Shu Uemura Nova Diva Collection 2011

As fall collections begin to hit stores, I am filled with anticipation because I think that fall collections offer some of the most gorgeous selection of colours and hues!

This year's fall collections don't disappoint.

Giorgio Armani's Jacquard Collection consists of the most gorgeous delicately woven face and eye palettes (95 AUD and 135 AUD respectively), two limited edition blushing fabrics (74 AUD) and some other items that did not register because i was so busy staring at the palettes...

Guerlain offers a WHOPPING collection of 9 eyeshadow palettes, 3 Rouge G lipsticks, 3 eyeliner pencils and one liquid liner. I can't honestly remember the last time a collection of this size has been released by Guerlain.

Shu Uemura has just released the Nova Diva Collection for fall. It hit stores just last week and I have managed to buy a few items from the collection. The official promo pics are shown below.

Aren't they just gorgeous??? The full collection includes:

•  Prima Palette - Beautiful Limited Edition Black Refillable Empty Palette that is adorned with white lace pattern
• Cream Cheek in Amber
• Cream Shimmer Highlighter in Radiant Pearl
• Shimmer Eyeliner in Cosmetic Silver
• Rouge Unlimited Supreme Matte in Sensual Red - ultra red shade, Angelic Pink - lush matte pink, Evil Pink - bad-girl pink, Darling Beige - rich, creamy beige, and Alluring Brown - tempting beige.
• Limited Edition Eye Lashes - Tutu Lace Flare -layered black lace with subtle gold glitter

I purchased the lace palette, cream cheek & cream shimmer highlighter, and the limited edition eyelashes.

The lace pattern on the limited edition quad palette is actually very subtle in real life.

The cream cheek in Amber is incredibly soft and pigmented, and it blends like a dream. The colour is a peachey beige that will flatter warm undertones best but i think neutral/cooler skintones can make it work. The colour will look best on light-medium skintone. Darker girls might find that they need to pack on the colour to see any noticable effect on their cheeks.

The cream cheek highlighter is my favourite item from this collection!! It has a sheer diamond white base with multicoloured shimmer (note: NOT glitter, yay! Hate glitter myself LOL). I find that the cream cheek highlighter is probably a tad less blendable then the Amber, which is probably due to the presence of microshimmer in the product. However, it is still very high quality and foolproof for those of us who are not used to cream products. The sheer base allows this highlighter to look natural and just glows where you have applied it. The cream cheek highlighter can also be layered on top of a matte cream blush to add a bit of a glow to your cheeks. I LOVE makeup items that have multiple uses!

The top swatch is the Amber cream cheek, layered with the Radiant Pearl cream cheek highlighter. Apologies for the crappy pictures in advance, I am new at this! ^.^ The Amber cheek colour has been sheered out before lighting dabbing on radiant pearl.

The middle swatch is a heavy swatch of the Amber cream cheek. I heavily applied the cream cheek in Amber on my wrist and I am happy to report that the result still looks really natural and beautiful.

The bottom swatch is of Radiant Pearl. Once again, this is a heavy swatch to show the multicoloured shimmer of Radiant Pearl.

I must admit, I purchased the tutu lace flare fake lashes purely because it is such a collector's item. Will I ever get to use it? Probably not. But it just looks sooo pretty in the box and also in the poster.

Bottom Line: Shu Uemura has definitely hit it out of the park with his fall collection! Oh my gosh, I am drooling over everything he has released! The quality of the packaging is top notch, and the cream cheek in Amber and highlighter in Radiant Pearl proves to be such versatile and wearable colours that I can imagine myself reaching for it often. His products are just such good quality and I can't get enough!!!

Recommendation: The Radiant Pearl Cream Cheek Highlighter & Prima Palette are both must have items from this collection. Radiant Pearl is the most unique highlighter I have ever come across. The prima palette is just drop dead gorgeous and will definitely thrill Shu Uemura fans. Cream cheek in Amber is nice to have if you don't already have similar colours and the tutu lace flare lashes is not something you can wear often (or if at all), so you can definitely skip this if you are not a die-hard fan of Mr. Shu!

I hope you have enjoyed my review of the Shu Uemura Nova Diva Collection 2011. I hope to review more products from this collection (especially one of the lippes!!) in the future.

Stay tuned for our next entry which will be the Giorgio Armani Jacquard Woven Eye Palette #2.

Ciao!

xoxo Cindy