Essence Hugs & Kisses and New Catrice Eyeshadows

For Valentine's Day, Essence has released this Hugs & Kisses collection. Essence seems to be very fond of bright lime in its recent collections.

"Love at first sight? Guaranteed! With the new trend edition “Hugs & Kisses”, all the girls are sure to fall in love with the cool and colorful beauty products by Essence in January and February 2013. The colors in this trend edition are super fun and will definitely put you in the mood for Valentine’s Day: bright lemon and pink combined with intensive red and purple are guaranteed to impress! Love struck or not, these unique products will make your heart go boom: an eyeshadow palette and a blush in a great l.o.v.e. design, lashes, stylish lip products and an awesome eau de toilette – the it-pieces in the “hugs & kisses” collection are sure to make the hearts of all trendsetters beat a little bit faster. xoxo essence!"

It's quite a varied collection that includes a fragrance, an eyeshadow quad, four nail polishes and four glitter top coats, nail stickers, false lashes, lip scrub, two lip tint and a blush with a 'LOVE' print.

I also found the Vintage District collection on display, but sadly it was missing the Multi-Color Blush 01 It's Popul-art, which was the only piece that I was interested in.


Also new on the shelves is New In Town, which includes new eyeshadows, nail polishes in purple and fluorescent green, plus an All-in-one BB Cream in two shades, and Stays No Matter What 24h Volume Mascara.

Came home with these lovelies.

Glitter Topper polishes in 01 More Than Words (left) and 02 Dreams For Sale (right).


Glitter Eyeliners in 01 With X's and o's (purple and silver holographic) and 02 Love's Out To Get You (white holographic).


Duo Lipstick & Gloss in 01 Vintage Peach.


Both Essence and its more grown-up sister brand, Catrice have just refreshed their line-ups with a massive slew of new products - see details on Essence here and Catrice here. From Catrice, I picked up the new Absolute Nude Eyeshadow Palette, and two Absolute Eye Color Mono in 640 Don't Touch My Mosserati and 650 Petrol Shop Boys. Like Essence, Catrice comes up with the most amusing shade names!

Absolute Nude contains 6g and is made in China.

The eyeshadows come in a clear lucite packaging, very similar to Shu Uemura's previous eyeshadow singles. Don't Touch My Mosserati is a rich metallic mossy green with gold reflects.

Petrol Shop Boys, which is made in Poland, is a satin muted turquoise with sparse silver reflects. This feels dryer and less velvety to touch than Don't Touch My Mosserati, which is made in Germany. These hold 2g of product, which is generous compared to MAC's 1.5g.

By Terry Hyaluronic Sheer Rouge Swatches

By Terry has just released the Sheer Inspiration collection for Spring 2013 over here.

The new Hyaluronic Sheer Rouge is described as a melt-in lipstick balm that moisturizes, fills in wrinkles and fine lines, boosts volume, smoothes and protects the lips in a “plumping glossy” colored veil. It contains hyaluronic acid filling spheres to re-plump and fill in lines, “Crystal-Color” micro-pigments for pure and luminous color, and UV filters for sun protection.

Available in 10 shades, these come with a pretty hefty price tag of €29 for 3g. Nevertheless, half of the shades were already out at stock at the Sephora (France) store that I went to.

These have a lovely glossy texture that feel very comfortable and hydrating. There is no shimmer or glitter. Shades #1 to #4, and #9 are ultra-sheer though, and give just the barest hint of color. The other shades, like #6 Party Girl, #7 Bang Bang, #8 Hot Spot and #10 Berry Boom are much more well-pigmented.

At this price point, I would choose the more intense shades, as any ordinary lip balm would given you pretty much the same effect as the super sheer shades. Of the ten, I was drawn to #6 Party Girl, a pretty rosy pink, and #8 Hot Spot, a juicy cheerful coral.

If you like YSL Rouge Volupte Shine, chances are you will like Sheer Rouge as well. Another similar product is Tom Ford Lip Color Shine (US$48, 10 shades) which has been reviewed on Best Things In Beauty.

Zuneta Code

Use the code VALENTINE for a 20% discount on Zuneta.com from now until 14 February. It's a great time to splurge on Rouge Bunny Rouge and Hourglass which are usually phenomenally expensive.

Coffret D'Or Spring 2013

Coffret D'Or will release a small spring makeup collection on 16 April in Japan. It includes four limited edition shades of Rouge Essence lipstick and two limited edition shades of Smile Up Cheeks in 07 Rose Pink and 08 Peach Beige.

Both Rouge Essence and Smile Up Cheeks have notched up impressive sales. Smile Up Cheeks has sold 1.36 million in the fourteen months following its launch in December 2011 while Rouge Essence sold 72,000 units in just two months since its introduction in December 2012.

Les Merveilleuses by Ladurée New Counters

Les Merveilleuses by Ladurée is set to open another three counters in Japan. As usual, each counter will offer exclusive limited edition Face Color Rose Ladurée (Mini) in three box designs and three blush shades.

Isetan in Shinjuku, Tokyo on 27 February

Iwataya in Fukuoka on 27 February

Haikaradou, Lumine in Oomiya, Saitama on 1 March

New Releases by Shu Uemura, Lancome, YSL, Jill Stuart, Suqqu, RMK and Majolica Majorca

More pics of the Ob for Shu Uemura Sakura collection can be viewed on Kyoko Iida, Abe Sawako, Chiaki Niimi and Tekumaku. The four characters pictured in the collection are the Moon Princess (yellow), Sakura Princess (pink), Sea Princess (blue) and Green Princess (green). Due out on 20 March in Japan and in April in Singapore. Pic below from Spur.






Lancome will release a new Mat Miracle 24h liquid foundation SPF15 (5250yen, 30ml) in 8 shades in on 29 March in Japan. Utilising Lancome's Aura technology, this matte foundation is fragrance-free and long-lasting. See another pic tweeted by More.

Below is the new ad visual featuring Ginta Lapina for YSL's Asia-exclusive Teint Radiant Touch UV liquid foundation SPF30 PA++ and Teint Radiant Touch Compact SPF35 PA+++ (6930yen) to be released on 8 March in Japan. It looks like there will be 6 shades available in Japan, and 8 shades in Taiwan. These are specially designed for Asian skin which is more prone to oiliness in the humid weather.


All Made Up/ Nowhere to Go has swatches of the new Suqqu spring collection. See pics of Blend Color Eyeshadow EX11 Sumiredama in Voce, as well as here and here.

Jill Stuart will release a new Aqua Chiffon Protector SPF50+ PA+++ (2940yen) and Shimmer Body Protector SPF50+ PA+++ (2940yen) on 1 March in Japan, together with the new Everlasting Silk Foundation. The Aqua Chiffon Protector has a light gel texture and is designed for use on the face. See the pics on Abe Sawako.

RMK will release a new Smoothing Stick SPF14 PA+ (2625yen, 5.8g) for concealing pores, Control Color UV SPF30 (3675yen, 30ml, 3 shades) and 2 new shades of their Super Basic Liquid Concealer SPF28 PA++ (3675yen, 1.8g) on 8 March in Japan. See the pics on Iida Kyoko.

See pics of the Majolica Majorca Secret Blink collection press event in Taiwan on Iswii.net.

LeSportSac 2013 Spring/Summer Mook

To commemorate its 25th anniversary in Japan, LeSportSac will release a 2013 Spring/Summer mook (1380yen) in three versions on 28 February. Each mook includes a bag measuring 25.5x16.10cm with nine pockets.

Style 1 Hello Daisy



Style 2 Bow



Style 3 Dot



Earlier LeSportSac mooks: 2012 Spring/Summer, 2011 Spring/Summer, 2010 Spring/Summer and 2009.

On the publisher Takarajima's website, a Jill Stuart Stationery Set Book is slated for release in late March.

Starbucks Japan Sakura Collection 2013

Here are pics of Starbucks' annual Sakura collection of tumblers and mugs that will be released in Japan on 15 February. I don't know if this will be available in other countries.

It includes (from left to right in pic above):
* Bottle Case 1400yen
* Tumbler 8oz(240ml) 1500yen
* Tumbler 12oz(350ml) 1600yen
* Mug 350ml 1300yen
* Collectible Demi Sakura 110ml 700yen
* Water Bottle 590ml 1900yen
* Stainless Color Tumbler 12oz(350ml) 3200yen
* Stainless Create Your Tumbler 16oz(470ml) 2700yen
* Ball Cookie Mini Tote 980yen

Links to previous collections: 2012, 2011 and 2010 (also here).

Ob for Shu Uemura

Hop on over to Kuri's Beauty Report for pics of the Ob for Shu Uemura Sakura collection that will be launched on 20 March in Japan. The flagship Shu boutique in Omotesando, Tokyo, will have an exclusive advance release on 22 February. It's a massive collection that includes:

- Cleansing Oils in Fresh Gentle, High Performance, Premium A/O Advanced and Brightening Gentle (7875yen - 9450yen for 450ml)

- UV Under Base Mousse in Pink Purple, BB Beige, Beige and Pink (3990yen - 4200yen)

- eight new pressed eyeshadows in basic matte and matte pastel tones (1890yen)

- three Rouge Unlimited Supreme Shine lipsticks in Coral, Sakura Pink and Dream Orange (3150yen)

- foundation case (1050yen)

- Custom Case II (525yen)

- false eyelashes in two designs (2310yen)

Looks like this is going to be a wallet-breaker!

RMK Creative Director Rumiko's Departure

Rumiko, the Creative Director of RMK, will complete her contract with the brand this July. Her last collection for the brand will be the Fall 2013 collection. A new Creative Director will be introduced with the Spring 2014 collection. This is quite a surprise considering that RMK just marked its 15th anniversary last year. Since its debut in 1997, RMK has grown to 101 counters in Japan and 49 counters in 7 countries outside of Japan. After Shu Uemura, it is probably the most well-known and successful Japanese makeup artist brand.

According to this interview, Rumiko said that she was approached to start the brand after she did a 15-part makeup series in Spur magazine, photographed by Michael Thompson. She came up with the brand's bestselling iconic Liquid Foundation after seeing many Japanese women using a thick layer of foundation. RMK's Liquid Foundation has known for its beautifully natural finish. Comprising about 60% water, the formula has remained virtually unchanged in 15 years.