My post on Armani's Sienna Minerals palette reminded me of Shu's spring Mirage collection – lots of desert-themed makeup lately! All we need is a collection called Oasis. Anyway, the idea behind these was to "create an
illusion-like, unforgettable makeup image that gently and gradually
arises like a mirage." I understand the concept behind the makeup shades, but I'm not really sure how the abstract designs on the compacts are supposed to represent a mirage.
(photos from nordstrom.com)
To me they look more like billowing smoke. I think it would have been more interesting to have a mirror image of the design on each side. While this collection was a bit of a miss for me, Shu definitely redeemed itself with the lovely Tokyo Kamon Girls collection, which I am still adoring. (Availability udpate: I spotted some of the oils in Allure magazine's July issue, which means they will definitely be available in the U.S.!)
The Curator is positively beside herself with excitement! I first laid eyes on these about a week and half ago and was dizzy with joy. Shu partnered with Japanese manga artist Moyoco Anno for a new set of limited-edition cleansing oils, along with a brush set and train case. Since I collect all the limited-edition cleansing oils I knew I had to have these. It's been a few years since Shu last did an entire set of oils with an outside artist, so I was really pleased to see them make a return.
Moyoco Anno is a top manga illustrator. If, like me, this is the first time you've heard the word "manga" and are wondering what it is, manga are a type of Japanese comic/cartoon, usually serialized into magazines of 20-40 pages. There are all types of genres, from horror to romance to sci-fi. Moyoco Anno primarily draws Josei manga, the Japanese equivalent of what Americans refer to as "chick-lit" , but also created several very popular series for girls aged 13 and younger. I love that the majority of Shu's outside collaborations have been with women artists – first Ai Yamaguchi, then Mika Ninagawa, and now Anno.
Here's a pic of the oils in their boxes (excuse how crooked the picture is – Ansel Adams I am not.) From left to right: Tamaki (enriched), Katsura (brightening), Matsuno (premium), Sakurako (fresh), and Tsuruha (advanced). The names are not the names of the cleansing oils themselves, but rather the character that Anno created for each one. "Kamon" refers to a Japanese family crest and each design corresponds to the personalities of the different women. For a good description of each one, check out this article from Lifestyle Asia.
Out of the boxes:
The E-bay seller I procured these from was truly amazing – he threw in tons of skincare samples, along with an adorable Taiwan-exclusive traincase keychain (or so he told me – you might be able to get it elsewhere.)
Close-up of the keychain:
Finally, a note about availability: I called Shu to find out whether these would be available in the U.S. While the rep told me that these would not be coming stateside, a number of blogs across the globe have covered them – besides Hong Kong, Japan, and the Phillipines, I've seen online blurbs about the collection in Vogue Australia and Vogue France, complete with pricing info in their respective currency. So if the collection will be available in Europe, Australia and Asia, I don't see why the U.S. market would be shut out. If you're like me and simply cannot wait to see if these will make it to the states, there are a couple of items on E-bay, but I'm speculating that the collection might make an official U.S. appearance in the fall…keep your eyes peeled!
(The Curator is very busy/tired…Couture Monday will return next week.)
A few weeks ago I posted about Shu Uemura's latest cleansing oil, the Advanced Formula, which came with an abstract design on the bottle. I didn't know when it would be hitting the U.S. and surmised that this wasn't an artist collaboration since there was no mention of an outside artist on the bottle or box. This morning though I received an e-mail from the company announcing the U.S. release of this oil and they revealed what that design is – it's calligraphy from Mr. Uemura himself! Here's my picture again:
Silly me, it should have dawned on me that it was calligraphy, and calligraphy from Shu himself – that's very fitting. But trained in Western art that I am, I thought it had more of an abstract expressionist feel to it. In any case, I'm happy to find out what it was!
In late 2007 Shu Uemura teamed up with Toy2R to sell Qee figures as a gift-with-purchase – buy a cleansing oil and get a free Qee! Each one is color-coordinated to a particular cleansing oil (the green is for the premium oil, pink for the fresh oil, orange for the enriched and yellow for the regular oil.)
But what exactly ARE Qees, you ask? They're usually small (2.5 inch) vinyl figures that can be displayed or put on key chains, taking the form of bears, dogs, cats, monkeys or bunnies. According to the Toy2R website, the company is "breaking down the boundaries between product design, art and graphics" and "instilling contemporary designer art into the vinyl toy market." Qees first debuted in 2001 and are sold in series based on a particular artist's design scheme. The company also deals with other businesses – Qees have been produced for Adidas, Benetton, Starbucks and Target.
The Shu Uemura Quees perfectly represent the oils in that they match the color to each one, and also the swirly pattern seen on all parts of the figure is reminiscent of how these somewhat viscous oils move and flow in their bottles. As with Shu's collaboration with Genius Party (which I posted about earlier), it's a puzzle as to why the company decided to use toys to promote their most iconic beauty product. Most cosmetic companies include a small makeup pouch and/or other beauty items, but Shu chose…designer toys. It's a strange but ingenious way to break the beauty industry mold.
Oops, they did it again! That is, Shu Uemura has released a new advanced formula cleansing oil, and in honor of its launch created a limited-edition, Asia-exclusive bottle. It’s not clear when the advanced formula will hit the States. But what’s bothering me more than that uncertainty is the fact that I don’t know if an artist collaborated on the bottle’s design.
It’s impossible to tell whether this is something the company has come up with or if an outside artist was brought in. (As mentioned earlier, Shu has a history of working with artists on designs for the cleansing oil bottles.) I’m guessing this is something the company did itself since there’s no mention of an artist on the bottle or box.
The abstract flourish is reminiscent of some of Franz Kline’s work, especially Chief (1950).
I think it’s fitting that Shu chose an abstract design for this product. The idea of a product having a new “advanced” formula is difficult to express visually, so a simple abstract brushstroke in silver works well in terms of signaling the release of a new and improved product.
In the past, Japanese makeup company Shu Uemura collaborated with artists John Tremblay and Ai Yamaguchi to create limited-edition packaging for the company's best-selling cleansing oils. Shu is continuing their tradition of interesting skincare packaging with a Japan-exclusive release in honor of the 25th birthday of their flagship boutique, a collaboration with the producers of the anime anthology Genius Party.
Genius Party was released in July 2007 and consists of 7 short anime films. The bird-man and smiling egg-like characters on the bottle are taken from the opening film and namesake of the anthology, which was directed by Atsuko Fukushima.
This character is from the 3rd movie in the anthology, titled "Deathtic 4" and directed by Shinji Kimura.
Unfortunately I can't seem to find a link to watch the films, but I did come across a very thoughtful and interesting analysis of the first segment as well as a review of the entire series.
I'm glad Shu continued working with visual artists to create unique packaging. I'm always curious to know the motivations behind the artist selection, besides the obvious goal of creating designs meant to sell products on a wide scale. The Genius Party cleansing oil, however, possibly represents a departure from this. Fukushima had this to say about the anthology: "The Genius Party project is completely the opposite of the kind of approach where you first assume to target a certain audience, and then create the content to match."1 Thus, Genius Party wasn't meant to appeal to anyone in particular. This begs the question of how these artists ended up working with with a cosmetics company whose primary interest in the partnership was to sell a skincare product.
There is no tie-in to the product itself or any kind of central theme, as there was with the Tremblay and Yamaguchi designs. Those two artists were commissioned to create illustrations specifically for the cleansing oil, while the Genius Party images were seemingly slapped on rather than being linked in some fashion. What's more, the opening piece supposedly explores the vague theme of the "birth of images"2, and the third segment involves a boy rescuing a frog from something called the "Life-Form Disposal Squad". Neither of these have anything to do with selling a product, so it's unclear as to why the characters from these particular films were chosen. My conclusion is that Shu simply wanted a unique-looking bottle intended for collectors and fans of the premium cleansing oil alike, and decided to work with artists who are on the cutting edge of anime.
1 This quote was taken from an article by Roland Kelts, accessed at https://japanamerica.blogspot.com/2008/04/anime-and-studio-4c.html.
2 "Einsteins of Anime," The Japan Times Online, June 28, 2007. https://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20070628r1.html
3 Author's note: The majority of online information on Genius Party and the Shu bottle is in Japanese, which unfortunately I'm unable to read, and the automated English translations were more or less useless. If I were able to get all of the information I came across in English this post may have been a bit more insightful.
