Established 2008

Shu Fall 2008 collection: representing instinct

I finally got my hands on one piece from Shu Uemura's fall 2008 collection called "Instinct".   Here is the description of the collection from the website:  "Stimulate your instincts with shu uemura's Fall Mode Makeup Collection! Explore these layerable, sensual and iridescent shades of Fall to discover your own make-up expression! Staying true to shu uemura's heritage of innovative and conceptual design, each item is encased within palettes of silver, gold and black motifs, expressing the modernism and elegance of the collection's femininity." 

I felt as though there are a lot of fancy words in there but no real meaning.  "Modernism," "sensual," "stimulate," while interesting, weren't really painting a cohesive picture of the collection for me.  So off to Google I went to find more info, and I found this description of the collection at temptalia"There are periods of time a woman has an alluring glow and enlightened expression, often times of great pleasure and confidence. Capture these most sensuous moments and recreate the indulgent merge of mesmeric forces with the collection of Instinct. shu uemura explores the power of instinct with an arousing collection of deep color veils and lush texture to reveal the evocative allure of every woman."

Still a lot of fluff, but it makes more sense when actually looking at the collection's items.  There is a rose powder (I'm assuming it gives an "alluring glow"), eye shadow duos that can create smoky or soft looks, depending on their application, and blushes with names like "Steam" and "Lust." 

Instinct fall 08 

Here is what the blushes and eye shadow duos look like:

Instinct blush 
(photos from shuuemura-usa.com)

Still, I thought the packaging overall was a little weak.  The rose powder in particular has a somewhat 80's feel to it – between the graphic shapes and the shiny, reflective surface, it reminds me of packaging that would have been really cutting-edge 20 years ago.  (In fact, the author of makeupandbeautyblog draws a very literal comparisonbetween the packaging and promotional ad and the '80s.)  Plus, I'm still not sure where "Instinct" fits into all this.  I think of instinct as something innate, an automatic feeling emanating from your subconscious, not necessarily "enlightened expression", and I'm not sure how the images on the packaging are in keeping with this.  If anything, the package design should have been expressed in a more raw, primal way, sort of like the automatismof Jackson Pollock…perhaps a paint-splattered compact would have been more appropriate.  😉

Action-painting 
(photo from artinthepicture.com)

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