[Trendzilla] Shu Uemura Skin-Care Products

A A A Comments By VICKIE CHANG Thursday, Oct 23 2008

It’s not exactly a new concept: Being a woman means extra expenses. Meaning sometimes, being a female who fits the near-impossible male definition of femininity—girls don’t poop—means extra expenses. And it gets vindictively worse: Sometimes being a girl competing with other females’ perceptions of femininity means extra expenses.

Let’s take a look at Sephora, the beauty product store headed by the fashion holding giant Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH). While the chain started out in 1969 as a leading retailer of higher-end beauty products in Paris, they’ve since expanded to more than 750 stores in 21 countries, carrying over 250 brands of makeup, skin care and fragrance items.

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Gals spend hundreds on face paint and palettes of trampily bold eye shadows at MAC counters in an effort to keep up. But we forget a whole lot of that “real” image of beauty comes down to just keeping your skin in good condition. A daily slathering of SPF and drinking tons of water are two easy ways to get it done, but a quality skin care line doesn’t hurt, either.

I don’t focus too much on makeup, but I’ll buy the hell out of some good cream. This includes, but is not limited to: toner, day cream, serum, night cream and eye cream. Yup.

I’ve long been a dedicated fan of Shu Uemura’s Depsea Moisture skin care line, which uses “Depsea Water,” a moisture formula made with ingredients found in the deep sea below a depth of 200 meters—or so they say.

In October, Shu Uemura introduced two special eye treatments as a solution to fine lines, dark circles and puffiness to their line. I recently tested their Depsea moisture replenishing eye gel ($45), a watery gel that’s supposed to moisturize and reduce signs of fatigue. While I’m not so sure it succeeded in making me look, say, un-tired, it did feel great on the the eyes, a tender area that can feel tight and dried out no matter how many eye creams I layer on (and I have many). The best part is, you can slap on the eye gel over your make-up.

The other product I’ve yet to try out is the Depsea moisture replenishing eye mask ($45). It basically resembles two moist cotton pads that you place over your eyes for five minutes.

Along with these two eye products, Shu Uemura released their rouge unlimited creme matte ($23). While you usually think of matte lipstick as dry, powdery and creased, Shu Uemura’s new rouge unlimited is both creamy and has a fine matte finish. The line comes in 10 beautiful shades of pinks, reds, and browns, which all the gals in the office loved.

Visit the Shu Uemura store in South Coast Plaza (right across from the MAC store in the downstairs Saks wing), 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, (714) 957-0521; www.shu-uemura.com.

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