suqqu xmas 2018: interstellar

Apologies for the lack in blog updates lately. It’s been an emotionally-tricky 2018 and a particularly difficult summer, so please continue to bear with me while I get used to being back in the saddle.

As usual, there’s no better motivator than SUQQU. When I first discovered the brand, it involved a lot of blind-buying and I was always very grateful to bloggers who consistently posted detailed reviews and good photos of the products. So I make a point to write more in-depth posts about SUQQU to “give back” in some way to the online beauty community, in the hopes that I’m helping people with less access to the brand.

Without further ado, here is the SUQQU Christmas 2018 collection – Interstellar.

Designed by Jorge Balzaretti, this collection take inspiration from the cosmos. The three Designing Colour Eye quads are based on the moon (121 Gekouka), cosmic dust (123 Hikariori) and the earth (122 Hanaryuusei). As you’d expect with its theme, this collection features more shimmer than the usual palettes so if you love sparkle as much as I do you’re going to adore this collection.

That said, Jorge’s palettes are always exceptionally well-balanced (more so than the standard line, if you ask me), so even though this appears to be a very bling-y collection, it’s actually very wearable when you take a close look Each quad actually features shadows that range from glitter to satin-matte.

This particular beauty is the earth quad, 122 Hanaryuusei.

At first glance, we can see a matte orange and aubergine + a shimmery tan and terracotta. Once swatched however, the colors show their true…erm…colours…and it becomes evident that none are exactly as they appear in pan. There’s a gold undertone and purple flecks in the orange and aubergine respectively, and the glitter concentration of the tan and terracotta are completely different – the former being very intensely metallic and the latter being rich in base color but more gently flecked with glitter.

As we’ve come to expect with SUQQU, the formula is on point and perfect for creating looks that appear to have taken much more effort than they actually did. My favorite shade in this palate is undoubtedly the metallic tan, which was shockingly buttery and just a joy to apply and wear.

This collection also features two Pure Colour Blush editions: 112 Akeboshi and 111 Yuuboshi, which is the one I have here.

It’s a beautiful duo of translucent peach and champagne that left a very ethereal glow to my skin. Please excuse the slightly blurry photo – I was trying to capture the multi-tonal glow to show that unlike many highlighters it doesn’t have a flat frost undertone, but is quite refined and complex.

It’s pretty subtle though, so I’d recommend it as a blush only for fellow pale peeps. On darker skin tones, it would be better as blush-topper or subtle highlighter for adding luminosity without watering down any underlying blush/bronzer.

Also part of the holiday collection are three matte lip crayons: 101 Seisai, 103 Kouzu and 102 Sorabeni. 

I wasn’t expecting it to have so much pigmentation, but this berry pencil is all-in when it comes to richness in both color and formula. Despite it being advertised as matte, Sorabeni applied beautifully and I didn’t find it to be waxy or dry in the least. Plus it was very comfortable to wear, and didn’t make my lips peel – so important in a vampy shade!

Lastly-and-not-actually-part-of-the-holiday-collection-but-it’s-new-so-I’m-reviewing-it, is SUQQU’s latest Extra Rich Glow Cream Foundation. Not to be confused with their Extra Rich Cream Foundation which also comes in a gold-lidded jar, this new formula promises a dewier finish with the addition of extra hydrating elements on top of the 12 skin-boosting plant extracts that its predecessor contained.

I apologize that I don’t have my own product photo of this. I had to photograph everything a couple hours before getting on a plane so I was in a bit of a rush! 

As someone with oily skin, I tend to give dewy foundations a really wide berth because they generally make me look greasy within an hour of application. I’d delighted to report that it wasn’t the case here – this actually noticeably blurred my pores rather than emphasizing them (which luminous foundations tend to do), and gave my skin a healthy, natural finish that wasn’t matte but also wasn’t actually shiny.

It applied really well too, and in my opinion blended out much easier than the original Extra Rich Cream Foundation. A few dabs with my Beauty Blender, and I was able to achieve a very thin layer that somehow evened out my skin tone without making it look like I was wearing any foundation at all. I would describe it as sheer but incredibly effective coverage, though you can certainly build it up if you wanted to.

To be honest, the packaging still bothers me because the jar is heavy and hard to travel with, the grooves of the lid are difficult to keep completely clean, and pumps/tubes just feel more sanitary to me, but I still highly recommend this foundation. If you can find a matchand don’t mind that it comes in a jar, it’s absolutely worth investing in.

 

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.