Makeup News, for Once: Alexander Wang for Shiseido

So: It has been a while since I wrote a beauty post. (What's Your Fantasy posts and random pictures of myself don't count, haha.) It's funny because I haven't found a lot of things to write about for the last week, since things have been mellow out here and the Pinoy blogosphere has covered practically everything I want to write about, up to and including the cuteness of Mr. Chuvaness. (Hi Cecile!)

ANYWAY... the good news is that being in the Philippines puts me at an advantage as a beauty blogger, because I can start talking about the only-in-Asia exclusives for your favorite brands.

Exhibit 1: Alexander Wang's collaboration with Shiseido for the Maquillage line.

(Screencap, mine.)

While Shiseido Maquillage does have a website for Southeast Asia customers, this screencap comes from their Japan website. Unfortunately for the rest of us, I have no knowledge of the Japanese language whatsoever, so I can't translate the text for you. From what it looks like, though, the shade range does fall in line with the color schemes from Wang's Fall '09 collection - smoky eyes in neutral shades, and rosy but barely there lips.



UK blogger A Touch of Blusher reports that the lipsticks in this collection are, indeed, on the sheer side. (I didn't see the lipglosses on the Shiseido site, though, but from the descriptions I've read I'm guessing that they're equally rosy and juicy.) And if that wasn't enough, the packaging itself was designed by Alexander Wang himself - just as edgy and sexy as the clothes themselves. Not to mention that these products are pretty much exclusive to Asia... and that also includes Shiseido counters in Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Philippines, in addition to the usual markets in China, Japan, and Korea.

That said, however: I'm several miles away from the nearest Shiseido counter, so I can't tell you anything about finishes or lasting power apart from what I've tried with existing Shiseido products. (Long story short, based on my "research" from the HNL branches of Sephora and Shirokiya: worth it, but it'll definitely cost ya.) There's also a good chance that I won't cave on this, either, since I already have one too many neutral shades - and rosy-nude glosses - in my existing arsenal. But I'm excited about this, nonetheless, because I think the packaging and colors are really pretty - and it's inspiring me to create my own smoky eye/ rosy lip combos in the future. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who loves good design and high quality Japanese cosmetics... and if it does especially well, I won't be surprised if they bring this collection over to the States and other markets, too.