Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Swatches Part 2: Neutrals

Click through for the introduction to the new formula, and swatches part 1: colours (reds, pinks, mauves, wines, corals).

This batch features the other half of the 50 permanent shades currently available: BR (brown) and BG (beige), although both codes contain quite a few roses and pinks, and the black and white 'mixers'.

As before, I built up the swatches as necessary to show the colours most clearly (up to seven swipes for the 'very sheer' shades, only one swipe for the 'very pigmented' ones) -- see the notes for info on how pigmented each shade is.
In general, the sheerer the shade the more visible shimmer (the most shimmery shades are still less shimmery than Chanel Rouge Coco Shines however), and the more pigmented, the more like a traditional cream finish (zero shimmer, some balmy shine).

Beige (BG)

natural light

full sun

BG910 -- medium
BG911 -- medium
BG920 -- medium
BG921 -- pigmented
BG922 -- sheer
BG930 -- pigmented
BG931 -- pigmented (and gorgeous! and not remotely beige!)

natural light

full sun

BG935
BG940
BG941
BG950
BG955
BG960
BG965 -- no. 1 bestseller in Japan, a very flattering, versatile rose
These were all uniformly pigmented, creamy 1-2 swipe wonders.

Black (BK), White (WH) and Brown (BR)

natural light

full sun

BK009 -- one swipe, a nearly opaque balmy cream with a sheen
WH001 -- conversely it took seven swipes to build up even to this coverage, shimmery
BR740 -- medium pigment, extremely frosty
BR741 -- medium
BR750 -- pigmented
BR760 -- sheer
BR780 -- medium
BR790 -- pigmented
BR791 -- sheer, frosty

Dainty Doll Part Deux: Blush swatches and review

By far the more successful half of my toe-dipping into this 'Specially For Pale Skin brand, I present Dainty Doll blushes 001 Hippy Hippy Shake and 003 Money Talks. Both are pigmented, finely milled and a very reasonable £13.50 for 4.6g (not 46g, Boots site) -- on my very dry skin they can feel somewhat dry but this is true for most powder products on the market so feel free to extrapolate based on your own skin/preferences.

003 Money Talks is an unusual bronzed rose with what looks like shimmer in the pan and on the arm, but translates as an intense, smooth sheen on the cheeks (even to my shimmerphobic eye). It's nicely pigmented and gives a very flattering après ski glow to pale, cool skin. (On warmer pale skins, I think it's the kind of colour that may pull muddy/terracotta.) For me, it has enough pink in it to be usable as blush or warm bronzer without looking dirty but would be an orange, shiny disaster as contour.

natural light -- this is a dry, finely milled formula that shows brush tracks

angled in full sun to catch the shimmer

Swatched with the closest shades in my stash (not very):
Rouge Bunny Rouge Gracilis, a dusty rosy mauve, which looks cooler and brighter here in contrast
and Delicata, my personal nude beige-peachy-rose-nude holy grail (it's so a thing), which looks much peachier because it lacks the mauviness of Money Talks.
(See my other swatches of the two RBR shades so you can see what mad a mad alchemical creature Money Talks is)

shade

full sun

cheeks: Money Talks // eyes: Catrice Pink Rock, The Noble Knights and Hip Hop on the Treetop, Lancôme Hypnôse Drama // lips: Burberry Bright Plum // base: Dainty Doll 001+002 mix

If Money Talks was the surprise hit within a surprise hit, 001 Hippy Hippy Shake, a paaaaale cool lilac satin, was so obviously up my street I almost perversely didn't swap for it. I'm glad I triple-reverse-psychologised myself though (yeah, take that, brain!), because it's that unicorn, an effortless pastel for the pale (cf. previous more effortful efforts).
Swatched against:
Illamasqua Katie (look how warm and dark it seems!)
Nars Gaiety (look how bright and pink!)
Hippy Hippy Shake <3 noticebly cooler and paler than the rest. True-to-pan FTW!
Shu Uemura M Pink 32E (2nd generation)
and M Soft Mauve 225 (Colour Atelier), the new version of M32E and pretty close as you see

natural light

full sun

blush: Hippy Hippy Shake // eyes: Chanel Ebouli, RBR Mountain Bluebird, Shu Uemura white+yellow from Spring Rebirth tri-colour pencil Energy Flow, Lancôme Hynôse Drama // lips: Addiction Miss You More

This looks drier on my skin than Money Talks, and some of that is attributable to the shade (chalkier) and finish (more satiny, less sheeny). Another explanation could be that it's.just.drier.

Ah, 90% ethanol, is there anything you can't do?

Ingredients:

Dainty Doll Deuxième Début: Liquid Foundation Swatches and Review

Dainty Doll is a recently relaunched mid-range brand aimed at the pale-skinned, headed and fronted by (ex-/now re-? oh who knows) Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts -- the redhead, natch.

The original Harrods-exclusive range of foundations did not impress me (flat, basic formulas, and violently pink or yellow undertones) but positive murmurings about the new range tempted me to revisit (Dainty Doll is now widely available at Boots and lookfantastic online.)

Face products will be the main draw for this brand, as most companies in 2012 still persist in thinking that those paler than MAC 15 are a vanishingly rare breed...we're not. And we HAZ monies! Y U NO let us throw them your way, companies?! *weeps and flings doubloons weakly* Ahem, for now I'll be reviewing the liquid foundation, and in part two there will be blood blush. Based on a cursory swatch sesh in Boots, the eyeshadow and lipstick formulas are unexceptional rather than unexceptionable, and personally I've never found it a particularly pale-specific challenge to shop for those anyway...

Here's Dainty Doll Now That I've Found You Liquid Foundation (RBR much? 30ml for £22) in the two palest shades, 001 Very Light and 002 Light swatched against Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet 15:

heavy swatches, natural light

(In my opinion, Mat Velvet 15 is neutral, but beauty net consensus seems to have it leaning pink.) In any case, Dainty Doll 002 is a little darker and substantially more yellow than the MUFE, while 001 is a good step paler, looking almost white. (On my extrapolated MAC scale, MV 15 is N10, DD 002 is NC13 and DD 001 is NW5.)


Dainty Doll 001 Very Light, swatched between Yaby Daisy (an actual white) and Illamasqua Skin Base 02, to bring out its cool neutral-pinkiness as opposed to Illamasqua's warmer more pronounced pink.

full sun

natural light

And Dainty Doll 002 with Nars Sheer Glow Siberia (so jaundicey, I can't quite believe I've gone out in public / posted pics wearing this D:), Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer SX-01 (this is definitely yellow but looks neutral next to these other shades) and Paul&Joe Light Cream Foundation S 00 (the coolest yellow of the bunch, looks olive).

full sun -- it suddenly got very cold, sorry about revolting goosebumps

natural light

Here's Dainty Doll 002 Light on me, looking a little too dark and yellow (if your monitor shows it):

The difference is probably too minor to register on most screens / any sane person's list of bothersome things but I'm enough of a special, special snowflake to feel more comfortable for slapping a thin layer of 001 Very Light over the top (approximately achieving a 3:2 mix i.e. 001.6 Quite Light):

That's also why I'm pouting: a brand especially for pale folk and I still have to mix?

A bigger disappointment was how dry and unforgiving this formula was on me -- see how matte my face looks even without setting powder? In real life it brings up a multitude of flaky and bumpy patches I didn't even know I had. I get good medium coverage from one thin layer (applied with a damp beautyblender sponge), and it's buildable to full -- though you'll have to work quickly, as this stuff isn't the most blendable, and once it sets, it sets.

Ingredients