I had mistakenly bought the wrong shade for my Clarins Extra Firming Foundation (see very first review) so for a couple of months, I had been making do with adding a bit of my Shiseido brown eyeshadow to my VMV Glow Lip & Cheek Tint. I wanted to achieve my natural skin color, not look as pale as a ghost.

The irony of it is that I have naturally rosy cheeks, except that the rosy parts are located in the wrong areas. In short: they’re not contour-friendly. For a person with fat cheeks like I do (yes, they’re fat whether I lose or gain weight), contour is very important. So I have to cover everything up again and put the right colors in the right places.

Rowena Lei gave me a jar of Shu Uemura Color Mousse in Air Bronze the other day. She heard about my endeavor to achieve the glowy tan effect without having to bake in the sun (I’m sun-phobic) and thought I oughto try this out. Wonder of wonders! I knew Shu Uemura wouldn’t let me down!

VMV Lip & Cheek Tint requires you to rub your cheeks rather sadistically in order to blend. Sometimes I’d fear that my face would sag from the abuse. Color Mousse needs none of that. It’s lighter than your lightest moisturizer so putting it on and blending it was a breeze. It didn’t give me that unnatural red/pink blush because it’s bronze. While it is darker than my cheeks’ natural rose, it made me look healthier because of the golden tan effect. It also helps me tone down the whiteness of my foundation, depending on how I combine the colors. My goodness, I’m absolutely hooked!

I should probably let my sister try this product so she doesn’t have to kill her skin with too much sun exposure. The last time I told her that Robert said I was darker than her (mistakenly thinking I’d get pissed by the remark because I’m not white), she kinda went berserk. “What? Why did he say I’m whiter than you?? You mean my beautiful beach tan wore off????”

In any case, I hope Shu Uemura comes up with more products like this. It’s definitely amazing! Thanks, Rowena!

Other Shu Uemura products I have:
Dark Brown Drawing Pencil - glides like perfection, although the pencil itself shrinks quickly
Green Eyeshadow - gentle on the skin, while magically blending with your natural skin color

I couldn’t help it. I really don’t like my new VMV Skin Alchemy that I gave it to my sister today. It’s just a week old and it irks me that I threw away 1.2K ($24) for something so unsatisfactory.

I went to Rustan’s and asked around for Clarins. I was met with furrowed eyebrows and blank stares when I asked them where the Clarins Institut was. I sighed and inwardly shuddered when I was forced to clarify my meaning by saying “Clareens”. As expected, I got the response I needed, “Ah! Clareens! Ah, sa 2nd floor yun, miss.” Oh, gawd, this was Zerox versus Zeerox all over again.

Anyhoo, I came home with a 1.7K ($34) bottle in my hand and I’ve never been happier. Trust me, it’s the most sulit health & beauty purchase I’ve had in ages. One squirt is enough to provide protection for your entire face and neck. It’s SPF8 and it works well with your regular sunblock. It also has excellent blendability. The best part of it is that you don’t need anything else on your face, because it gives you this dewy glow that looks amazing even after you’ve climbed up and down a torturous sadistic wall.

Value for money means a lot to me especially since I just learned from Rowena that Shu Uemura products in Japan cost half as much as the ones being sold here. Highway robbery, anyone? Like I have a choice anyway, since I’m addicted to Shu and Shiseido.

Thanks, Ma, for letting me nenok your Clarins stash and letting me know what I’ve been missing. Hehe.