Best Things in Beauty : FOTD with Shu Uemura Eye Shadows and comparison with ME945

Shu Uemura's new Color Atelier collection is now available at all counters in Singapore. Today, I tried out the "City Allure" palette, which was put together by renowned makeup artist Clarence Lee.

Comprising ME Light Pink 126, ME Medium Brown 856, M Light Beige 813 and ME Black 996, the palette is designed to be flattering and easy to wear for a wide variety of skin tones. The new eyeshadow pan design has done away with the gobs of glue that were previously used to hold the pans in the case.

The new pans are designed to slide easily into the tray, which has holes to allow one to pop up the pans easily.

The case covers the metal rims of the eyeshadow pans, so one need not worry about the pans falling out.

For this look, I used Urban Decay Primer Potion as the base. I applied ME126 as a wash over the browbone area, at the inner corners and along the lower lashline. Next, I applied ME856 from the lashline to the crease and the outer half of the lower lashline. I used ME996 at the outer corner of the upper lashline, angling it upwards.

I finished by lining the upper eyelid with Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Sequins and applying Etude House Henna Fix Proof 10 Mascara #1.

All three eyeshadows had good colour payoff and were easy to blend. Partly thanks to UDPP, they lasted more than 10 hours on me without any fading or creasing, even at the inner corners. ME Medium Brown 856 had a soft metallic glimmer while ME Black 996 has more of a satin finish, rather than metallic. I liked the fact that ME Black 996 is not crazily pigmented or powdery like Sleek's black eyeshadows. It allows one to build up to the desired intensity without having to deal with messy fallout on the under eye area like some of Sleek's eyeshadows. ME Light Pink 126 looked frosty when applied too heavily.

Some of you may be familiar with Shu Uemura's ME Silver 945, a discontinued shade that has reached cult status, thanks to devotees like the fabulous Pink Sith. A gorgeous silvery taupe, ME Silver 945 was dropped from the permanent line following the last revamp of the eyeshadows a few years ago.

Compared to ME945, the new ME Medium Brown 856 is a lighter shade of brown that lacks the richness and almost molten velvety consistency of ME945. Once you've swatched ME945 and felt its creamy richness, it becomes the gold standard by which you tend to measure all other eyeshadows (and few ever come close). ME856 replaces ME850 from the previous line (I don't have ME850 so I can't compare the two).