First thing that comes to mind is that these aren’t shades you will see selling in Japan, but it is a UK exclusive collection, makes a huge lot of sense! Japanese don’t ususally go for bold colors like these.

I have received these products from Suqqu but they got stuck in customs for many weeks so I could only play with them these last few days, clearly not enough time to have a solid opinion as I tend to come back to the products several times and even change my mind over them. First impressions are not always matching my final conclusion. Either way, this collection is going to be launched … tomorrow (27th of April) at Selfridges, then later May 11th at Harrods and Fenwicks,  I still want to share some pics and some thoughts even though it’s way too early for a final verdict.

We begged Suqqu for bold and daring colors, and I prayed for a black Suqqu shadow, I am happy and grateful that they took the opportunity to do so for this UK exclusive release!

The very first thing I want to say is that NOW Suqqu is back!! these textures are more Suqqu alike, the eye palettes contain mattes, shimmery and satins that you can layer and you will enjoy additional complexity.

Overall, these new Suqqu shadows are easy to blend, last long enough for a long day at the office, the colors here are my only issue because I don’t often wear green and I don’t wear yellow at all, but I do love these textures.

Suqqu Designing Color Eyes 103 Kisui (£46)

Now,  hmmmm greens are not colors I enjoy wearing, I stay very far away from them and specially from matte lime yellows like this one, it is smooth but it looks terrible on my eyes, both due to my undertone and my age. I tried this yellow once, I failed, I tried again, I failed again, there is nothing I can do to make it work on my eyes but as long as I don’t use it I can make the palette work, even if there is still way too much green in there for my personal taste, the palette is saved thanks to the shimmery bronze gold.

The two green shades are both satin(ish), glorious textures, one shade is a soft blackened green, the other is a medium emerald green, the later has a finish somehow in between a satin and a shimmer.

When these Suqqu shades are blended together the result is actually really flattering on my mature lids, the sparkly gold doesn’t look tacky at all. I don’t use the lime yellow but the other shades end up looking so much better than I had initially expected.  The finished application is super smooth, even, I can see the intensity of the gradation going from the gold to the darker outer v and the transition is impeccable.

Suqqu Designing Color Eyes 104 Natsusango (£46)

I love the silky beige-pink-peach… difficult to define, it’s matte but with a satin ambition and contains some micro particles that give it just a little bit of glow, unfortunatelly it disappears on my skin but still brightens the brow area in a very subtle manner.

The other shimmery pink shade ends up being more complex than it looks on the pan, depending on how the light hits it, it leans peach.  The swatch is heavy, on the eyes it won’t be as opaque, more like a see-through base. The weird thing about this shadow is that even though it’s shimmery, when layered on top of the other matte/satin shadows it doesn’t add a shimmery coat but a velvetty one… the micro sparkles will still be there but nothing wrong about them, absolutely wearable and truly gorgeous.

The terracotta shade is actually more pink than brown or orange, as you will see further down in the comparison swatches. This type of texture, matte&satin&silky is extraordinary, I believe we need to find a new name for this kind of texture.  I can only pray that Suqqu continues these textures in the future palettes.

The black shade is full matte and you will see how it compares to other blacks further down in the swatches.  This shade is not the best from the palette because it’s nothing unique, neither in terms of shade nor quality. I know matte shades are very difficult to create and to handle.  I had no issues with blending, however, it requires a little attention, I had fallout and if not handled with precision this type of texture can be tricky to control but I need more time to try different tools and techniques.  I use it lightly on the outer V and even take it up to the crease, works ok but it’s not the black I was hoping for. I know that my ideal black would have same finish as the terracotta!

Layering!!

These new textures allow additional enjoyment… Suqqu is back!!

A couple of comparisons

I remembered my Louise Young palette has a terracotta shade and thought the Suqqu was similar, or maybe Viseart Neutral Mattes but when swatched together, you can see how the terracotta shades turn to be different.

The Viseart leans more orange, the LY more brown and the Suqqu more pink!

Since those same palettes also carry a black I swatched them together. The Suqqu black is not as opaque as the Viseart and the Viseart ends up more like a satin in comparison.

I won’t even speak about the LY black because it’s just simply a bad shadow, so difficult to even get a swatch. As a liner it’s ok but if you try to do anything else it will end up too patchy.

The Sisley and the G. Armani reminded me of this palette, I really wanted to see how those textures would compare versus this Suqqu.

I always did one eye with the sisley or the armani and the other with the Suqqu (applying the Suqqu bronze gold on the mobile lid, the blackened green in the outer V and the emerald green lightly in the crease).

In comparison:

• The Sisley crayon has a weird finish, it’s not as smooth and even as the Suqqu, actually kind of grainy. The base color doesn’t remain stable and after a couple of hours it starts creasing. The Suqqu never creased.
• The Armani, I could build the intensity from sheer to almost full opacity but the base color was more metallic, more opaque and less flattering on wrinkly lids…  I prefered to have the Suqqu gradation from gold to dark green, it looks much more elegant and appropriate.

Pure Color Blush  #102 Tsuyakagerou (~30£)

The left side is matte, the right satin with subtle sparkles. Means this can also be used to give dimension and contour, but since the orange side is so pigmented, I wish the tan shade was bigger because this orange leads the application.

The first time I tried it, it didn’t work on me, way too orange and my skin was really fair to start with, lack of sleep does not help either… Works much better on medium and rested skin, when I used a slightly darker foundation then it worked really well, was giving dimension, making my face slimmer and the orange pop was working very well with the lipstick I was wearing, more on that below!

Kevyn Aucoin is more matte in comparison and the Suqqu warmer.

Since I haven’t yet shared the swatches of my other Suqqu blushes, I will do so today, just for reference.

I purchased most of these blushes myself.

Suqqu Extra Glow Lipsticks in #104 Tsuyazakuro and #105 Hamadaidai

I believe this will be sold at 25£ each. I will play more with these in the near future and update you. So far the orange shade did not work very well on me, however, this “pomegranate” pink is truly beautiful. Opaque from first swatch, they both have great lasting power and offer comfort, I was impressed that I love this pink so much as I usually don’t go for strong colors, this one I will definitely wear.

Obviously it’s too soon to give a final opinion but what I have been enjoying very much is to wear the green and gold combination on the eyes, the 102 blush and a neutral lipstick like the #11. This combination totally rocked my world.

The formula of #105 Hamadaidai is fantastic, one of my favs from Suqqu, also that shade is the bomb but on myself, better combined with other palettes.

Some comparison swatches

I will use these more in the upcoming days and will update this review before the Harrods and Fenwick launch, I apologise I cannot share more thoughts today, I am really grateful to Suqqu for sending me these products for my consideration but I am so sad that customs kept my package for a month and a half!!

UPDATE

After using both palettes, the lipsticks and the blush many more times, these are my final thoughts:

Both eye palettes are fun to own and to use and the looks that come out of them turn out beautiful, the shimmer shades bring these quads more uniqueness when layered with others. The black shade is actually easier to blend and to use than I had first experienced. The lime shade is still not a success on myself 🙂

The blush is not something I reach for, the orange is very pigmented and takes the advantage on the brown shade and I consider my skin too pale for it to render beautifully. I have seen this collection on more tanned models and that looked really good though. I know it will look better when I will be a bit more tanned so let’s give it a second chance then.

The lipsticks I definitely reach for, the more orange one I layer on top of a rose lipliner to soften the strong orange hue but the other pink is truly fun to wear on its own, strong already from first swipe but love it! Would repurchase just because of the color if it wasn’t LE!