Swatching RMK
RMK is one of my top favorites brands, specially when it comes to blushes. I am really surprised that these blushes aren’t more often reviewed and raved on the blogosphere. When I wanted to expand my collection I couldn’t find enough information or swatches online then saw a mission for me here… so I have gathered a few products and today I will show them to you, believe me, it’s not a sacrifice to spend my money on RMK, whatever the product the chances it doesn’t work for me are so minimal that I absolutely don’t mind taking the risk.
RMK was launched in 1997 by Rumiko, a Japanese professional makeup artist, I just wish her brand was more easily available. Thanks to Rouge Deluxe I got the info that Rumiko is actually going to leave her place to a new Creative Director in 2013. I just sincerely hope that RMK’s phylosophy will remain exactly the same.
Unlike other brands, RMK manages to create vibrant and bold colors and make them wearable on a daily basis, I mean “easily” wearable, no need to blend for hours and to need to be a scientist to pick the right amount of product. RMK claims that their makeup will make you feel “happier, sexier and fresher”, it’s exactly what I want and what it does to me, I like to wear discrete makeup for work but discrete and subtle does not mean flat. I love when natural comes with some kind of twist, therefore, most of my RMK products made it into my Holy Grail sanctuary…
New brushes : web discoveries – Part 2
If you have been reading the recent comments, you may know that yesterday I received a few new brushes, 6 bought on the Tanseido website and 3 on the Rakuten website. In the afternoon I managed to also buy a funny brush but you’ll know more if you get to the end of the post…
My research at the moment is specially targeting :
- Mac 239 dupes
- Small (tiny) and very soft laydown brushes
- Suqqu dupes
- Big eyeshadow brushes OR small cheek brushes
- Foundation brushes
With that in mind, I ordered the following brushes :
I have to say that my (and our) determination is transforming our research for exceptional brushes into a fun an scarily easy process…
Chanel Printemps Précieux
I knew Printemps Précieux was going to be very tempting for me, when I saw the collection in person I wasn’t disappointed at all.
Here are the items I have selected, a lot, but surprisingly all were interesting – even the Raffinement quad in the EU version :
As you may know already, Chanel Poudre Signée is a masterpiece. The compact is slightly bigger than other compacts like the Lumière d’artifices or the Ombres Tissées, but the product weights 8g, vs 18g for the Lumière d’artifices.
Both the color and the texture are exquisite. That’s the glow I am looking for, natural glow with a very subtle iridescence.
Eyebrows – Focus on Tom Ford, Suqqu, Shu Uemura
Although I am not doing much on my eyebrows on a daily basis, it does make a difference when I do and with a smokey eye look it’s just simply mandatory. I really truly deeply prefer not to overdo my eyebrows, I always try to keep it to a minimum and as natural as possible, I find that the more I do on them the older it makes me look and we don’t need that 
If you were thinking of enhancing the shape of your eyebrows, you may want to watch a few tutorials or videos first if you are not sure what to do, there are hundreds of them out there ! Have a look at this one by Wayne on eyebrow shapes, it’s funny and interesting and he made another even funnier here. Jen is also absolutely amazing, I love how clear her tutorials are and how helpful, she summarizes every single step here. Pixiwoo also share their experience in a video and if you watch all these videos you will know everything you need to know about eyebrows. For those who lost their eyebrows or have over-plucked them, I love this video, I think Carly has simply great ideas and I could listen to her for hours. I did over-plucked them two years ago, not much but I did and I have been told off by my an esthetician, she told me they would not grow back again, but luckily they did. Actually, I prefer to wax around the eyebrows, top, underneath the arch and in the middle of both, I love how soft it feels afterwards and to tell you the truth, I hate plucking them, every hair out equals a sneeze and apart from my boyfriend who laughs like a drain, I don’t really find it very enjoyable so I only pluck them when necessary in between each wax appointment.
Once you have the shape that matches the best your eyes and your face, the product you’ll use to fill them in depends on what you need to add to the shape and the density. Mine don’t really behave but at least they are not high maintenance, I don’t even fill them in on a daily basis and if I do, just roughly. If I do a stronger look then I’ll need to balance and frame my eyes a bit better and therefore I will pay a bit more attention to them.
Since I have a few high-end and rare products, I will share my thoughts on them with you. If you have tried them already or have favorites, please also share for whoever is interested in perfecting their eyebrows
These are the products I most enjoy using :
- Mac powder eyeshadows (or any other eyeshadow). It can be cheap, fast, nice and easy when you don’t need much precision.
- The Tom Ford Brow Sculptor, expensive like no other, fast, great when you want a bit more precision and with a great long-lasting result.
- The Suqqu eyebrow liquid pen, not cheap, not easy to find either, when you want precision and long-lasting results.
- The Shu Uemura Hard Formula eyebrow pencil, not cheap, not easy to find, when you don’t need much precision and when you have some brows !
- A long-lasting matte pencil liner (like Mac Duck or any other waterproof pencil) and an eyebrow brush, not that cheap but reasonable, when you want long-lasting results with adjustable precision since it will depend on the brush.
- A special palette for eyebrows containing powder, wax and tools. Easy but maybe a bit too bulky if you don’t need to use everything.
- (more…)
My 2012 brush awards
I thought it could be a fun idea to start the year with some pictures of the most exceptional brushes I have come across during 2012. I have tried to narrow down the list to the minimum but there are still so many of them !
I wanted to pick the most exceptional and unique, the ones that have surprised me the most, not exactly the most necessary. I will make sure I share at least one link where you can find them in order to get more details on the brushes. They are not in preference order, just brand by brand. You will see the picture of the brush(es) and below the picture a small comment on each.
The most lovable brush !
Koyudo designed the most creative and tempting brushes I have seen this year, I am nearly scared when they release new brushes because I know there is a big chance than an order will follow. This macaron has been released in 3 colors, there is also an orange and a purple, it’s adorable, incredibly soft, tiny, very densely packed and firm, not the most necessary brush I admit but I have to say that this one is one of the most beautiful brushes to look at.
I use it to apply powder or blush, the surface covers approx 4cm and it’s only 5cm tall.
Shu Uemura brush review : 12, 10, 8HR, 10F, 7H, 5R
I bought my first eyeshadow “brush” 15 years ago, it was a sponge type applicator from Body Shop, really huge, it was excellent for applying a base color all over the lid, actually it was the only thing I was doing at the time, one shadow and that was all. After some time, when this “brush” got really old and when I wanted to repurchase it, it wasn’t sold anymore. Since I could not find it anymore, I kept on using the sponge type applicators that were delivered with the palettes.
My first real eyeshadow brush purchase was the Mac 239 and my interest for brushes only started there. Today my Mac 239 meets the Shu Uemura 10 natural, two extremely good eyeshadow brushes that deserve all our attention.
When you look at the Shu Uemura brushes, the first thing that comes to your mind is : “different” and then, “expensive” !!!
We already know that when we talk brush language, different doesn’t necessarily mean efficient (I am thinking of Claudio Riaz brushes suddenly…), as well as expensive doesn’t necessarily mean efficient either (Claudio strikes again here… )
I am very happy to have a few Shu Uemura brushes and I will try to give you my honest opinion on the ones I own.
Here they are :
An overview on makeup brushes
Hi there brush lovers !!
Before you try to read this long post on brushes, please keep in mind that I am not a makeup artist, I am just passionate about beauty and makeup brushes. My little knowledge on makeup brushes comes from my own experience, from reading other blogs, from friends or also from information I receive from brush companies like Hakuhodo.
I am getting so many questions on brushes that I though I might write something that would look like an overview on the topic, I hope I am covering some of your questions here and that this is a bit helpful for you although it is far from covering all aspects and variables of makeup brushes !
Depending on where you live you may not be able to get deep information on this topic so like me you will need to rely on the internet to answer your questions, but there are so many different makeup brushes that we are easily overwhelmed by all the details. I have tried to summarize the most common specifications, I cannot cover everything mainly because I simply won’t have the knowledge but I will do my best, you are very welcome to leave any comments to share your own knowledge, your thoughts and own experience.
Brush anatomy
This is not a mystery for most of you but in case you did not know :
My current favorite makeup brushes
Makeup brushes is actually the main reason why I started this blog. I was often reading beauty blogs and the comments and suddenly I thought that having so many brushes could actually be helpful to others, the questions were often related to their size and comparison to similar ones and that’s something I thought I could provide.
I am easily tempted when it comes to brushes, I mean easily. If I can, I will. Sometimes I know I am making a huge mistake but I need to see by myself…
It’s only my opinion that I will share here, not the one of a Master in makeup brushes, but I will always give you my humble and honest opinion and experience, whatever the brand. I also want to mention that if these are my HG, they may not be HG for everyone and I haven’t tried all the brands available today – thanks God ! The prices are also often high and paying a high price for a makeup brush is not always something that everyone can or want to do, I don’t mind doing it, but it has to be worth it.
I have tried to narrow down the list to the very top favorite brushes for each usage, I clearly cannot select all of the brushes I love otherwise I will make a post a mile long, so here you will only see the ones that have seriously blown my mind.
In this first picture, I have just gathered together the very top selection of all the brushes mentioned in this post, I will very briefly cover them under each category, these few have been serious great discoveries for me, some are just insanely beautiful, others are incredibly efficient and often unique.
Summer 2012 favorites
I don’t know about you, but here in Switzerland you can clearly feel that summer 2012 is over.
I thought I would write a post on products I have been using the most during the last season, this can involve LE items, older season items, early fall releases… I just took all the products that have been used and loved the most and here they are :
Ultimate flattering matte and satin eyeshadows for everyone
Some years ago I felt it was time to upgrade my makeup products and adapt my makeup routine, I sat at the Trish McEvoy counter one day and they told me what I was doing wrong. They kept on saying “Now you have to… Now you cannot..” it was a bit upsetting because I had to face the fact that I wasn’t 20 anymore and I was also sad because I loved shimmery and metallic textures and daring looks. However, when I left their counter that day, I looked much younger and refreshed, they weren’t wrong at the end 
I am in my 40′s and it’s now a necessity for me to pay attention to what makeup I wear and how I wear it, these are my eyeshadow rules and recommendations :
- Find the right texture, not too powdery, not too shimmery, if you see that the texture accentuates the wrinkles and settles into the lines, upgrade your makeup to a more appropriate eyeshadow finish
- Place the dark colors at the right place, use smaller and more precise brushes
- Blend well and define without harsh lines
- Find the colors and the looks that are the best for you, “Less is more” is definitely the best way to go, but with the right products and right techniques there is no reason you could not afford a more dramatic look
- Always use a primer, it will help to prevent the eyeshadow from sliding into the fine lines and I choose a primer that is lighter than my foundation (Laura Mercier, Trish or UD Eden)
- After applying the eyeshadow, if I find that the result is too shimmery and not appropriate, I take a cotton a go softly over the eyeshadow application, it really does help to remove that over shimmery-looking effect when I don’t have time to start over.
- I sometimes use secret-weapon products like the Trish Line Refiner for around the eyes orthe Chantecaille Lip contour for around the lips…
- Last but it’s actually the most important advice I could give you : use good make up brushes !
The eyeshadows I will show you here are mattes, satin, some are even more shimmery but they all are extremely forgiving and flattering, I have tried to pick mostly mattes but I really love a more luminous and silky finish so there’s a bit of everything :
Most of them are extremely expensive brands, you can find less expensive brands that also work well but here I am talking about ultimate results and most of the time you will have to pay the price for that.
Some of these palettes might be discontinued and I am really sorry about that, but, it will show them to you anyway, this will give you an idea of what the brand has and if one day you come across some sale or outlet, then you may even find them at a good price. If I mention them here, it’s because I highly recommend them and I am hoping that if they are not available anymore, the Brand will re-promote them or add them into their permanent collection.
Shu Uemura 18R, a magnificent touch of crimson red in your brush collection
For those who have previously read my recent London trip post, you know I got this Shu Uemura 18R. Why ? First because when I see a red brush I freeze with greed and envy… then because Deb made me do it… She knows how much I am crazy about beautiful brushes and she told me some time ago that I needed this one.
I wanted to check out the Shu brushes 12 and 18r in Selfridges. I went to the Shu counter and first I asked for the 12 … they showed it to me and told me it costed 100 Gbp. gasp. Then I asked for the 18R, when I touched it, you could see from miles away that I was clearly disappointed. It looked terrible and scratchy. But I trust Deb, I had to check it out more in detail. “Can I please see a new one?” ok – so now it’s better. When they told me the price, it sounded kind of ”cheap” compared to the 12. It was around 40 Gbp…
The hair length is 5cm, the base of the ferrule 1.7cm, total length of the brush 19cm.
It’s made of goat hair and of course red dyed (be aware if you cannot tolerate dye). It’s clearly a beautiful brush, a shape that I was looking for. I have only two similar brushes, the Chanel 1 and the Hakuhodo K022.
The Chanel is denser, the Shu is softer than the Chanel but not as soft as the Hakuhodo. The bristles of the Shu have much more spring than the Chanel.
It did shed a bit but it seems to have stopped.
A short shopping trip to London…
The tiny duck is a lip gloss…
I am just back from a 4-day shopping trip in London, I know some of you are wondering what new make up items I got over there, so here they are and I added some swatches for part of them. Some were already in my most wanted shopping list and others are new discoveries.
I had the most wonderful time in this city, as always… I will not only share the hauling but also give you some more details on the trip, maybe you are planning to go there soon and you are wondering where are the best places to shop for make up and beauty.
I have been traveling to London very often, either for work, for shopping, or for special events like the RIAT (Royal International Air Tattoo) and soon also IMATS (International Make-Up Artist Trade Show).
First, the haul. Then, if you are interested, there will be more about me and about London and also some personal tips if you are planning to go there for shopping, just grab a coffee and keep reading if you feel like… it’s a bit long I am afraid
Japanese blushes – Suqqu, RMK, Addiction, Shu Uemura and a few little others…
In my opinion, Japan has the most amazing quality make up products, but they are also extremely expensive and difficult to get.
These blushes are from different Japanese brands that I have discovered either a long time ago or just very recently like for example Kose Addiction. I will try to share here my personal experience and my preferences, I would be really interested and happy to know what other Japanese brands you have tried and what blush shades you love and recommend.
Shu Uemura
I have collected these blushes through the years, some I really love and still enjoy wearing, but others I don’t actually use anymore. I thought I would share swatches of all of them since that may help someone who could be searching to compare the shades.
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