(image from www.suqqu.com/japan.html)
Over the years, SUQQU has been going beyond consistently good quality, exquisitely sophisticated colors, and stunning promotional images. It continues to come up with new product designs (such as Clear Veil Powder, reviewed later on) and strengthen an existing makeup concept.
The new Contour Shadows, available in 5 shades, are a great example of how a brand takes on a makeup concept, explores it, and comes up with its own unique interpretation and wearable products. Also, this is a collection where products for a relatively peripheral purpose take center stage (and very deservedly so).
Contour Shadows are part of SUQQU’s spring 2009 makeup collection, which is inspired by the colors of cherry blossoms. They are worn under the brow bones to accentuate the eyes and highlight the brow bones. The uniqueness of these items is that they are all with varying degrees and tones of pink. The idea is to create a fresh, delicate and youthful look for the eye area with a pink-toned shade.
This idea immediately intrigues me. Some people use a frosty silvery shade to highlight the brow bones. The look can be quite harsh and severe, as it overtakes rather than accentuates the eye area. The three shades below effectively highlight the brow bones and enhance the dimension of the eye area, but they all have a very natural and delicate finish.
(Contour Shadow in 02)
While an usual brow highlighter can perform just as well in nearly all aspects,
a pink-toned highlighter seems to infuse a lovely and fresh vividness in the eye area (and even in the whole face) which the usual white-toned, silver-toned or fleshed-toned brow highlighters are not able to bring out.
(Contour Shadow in 01)
(Contour Shadow in EX-02 (limited-edition))
All three shades are (almost precisely) pigmented in such a way that they never look too bright or harsh (even if you are quite heavy-handed with them). At the same time, they can be layered to create subtly different degrees of intensity to go with your overall makeup looks (especially with 02).
The brush in the compact has very soft hair and is nicely-shaped to do the job it is supposed to do. With very minimal effort, it dispenses the product very gently and evenly and leaves no demarcation lines.
If you would like to try one shade from the Contour Shadow range, I would definitely recommend 02. It is the shade that represents this range and it is more difficult to find the same shade (with the same finish and pigmentation level) from other brands.
Overall, these items truly exemplify the attention to detail in Japanese cosmetics (which is also a reflection of the Japanese culture). To come up with a new product range with five shades just for the brow bones almost defies the current economic climate where beauty companies try to come up with products that work for all complexions and where many consumers opt for multi-purposed products. But for a makeup fan like me, it is almost as if SUQQU shared the meticulous passion for the right product for one very specific purpose.SUQQU’s spring 2009 makeup collection is out now in Japan and will be available in London’s Selfridges from March 5th. (Check the SUQQU global website for the spring 2009 collection event from the 5th to the 8th.)
Next week, I will be reviewing more items from the collection.
Related posts:
SUQQU Creamy Lipstick in 22
SUQQU Makeup Base Creamy & Brightup
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Those are so pretty! Love the sleek, sober packaging :)
Hi Eru,
I really like SUQQU’s packaging as well. The inner panel, as you can see, is black. But the cover has a very deep violet shade. Quite stunning and sophisticated.
Thank you for stopping by again! :)
I bought contour 02 during the event last week, and it is beautiful.
Spring 09 is a lovely collection – bet you bought quad 10 ;)
Hi Lydia,
I am glad you like the Contour Shadow in 02, and I hope you will enjoy using it. :)
(I didn’t have a chance to be at the SUQQU counter for the spring collection event. I hope you had a good time there.)
Please kindly note that the post titles with the word “review” indicate articles on products provided by beauty companies. (Please refer to the disclosure statement at the end of my blog homepage.) I have actually been testing Blend Eyeshadow in 10, which is also provided by the company. I will be reviewing it tomorrow.
Thank you for posting your comment! :)