Review: Cle de Peau Beaute Holiday Palette Vintage Face Powder and Extra Silky Lipsticks

Cle de Peau Beaute belongs to the higher end strata of the many cosmetic and skincare brands that Shideido owns.

Thanks to the bi-annual Shiseido sale, otherwise I would never have willingly parted a chunk of my beauty budget to acquire items from this high-end range.

If you are only planning to go for only 1 cosmetic and skincare sale a year or you are tight in budget, then i would say that the Shiseido sale is THE one to go to.

Why?

1. Comprehensive range of products from various price range, ZA, Majolica Majorca, Ettusais, Shiseido, Cle de Peau Beaute and Shiseido Professional (which i gather is for haircare). You might even chance upon Limited Edition items from previous collections, if you are lucky.

2. The products are fresh, in the sense that you have 2 to 3 more years to go before you have to toss them into the rubbish bin.

3. The kind hearted people are willing to give you advice (eg. the colour tone for foundation, procedures in usage of skincare range and etc) all and all, if you ask properly.

Okie, i shan't be long winded and here's part of my loot from the recent sale:

The Limited Edition Holiday Palette Vintage 2009 and 2 Touche de Rouge extra silky lipsticks.

A group shot of my Cle De Peau Beaute Haul.

The Holiday Vintage Palette from 2009.


Made in Italy (they excel in this stuff).



Behold the Jewel.


From innermost to the outer layer: a pinkish beige, light brown, light peachy beige, lastly a very light brown beige.

Swatch of the powder.

A Closer look.

From what i know, Cle de Peau Beaute will release a Holiday Palette Vintage this year too and as it is the same as Holiday Palette Vintage 2009, the palettes are inspired by the charm of vintage jewellery and thus the jewel-like compact.

The colours for the 2009 Palette are rather interesting as it comprised of 4 colours (all in the range of neutral and warm tones), each colour is built around another and there is a layer of fine gold shimmer powder strategically place at certain places so that the palette resembles a piece of jewel.

When i was swatching the palette, my nose caught a whiff of fragrance from the powder (a scent that i find familiar but can't place my finger to it), its subtle so i am not disturbed by it. Upon swatching, although i find that the texture is soft (almost silky) but it is a little flaky which would mean that i need to blend the powder into the skin with a little effort.

It gives off a subtle but sophiscated light glow upon application (from what i have read, it can be used with and without makeup). It's not frostly, not metallic, not too pigmented, just a soft warm glow which i do like very much.

However, to warrant such a hefty price tag for a face powder highlighter, no matter how coveted the item is or how pretty it looks on your vanity table...... It MUST do much more.

My personal view on it?

Not a must-buy.

Unless you buy it during a sale (like me), even at a sale its price is almost the equivalent of a Chanel or Christian Dior Highlighter powder.

Or you have no beauty budget constraint and an avid collector at that.

Otherwise, much as it is very pretty, i would let it go if there is no sale.

Next, the Touche de Rouge Extra Silky Lipsticks.....

The 2 Extra Silky Lipsticks.

L-R: 122 and 120.

Luxurious packaging. Love.

Swatches of the lipsticks from T-B: 122 and 120.

A closer look at the 2 colours.

These 2 lipsticks are what i have risked an arm and a leg for (from all the battling with the strong ladies at the Cle de Peau Beaute table during the sale).

I have heard nothing but raves about the lipsticks and so here i go, i snagged 2.

120 is a neutral brown nude that is quite sheer upon application, it reminded me of Guerlain Kiss Kiss Baby in 240 Honey Nude. http://zealousbeautyfanatic.blogspot.com/2010/07/guerlain-lipsticks-haul.html.

I would say its a breeze to apply it on my lips, glides like a dream- buttery soft. This is a colour that i would wear everyday.

122 on the otherhand is bright and peachy orange with a hint of gold shimmer in it, which brightens up my face when i applied it. It is a unique colour and since i do not own anything like that in my collection, i figure it is a good time to pick it up.

Scentwise, the 2 lipsticks do possess a subtle hint of fragrance which i do not mind at all.

My only gripe is that you have to be careful to dispense only the amount you need for 1 application each time as it is unretractable and as the texture of the lipstick is buttery soft, it would mean that storing them near warm places or high temperature locations would be a bad idea.

I like the lipsticks, the texture, colours and everything except its princely price, especially since lipsticks are easily used up. Imagine having to replace them once every 4 months or so... Ouch! $$$

Palette Vintage Face Powder (Highlighter) 2009: Priced at S$180.00 for 12.5g or 0.44oz, available at Cle De Peau Beaute counter at Isetan Scotts and Takashimaya. (I got mine at a steal of S$80.00)

Touche de Rouge Extra Silky Lipsticks: Priced at S$105.00 for 2g or 0.07oz, available at Cle De Peau Beaute counter at Isetan Scotts and Takashimaya. (Mine was snagged at S$35.00 each).

Jill Stuart Christmas Coffret 2009

This is something that i have been contemplating for the longest time - to unwrap it or not?

It is a arduous process on deciding to open it since i have received it from my dear bff J.L. early this year and it took me almost one week to finally made up my mind to unwrap the delicately wrapped "cake".

Presenting ...... the Jill Stuart Christmas Coffret 2009......

This coffret set cost around S$120 after all that currency conversion if i am not mistaken. Trust me, i am so elated when i got to know that JL's sister-in-law's brother is able to snag 1 for me on the day that it was launched in Hong Kong. I have heard all the raves and lemmings for Jill Stuart's Christmas set.. how coveted it is.. how pretty and how value for money it is..

The truth is.. i am a sucker for pretty packaging.. this is so true in this case whereby everything by Jill Stuart is so princessy... and so i took the plunge without even being able to feel and see the item in real life (usually i would hover around the counters and assess the item before handling over my money willingly).

Being a seasonal item produced in limited quantities could only mean that it would be near impossible to get hold of one. Last year, i got lucky and i am glad to see that last year's set consist of a full sized limited edition highlight powder with brush, a full sized jar jelly eye color, a deluxe size lip gloss, a near full sized nail color and a sheet of nail decoration.

The highlight powder is something different from the eye color palette that Jill Stuart usually include in their much anticipated Christmas Coffret set. From what i have googled, they include a limited edition blusher (blush blossom), a jelly eye color, a lip gloss, a night jewel perfumed body powder and fake eyelashes all contained in a cream colored satin pouch decorated with delicate black lace.

It's rather clever of them to state that all the colors in the Christmas Coffret sets are limited edition colors.. like in the case of last year's set....but nowadays i am beginning to feel the draw of limited edition gradually losing their grip on me....

Ha! We shall wait and see how my sense of self-control is holding up....

Now! The Jill Stuart Christmas Coffret 2009!

Pretty pastry-like paper bag.

All the goodies in the "Cake".

A closer look at the lovelies.

The near-heaven soft brush and the highlighter.

The flat highlighter brush (pretty motifs and pink jewel in the middle).

The limited edition jelly eye color (a slight lavender pink color).

A sheet of sweet nail decoration sticker.

What interest me most in this coffret set are the highlighter (obviously) and the jelly eye color. The rest of the items like the lip gloss and nail color look pretty much like what the permanent like is offering except that they are limited edition colors as stated. I will be swatching the items very soon, so stay around for the post. : )