Suqqu and RMK Sale Haul from Selfridges

When Selfridges waived its hefty £25 postage fee for the holiday season, this finally pushed me into placing my first online order with them to the US. Previously, I avoided doing so after reading the horror stories posted on MakeupAlley by US-based members who had to provide their Social Security numbers and ingredients lists for every product in order to get their Selfridges parcels past US Customs. This seemed to occur at random as other US-based members did not face the same issues.

I placed my order on 1 January and it was despatched on 4 January by DHL, before landing on my doorstep on 5 January. Inside were Suqqu Christmas Kit A (reduced to £43 from £48), Blend Color Eyeshadow EX25 Yuuaoi (£45) and the RMK Christmas Kit 2015 (now at half price for just £27).


The great thing about shopping at Selfridges is that they automatically deduct the VAT for non-EU customers, so the Suqqu set was further reduced to £35.53, Yuuaoi to £37.50 while the RMK set was £22.37. It's a pity that the free shipping promotion has ended.


As mentioned before, I wasn't really a fan of the recent Christmas sets because of their inclusion of the eye makeup remover (any drugstore biphase remover works just as well) and the dinky tweed pouch but the palette and eyeliner will definitely get much use.


Shown below are Yuuaoi (left) and Eye Color Palette EX03 Aosaori. Typical of Suqqu, the color combinations look very easy to wear with a subtle shimmer.


The RMK kit also did not feel like a must-have because knowing RMK, the eyeshadow shades will likely be frustratingly ultra sheer. Nevertheless at half price, the set looks much more attractive as I do like their lipglosses and nail polishes.




I've also ordered the Suqqu UK-exclusive Kimono Duo from Harrods.com during their recent 10% off beauty promotion. This is supposed to arrive today by DHL. Harrods also charges a £25 shipping fee. After the VAT deduction and 10% discount, I paid £77.50 (versus the original £70 price tag of the Kimono set). Not bad considering that the duo is being offered as a member's gift by Suqqu Thailand for those spending over US$8200, which is insane. Harrods also has the UK-exclusive Beni Perfect Set with three lipsticks and a lip brush here.

Sephora and Beauty.com Sale Hauls

Recently, both Sephora (USA) and Beauty.com ran their 20% off sale events so I broke my no-buy to pick up some holiday sets. If you follow the MakeupAlley boards, you would have seen that the Sephora sale was a mess of poor communication and mismanagement, resulting in much unhappiness and board dramas. Rouge members got early access to the sale from 6-9 November, while VIB members could shop the sale from 13-16 November. Some Rouge members were unhappy that they could not shop the second sale for VIB members, so Sephora ended up making an exception on a case-by-case basis for those that complained.

I'm a Rouge member but sat out the first sale. On the last day of the VIB sale, I happened to drop in at my local Sephora and got drawn in by their wealth of Sephora Favourites sets. The Skin Wonderland (U.P.$68 with a value of $228) looked especially tempting with their array of 16 deluxe samples, mostly from high end brands. The SA readily agreed to give me the 20% off, so I ended up adding a few other items to my basket.

Some of these products are my tried-and-tested favourites like the Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist, SKII sheet mask, Kate Somerville ExfoliKate, Caudalie Divine Oil and Fresh Soy Face Cleanser. Also included are some much newer products that I've been wanting to try sch as Sunday Riley Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment, REN Keep Young and BeautifulInstant Firming Beauty Shot and Nude Skincare ProGenius Omega Treatment Rescue.

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit palette (U.P. $80) gets a lot of flack for containing less product (0.294oz) than one full-size Ambient Lighting Powder (0.35oz, $35). However, for someone who hasen't hit pan on any powder product in a decade, having a variety of shades to play with makes more sense. $80 is certainly a tad overpriced, but at 20% off, it becomes more palatable.

The Josie Maran Argan Enlightenment Illuminizing Trio (U.P. S$26 with a value of $44) contains deluxe mini sizes of the three illuminizers that she had earlier launched for Fall 2015. Again, it's a great way to sample the different formulas, and the generous sizes means that these can last even the most heavy-handed strobing devotee a long time.


From Beauty.com, I purchased several of Anna Sui's Holiday 2015 offerings as I loved this year's sets, especially the Makeup Box which is a relative steal at $22.

It's sturdy and well-made, with an embossed pattern on the lid. Anna Sui sold a black version some years ago, which had an additional inner tray that is lacking in this white box. That black case has held up very well over the years without any rusting or dents, so this white box leaped to the top of my holiday list.

The Moisturizing Care Kit (U.P. $20) is a nifty little set containing a tri-layered Nail Care Oil, Rose Hand Cream and lip balm.

Below is the Holiday Snow Collection 02 Thawed Heart (U.P. $59), which turned out to be much less orange toned than it looked online. The lipstick and blush usually retail for $30 and $36 individually. The box is surprisingly hefty and solidly constructed. This has sold out on Beauty.com.

The Paul & Joe holiday makeup coffrets were an easy pass for me, so I settled on one of their Luxurious Bath & Body Collection 01 Columbine (U.P. $50), which has a sweet floral aroma composed of notes of citrus, black currant, rose, jasmine and amber. This has also sold out.

Finally, these are the free birthday gifts from Ulta (the Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie lipgloss) and Sephora (NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella and Rikugien, plus a Larger Than Life eyeliner pencil).

Ulta also gave me a $10 voucher which I used together with my points to redeem this Tarte Total Lip Service set.

My apologies to my regular readers for the long absence of review/haul posts aside from the updates on upcoming collections. Most of my days are taken up with my son, plus I have been blessed with the surprise of being pregnant with twins. Although I'm only 16 weeks along, I look more like I'm 6 months pregnant. My makeup purchases have drastically reduced as I hardly have the energy to put up makeup most days, so this is the first year in many that I've skipped getting the Suqqu and Addiction coffrets (which were much less impressive compared to previous years). There's a long, long road ahead, but I'll still try to post here whenever I find something worth sharing.

Thanks for reading!

Addiction Winter Blush

Here are the official visuals for the Addiction blush collection to be released on 6 November.

Shiseido Y's Palette for Holiday 2015

Shiseido is collaborating with fashion label Y's (by Yohji Yamamoto) for its holiday 2015 makeup palette which will be launched on 1 November in Japan and internationally. Retailing at 7200yen for 12g, it contains six shades for the eyes and face created by Dick Page who took inspiration from the camellia flower. According to this site, it looks like there is an accompanying set of brushes.

Addiction New Blushes

Addiction will add the following new blush shades to its permanent line-up on 6 November in Japan. Pic below by Osadanna.


Blush (2800yen, 13 new shades)

#24 Fall in Love：sheer pink with silver shine (silky)
#25 Moon Dance：sheer champagne with silver pearl (silky)
#26 Ibiza Dream：light bronze with gold pearl (pearl)
#27 Naked Lies：soft nude beige (matte)
#28 So Moody：chic smoky beige (matte)
#29 Noah：healthy peach brown (matte)
#30 Stylish：mahogany brown (matte)
#31 Love Me True：true pink (matte)
#32 Fab：baby pink with gold pearl (pearl)
#33 Sweet Dreams：sweet pink with silver pink shine (pearl)
#34 Winter Blush：antique rose (matte)
#35 Chelsea Rose：smokey rose (matte)
#36 Behind the Veil：sheer sunset rose with gold pearl (pearl)


Blush Mix (2800yen, 3 new shades)
#5 Jet Setter: beige gradation
#6 143 : fresh pink gradation
#7 Empire Passion : modern red gradation


Regarding the Tough Love holiday coffret to be released on 4 December, the eyeshadow quad is composed of 4 shades from the current eyeshadow range, namely Cigarette, Chocolate Factory, Age of Innocence and Meeting at Dome.

Suqqu Hankyu and UK Exclusive

Suqqu will release this Blend Color Eyeshadow EX27 花紫苑 Hanashion (7344yen) and Creamy Glow Lipstick Moist EX18 桃水晶 Momosuishou on 14 October in Japan exclusively at the Umeda Hankyu department store in Osaka. These will also be available in the UK in early December.


Pic below from Weibo. See comprehensive swatches here.

Pic below from Weibo.


See another pic on Instagram.

Addiction Holiday 2015

Addiction will offer the following two sets for Holiday 2015 on 6 November in Japan:

1. Holiday Addiction Tough Love (7400yen): Includes Tough Love Nail Polish, Lip Essence Limited and Tough Love Limited Compact.


2. Nail Addiction Chelsea (4300yen): Nailpolishes in Chelsea Silver, Chelsea Pink and Chelsea Red (all 12ml), Top Coat 5ml and Cuticle Oil 5ml, Emery Board.

Anna Sui Holiday 2015

Anna Sui will release the second part of its Holiday 2015 collection on December in Japan. It includes:

1. Makeup Box (2500yen, LE)


2. Moisturising Care Kit (2800yen, LE) : Rose Hand Cream 10g, Nail Care Oil 8ml, Moisturising Lip Balm 5g and pouch.


3. Nail Colour (12 LE shades, 1200yen): The shades correspond to the gemstones for each birthday month, e.g. #205 for January/Garnet, #204 for February/Amethyst, #105 for March/Aquamarine.

Maquillage Holiday 2015

Maquillage will release the following collection as the first part of celebrating its 10th anniversary on 21 November in Japan:

1. Dual Color Rouge (3.6g, 6 LE shades): Offering two shades in two textures, this includes a light diffusing pale shade and a more pigmented rouge shade for producing a natural gradation on the lips. Contains hyaluronic acid, water soluble collagen, glycerin and 'mood up pearl' for more vivid lip-brightening colour with lasting power of up to 6 hours.



2. Dramatic Rouge #10 Lady Red (4.1g, LE)

3. Essence Glamorous Rouge NEO #10 Lady Red (LE, 6g)

4. Dramatic Lip Treatment (4g): Contains rosehip oil


5. Dramatic Mood Potion S (10th Anniversary: Solid eau de parfum and beauty oil with top notes of bergamot, mandarin, orange, lemon, grapefruit, cardamom, peach, apple, pear; middle notes of bulgarian rose, honey, jasmine, osmanthus, olive flower; and base otes of sandalwood, cedarwood, safflower, fruity musk, vanilla and amber. (2.3g, LE)