Suqqu Christmas Kit B, featuring Blend Color Eye Shadow Ex-23 Tsukianzu, Review, Swatch & FOTD

It is no secret that Suqqu is one of my favorite brands of all time. I am especially in love with their eye shadow formula, which applies and layers so beautifully. The shimmer in these are very complex and can be worn by anyone at any age. I appreciate the subtle beauty of the permanent line but I am always waiting for that time of the year when glitters come out to play. Xmas!

This year for Holidays, Suqqu releases two Christmas kits. Similar to last year's offer, it consists of one full size eye shadow quad, two mini size cleansers. Last year there was a mini mascara in the kit and this year there is a lipstick compact instead, which I like even more. The kits include a clutch, which is great for travelling . Everything from the set fits in the bag. I find the designs of the cluthes better than last year's.

Christmas Kits differ in two aspects. The eye shadow quads and the color of the clutches are different. Kit A comes with a black clutch and Ex-22 Yukiichigo quad. Yukiichigo means "snow strawberry" and it has lovely pink and purple nuances. Aahh love! Thanks to a very kind friend, who had to drop to Selfridges counter on a Saturday morning, I laid my hands on that one too! Kit B comes with Ex-23 Tsukianzu (lunar apricot), which is a more natural and smokier quad. I would like to thank PR for writing the meaning of the names for each quad next to press infos. In the past I made funny guesses which amused everyone who could speak Japanese. Here is a full list of products which come with Suqqu Christmas Kits A or B:

Suqqu Refining Foam and Reset Cleansing Cream are great for travelling during holiday season. The lipstick compact is very pretty, the lipstick itself enhances the color of the lips. I found out that it applies better with a brush than with fingers. Check out FOTD at the end of this post to see it in action.

Now let me start with the life of the party, Suqqu Blend Color Eye Shadow Ex-23 Tsukianzu. This year both of the quads have one cream and three powder shades. I usually don't like cream and powder products so close to one another. With Suqqu's formula though, I can live with it because the powder almost has a gel consistency, it doesn't become powdery during application. The cream eye shadow in Tsukianzu has an interesting consistency, It is rather dense and a little sticky which sounds not that positive at once but it applies beautifully and does stay on the lids for a very long time. One of the strengths of Suqqu's formula for me is its long wear time on my lids. I have tested this particular quad for over 14 hours and I had no creasing nor fading. The only minor issue after 14 hours was a little bit of fall out of the glitter around the eyes, so to hold them in place, I recommend to apply the cream eye shadow over a primer.

The shades look complex in the pan without even touching and after the play time, I was smitten with how unique they are. Glitters are mainly concentrated in the cream shade (bottom left). The upper shades have both lovely shimmers and light reflective properties. All of these are very hard to capture with the camera so I tried to take photos with and without flash. Most of the light play starts when you are exposed to a low light, such as the one of the rest room. During the day light the effect is mostly like "wet looking" lids with subtle shimmer. And yes this is why I end up visiting the rest room during the day more often than usual, to check out the beautiful shimmer! Last time when I wrote this many of you could relate to that which made me more confident to share it this time around ;-)

The shades in Ex-23 Tsukianzu are as follows:

Upper left: Light champagne with shimmery finish. It is a great shade as an all over color or on the inner lid to open up the eyes. It can also be layered on other shades to make them appear lighter.

Upper right: Mid-toned bronze with complex shimmer. This shade is a show stopper on its own. It is natural yet the the shimmer is so pretty, love!

Bottom right: Semi-opaque light ivory shade. This is close to the base shades of the latest quads. If you would like to use the cream as a liner or just around the lash line for a smoke look without crease definition, it makes sense. However since I like to define my crease, I use the cream shade either on the outer V or all about the lid (as I have done below). I wouldn't use this powder base for the cream shade in that case. I use it to blend everything up the crease though, and it works lovely.

Bottom left: Star of the show, a deep cool brown with very complex shimmer. The shimmer transferred on the lids homogeneously and looks very lovely. It gives a sort of "wet" look as if the drops of water are reflecting the light if that makes sense. It can be used as a liner or over a part of the lid. I prefer the latter.

I tried to capture how lovely the glitters are but it seems it is impossible without using a flash. Hence below you can see my effort with flash. To warn though, I couldn't even capture the half of the glitter party with the camera. For the eye look, I applied the cream shade all over the lid. I then used champagne on the inner third and bronze on the outer two third. I blended the look with the case shade over the crease.

Here is how it looks combined with Suqqu Creamy Glow Lipstick Moist Compact Ex-13 from the set. Since I used the bronze shade on top, it all looks warm and natural. Silvery cool shimmers show up under light, making it very pretty and unique.

Rest of the face: YSL Fusion Ink Foundation (B20), Rouge Bunny Rouge Impalpable Finishing Powder in Diaphanous, Dior Hydra Concealer (#01), Dior My Lady Blush in Pink.

Final thoughts: Natural, unique and pretty in an understated way, this is how I would describe Suqqu Christmas Kit B. These are hard to get hold of but definitely worth hunting.

Availability/Price: Suqqu Christmas Kits are released at Selfridges last weekend but they haven't made it to Selfridges online yet. This weekend they will be available at Fenwick in Bond Street if you are living in London. Alternatively you can give them a call. A Suqqu counter is also opened this months in Harrods, so you may also call or visit them. Christmas Kits cost £58 each.

Are you eyeing any of these kits? How do you find combined offers of the brands this time around?