Isetan Beauty Weekend Specials for October

Check out the beauty weekend specials that Isetan has lined up for October!



Paul & Joe will have a Vanity Set that includes Face Color Powder B49 in Dim Moonlight, Lip Gloss N06 Honeydew Orange, Mascara Base & Coat, Moisturising Mist and a vanity case for S$88 (usual price: $144). The Face Color shade looks boring though while the Mascara Base & Coat is the recently discontinued version so this looks like P&J just trying to clear their stocks.

The Anna Sui set of Night of Fancy 30ml and Flight of Fancy 30ml for $94 (usual price: $138) looks much more attractive to me! Night of Fancy has yet to launch in Singapore so I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Givenchy has a makeup set that's great value for money. The Pretty Set costs $98 (retail value: $232) and includes Prismissime Eyes 54 Cache Cache, Eye Fly Mascara 17 Night Blue, Vernis Please 152 Beige Whisper, Rouge Interdit Lip 25 Rose Caprice, Very Irresistible Givenchy Men Miniature, Very Irresistible Givenchy Miniature and a pouch. I'll definitely be checking this one out even though I don't own any Givenchy.

If you're a MAC fan, you may be happy to know that Suite Array will launch exclusively at Isetan Scotts from 26 September to 2 October. The collection includes 8 eyeshadow duo compacts and Pearlglide Eye Liners.

With all these sales and specials, it's just impossible to start saving for the holiday collections! Must exercise restraint...

Isetan Private Sale

Looks like sales are happening everywhere in Singapore this week! Today, Metro is having a 20% discount storewide for one day only. And next week, Isetan Private Sale is happening on 25 September, with the usual 10% rebate vouchers!

Check out the list of GWPs for Isetan. I wonder how much the Estee Lauder blockbuster set will retail for? The same set will be released in Japan on 24 October where it will retail for 13,650yen.

Beauty Blog Network Weekend Read

Lilan from The Daily Cookie brings you tips on how to look your best in just 10 minutes with CoverGirl celebrity makeup artist Molly Stern!

Beauty Anonymous reviews Shiseido Integrate Glamerous Rouge lip gloss!

Musings of a Muse reviews NARS Super Orgasm with NARS Orgasm and NARS Super Orgasm Comparison Swatches and Product Photos!

A Touch of Blusher reviews Basics Eye Palette from Bobbi Brown's holiday 2008 collection.

Beauty411 loves the new Chanel Smokey Eye Collection and tells you how to get the smokey eye look seen all over the runways at Fashion Week!

Is your hair unruly this time of year? Cybelesays recommends a few to get your strands to behave!

Beauty and Fashion Tech is giving away a C&C California T-Shirt in Size Medium!

Girl Gloss is having a contest for Size Small C&C California T-shirt!

Beauty Junkie in SF found out that others have a love/hate relationship with Urban Decay's Primer Potion! YouTube is a crazy thing.

See what hair products The Makeup Divas uses, recommends and reviews, to keep hair in tip top condition.

Rouge Deluxe has the scoop on Shu Uemura's Holiday collection!

If you think you have to spend TONS of money for quality products, think again! Beauty Banter uncovers the 5 most fabulous drugstore body scrubs for under 10 bucks!

Makeup Moxie dishes on the new Cargo PlantLove Collection.

Check out Beauty in Real Life's interview with Pamela Pekerman, fashion accessories expert and founder of bagtrends.com. Find out about her must haves for fall.

makeup loves me takes you behind the scenes and backstage at baby phat!

Spoiled Pretty is hosting a fashtastic giveaway. Enter to win products from Urban Decay's fall 2008 collection...plus a sinfully chic Ananas clutch to put them in!!!

Worried about aging lips? 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic has a great new anti-aging lip product, coming soon to your drugstore!

Pursebuzz.com does an in depth review of the Givenchy Phenomen’Eyes Mascara. Is it love or bust?

Luxasia Warehouse Sale

I was excited to read on Cozycot about a Luxasia warehouse sale starting today at SAFRA Toa Payoh, just 20 minutes from my new flat so of course I had to make a trip down first thing in the morning! In previous years when I was living in Tokyo, I could only watch from afar as cotters posted their amazing hauls from Luxasia sales in Singapore. Luxasia distributes brands like Stila, Ipsa, Givenchy, Guerlain as well as many prestige fragrance brands such as Annick Goutal so I was looking forward to scoring some deals at the sale where discounts were up to 70%.

Here's a pic of my haul (total damage: $213, which wasn't too bad since I had gone with a budget of $400 in mind)



I arrived a few minutes before 11am with my mom in tow and the sale was already on-going with no queue at the entrance. The staff gave two white plastic bags to each customer, one to put your handbag in (which is then sealed with a plastic strap) and another for you to put items that you want to purchase. I was disappointed to discover that there were a few makeup brands such as Guerlain, YSL, Stila, Ipsa, By Terry.

Ipsa had some liquid and cream foundations, single eyeshadows, Aurora Charm palette from last Christmas. I picked up a makeup set with an Optimum Balance VIII4 e/s quad, Optimum Balance Lip Palette VII1 and a white pouch for $48. The pouch is made of a very soft, almost buttery leather-like material.





Stila had several palettes like the round trios from last Christmas, couple of Front Cover Look palettes, Belle of the Ball palette and various makeup sets, single e/s etc but I already have a ton of Stila which I've been neglecting recently so I skipped it all. Skincare brands available were Carita, Decleor, Phytomer, Guerlain. My mom got a 1-litre Phytomer HydraContinule Comforting Toning Lotion for the amazing price of $10!

The bulk of the warehouse sale was fragrances, most of which were going for 50-70% off the original retail price. The brands available include Sarah Jessica Parker (Lovely Liquid Satin and Lovely Shimmer, a 3-piece Covet set was going for only $40), J Lo (various versions of Glow, with a Glow shower gel going for only $10), Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Burberry, Annick Goutal (around $35 each, which seemed like a great deal but none appealed to me), Roxy, Vera Wang, March Jacobs (Ivy & Violet Splashes were $60 each; also saw Blush but no Daisy), Guerlain, Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney (only the 7.5ml EDP), Acqua di Parma, Bulgari, Ferragamo, Paul Smith, Thierry Mugler (lots of Angel), and more.

I gave myself a headache from sniffing way too many fragrances but there were just so many brands available that it was kind of overwhelming. In the end, I got a Vera Wang EDP 50ml with Body Lotion 100ml set ($60, usual price is $132), Vera Wang Princess set with EDT 50ml, satiny body lotion 75ml, foamy body polish 75ml, roller ball edt 3ml in a cute plastic case ($50) and Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Angelique-Lilas 125ml ($45).






I also received these freebies in my bag: Bulgari Black EDT 1.5ml, Bulgari Black EDT 1.6ml, Lanvin Vetyver EDT 1.5ml, Nautica Refreshing Body Wash 30ml, Zirh Restore Herbal Under Eye Cream 3ml and Nickel Super Clean Scrubbing Gel 2ml.



It wasn't horribly crowded as the sale is in a large spacious hall and there was enough space to browse leisurely, although the makeup brands do tend to have many women gathering in front to try out stuff. The products were displayed neatly with testers for almost everything. If you're a POSB Everyday cardholder, you can get a Britney Spears Believe 30ml with purchase of $200. They had another GWP for Safra members but I can't remember what. I did have to wait quite awhile when queueing up to pay at the cashier but the Luxasia staff are very nice and helpful. For example, there was no tester of the Guerlain Angelique Lilas perfume but the SA opened up a new box for me to try, which I really appreciated.

All in all, this is probably worth going only if you like fragrances. The sale is on from 11am to 8pm today until Sunday at the SAFRA multi-purpose hall in Toa Payoh (about 15 min walk from the MRT). If you bought anything there, do let me know in the comments! :-)

Shu Uemura New Release

New promo images for Shu Uemura's new line of Rouge Unlimited Cream Matte lipsticks (3150yen, 12 shades), Phyto Black Lift Renewing Firming Night Cream (12,600yen) and Phyto Black Lift Anti-Wrinkle Eye and Lip Contour Cream (7875yen) which will be released on 3 October in Japan. Shu Uemura will also add 5 new shades of Pressed Eyeshadow N (2415yen) in M802 Beige, M804 Beige, M871 Brown, M872 Brown and P873 Brown.

Jill Stuart LE Skincare

Jill Stuart will release two limited edition items on 10 October in Japan. Fruit Lip Balm (Tint Color) (1575yen, 7g) is a tinted lip balm made with moisturising ingredients such as strawberry juice, raspberry extract, macadamia nut oil, orange oil, shea butter, grapeseed oil and peach kernel oil. It will be available in 4 shades (that are scented accordingly), 101 Strawberry Tint, 102 Peach Tint, 103 Orange Tint and 104 Grape Tint. Each shade comes in a pot studded with a rhinestone in the respective color.




Fruits Hand Cream (2520yen, 72g) will be released in a LE packaging that features a cute "Jill Girl" illustration by Hiroshi Kato. The cream contains strawberry juice, raspberry extract, shea butter, royal jelly and carrot oil.



I haven't tried the Lip Balm and Fruits Hand Cream from the regular line before so I can't say how good they are. If I had to pick, I would get the Lip Balm which is quite affordable and you can re-use the pretty container. The Fruits Hand Cream tube is gorgeous but since it can't be re-used, it seems pointless to me as you'll have to decide whether to throw it out after finishing it or just keep it around even though it's useless once the cream is gone.

Givenchy Le Soin Noir

Le Soin Noir, Givenchy's contribution to the battle of premium skin creams, will land in Japan on 24 October. Priced at 39,900yen (about USS$380) for 50ml, it boasts an exclusive Vital Black Algae Sap Concentrate that claims to have restorative powers. The algae was chosen thanks to its ability to survive in hostile environments. It contains a molecule that is said to help cells connect and communicate with each other. Once applied on skin, the black pigment disappears so there's no worry of looking like your face is dirty.



This will retail for 220pounds in the UK and 290 euros in France.

Prima Vista Creamy Compact Foundation

Prima Vista will debut a new foundation for fall on 14 October in Japan. The new Creamy Compact Foundation promises a radiant finish when viewed from all angles and the ability to hide skin discolorations. It has SPF33 PA++ and will retail for 2940yen for the refill and 1050yen for the case.



I'm still not feeling any love for Prima Vista, which looks a bit too safe and boring for my tastes.

Est Holiday '08

Est will release the following limited edition items for Holiday '08:

1. Diamond Splash Eyes (6300yen: eyeshadow palette with 3 shades with 'diamond shimmer'. Looks quite pretty!



2. Body Care Original Gift Box (9975yen, 21 Nov): includes the basil and lavender-scented Metabolic Spa Bath Soak (70g x 8 sachets), Body Refining Cream 180g in a gift box

Coffret D'Or Holiday '08

Coffret D'Or will launch its first ever limited edition products this holiday season on 16 November in Japan. The Party Makeup Collection features two palettes that each include 3 powder eyeshadows and 3 lip colors in a rhinestone-studded long rectangular case modelled on party clutch bags. The design reminds me of Lavshuca's 6-eyeshadow palettes that were released in summer earlier thia year, which is not that surprising as both Coffret D'Or and Lavshuca are owned by Kanebo, but I'm sure the Coffret D'Or palettes will be priced higher than the Lavshuca palettes which were 1890yen.



Sweet Dress palette features a princessy purple and pink theme while Noble Dress features a more refined palette of grey, gold and beige tones. The three eyeshadows comprise a base shade, a sparkley shimmer shade and a dark shade while the three lip colors include a glossy lip color, a shimmery gloss and a more pigmented lip color.

Aube to be discontinued?

Yet another brand bites the dust... I just read on 2Channel that come December, Aube will be revamped and replaced as a new brand, to be called "Eternal Aube" with the spokesmodel rumoured to be Japanese model Shiho. It's always sad to see familiar brands like Aube, T'estimo, Raycious go but I guess, as the Chinese saying goes, if the old don't go, the new won't arrive.

Aube has been one of my favourite Japanese drugstore brands for the past couple of years, starting with their Jewellery Shower Eyes line. Like any major brand, they have hits and misses in their line-up and I haven't purchased anything from Aube for awhile now. But I always liked its youthful feminine and cheerful image and products that had a greater sense of fun than the more mature brand positioning of, say, Maquillage and Coffret D'Or.

Love Clover Popchu Gloss

The Love Clover website has been updated with the new line of Popchu Glosses (1260yen, 9g). Popchu Gloss is touted as a natural, easy-to-use lipgloss packed with royal jelly extract, marine collagen and palmitoyl oligopeptide to give the look of 'pure, juicy lips'. The applicator is a plastic spatula.

It is available in 3 shades, Champagne Clear (with soda candy scent), Vanilla Beige (with orange candy scent) and Strawberry Pink (with strawberry candy scent).

Urban Decay & Tarte Holiday '08

It is only mid-September but the first of the holiday collections has already started showing up in stores and online. Anyone else feel like this year has passed way too fast?

Urban Decay's holiday collection has landed on Sephora.com. We first got wind of the Book of Shadows (US$45) from this Sephora blog post. It's truly a beauty although I'm not sure how practical the 3D pop up is as it looks like it could get in the way of using the mirror. Touted as the largest (and most unique) palette Urban Decay has ever offered, it contains eight best-selling shadows and eight exclusive new shades plus 2 brushes and a mini Primer Potion.



The shades are Perversion (matte black), Last Call (plum punch), Grifter (sheer lavender with lots of silver microglitter), Mayhem (deep purple), Baked (rich bronze), Smog (deep coppery bronze), Sidecar (bronze sparkle), Gridlock (medium brown), Shakedown (shimmering taupe), Roach (deep brown with reddish sheen), Scandal (peachy-pink), Midnight Cowboy (golden beige with gold glitter), Goddess (midnight blue with lots of electric blue microglitter), Shattered (bright green/blue shift), Absinthe (electric green), Protest (dark green). I have a weakness for anything with a butterfly pattern so I'm seriously tempted by this!

Next up is Sustainable Shadow Box (US$36) which contains ten best-selling eyeshadows, an eco-friendly and cruelty-free brush, and a mini Primer Potion in a lacquered case, constructed from sustainable materials. The shades are YDK, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Flipside, Flash, Grifter, Oil Slick, Uzi, Kiddie Pool, Twice Baked and Half Baked.



Best Of Urban Set (US$32) contains Half Baked eyeshadow, Baked Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner, and travel-size versions of 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in 24/7 and mini Primer Potion.



24/7 Travel Size Set Of 5 - VIP (US$29) includes five 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils in Zero (zealous black), Lucky (brilliant deep copper), Covet (peacock green), Electric (bright aquamarine), and Lust (plush purple). The Velvet Rope set features Yeyo (metallic white), 1999 (plum with teeny gold glitter), Zero (zealous black), Bourbon (brown with teeny gold glitter), and Stash (dark green/gold)



I'm also waiting impatiently for Tarte's holiday collection. According to the Sephora blog post, there will be a Tarte The Vanity which is a vintage-inspired kit with a ginormous mirror, packed with 16 all new shadows, 16 all new lipglosses, 4 new blushes, bronzer, mini mascara, brushes and more. It sounds very similar to last year's We Wish You Wealth palette, which I had reviewed last November. I hope that Tarte has listened to its customers' feedback and done away with the awkward swivel packaging. I just used the palette again this morning and had great difficulty trying to hold it with one hand.

I also came across this pic on Ebay of a set of three mini cheekstains that I suspect will be in the holiday collection. Looks super glitzy!

Dick Page x Marc Jacobs

Check out this Allure Backstage video featuring makeup maestro Dick Page at the Marc Jacobs show where he bleached the models' eyebrows until they looked invisible!

Paul & Joe, Maquillage, Lunasol & Esprique Precious Holiday

Here's some info on upcoming holiday releases by some Japanese brands.

Paul & Joe will launch two Fragrance Kits on 7 November, a Green Floral (rose, cassis and lily of the valley) and Floriental (notes of jasmine, rose and lilac). Each Kit contains a Fragrance Body Cream 60ml, Fragrance Body Powder 25g and a Solid Fragrance 6g plus a mini pouch (20cm x 16cm). These will retail for 6825yen each. I hope these make it to Singapore as I'd definitely love to get both!



Maquillage's holiday collection which will be released on 21 November in Japan.

1. Jewelling Palettes: two palettes which include eyeshadows and face colors (4200yen)

2. Jewel Rich Gel: can be used as face color or body makeup (2100yen)

3. Dramatical Jewel Liner: in 2 shades (2625yen)

Lunasol will launch their annual holiday makeup coffret set on 15 November. The set will include the usual shimmery beige/brown/bronze eyeshadow quad and party clutch bag. This year's palette is reportedly from the Lighting For Eyes series, which is a boring choice for me. I'd much rather see a palette from Geminate Eyes or Sheer Contrast Eyes.

Esprique Precious will also release a makeup set (3675yen) on 16 November that includes Eye Color Selection palette with 3 shades, a black Pencil Eyeliner (half size), lipgloss (half size) and nail polish (half size), all in limited edition shades.

Shu Uemura Holiday '08

If you liked Shu Uemura's 25th Boutique Birthday collection with the 7-colour eyeshadow palettes, I'm sure you will be just as incredibly excited as I was to see these pics from Voce of Shu Uemura's Holiday '08 collection!



The collection is a collaboration with popular Japanese photographer Ninagawa Mika and it features floral-themed prints by Mika on the covers of the palettes. It looks like there will be 3 palettes, a brush set, a traincase and some lipsticks in the collection. The red rose print may be a bit too gaudy for some people's tastes but I like the vibrant hues of this collection, definitely a good break from the usual gold/silver palette that has been done to death in holiday collections. Shu is at its best when it does collaborations with Japanese artists. My pink Shu by Ai cleansing oil bottle still occupies pride of place on my bathroom shelf!



According to her website diary, Mika will be visiting Taiwan for a PR event for the holiday collection to be held at SOGO Zhung-Xiao Event Venue in SOGO department on 12 September.

Check out Mika's official website here!

Estee Lauder Holiday '08

Further to my earlier post on Estee Lauder's press preview event in Tokyo for the holiday collection, here are some more pics from Biteki.com from the event. There will be 9 designs available in the collection, which will be released on 7 November. Biteki's pick is the Beautiful Nesting Doll which will retail for a whopping 37,800yen. The gingerbreadman solid perfume compact looks adorable!

Bea's Up October

The October issue of Bea's Up features pop star Ayumi Hamasaki (in her usual blonde glamour princess getup)on the cover, along with features on reviews of the new Autumn/Winter foundations, drugstore makeup priced under 2222yen and techniques for making one's eyes look bigger.






The November issue due out on 11 October will have the scoop on Christmas coffrets, reportedly earlier than any other beauty mags. I'll be looking forward to that!

Stila Holiday '08

Check out this Japanese website's report on the press preview event for Stila's holiday collection. The pictures are too small to provide any detail on the shades. But it doesn't look too exciting to me, compared to last year when Stila put out Asia-exclusive eyeshadow trios and blush duos.

1. Day to Night Palette set (7 Nov, 5775yen): with the recorded tutorial
2. Shining Party Bag set (21 Nov, 9975yen): glitter eyeliner & gold face powder
3. Holiday Cheek Duo (21 Nov, 3675yen): baked cheek duo
4. Holiday Special Can (5 Dec, 6090yen): long T-shirt and lipglaze in a can
5. Smudge Pot Trio (5 Dec, 4095yen)
6. Mini Lipglaze Set (12 Dec, 7560yen): 4 existing shades and 2 new LE shades

Recent non-makeup acquisitions!

Did a fair bit of shopping over the past week and these are what I picked up :-)

From Swatch: Menthol Tone watch with baby pink, light blue and clear crystals. I thought this was a steal at only S$99, much cheaper than many other Swatch watches that are usually priced around $159.



From Accessorize: a set of pink and turquoise hair clips (S$10.90) to go with the set that I already have in black and white. I love it when fashion/accessory companies come up with different shades of a great design each season so you can build a collection over time. For example, I have an Adidas by Stella McCartney exercise top in five different colours that I collected over the first few seasons of the Adidas by Stella McCartney line. Unfortunately, they've stopped producing that particular style.



From Zara: Spotted someone wearing this silk dress in a mall and I was immediately smitten. Fast forward a few days later, and I couldn't believe my good luck when I found the dress in Zara where it's part of the Fall/Winter '08 collection that features many billowy silk tops and dresses. I can't remember the exact price but think it was around S$150. My mother absolutely hates it when I buy clothes in such delicate fabrics as they are a pain to clean and iron but I just couldn't resist snapping this one up when I found it. I haven't had the chance to wear it yet but you know how some clothes are so lovely, you're happy just looking at it hanging in your closet? :-)



Love the pocket detail...


And the Japanese cherry blossom print!