RMK Kate Spade Christmas Palette and Workshop

Yesterday, I attended the RMK workshop at Isetan Scotts with their Japanese makeup artist. Like the previous RMK workshop held in May, this was a highly informative and comprehensive hands-on session held over two hours where the participants got to try out RMK's skincare and makeup.

At each table for three participants, there was a comprehensive array of RMK's products, including the highly-anticipated Christmas Palette (S$189) with the gold Kate Spade pouch.


Launched exclusively at Isetan Scotts and Serangoon Central yesterday, the palette is already flying off the counters, partly thanks to the attractive metallic pouches specially designed by Kate Spade for RMK. Of the 250 sets brought in, more than 30 had been snapped up at the Isetan Scotts counter by yesterday evening, and this was excluding the purchases by the workshop participants.




The Christmas Base Kit (S$129) with the silver Kate Spade pouch is not available yet. It is likely to be launched around 24 November.

Both pouches are lined in a cheery fuchsia pink.


The workshop was conducted by a Japanese makeup artist, Mr Akinobu Nishimura, who has been with RMK for 11 years. Prior to commencing the makeup demo, he went around the room to pick out the products and shades for each participant.

To prep the model's skin, he applied the Creamy Makeup Base first.

To achieve a flawless finish, he highlighted that instead of using just the fingertips, one should use the length of the fingers to gently apply the base, following the contours of the face and melding it into the skin. When I tried this technique for applying the base and the liquid foundation, it really made a significant difference in helping the base makeup look much more natural with the skin looking healthy and glowy, without being overly made-up.

To add a touch of luminosity, he applied RMK Control Color N 01 (which has a silvery pearl luminescence) over the top of the cheeks and around the eye area. One can also use 02, a coral peach for correcting dullness. In Japan, RMK carries a third shade in light blue, which helps to correct skin redness, but this is not available in Singapore.

In the pic below, Control Color N 01 is swatched on the left side and 02 is on the right side. 01 looks very obvious in the pic but it actually looks much more subtle when applied on the face as you would need only a very tiny amount.

To conceal the under eye circles, he brushed on the Super Basic Liquid Concealer in a row of vertical strokes under the eye before blending it out with his fingertip. He also applied a bit of the concealer to the eyelids to even out the skintone and act as the base for the eyeshadows. He finished the base makeup by applying just a very light layer of the liquid foundation.



Moving on to the Christmas Palette, Mr Nishimura revealed that the collaboration came about as a result of Rumiko's personal friendship with the designer Kate Spade. The two ladies met in New York in March to conceptualise the two Christmas sets.

He explained that all the shades in the palette were designed to be very easy to use by anyone, without the need for any special makeup techniques. The brown duo was recommended for a feminine, polished look for every day, while the purple/light blue duo was for a more romantic, sensual look for parties or dates, and the green duo was for a more casual yet sophisticated look.

Mr Nishimura did a simple, elegant look on the model by first applying the purple shade along the upper lashline and then over the eye socket area, before layering the light blue shade on top with a windshield wiper motion to soften the tone.


After curling the lashes, he brushed on the Separate Curl Mascara. To give the lashes a natural, long-lasting curl, he advised using the curler first at the roots of the lashes, "walking" the curler outwards towards the lash tips and then repeating this a couple of times.


Next, he applied the blush, sweeping it gently over the apples of the cheeks. For a girlish kawaii look, he suggested applying the blush in circular motions on the apples of the cheeks while for a more sophisticated look, he recommended shading the blush along the cheekbones. He also lightly dusted the Face Powder all over the face.


To glam up the look for evening, he patted on Ingenious Powder Eyes in ME-02, a gorgeous shiny pale gold (left in the pic below). This gave a glistening sparkly effect, similar to the lustrous eyeshadows in the Dusty Bright Eyes.




He finished by using the Ingenious Waterproof Pencil Eyeliner to line the waterline on both the upper and lower eyelids. My apologies for not having a photo of the final look on the model, which was very refined and elegant.

I greatly enjoyed the session as it is always a treat to learn from the RMK Japanese makeup artists in a leisurely, comfortable setting. Since I was already planning to purchase the Christmas Palette, the workshop was essentially a free perk as the $100 registration fee was fully redeemable. The participants also received a door gift of three deluxe skincare samples.

With purchase of $150, one could also receive a four piece skincare set.

In addition, there was also a special Summer Body Care Kit gift with $250 purchase, which was exclusively available to the workshop participants. The kit consists of an Earl Grey and mint-scented body wash, a moisturising milky body sunscreen and a white cotton drawstring pouch. Being a big fan of tea scents, I was especially enamored with the Earl Grey body wash.


I came home with the Christmas Palette and the Cheek Brush, which is made of 100% squirrel hair. At the workshop, I was very impressed by RMK's fluffy soft brushes for the face and cheeks. RMK brushes are reportedly made by Chikuhodo, a highly esteemed Japanese brush company based in Hiroshima which also makes brushes for Suqqu.



List of ingredients.

Thanks for reading!