ZA Summer 2020 White Protector and Coming Journey Collections

ZA Coming Journey Lipsticks (Limited Edition)

Cosmetic giant Shiseido's drugstore line ZA is best known for its popular foundation and brow products. This year though, they've expanded the True White Protector primer line to include color correcting versions as well as a color-correcting finishing powder.

ZA True White Protector range

Priced at S$15.90 per 35g tube (about 1.2oz), the primer range is formulated with Hyaluronic Acid and vitamins C and E for smoothing antioxidant protection, so they are multi-tasking moisturizers, sunscreens and color correcting primers in one. I do have to say these were more pigmented than I expected as I'm used to tinted or "tone up" primers rubbing out to near-invisibility most of the time. 

Shiseido 7 Color Powders Revival Centennial Edition, 7 Lights Powder Illuminator, and Ibuki Smart Filtering Smoother

1917 was the year that venerable Japanese beauty brand Shiseido first branched out from their bestselling skin perfecting concoctions, and decided to offer their first-ever makeup product to their growing clientele of fashionable women in Tokyo.

Long before Guerlain Meteorites, Shiseido's Rainbow Powder was a sensation for its luxurious, stylish, modular packaging and the innovation (at the time) concept of offering 7 different face powders for different effects. 

Rainbow Powders became a fixture on the vanity tables of wealthy women and the most beautiful geisha long before the rest of the modern world fell in love with the idea of color-correcting powders.

Vintage Shiseido Rainbow Powder set

Vintage Shiseido Rainbow Powder case

The basic premise of color-correction still stands today. What makes a lot of sense to me personally, is that everyone has different issues which the standard color-correcting powders today may not be able to fix with the one-size-fits-all approach where you need to swirl together a prescribed mix of shades regardless of whether you might require more or less of certain colors.

With Rainbow Powder, you are in control of how much and which colors you apply to each part of your face.

While this might feel like a hassle for some, I beg to differ because in this day and age when many people want to just slap it on and go (or even whip it on in the car), it is a reminder to be mindful; to pay attention for a moment, to know our faces. And it turns powdering into a luxurious ritual rather than a troublesome last step.

That's why I totally geeked out when Shiseido announced the launch of a special 7 Colors Powder Revival Centennial Edition (S$320) to commemorate the 100th anniversary this Feb. They've replicated the classic fabric wrapped cases housed in an elegant box, each containing a different colored powder. If you're gagging for a set, move fast because there are only 145 kits for sale in Singapore.

7 Colors Powder Revival Centennial Edition

The delicate paper seals have been replaced by sturdy air-tight ones with Shiseido's logo stamped on each, and each case has a corresponding colored tag on the outside as indication of the shades within.

ZA Vibrant Moist Lip Lacquers and Lip Crayons

Japanese drugstore beauty brand ZA has is throwing out lots of strongly pigmented lip products, first with the Vibrant Moist Lip Lacquers (SG$19.50) which are in Watsons stores now, and on 1 September their Lip Crayons ($17.50).

I am a big fan of ZA's Vivid Dare lipsticks because they surprise me so much when I first swatched them in store. Typically, Japanese brands don't release extremely intense colors, and to be honest I'd half given up hope that they would ever catch up with the Korean brands in terms of releasing fashion-forward pop colors and intense formulations. So when I first saw the Vivid Dare lipsticks I swatched them and posted about them on Dayre then and there.

So I was pretty excited to try the two new products.

The lacquers come in ZA's signature black and fuchsia packaging, and you can't really see colors from the outside. The spatula is pretty interesting - it's flattened and slightly curved so you can get quite a generous amount of product on your lips in one swipe, and also smooth and spread it out quite easily.

If you don't know, ZA is owned by cosmetics giant Shiseido, and there are some similarities in the vibrant red pigment technology being used in their high-end lipsticks, and these lacquers. It corrects dull lip color and also retains a very vivid and intense appearance under different lighting conditions.

Aside from the gorgeous colors, I have to say I'm a big fan because these manage to feel SO comfortable on the lips besides being intensely glossy and pigmented. No stickiness, ultra lightweight, and great color pay-off. The collagen and hyaluronic acid infused formula is also designed to hydrate and nourish for up to 12 hours. Everything I need in a glossy product. 

I must say that I can never leave a gloss or lacquer on the whole day without touching up so I cannot tell you exactly how long this lasts. It does perform better than other typical lightweight glosses, but no matter what, as you drink and talk, the color and shine will rub off no matter what. There was also a tiny bit of bleeding into lip lines, but that's expected of all creamy products.

If you want all-day wear and need to prevent any bleeding, I would apply a layer of liner beneath first. This will give you a super-intense lacquered lip look.

I've also always been a fan of applying opaque lacquers on top of matte lipsticks for that patent leather look, and these work great for that. In fact they remind me a lot of Shiseido's Lip Lacquers (which I am also a fan of), for half the price.

As for the Lip Crayons launching 1 September, these are a typical chubby pencil with a twist-up base. (Yay for no sharpening.)

Formula wise, I can say right now I prefer these to Revlon's Colorburst Balmstains, which are just never quite plush or glossy enough for me. The ZA ones are creamy enough to give good shine without needing a separate gloss, which also means you can wear just a tiny bit for a stained effect without your lips looking patchy and dry (which can happen with typical drugstore chubby pencils), or build it up for more intense glossy color. 

With some of the paler or more milky colors, you also do need to spend some time blending or checking your lips because you can get a slightly streaky or patchy effect. But it's not as bad as some drier formulations.

I'm not the biggest fan of chubby pencils as a whole though. That's the same for all brands. (I just find they do the same thing as glossy or balmy lipsticks, and a lipstick bullet can give a quicker and more even application than the nub of a fat pencil, which is usually less even and makes you take longer to fill in your entire mouth.) 

So I'm definitely a bigger fan of the Lip Lacquers than the Crayons, although that's not saying that these Crayons are bad at all. It's just personal preference. If you already use and love lip crayons, you'll be happy when these launch because I do like them better than what we have in drugstores currently.

My recommended Must-Try is still the Vibrant Moist Lip Lacquer range. Because they honestly feel and perform very much like high-end lacquers. Without the high-end pricetag.

Two foundations with good coverage: Shiseido Synchro Skin and MAKE UP FOR EVER Ultra HD Stick Foundation

With the slew of lightweight cushion foundations and summery tinted moisturizers coming out these days, I find myself hankering a higher-coverage offering that doesn't sacrifice a fine, natural, skin-like texture.

One of the best this past season is Shiseido's Synchro Skin Lasting Liquid foundation. In terms of texture, it's pretty similar to other silky silicone-oil foundations like Diorskin Nude Air, Armani Maestro and Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. However this formula is not bi-phase and doesn't separate as much as several others, which come in shaker bottles with little metal beads within.

There is nothing new about the concept of a super light liquid with high coverage. But what's different is how well Synchro Skin actually does it. 

What I love is you get instant coverage without a heavy, cakey texture, and it is shine-free but not flat, and powdery-looking. It smooths over pores and fine lines beautifully, doesn't settle into them, and while I wouldn't say it's as long-lasting or matte as something like Hourglass Immaculate Foundation, it does give an absolutely gorgeous velvet finish and stays very well through the day. 

My favorite way to apply this is with my fingers. You get the most coverage using the least amount of product that way - and this is not difficult to spread and blend. It has an almost airy liquid-to-powder type of feel, but doesn't go fully powdery. There is no shine - however there is still a radiance.

I have a little scab on my cheekbone under my right eye and this pretty much covered it up. I also did not apply any undereye concealer. This is able to correct and cover but doesn't crease and cake around fine lines under the eyes. Great if you need to pack light and want to skip concealer.

The soothing skincare ingredients and "smart" formula that adapts to the skin's needs is an extra bonus. There are a lot of more expensive foundations that don't do quite as much.

Of course - this is a very silicone-heavy formula so if you are allergic, I don't need to tell you to stay far away from this. The other thing to watch out for is many people is silicone-heavy formulas may "reject" certain other silicone skincare and primer products, like oil and vinegar. If you've had foundations slide off or "peel" and rub off during application, nine times out of ten it's because of incompatible silicones in the formula. There's really nothing to do except try with different skincare and see if it works better.

If your skincare works well with this formula though, it is beautiful.

Definitely a good one for oily up to slightly dry skins even, if you like a natural matte finish. I personally found this to be more matte than even the latest Revlon Colorstay formula for oily/combi skins. The shade does oxidize a little, so try to let it sit for an hour before you settle on a shade.

Another good thing? This is available in 12 shades in Singapore with different undertones (Rose, Neutral and Golden). The shade match for NC25 is Golden 2 or Neutral 2.

Now for those who want something even quicker and more portable, there is MAKE UP FOR EVER's new Ultra HD Invisible Cover Stick Foundation (SG$72, launching 31 March 2016). Ultra HD liquid is the foundation I wore for my wedding, so I was extremely excited to try the new stick version, especially since it was launched a while ago in the US, and we've been seeing it on all these vlogs and blogs.

The main reason you want to use this is the portability, how space-saving it is, and the super-quick application you get. You literally swipe, blend, and go.

I've used many cream foundations but usually when you blend them out, they can look slightly patchy, or crease easily. And they rarely look natural and adhere to the skin seamlessly. But then this is MAKE UP FOR EVER Ultra HD, and if they dare to claim this works on 4k cameras, it's got to at least sit better than the average stick or cream foundation.

And it does. 

I used no sponge with this. Just my fingers - it blends right out and smooths in, looking incredibly "real". This is less matte than Synchro Skin and won't control oil or give a soft-focus effect; but you get a nice demi-matte finish and the coverage of a concealer without a noticeably "made-up" feel. I daresay you can go on camera wearing just this and no powder, and it would look like you rolled out of bed looking like this.

I don't consider this extremely long-wearing of course. That's not REALLY its purpose, but it does last satisfactorily well in humid hot weather, and I think anyone except the extremely oil and dry can pull it off. It does sit nicely under the eyes although it's not completely crease-resistant.

The one con is you only get about 4.4g of product. Not quite 4 lipsticks. Which means if you are intending heavy/regular usage, you will find yourself having to repurchase quite frequently. That's not a huge issue considering you get a lot less per shade if you buy a makeup palette - but MUFE tends not to be very cheap in any case.

If you are using it more for spot coverage as a lightweight, high-coverage concealer only where you need, then it's perfect. 

Which brings me to a brief mention of the Ultra HD Invisible Cover Concealer. I'm not a huge fan of them because I kinda feel like they don't give that much more coverage than the regular Ultra HD Liquid Foundation, and the stick gives quicker, more even, and longer lasting coverage faster.

I found when I applied the liquidy formula over the stick foundation, the moistness of the formula seemed to melt and break down the foundation and make the coverage patchy. I would definitely recommend them on their own, or used with the liquid foundation rather than the stick.

Also, I used it twice and broke out in rashes all over the areas where I applied it, so I set it aside and can't really give it a full and complete review anyway. 

If you like lightweight liquid concealers with medium coverage like the original HD concealer, and you don't get a negative reaction to the formula, go ahead and give them a try. They feel very similar to the originals to me.

Serge Lutens Un Bois Vanille Review

Vanilla pod; photo credits: www.marcussamuelsson.com

Serge Lutens was one of the first truly avant-garde niche fragrance lines I ever tried, and - under the umbrella of Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido - the creative genius himself paired up with Brit perfumer Christopher Sheldrake to paint vivid pictures, tell gripping stories, and convey complex moods and emotions, all through scent.

His fragrances are quite avant-garde, and often unforgivingly strong. Some are near unwearable without a highly-developed nose, and not the type you’d spritz for a night out with friends. (Just ask anyone who has smelt Musc Kublai Khan.) 

Un Bois Vanille - on the other hand - is one of the most accessible and popular scents in the Lutens line, because while the quality and performance is still impeccable like most of the range, the concept itself (wood and vanilla) is inherently accessible to most people.

The official notes list includes: sandalwood, black licorice, coconut milk, beeswax, bitter almond, musk, vanilla, benzoin, guaiac wood and tonka bean.

Un Bois Vanille is described as being linear, but I think it only seems so because the initial layers are somewhat similar; both warm and foody. At the beginning,  this smells like warm coconut crème brulee. The benzoin and coconut adds a sense of non-sugary thickness and body to the overall scent. As it starts to dry down further, the vanilla comes out in full force, and it’s not the standard synthetic vanilla ice cream sort of vanilla. It’s the crisp, hot, brown skin of a toasted marshmallow pulled from the flame. Almost bitter-sweet with caramelization.

I’ve heard and read reviewers saying it’s not a woody fragrance and that there isn’t much wood at all. I beg to differ. This IS a rich, warm, gourmand oriental for sure, but the bitter-sweet toasted marshmallow aspect is anchored on a bed of wood. The closer your nose gets to the skin, and the longer the scent dries down, the more the smoky, almost-pungent wood aspect comes out.

As a "gourmand", this is balmy and complex, not sticky or overtly edible compared to some others.

Like many of the Lutens fragrances, this is a scent to be dabbed on, not sprayed on, in the tropical Summer heat where I live. Sprayed, it can be overwhelming (like eating too many toasted marshmallows). Dabbed, it lifts seductively off the skin and wraps around you for hours. 

Marc Jacobs F/W 2013 Lacquered Red Lip (An Intro to Shiseido's F/W 2013 Makeup!)

To my mind, Shiseido is more known for their top-notch skincare and those incredible sunblocks. (To my knowledge, they put the "lightweight" in sunblocks long before the rest of the world did.)

Only during 2 periods did the brand seem to cast more of a spotlight on "color", and that was during Serge Lutens' time (1980s), and now with Dick Page at the helm. 

Dick Page applying Lacquer Rouge in Sanguine, backstage at Marc Jacobs' F/W 2013 show.

They brought out those incredible Lacquer Rouges a while back, and this season they're bringing out 6 new colors. I'm really into a red lip right now, so my pick of the lot HAD to be that warm red RD413 "Sanguine", which was used at the Marc Jacobs show this season. 

The Red Runway Lip

Majolica Majorca Chapter 37: Translucent Aquatic Colors, a "Swan Feather" Pen, and a Quick Trial-run of a Cult-Favorite Fiber Mascara (in Brown)!

From this month, Shiseido will release a (somewhat oddly-named) limited edition collection called "Moonlight Virgin" in 2 parts. The first includes a "quill pencil"and a brown version of the Lash Expander Edge Meister mascara with the dual-sided comb tip. Now since me and the original Lash Expander go WAY back (I used it exclusively for about 3-4 years) I naturally grabbed the chance to find out 2 things:

• whether the mascara was as good at building length as I remembered
• whether the brown shade would show up (and look alright) with my dark hair and eyes

Thoughts: Sun Protection

Early Years:

I’ve always known myself as one of the “tanned ones”. I sunned myself prodigiously as a kid, swimming and playing and roasting myself to a deep bronze with nary an ounce of sun protection.

When I hit my teen years, I became more intensely aware of how highly-prized unblemished, alabaster skin was in Asia. All the sunblocks I ever applied in those days were a sticky, greasy mess that left a streaky-white cast and clogged reactive teenage pores to boot. Plus, no matter how much you applied, you still got tan.

It was something to be avoided unless absolutely necessary. And needless to say, I never did get any fairer.

I still remember the very moment when I realized there were different grades of sunblock. I was 14, and my best friend at the time was a Taiwanese-Vietnamese girl with the sort of translucent, porcelain skin that I would have sold an organ for. We were hanging out at her place before a 3.2km phys-ed run, and her mother threw us a small cyan-blue bottle of Shiseido SPF30 sunblock to apply.

I remember the lack of greasiness, and how amazing it was that after about an hour sweating and exercising in the searing afternoon sun, I stripped off my exercise shorts to shower and found no tan lines.

Bad Years:

Me and my circle of friends spent our share of time basting ourselves in the sun with tanning oil. I’ve always tanned very easily, so in place of tanning oil, I had to slather SPF50 all over my body just to control how dark I got. Since I couldn’t be fair, I might as well just get very tan.

Transition Years:

It wasn’t until some time later, when I really got into skincare, that I realized just how much long-term photodamage I was doing.

I began to buy daily moisturizers with some measure of sun protection (usually SPF 15-19 since higher SPFs in those days still gave you a white cast). Two of my favorites in those days were Olay White Radiance lotion SPF19, and the first incarnation of Estee Lauder’s Daywear Cream SPF15. These did not leave my skin feeling heavy or greasy, and I could apply makeup over them.

Now:

Due to general availability of information and technology advancements now, my routine has been fine-tuned to a degree.

I now know that:

• Your sun protection must contain UVA filters as UVB blocks (Titanium Dioxide) are inadequate to prevent dna damage
• Common UVA filters deteriorate very quickly, so photo-stable UVA filters like Mexoryl and Helioplex are necessary for real protection
• Sunblocks prevent damage but, not 100%
• UV rays can penetrate curtains and windows
• Antioxidants are necessary to repair the damage caused by the rays that make it past your sunblock

My current anti-UV routine:

1. Avoid long periods of direct sun-exposure
2. Wear an antioxidant serum or lotion daily to prevent damage from stray rays: I like Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair on hot days as a light humectant in place of moisturizer
3. Wear a sunblock of SPF30-50: I have a range, from La Roche Posay Tinted Creme to L’oreal UV Perfect Mat SPF30, and Neutrogena Fine Fairness Lotion SPF50
4. Apply a second dose of antioxidants to your face at the end of the day: I usually apply a richer antioxidant or repair cream like Egyptian Magic, or NIA24. If I’ve been in the sun, then I will use a stronger repair serum like Prevage, or Advanced Night Repair Intensive before the cream.