Shu Uemura Pressed Eye Shadows: P Dark Blue 696, P Dark Green 595, ME Light Pink 126, ME Medium Brown 885

One of the biggest pleasures that was taken from us (us= makeup lovers in the USA) when Shu Uemura pulled out of our stores is enjoying the trained eye and hand of a Shu makeup artist. Then there are the colors that for some reason are not available online, which is quite frustrating by itself, but really-- it's the advice of a Shu Uemura-trained artist that I miss most.

The palette you see here was custom chosen for me in Paris (yes, I know I'm really of late with this post). Some of the colors here were released for fall 2011 but are still available.  P Dark Green 595, ME Light Pink 126 are not available online (at least on the US site) and it's a shame because they're brilliant. The makeup artist who did my face zeroed in on the fact that I can wear both warm and cool colors and mix them together. She also commented that I could pull off a blue or green smoky eye. The eye shadows here ( P Dark Blue 696, P Dark Green 595, ME Light Pink 126, ME Medium Brown 885) were curated to work both as  a very dramatic look or as an easy daytime neutrals with just a hint of colored accent.

 P Dark Blue 696, P Dark Green 595 look a bit glittery in the pan but you can see how smooth they are on skin. They become fantastic eye liners, pigmented and intense. ME Medium Brown 885 is a rich bronze with almost reddish terra cotta undertones.It works on the lid and in the crease, can be sheered as needed and looks lovely next to the dark green or blue. ME Light Pink 126 is a pretty basic highlighter. My olive skin tone neutralizes the pink so I'm left with a great color that works perfectly and coordinates with a lot more than just this Shu Uemura palette.

The high quality of Shu Uemura's eye shadow is well-known. They're soft, easy to blend and meld beautifully with the the skin without creasing, falling apart or migrating. Like many other beauty (and Shu) obsessed people I tend to collect them, mix and match, and always admire the complexity of the colors. Now, if we only can get them back in our department stores.

This just in: I got a Shu Uemura press release detailing some promo codes for February. There are some nice GWPs there, so here it is for your convenience:

Promo code: FSHIPPING
DATE: Jan 30 – Feb. 5
Description: Free shipping on all orders

Promo code: ROUGE
DATE: Feb. 8th – Feb. 12th
Description: a deluxe 3 piece sample set with any purchase of $65 or more

Promo code: BEAUTY247
DATE: Feb. 15th through Feb.19th
Description: with any purchase of $150 or more consumers will receive a beautiful eye&cheek palette (a value of $65)

Promo code: REDCARE
DATE: Feb. 22nd – Feb. 27th
Description: a deluxe 4 piece sample set from our red:juvenus skin care line with any purchase of $65 or more.

Shu Uemura Pressed Eye Shadows ($15 each) and empty palette ($15) are available from the counters if you're lucky enough and from shuuemura-usa.com.