Disclaimer: Product featured was provided for review.
New for Spring 2015, Shu Uemura has released a 16-pan nude shadow palette designed especially for Asian women to help bring dimension and definition to their eyes, The Shu:Palette ($105 CAD) comes with 16 drool-worthy shadows in various finishes and the palette also includes a duo-ended shadow brush. It may be marketed towards Asian ladies but I think everyone will fall in love with this one, to see some swatches and my thoughts, click.......
Packaging:
The Shu:Palette comes in a fairly large rectangular black (23x10x1.5cm) plastic compact. The plastic has a matte finish and the Shu Uemura logo is printed in grey. The design is fairly simple with a click button closure that securely shuts the palette. Inside there is a large mirror and a slot that stores the duo-ended brush. The shadows come in individual pans and there is a foam insert that keeps them apart. I love the overall design but I noticed that some of the shadow pans do kind of tilt back and forth in their slots. It turns out that the pans are adhered to the palette using a squishy type of glue; so therefore I wish Shu used a more solid adhesive to keep the pans in place.
Each shadow in the palette is 1.4 g, which makes this palette an amazing value because 1.4 g shadow refills from Shu Uemura costs $19 CAD each, giving just the shadows in this palette an approximate value of $304 CAD.
The duo-ended brush that comes with the palette features synthetic bristles. One end is designed for patting on the shadow all over the lid and the other for applying shadows to the corners and lash lines.
Formulation:
This palette has a huge variety of neutral shades with different finishes. Each shade is given a number between one and three to indicate its intensity. The makeup artists at Shu Uemura recommends applying the shades in a gradient starting with the lightest shade (shade 1's) all over the base and eventually concentrating the darkest shade (shade 3's) near the lash line to create a three-dimensional effect that will especially benefit Asian eyes.
I am honestly in love with almost all of the shades in the palette. Except for a few of the light mattes that are decent but not stunning, all of the shades are incredibly creamy and pigmented.
G 821: Super shimmery pale gold glitter. This one is fairly sheer, mostly shimmers and glitters; it makes a great inner corner highlight.
M 814: Matte pale neutral nude. Great formulation and pigmentation.
ME 825: Soft metallic golden beige. The formulation is very buttery and creamy.
ME 856: Metallic mauve-y brown. The texture is so dreamy and the pigmentation is amazing!
M 851: Beautiful matte beige brown. The formulation is very soft and creamy.
ME 862: Warm coppery brown metallic, the shadow feels super buttery and the color is opaque in one swipe.
IR 811: This is a gorgeous pale gold metallic shimmer. The formulation is soft and creamy. Another great inner corner highlight.
IR 690: A dark blue metallic satin, this is one of my favorite colors in the color. The pigmentation and the formulation are just top-notch!
M 813: Matte pale pink, this has a nice and soft formulation.
P 823: This is a shimmery soft golden brown. The shadow is super buttery and pigmented.
S 915: A pink nude with soft golden shimmers, this one has an ok pigmentation and texture.
P 822: This is a soft peach satin with golden shimmer flecks. The formulation is a bit too soft.
P 875: Probably one of the best shadow formulation I've seen, this shade is a bronzey brown metallic with golden shimmers.
M 895: This is a dark chocolate brown matte, the formulation is decent.
ME 471: Very pretty warm silver. Amazing pigmentation and amazing formulation!
M 990: Simple matte black, this one actually has a relatively nice formulation compared to other matte blacks I've tried in the past. Disregard the golden shimmers in the swatch, the shadow is completely matte. The shimmers got carried from some of the other shades, oops.
Overall:
The Shu:Palette comes in a fairly large rectangular black (23x10x1.5cm) plastic compact. The plastic has a matte finish and the Shu Uemura logo is printed in grey. The design is fairly simple with a click button closure that securely shuts the palette. Inside there is a large mirror and a slot that stores the duo-ended brush. The shadows come in individual pans and there is a foam insert that keeps them apart. I love the overall design but I noticed that some of the shadow pans do kind of tilt back and forth in their slots. It turns out that the pans are adhered to the palette using a squishy type of glue; so therefore I wish Shu used a more solid adhesive to keep the pans in place.
Each shadow in the palette is 1.4 g, which makes this palette an amazing value because 1.4 g shadow refills from Shu Uemura costs $19 CAD each, giving just the shadows in this palette an approximate value of $304 CAD.
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| Shu:Palette |
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| Shu:Palette |
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| Shu:Palette |
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| Duo-Ended Shadow Brush |
This palette has a huge variety of neutral shades with different finishes. Each shade is given a number between one and three to indicate its intensity. The makeup artists at Shu Uemura recommends applying the shades in a gradient starting with the lightest shade (shade 1's) all over the base and eventually concentrating the darkest shade (shade 3's) near the lash line to create a three-dimensional effect that will especially benefit Asian eyes.
I am honestly in love with almost all of the shades in the palette. Except for a few of the light mattes that are decent but not stunning, all of the shades are incredibly creamy and pigmented.
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| The shades are divided according to intensity. |
M 814: Matte pale neutral nude. Great formulation and pigmentation.
ME 825: Soft metallic golden beige. The formulation is very buttery and creamy.
ME 856: Metallic mauve-y brown. The texture is so dreamy and the pigmentation is amazing!
ME 862: Warm coppery brown metallic, the shadow feels super buttery and the color is opaque in one swipe.
IR 811: This is a gorgeous pale gold metallic shimmer. The formulation is soft and creamy. Another great inner corner highlight.
IR 690: A dark blue metallic satin, this is one of my favorite colors in the color. The pigmentation and the formulation are just top-notch!
P 823: This is a shimmery soft golden brown. The shadow is super buttery and pigmented.
S 915: A pink nude with soft golden shimmers, this one has an ok pigmentation and texture.
P 822: This is a soft peach satin with golden shimmer flecks. The formulation is a bit too soft.
M 895: This is a dark chocolate brown matte, the formulation is decent.
ME 471: Very pretty warm silver. Amazing pigmentation and amazing formulation!
M 990: Simple matte black, this one actually has a relatively nice formulation compared to other matte blacks I've tried in the past. Disregard the golden shimmers in the swatch, the shadow is completely matte. The shimmers got carried from some of the other shades, oops.
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| Wearing ME 862 all over the lid with IR 811 on inner corner and lash line. P 875 on the inner corner. |
This is an absolute stunner and definitely one of the best, if not the best neutral palettes on the market, both in terms of quality and value. The metallics in here are to die for and the mattes provide a great balance to the shimmers and sheen. Although Shu Umeura's major clientele are Asian, I honestly see this as a great palette for anyone that loves neutral eyes.
Availability:
Shu Uemura is available online and in stores at The Bay, Sephora, and Holt Renfrew.
