suqqu summer 2017

I’m so excited to be able to share SUQQU’s UK-exclusive summer collection with you!

Before I start the review, I’d just like to let everyone know that this collection launches on the 27th of April. Consider this an early warning: the two Designing Colour Eye quads here were designed by Jorge Balzaretti, who has a bit of a reputation for creating SUQQU palettes that cause international shopping frenzies. For reasons I will get to in just a little bit, I believe these are going to be extremely popular palettes so hopefully this gives you enough notice to start making enquiries with your favourite SUQQU sales associate prior to the launch.

But on to the review! First, let’s look at the Designing Colour Eye quads. According to Jorge, these were inspired by the colours of the jungles and beaches in southern Japan. As someone who essentially grew up in a rainforest, I can definitely see the jungle in #103 Kisui (translation: splendorous blue-green) – it makes very happy actually, because I’ll be leaving for LA soon and I just know that this palette will remind me of home every time I use it.

Here are the swatches from this palette. As you can see, it’s comprised of a matte greenish yellow, a glittery light bronze, a metallic emerald green and a satin green-black.

And here the “hidden colours” you can find by mixing various shades together. I wasn’t expecting much from this exercise since this palette had quite an analogous colour scheme, but lo and behold! My efforts were rewarded with a pale grey-green, a sparkly green-tinged taupe, a beautiful dark metallic emerald (my favourite) and a dark grey-green with bronze flecks that reminded me of polished granite.

My first impressions of #103 Kisui are good. I like that it has bold colours (unlike the fairly staid tones of the permanent quads) and I’m thrilled that we’re finally seeing some textural variation within a palette. The greenish yellow shade reminds me of the acid green from EX-30 Hekikai, though the latter is a shade darker and ever so slightly more pigmented. The sparkly bronze shade is reminiscent of the one in EX-02 Natsuyuuka – the glitter texture and intensity is very similar. Like its predecessor, this glitter shadow feels rough in pan but applies very smoothly on skin.

But even though I love me some sparkle, it’s the metallic emerald green and the dark green-black shadows that excite me the most. Swatching and playing around with them, I feel like the SUQQU shadows I fell in love with have finally been resurrected. They are silky-smooth, layer and blend like a dream, have tonal complexity/complex shimmer, and just overall feel like they could have come from a Blend Colour Eyeshadow palette. If you’re one of those fans that haven’t been thrilled with the uniformly frosty direction SUQQU took with their new Designing Colour Eyes quads, then #103 Kisui is going to give you all the feels.

I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts to share once I use it in a FOTD, but for now let’s look at #104 Natsusango:

Unlike #103 Kisui, #104 Natsusango (translation: summer coral) echoes the ratio of Jorge’s previous quads and features 3 mattes + 1 shimmer shade. It is comprised of a sheer matte nude, a glittery and slightly iridescent light pink, a matte terracotta and a matte black.

The hidden shades in this palette are very beautiful. I was pleasantly surprised by the peachy, rosy hues that emerged. I ended up with a warm dusty rose, a shimmering peach-pink, a shimmering burgundy and – amazingly – sort of a shifty pink/dark purple shade.

My first impressions of #104 Natsusango were actually better than that of #103 Kisui. The mattes in this palette are buttery and pigmented, and I love that the pink shade has a pink shift to it. The iridescence wasn’t apparent to me till I layered it over the matte black, but when I did, BAM. That feeling of discovering a magical shade hiding in a normal-looking quad was so wonderfully nostalgic – this high is exactly what made me jump down the SUQQU rabbit hole in the first place.

And it’s back. It’s finally back! I could cry, I’m so happy.

Needless to say, I really hope SUQQU continues making more quads like these and adds some to their permanent collection. I promise I’ll weigh in more on this quad after I’ve played with it more, so in the meantime let’s move on to the Pure Colour Blush in #102 Tsuyakagerou.

#102 Tsuyakagerou (translation: dazzling sunlight) is a pretty unique blush in my opinion. It looks and behaves like a deconstructed bronzer: you can swirl both colours together in varying proportions to create the perfect all-over face bronzer for your skintone. A little more orange if you want it warm, a little more tan if you want it cooler. As someone who struggles constantly to find an bronzer that isn’t too orange, this is pretty intriguing.

That said, I actually quite like the sun-kissed look of orange blush (applied just on my cheeks as opposed to all over) so I do plan to wear it that way too. I also think the tan shade could work as a contour, so there’s really quite a lot of versatility here. I see myself getting a LOT of use from it this summer…though if our flight path takes me through Tokyo, you’d better believe I’m picking up Pure Colour Blush in #04 Urushibi too! I made a valiant attempt at it when I was in Bangkok recently, but they were sold out. Le sigh.

And last but not least from the Summer 2017 collection, we have Extra Glow Lipsticks in #104 Tsuyazakuro (translation: beautiful pomegranate) and #105 Hamadaidai (translation: beachy orange). The Extra Glow formula lends the perfect juicy finish to these bright and summery shades. Compared to last summer’s limited edition pink and orange lipsticks these are glossier, brighter and warmer.

They’re also very pigmented, so if you like for punchy, clear colours you’ll love these. I’ve already worn these and am happy to report that the glossy formula kept my lips well hydrated throughout the day. I need to test them more thoroughly, but my initial thoughts are that #104 Tsuyazakuro on its own would be a lovely, easy-to-wear summer colour and that #105 Hamadaidai would make a very harmonious pairing with blush from this collection.

I hope this has been helpful! I plan to create some FOTDs with these next and get back to you with my thoughts once I’ve gotten to know the products better. Expect lots more feedback in the next week or so!

Pricing & Availibility: Designing Colour Eye quads (£46) #103 Kisui and #104 Natsusango, will launch as a limited edition, UK-exclusive summer collection on the 27th of April, first at Selfridges and then followed by Harrods and Fenwicks. Though they will be available for international purchase, SUQQU does not have any control their stockists’ websites so you might want to try emailing them directly at suqquuk@eqpuk.com if you live outside of the UK and need more information. I will update this post with purchasing details if I can.

 

 

This post features products that were provided as press samples, however all opinions and observations are my own and not influenced by the brand or its PR team. This post contains affiliate links.