I must say I'm a little disappointed in Shu Uemura's spring 2012 collection, Celestial Garden.
Here's the description from their blog:
"Imagine a celestial garden in the sky,a radiant oasis above the clouds, abloom with positive energy, fantastical colors and pristine light. Open your senses, allow yourself to fly away to this dazzling habitat,take in the sublime vistas that surround you through new eyes. Discover the unseen precious colors and breathtaking luminescence that exist in the air, scent, and sound surrounding you. For the Spring / Summer 2012 mode make-up collection, shu uemura invites you to a universe of never before seen spring shades and reflections. A stunning celestial garden."
The packaging consists of their standard clear plastic with a very basic pink floral motif.
(images from shuuemura.jp)
Now, the Curator loves florals in makeup design, but only when only when 2 criteria are met: 1. they must have an interesting/art-or-history-based concept; and 2. the design needs to be more than a generic flower on the outer packaging (i.e., flowers imprinted into the makeup itself, or something similarly eye-catching.) The sad little pattern on Shu's spring collection left me feeling like this:
(image from favim.com)
I will be posting about Dior's Garden Party spring collection in a few weeks, along with some other floral palettes, and you'll see what I mean about Shu's collection being lackluster by comparison. I feel their idea could have lent itself to some very intriguing design – a constellation of blooming flowers scattered across a blue sky, or a star/flower hybrid shape embossed in the middle of each eye shadow. Sigh. While this wasn't their best work, I may still pick up one of the palettes (it may prove useful in rounding out a garden-themed exhibition!) ;)