Shiseido The Makeup Perfecting Lipstick P12

For some reason, this extremely dark brown lipstick with a hint of mauve suits my coloring perfectly. Despite that, I have to apply it lightly and cover with gloss in order to get a wearable look. Normally applied, it gives a gothic effect because it's so dark. Still, I love the color! A lighter version would be perfect, but all the lighter colors had too much red in them for me. The lipstick is very nicely packaged in a smooth metal tube with a comfortable heft to it. It feels like a precision crafted gadget, really. Rather luxurious. Estee Lauder doesn't have nearly as nice packaging for their Pure Color lipstick.

About 3000 yen in department stores.

I've noticed that Shiseido The Makeup (one of Shiseido's makeup lines) does not seem to be carried by the Shiseido retail shops, although they carry everything else including Cle de Peu. The Makeup only seems to be in dept. stores.

By the way, Clé de Peau has a very nice moisturizing stick. Greasy yet very light. It looks as pretty as a gloss. Sadly it's about 5000 yen.

quick post about Shiseido Men, Shiseido Chant du Coeur

I thought I'd start giving thumbs up/thumbs sideways/thumbs down ratings of the fragrances that I try. I don't try most fragrances for a long enough period of time to give them proper reviews. Please keep in mind I have very limited experience with fragrances, so what is interesting to me may be terribly old hat.

Shiseido Men edt - I was curious because scenteur7 did a nice review of it. It's in a sleek, modern bottle. I would love to give it as a gift to someone. It seems quite reasonably priced too at 5500 yen. I got the impression of mint, without smelling mint. Interesting, fresh, would probably smell great on a guy. Thumbs up!

Shiseido Chant du Coeur - Nice, powdery (but not annoyingly powdery), sweet. Seems sweeter than Saso and a bit lighter in feel. Thumbs sideways, as not personally drawn to it.

Guerlain Lovely Cherry Blossom parfum - recommended by the sales assistant. Nicer than the limited edition put out this year (that thing is way too fruity!), but not terribly exciting considering it's Guerlain. I was drawn to the citrus top notes. Thumbs sideways, as you could do a lot worse, I think.

Clinique Happy for Men - more interesting than Clinique Happy for Women, but didn't particularly like the notes meself. Thumbs sideways.

Bulgari Omnia - Interesting! Spicy, lively. Would like to smell it on a guy, I think, as it was better than Clinique Happy for Men. Thumbs up.

In other news, stymied by the testers for two Rosarium perfumes: papa meiland and another Rosarium no longer being produced. They were those squeeze type perfume bottles and the rubber balloons were broken, which I suppose accounts for the testers being almost completely full. Sigh.

Next time I visit that Shinjuku Shiseido store, I'll try out Tentatrice and Vocalise. After that, We're. I love commuting through Shinjuku!

Clinique Happy, Lancome Miracle

Swung by the Ainz/Tulpe drugstore in Harajuku today, and sprayed on Clinique Happy and Lancome Miracle to give them a try. I really wanted to try Hermes Un Jardin Sur Le Nil but the tester had apparently fled from the weekend shoppers. Mat Matsushima Orange was tempting too, but since it smells like orange, and I know what an orange smells like, I passed on it. I wonder why grapefruit is more appealling.

Anyway, the verdict: Happy was lighter and a little more interesting (less powdery?) than Miracle. But neither was terribly exciting.