Shu Uemura: Eye Shadow Numbering System

I'm a Shu girl, great stuff. There are a tons reviews on Shu (checkout makeupalley.com for many) so I'm not going to do much of a review. I want to share some things that your average person doesn't know, not even the average Shu make up artist knows, at least not most of the ones I've talked to.

-----

Many people complain about the use of numbers instead of names. The numbers DO mean something and they make a lot of sense once you realize the system. I'll explain e/s here and blush in another review, the lipsticks and foundations I still don't know.

Eye Shadow

~Each 100 equals a color family, for new and old formulas:
100 = Pink & Rose
200 = Orange
300 = Yellow, Gold & Brick
400 = Yellow-Green, Olive & Green
500 = Green & Turquoise
600 = Blue
700 = Purple
800 = Beige & Brown
900 = Rainbow, White, Gray, Silver, Charcoal & Black

In general the lower the number within it's own 100 group the lighter the color, therefore the higher the number the darker. This is a loose guideline and seems to apply less to the new colors.

Example: P Orange 204 would be a shimmery light orange. M Orange 275 would be a much darker matte orange (again, loose guideline).

Example: ME Purple 720 would be a very shimmery med-light purple. M Purple 795 would be a very dark matte purple.

One of the more confusing "names" is IR Rainbow 900y. Here is what it all means:
- IR = iridescent
- Rainbow implies the "rainbow" shows more then 1 color
- Y = Yellow (there is also an IR Rainbow 900g (green), 900p (pink), & 900v (violet).
What that means is that the undertone for 900y is yellow (or gold) and is to be used to layer over other colors to change the base color.

-----

~The New Eye Shadows

The first installment of the new formula are very nice. They are softer then the "old" formula. Pigment is good, many of the colors show up better then some of the older look-a-likes. But, some of the ME e/s aren't quite as good as the old formula (but the old ones were hit or miss too, for example ME 390, ME 638, ME 945 were just a few that were awesome; but ME 370, ME 388 & ME 780 were only nice, not the awesome-ness of some of the others). These retail for $20.00 US, 2100 Yen in Japan (aprox $18+ US, changes as exchange rate changes)

So far the way the new numbering system works is that each number (150 for example) comes in each of the four standard e/s textures:
ME = Metal, P = Pearl, IR = Iridescent, and M = Matte
So there will be a
ME Pink 150
P Pink 150
IR Pink 150
and M Pink 150

100's are Pinks
200's are Oranges
300's are Yellows & Golds
400's are Light Greens & Greens (some look like olives)
500's are Greens (some look like turquoise)
600's are Blues
700's are Purples
800's are Beiges & Browns
900's are everything else including White, Gray, Silver & Blacks.


~Comparison of ME's, old vs new

So far there are several look-a-likes in the new line compared to the old line. I won't list them all, but a few are:
Old = New
ME Pink 125 = ME Pink 150
ME Gold 390 = ME Gold 350
ME Gold 365 = IR Gold 350
ME Olive 480 = ME Green 450
ME Green 555 = ME Green 550
ME Silver 945 = ME Brown 850


For some reason I can't get the full pic to show, the right side is cut off.



P.S. Lots of people complain about the packaging, it's very minimal and meant to be. Shu, like many Japanese cosmetics is meant to be "depotted" and placed in a palette. There is a hole on the back of each single "pot", you can find this by looking for a small white circle. Using a paper clip or tooth pick, you can gently push the pan out of the pot. My friend, who turned me onto Shu, used to use pliers to chip away the clear plastic, lol. I've often hear about people using the candle or other heating method to extract the pans, usually with minor damage.

The back will be covered with glue (wipes off easily) which is what Shu wants you to use to use the clue or double sided stickers to place the pans in the open palettes. For some reason, none of the Japanese brands I have have pan material made of something magnetic. You can add magnets to the back but you also have to add them to the palettes. It's very annoying and I hate it. I use double stick tape to keep mine in place.

The Shu open palettes are reasonably priced, but I prefer to use Trish McEvoy Planner Pages to hold mine. It's fun to arrange and rearrange the e/s and blushes.

.