SUQQU Christmas Make-up Kit B & EX-19 Touryokuzora

This Holiday 2013 season has been a real disaster for my wallet, everything is just calling out my name! Obviously when SUQQU came up with their Christmas Make-up Kits, they meant for consumers to have a choice in the eyeshadow palette…. So I obediently picked Kit A with EX-18 Aoboshi (reviewed here). But when I saw EX-19 in person, I fell in love with that green!

I’m not going to bore you with the contents of the entire kit as it is identical to SUQQU Christmas Make-up Kit A, but going straight for the palette itself.

The reason I went straight for EX-18 initially, apart from that stunning blue of course, was I found 3 out of the 4 shades in EX-19 to be somewhat meh. Shimmery peach, shimmery brown, matte white… done, done, and done! Looking back on some of the SUQQU palettes that I already own, I’d call this the “classic” SUQQU formula.

Of course, there are varying nuances between each palette, but at a quick glance, they sure look a whole lot similar! And just for fun, I swatched the peach and brown shades, and compared them with SUQQU Blend Color Eye Shadow palettes #10 Kozuecha (reviewed here), #11 Himesango, and EX-11 Sumiredama. And that’s where I discovered the magic!

And here are the comparison swatches for the peach shade:

As you can see, the shimmery peach in EX-19 is completely different from the palettes that I currently own! I can’t say for sure there aren’t any dupes for this peach in other SUQQU palettes, but just based on my own collection, I’m very glad it is so different. On my skin, it is warm-toned, almost copper (!) whereas the others are distinctly peach-pink.

And comparison swatches for the brown shade:

Again, there are no exact dupes for the shimmery brown shade in EX-19, although I personally feel they are similar enough for the distinction to not quite show up when applied on my lids.

And here are the swatches of all 4 shades on EX-19:

Gah! I’ve never been big on warm greens but this forest green may just be that spark…. It is intensely pigmented, and packed with gold glitter. Unlike browns, it doesn’t make my eyes look drab and 10 years older. It is both interesting enough that I want to look into my own eyes in the mirror, and yet office-appropriate.

One word about that matte white shade… it is the silkiest thing I have ever touched, silkier than silk itself. But having said that, it is quite hard and applies sheer. It is basically a base powder to even out the skin tone of your lids, and help the other shades adhere better. Think of it as the top layer powder in Tom Ford’s eye primer duo, and you’re basically saving USD22.50!

ll but 1 of the 4 shades in EX-19 Touryokuzora are incredibly pigmented, with very elegant shimmers. As always, SUQQU has curated a palette in which the shades complement each other perfectly. Used on its own without any primer, I did not experience any creasing or fading even after 5 hours. Compared to EX-18, I found EX-19 to be much easier to wear – I just slapped on the green on the lower half of my lid, dusted some peach above, and dabbed a touch of brown in the outer corner (as shown in the 1st EOTD above). And when I feel like going all glam, I packed brown in the inner third of the lid, green on the outer third, and peach in the middle.

As before, I’m not sure if these are completely sold-out worldwide, but if you chance upon it, be sure to act fast!

xoxo