and box were lovingly designed with many sweet little touches.

The box has two flaps that open up to invite you to open and taste it!


The pouch is designed to look like a cream cake but all that frilly stuff is a bit too frou-frou for my taste!

However, I do like the lace on the side panel, which is covered with a fine mesh layer, and the two metal "J' charms attached to the zips.

There is a pocket under the lid. The pouch is lined and padded so it does not feel as flimsy as those pouches that are usually given away in Japanese magazines.

The flat face brush is an absolute beauty. Love the curly motifs and pink rhinestone on the handle! The bristles feel soft and nicely dense.


The Jelly Lip Gloss #101 Sugar Kiss is a typical sheer sparkly baby pink while the Nail Lacquer N #106 Romantic Macaron is a pearly pale pink.

The Jelly Eye Color N #103 Snow Parfait is a glittery marshmallow pink with a very strong fruity scent.

Instead of the usual eyeshadow quad, Jill Stuart elected this year to include a Mix Face Powder Compact #101 Marshmallow Puffy and I'm glad that they did as the eyeshadow quads tended to recycle shades from the permanent line-up. The compact comes with a pretty ribbon charm. The shimmery white overspray rubs off pretty much immediately.


The nail art sticker doubles up as a greeting card.


I think this is definitely one of my best beauty buys of the year!

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi Haru, i like reading your blog, almst everyday i will see :) can chk with you the js holiday coffret where you bought? can get it in hongkong? :)

Haru said...

Hi Michelle,
I ordered the JS coffret through a Japanese department store. The coffret is also available in Hong Kong. You can check the release date on the Jill Stuart Hong Kong website http://hk.jillstuart-beauty.com/#.

The website doesn't load properly on my Mac laptop so I'm not able to look up the release date, sorry! I think it's sometime in November.

Kathi said...

Haha, Iris....you know I caved, too! Even though I had sworn I will not buy it lol! It's on the way to me and should arrive by Tuesday or Wednesday =P
Now after seeing your pics I am so happy I ordered it as it is absolutely gorgeous!!

I agree about the eyeshadow quads. I got rid of nearly all my Seductive Eyes, only kept the one from last Xmas as it has the pretty much same colors as most of the other quads had lol!

Kathi said...

Hey Michelle, Facial-Shop and Bobodave have the kit I think =)

Haru said...

Hey Kathi,
I think this set is definitely worth getting and I think you'll love it! The face powder and lip/eye jelly shades should work beautifully with your fair complexion too :-)
The Seductive Eyes quads were the weakest in JS' line-up of palettes although some of the smokey liner shades were gorgeous. But I'm just a Jill Stuart hoarder through and through. I can't bear to get rid of any of it, even items that are a few years old that I've barely touched. I have a shimmery light pink face powder from their very first holiday coffret and I think I've used it only twice!

britishbeautyblogger said...

Oh I love Jill Stuart and always wish we had it in the UK...this collection looks quite 'weddingy' but so, so pretty!

Catherine said...

Ohhhh, this is so gorgeous! I decided to pass this up this year... and now I'm kind of sad lol. Maybe next year...

Jenn said...

Ooo, the items for this coffret look lovely. I can't wait for it to arrive =)

The case is too frilly for me too but face powder compact looks so pretty -it 's almost too pretty to use.

evie said...

wah you got it!!! so good!!!...i wanted too!!how come spore dun have!!

makeupmag said...

A perfect coffret for a bride-to-be! :D Everything looks exquisite and I especially like the flat brush. Enjoy everything, Iris dear!

Beauty Runway said...

Absolute stunner ! It's so pretty. This will be the first Christmas collection i cave this year.Been trying to resist others.

i will ask my fren to get a set for me in Tokyo. Hope it doesnt go OOS in the stores this weekend.

Haru said...

Hi,
I think the coffret has already sold out in Japan as it was released more than a week ago on 12 November. The JS holiday coffrets are very popular and every year, people line up even before the stores open to buy them and so they usually sell out on the day of release. I got my set by ordering from a department store's website and the website also sold out in less than 2 hours. For the first hour, it was impossible to even get on the website!

Good luck, hope you are able to get it!

Hi mag,
thanks, am definitely loving it very much! Have already used the lipgloss and jelly eye color this morning :-) Both are very sparkly!

Hi evie,
It's a real shame that JS has yet to make its way to Singapore, although it has opened in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. Most people I know just ask their friends holidaying in these countries to help them buy.

Hey Jenn,
it's a wonderful set and I'm sure you'll love it!

Hey Catherine,
Don't be sad, there is always next year and Jill Stuart will always come up with new collections to tempt us. Spring is just a couple of months away!

Hi britishbeautyblogger,
I love reading your blog, especially for all the insider scoops! I think Jill Stuart has good potential to expand outside of Japan and it has already opened in 3 other Asian countries so hopefully this is just the beginning. Until then, there are always online shops like gooddealer, adambeauty, ichibankao which are all reliable with fast shipping.

Tracy said...

Pretty! Really nice... I like the brush! =D

j0s1e267 said...

I totally agree with you! This is one of my best beauty buy this year! I am liking the nail polish, it doesn't look very exciting in the bottle but looks so pretty when applied. Enjoy!!!

Anonymous said...

HOw much is it retailing?
Does HK have a JS shop?Thanks

Candygal's Precious Box!! said...

Haru, this is really a good haul! I tried to search all over the departmental shops in Osaka city & Tokyo, Ginza, Shibuya area, all said sold out within the day of released!! I was so sad that i could not get mine!

Haru said...

There are 3 JS counters in Hong Kong. You can find the locations on the JS Hong Kong website. http://hk.jillstuart-beauty.com/#/Shop/

The set costs HK$580 in Hong Kong and 7875yen in Japan.

Hi candygal,
Sorry to hear that you were unable to get it. Perhaps you can try looking online to see if bobodave or ichibankao have it? Their prices will be marked up quite a bit though.

evie said...

hi haru...is there anyway that i can order the JS coffret from the same website as you? or is already sold out?..T_T

Haru said...

hi evie,
I'm afraid the department store website I ordered from is also sold out. It sold out in less than 2 hours. These sets are really hard to get hold of! Sorry I can't be of any help.

Jenni said...

It's already sold out in Hong Kong coz the day it was released there were heaps of people queueing! (isn't it crazy?!) and like you i'm lucky to get my hands on one through a dealer :)

Haru said...

Hi Jennifer,
These JS Xmas sets just fly off the shelves every year, so I'm not surprised that people were queueing for it in Hong Kong as well. Glad to hear that you managed to snag a set too!

evie said...

haha its alright thanks!

stellarvixen said...

PRETTY! i'm gonna splurge on Jill Stuart my coming trip to HK!!
i hope they still have them at HKD580! some said sold out ..boohooo

what eyeshadow palette should i get my claw 1st? i now know to stay away from seductive eye range..

how's brilliance & illuminance range?
i prefer shimmery yet pigmented

Dennipep said...

I love your blog, I will check out Jill Stuart's Hongkong website. Thanks for sharing the site =)

Anonymous said...

hi Haru , i wana to ask one of my fren who is gg to hongkong in dec to get it for me. dun noe if this have. if not u noe any wedsite we can order ma?

Haru said...

Another reader has reported that the set is already sold out in Hong Kong too where it was released on 20 November. (See above comment by Jennifer).


I saw the set listed on Bobodave.com for sale at US$100+ so perhaps you can try ordering from there.

Haru said...

hi stellarvixen,

Both the Illuminance and Brilliance palettes are shimmery and pigmented but Illuminance has less problems in terms of glittery fallout. Both series have some really lovely color combinations so my advice is to pick whatever appeals to you the most. I like Brilliance Eyes #4 Gem Amethyst and #1 Pink Quartz, Illuminance Eyes #4 Aqua Crystal.

Anonymous said...

hi haru,

i am sooooo tempted to get this xmas set after reading your blog :)

have you ordered from Bobodave.com before? i am a little worried about authenticity and reliability.

is the "mix face powder compact" consisting of brusher, eye shadow, etc? :)

Haru said...

Hi,
I haven't ordered from Bobodave.com before but I think they are reliable, based on what others have said about it. I haven't seen any complaints about Bobodave too. Rest assured their products are authentic. Bobodave is based in Japan, if I recall correctly.

The mix face powder compact is meant to be used as a face powder, not as blush or eyeshadow as the colors are too pale for that.

Blossomy said...

Hi Haru, Could u pls advise the department store website? just think we might have a option for ordering future collections:-)~ Many thanks in advance!

Haru said...

Hi,
Tokyu department store carries Jill Stuart in its online store here but the website is only in Japanese.

shopaholic said...

hi haru

i am bringing in limited sets at S$145 each if your readers are interested. arrival in singapore on 21 december.

cheers
shopaholic

Anonymous said...

hi Haru , how abt order from gooddealer?are they reliable? :) tks..

Haru said...

Hi Michelle,

I believe Kathi from LotusPalace has ordered from Gooddealer quite a few times and never had problems with them so they should be quite reliable. Their prices are also more reasonable compared to some other websites.

Anonymous said...

oh.. they have order from them ya :) k think i can set my minf n order from them, tks Haru. :)

snow said...

Is there any fake jill stuart sets out there? I know of a seller who says she can get more than 10 sets in Jan 2010.

Haru said...

Hi snow,
I haven't seen any fakes of the Jill Stuart xmas coffret but there ARE fake Jill Stuart eyeshadow quads out there. Always buy from a reputable seller with a history of good feedback. If it's a newly established blogshop with no track record, I would be more cautious.

snow said...

OMG, there are fake eyeshadow quads?! How do we tell the real btw fake? This website has been around for some time (1year?) and i have bought a mix blush set, a square lip palette and a tube glittery eye gloss (like can be applied to the corners of the lower lid for highlighting). But i thought this sweetness collection is sold out everywhere? Therefore im a little concerned...

Haru said...

You can tell the fakes by the differences in the design of the compact and also the color combinations, which are different from the genuine ones in Jill Stuart's line-up.

The Xmas set may be sold out in the department stores but perhaps the website owner managed to buy several sets to re-sell. Many people do buy these sets just for the purpose of re-selling and making a quick profit.

You can always ask if they can provide an actual picture of the set.

snow said...

Oh no seriously that is my only jill stuart items that i have... may i send u pics of my items so you may advise me further? If what i have bought before are fakes, i certainly will not be buying from that seller for this xmas set ya.

Haru said...

hi,
sure, my email is izuc77 (at) hotmail (dot) com. But it's really quite easy to tell the fakes, just by comparing them with the authentic Jill Stuart products, of which there are tons of pics online.

Einna said...

Hi Haru,
my friend bought the nail polish, nail file and stickers from a seller on the internet (who claimed that they bought the coffret and decided to keep all the other items except for the nail stuff that they didn't like), but she told me that the nail polish isn't scented. I've heard that JS nail polishes are all scented though, so I'm a little concerned-- did she buy a fake?
Is yours scented?
Thanks. :)

Haru said...

hi Einna,
My JS nailpolish smells like normal nail polish, unlike the Eye Jelly which has a distinctive floral scent. This is the only nailpolish I own from Jill Stuart, so I don't know how it compares to the regular JS nailpolishes. But aside from the scent, I think it's best to compare with the actual photos of the nailpolish shade on various blogs, including my own to see if it is the same.
Hope that helps!