You might remember that Shu collaborated with photographer Mika Ninagawa for their 2008 holiday collection.  They've paired up again for a smaller collection this spring called Sakura.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem like the U.S. is getting the stuff with the pretty designs – just the lipsticks.  No fair! 

I can't say much else about the collection except that it would seem plausible that the images on the products are cherry blossoms.  I don't know fore sure since they're only available at the Japanese Shu website and I can't read Japanese. 

UV protectors

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(all images from shuuemura.jp)

Le sigh.  I may try to track these down on E-bay!

Accessories-couples-homebttn I didn't think that interior designer Marcel Wanders' collection for MAC was all that interesting until I read this National Post article.  Sure, it was design-y and sleek and more or less what I'd expect, but was there any real thought put into it?  As it turns out, there did indeed seem to be a concept, at least for the colors involved and why Wanders wanted to foray into makeup design.  He was inspired by the works of Vermeer.  

“'I was looking at a painting by Vermeer,” Wanders says. “The colours and the textures and the light, and the women. I thought of Vermeer’s brushes, I thought that he is painting the picture the way that women are painting themselves with makeup. I thought it was a very beautiful idea, and I wanted to explore that.' Though Wanders didn’t design the actual cosmetics, he directed their creation and the M.A.C & Marcel Wanders collection takes colour cues from Vermeer. Powders are pale, like the women in the Flemish master’s paintings; lipsticks are either pearlescent or dark, reflecting both the ladies’ complexions and their charcoal-suffused surroundings. The cases he created are the same dark shade as the background of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Gesina, Catharina, Gertruyd — he named pieces of the collection after women from Vermeer’s world."

Nicely done.  We have the inspiration of not one but two Dutch artists in this collection!  What really struck me about the collection was that Wanders really knew how to brand it and make these HIS pieces.  It was supposed to be a collaboration with MAC, but I feel like his imprint was much stronger than when MAC teamed up with other designers.  Case in point:  his visage, complete with iconic gold clown nose, on the inner packaging:

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Here's the so-called "mystery powder."  The real mystery about this, in my humble opinion, is why a black shiny plastic was chosen for a face compact.  It's just going to get all finger-printy!  Not the smartest move considering this was  conceived by a world-class designer.

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Again, the same clown-face imprint on both the puff and the powder itself:

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With flash:

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Incidentally, the refill powder that came with the compact also has the same imprint.  I was glad MAC didn't cheap out on that.  🙂

I didn't really see a lot of influence from his other work in this compact.  The closest thing I found was the "Bonomi" series of bathroom fixtures:

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However, the flowery scrollwork is definitely in keeping with his designs:

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(images from marcelwanders.com)

Now for the lipstick – I got Catharina.

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I love how the shape mimics the legs of many of Wanders' furniture.

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New Antiques Low Chair:

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Two-Tops table:

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Finally, a funny side note:  I was staring at the above table at Wanders' website thinking about how familiar it looked, and not because the table legs look just like the MAC lipsticks.  I felt like I had seen that table a million times.  I asked my designer husband if he knew anything about Marcel Wanders because the table at the website looked so familiar…and he had a good laugh explaining that the reason it looks so familiar is that we OWN said table.

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It's in our home office and has been there for years.  It's where I blog, for crying out loud!  How did I not realize it was the same table?!  My descent into senility continues.  😛

For their 2010 holiday collection, Shu Uemura teamed up with artist Aya Takano to create the Abracadabra Fantasy collection.  According to Shu's website, Takano's inspiration comes from "Japanese manga, science-fiction novels, a hint of eroticism, with a twist of Japonisme."  Looking at the illustrations, I think that's a pretty apt description of her work. 

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Miracle cherry blush tint:

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Bowwow!  Magic Queen palette. Says the description at Shu's site:  "Feel relaxed, curled up in the magic queen’s cozy home that is redolent with the fresh pine scent of her enormous Christmas tree filled with luxurious décor of silver, gold and bronze."

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Inside:

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With flash:

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Here's the Reindeer Kiss palette, I think this is my favorite piece in the collection.  "The colors of this palette evoke a frosty winter land covered in crystalline snow that sparkles in the light. frolic in a dreamy winter wonderland where animals and humans play together in the snow.  are you lucky enough to find the reindeer and get a kiss?"

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Inside:

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With flash:

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Finally, the cleansing oil described thusly: "a fantasy princess rides her magic stallion, their secret rhapsody sealed with a kiss!"  Not sure I get that but it's cute.

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Do these illustrations match up with the artist's other work?  Definitely.  Let's look at a couple of pieces by Takano.

Let's Go Into the World (2008), which features a woman wearing antlers much like the girl wearing the reindeer antlers in the Miracle Cherry Blush Tint.

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(image from https://english.kaikaikiki.co.jp)

Then we have Mail Mania Mami's Summertime Move with a Rabbit (2005), which depicts a woman with a rabbit on her chest – the relationship between her and the animal has a similar feel to the ones in both the Reindeer Kiss palette and the cleansing oil.

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(image from nytimes.com)

One final thought:  I love the way the "a" in Uemura becomes the "a" in Aya on the packaging.  Just a nice little design touch.  🙂

Bourjois did it again.  That is, the company collaborated with another Parisian artist to create a limited edition set of blushes.  I'm not sure if I like these as much as the ones by Nathalie Lété, but they are tres cute!

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According to the packaging insert, the artist is Juliette Buré.  A Google search didn't turn up much besides her Facebook page, which is very disappointing considering that I wanted to see how these designs compare to her other work.  Equally disappointing is that I'm missing one of the blushes, as Asos.com was out of stock on one of them.  Fortunately it came back in so I will post when it arrives. 

Guerlain mash When I first saw this palette (or rather, all 6 of them, each named for a Guerlain boutique in Paris) I didn't think much of it.  It's a pretty cut-out pattern, but nothing spectacular or all that interesting.  After doing some investigation, however, I discovered that Guerlain had collaborated with Paris-based designer India Mahdavi, and that she had put a rather unique spin on a typical makeup case.  According to this interview, she wanted to create an object that "had weight, both visually and physically," and the cut-out design was actually a mashrabiya, to capture the idea that one could "observe without being seen."  It's nice to find out than rather just a pretty pattern, the cut-out had a a traditional Middle-Eastern architectural concept behind it.     And now that I know all this, I'm beginning to think this palette may be museum-worthy! 

 (image from sephora.com)

I'm pretty bummed Lancôme isn't getting in these fabulously cute Juicy Tubes that were designed by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in honor of the famous lip gloss' 10th anniversary – why, Lancôme, why??  There's just as big a market in the U.S. for these as other regions!  Grrr.

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(photo from glossy-kiss.blogspot.com)
 

Kusama is famous for her works featuring a dot motif, which is included in the Juicy Tubes design.  Here it is on a larger scale in an installation from October 2008:

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(photo from contemporaryartlinks.blogspot.com)

Here's something else tremendously interesting about this artist, at least to me!  When I first saw the collection online her name didn't ring a bell.  But when I called Lancôme to find out if it would be coming to the States and said her name aloud, something caught in my memory.  After I hung up I said it a few more times to myself like a dork and realized that, ta-da, she is mentioned in a song by my one of my very favorite bands!  How cool is that?  If you listen carefully at the 3:10 mark you'll hear it.  🙂

Tokidoki, the brand chock full of unique characters created by Simone Legno, has returned to the cosmetics world!  In my opinion this collection is much more interesting than their first go, a collaboration with Smashbox in the spring of 2007.  Unfortunately for the Museum this collection is also much bigger so I wasn't able to buy even half of it.  I chose what I thought were the more eye-catching designs and characters. 

First, the outer packaging (front, back and side):

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Bastardino and Adios palettes. 

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The interiors, with and without flash:

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Each palette came with little charms of the characters – how cute!!

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Here are 3 of the 15 (!!) Prisma lip glosses featuring little snow globes on top.  The characters I chose (and it was tough choosing just three, they're all adorable) are Strawberry Latte, Donutella, and Monkey Pirate:

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I wanted to get good close-up shots of the characters, but it proved impossible so these are a bit blurry.

Strawberry Latte is a newer addition to the Moofia lineup.  According to Vinyl Pulse, the Moofia "fight against the tyranny of school lunch bullies, making the cafeteria
safe once again."

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How awesome is it that Donutella (clever name!) has donuts for ears?  Good thing I don't, I'd eat them and end up deaf.  😉

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Given my love of monkeys, this little simian pirate is right up my alley.

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I wish I could collect them all, they're too cute!   And if anyone can find a description/background of Donutella and Monkey Pirate, I'd be very appreciative.  I know there's a good story to each character but I can't seem to find it for these!

All the latest buzz is focused on MAC's big Liberty of London collection, and I will be posting about that as soon as I finish taking pictures of my massive haul, but for now I thought I'd warm up with another big spring MAC collection – Fafi!  Fafi is a French graffiti artist who collaborated with MAC in 2008 to create makeup featuring her unique drawings of women.  

Here's what I got. 

Fafi Eyes 1:

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Quad open:

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Blush:

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Here is the blush open:

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Lip glosses in Cult Fave and Totally It:

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Lipstick in Flash 'n' Dash:

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Scarf (which retailed at $15 – a steal compared to the $95 scarf for the Liberty of London collection!)

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Shirt:

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Makeup bags:

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And my favorite part of the collection, little figurines of the Fafinettes.  From left to right their names are Monoka, Eriko and Ermine.  I loved that the artist came up with backstories for each of them.  You can read them all here.

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Even the shopping bag had a cute "Fafinette" on it:

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Fafi bag 2

According to her website, Fafi's work "explores femininity through stereotypes" and her women are "sexy, funny, and occasionally aggressive."  Here is one of her works in situ:

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(image from mimifroufrou.com)

For a great review and analysis of Fafi's work as it relates to MAC, check out this blog entry.  While I think MAC is a great line for Fafi's work, I could also see her working for Urban Decay, as both lines are considered edgy and youth-oriented.  

L.A.-based painter/illustrator/clothing designer Kime Buzzelli collaborated with Urban Decay to create this limited-edition palette.   Named for an art and fashion installation space/boutique/gallery in Echo Park (now closed, unfortunately) the palette features Buzzelli's unique watercolor depictions of women.  

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 (images from sephora and urbandecay.com)

So who are these women?  Buzzelli says her work represents "Female desire.  Girls trying to solve the puzzle of love.  Floating ghosts in
search of happiness.  Obsession and disaster, Magic moments fueled by
fantasy, stains and the evidence of mischief."  Here are some of her pieces:

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(images from dreamzzzzzzzzz.blogspot.com)

Much like Natalie Lété for Bourjois, in looking at Buzzelli's work I can't fathom a better artist to do a collection for Urban Decay.  Her women are edgy, brash and seem fearless, while Urban Decay brands itself as "beauty with an edge".   And they wear plenty of makeup!  One final thought – is it a coincidence that Buzzelli says her art is partially about the representation of "female desire" and that there's an exclusive shade in the palette named Snatch?!  Perhaps, perhaps not.

Remember how I was bemoaning the fact that asos.com was out of stock on some of the Bourjois Rendez-vous a Paris items?  Well, in my typical OCD way I kept stalking the site and placed an order for the ones I was missing, then waited with bated breath to see if my order would be canceled like last time or be processed.  Lo and behold, it went through and now my Rendez-vous à Paris collection is complete!  Here are the three I was missing:

Blanc Diaphane, with the Arc de Triumph:

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Lilas D'or:

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Ambre D'or:

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I am quite happy not to have any gaps in this collection anymore!