Shu Uemura Brave Beauty - Vision of Beauty Rouge Unlimited and Satin Radiant Stick

(Press samples. Affiliate links.)

The lip portion of the Shu Uemura Brave Beauty collection is, much like the palettes, a mash-up of the in-your-face and the very wearable. The packaging has that same bold, almost-floral design that reminds me of hothouse blooms, and the Vision of Beauty Rouge Unlimited lipsticks as viewed in the tube promise equally florid colour on the face: the deep plummy wine of Maroon, and the vivid tangerine orange of, well, Orange.

I think claret shades for fall are entirely appropriate, and after this spring's orange lip trend we're all well used to citrus tones. Still, these aren't exactly meek shades, and I imagine that for folks who generally favour nude or MLBB lipsticks (and I place myself in that category) they can come across as a little....much.

Vision of Beauty Rouge Unlimited: Orange and Maroon

Vision of Beauty Rouge Unlimited: Orange and Maroon

The formula, however, is what makes these waaaayyyy less intimidating to actually wear. This is one of those hybrids between a gloss and a lipstick that has a translucent, stained glass effect when worn. The colour applies very true to the what's in the tube, but the sheerness softens it without altering the actual shade. Orange is NOT a colour I will normally wear, but the shade here was surprisingly pretty, and looked more like pumpkin than tangerine with my colouring. I don't know, what do you guys think?

(There are two milder shades in the collection, namely Rose and Beige, if you're not at all inclined to wear bolder colours, as well as equally robust offerings like Red and Fuchsia - which is, as far as I'm concerned, a Modern Classic.)

In terms of texture, this is a very comfortable, emollient lipstick with a nice amount of slip that doesn't slide around or feel greasy. As it dries down some of the gloss fades, and it lasts a couple of hours before wearing away relatively evenly. It's not a revolutionary formula, but it is a very nicely done version, and very comfortable to wear. Again, I'm just kind of wowed by an orange that doesn't make me look jaundiced or like the 8-year-old-version of me, who had an unrelenting love for those orange Freezies.

Vision of Beauty Rouge Unlimited: Maroon and Orange

Vision of Beauty Rouge Unlimited: Maroon

Vision of Beauty Rouge Unlimited: Orange

If you prefer shimmer over colour, I suspect the Satin Radiant Sticks might please you. A more elegant version of the Maybelline Master Glaze Blush Sticks, these toe the line between a highlighter and a blush. Though they are split out on the site by category (the highlighters being Light Pink and Bronze Gold, the blushes being Pink and Orange Coral), I think I would still consider them all as highlighters, at least based on the two I have.

Light Pink is a very pale champagne pink that just barely registers as a colour on my skin, and sheers out to essentially shimmer. Pink has more obvious pigmentation when swiped on heavily, but the sparkle content wouldn't incline me to wearing it quite that heavily. Sheered out, it's a very light babydoll pink.

And these are shimmery. Not obnoxiously so, but very obviously so, especially in sunlight or certain overhead lights. This is not the subtle glow that suggests a recent bout of yoga, but a more perceptible shimmer and shine. For me personally it's just a little too much, but if sparkle is what you've been looking for, then this is probably what you want. (And here I'm thinking of a friend who uses a shimmer lotion all over her body, including her face, and looks absolutely stunning. For some people, the shimmering halo just works.)

Texture-wise, this is a more wearable formula than, for example, the Nars Multiple or the afore-mentioned Maybelline Blush Stick. Both of those can feel overly greasy and slippery (and the matte version of the Multiple has that weird dry-silicone feel), but these have a nice amount of initial slip, which makes them very easy to blend and diffuse. After that, they set and feel weightless on the skin.

Satin Radiant Stick: Light Pink and Pink

Satin Radiant Stick: Pink and Light Pink

I will say they photograph really well, as none of the swatches had perceptible shimmer particles in the photos, while they do show up in real life.

Satin Radiant Stick: Light Pink (blended and heavy) and Pink (heavy and blended)

Availability: These are up on www.shuuemura.ca and www.shuuemura-usa.com, as well as Shu Uemura counters. The Rouge Unlimited lipsticks are 36$ CAD and 30$ USD, and the Satin Radiant Sticks are 55$ CAD and 39$ USD. (To which I say, What the price jump, Batman??)

I can definitely see myself getting more of the lipsticks (I have a lippie problem, I know), but the radiant sticks are not something I would pick up, especially not at that price point. What do you guys think?

(Items were provided by the brand/PR to be considered for review. This post is not sponsored or compensated, opinions are my own. Contains affiliate links.)