Both fashion and beauty lovers should already know of this ingenious collaboration by now - Karl Lagerfeld, designer extraordinaire most well known for his role as head designer and creative director of the house of Chanel, has teamed up with Shu Uemura to launch a holiday range of specially designed pieces, including eyeshadow palettes, Shu Uemura's iconic lashes and lash curler, and various other fabulous signature Shu Uemura products.

For twenty years, Karl Lagerfeld has illustrated his fashion sketches with Shu Uemura eye shadows, so it only seems fitting that now, masters in the worlds of fashion and beauty respectively, have converged to create this exciting new range of products.

I was lucky enough to receive one of the palettes from this collection to photograph and swatch for you all - the karl for shu prestigious bordeaux palette.


The packaging is branded with the Karl Lagerfeld design and features the now famous Mon Shu girl - the 'centrepiece' of the Karl Lagerfeld collection. As you can see, it is all very Japanese-influenced, and I found it a little surprising that Karl Lagerfeld would design such a 'kawaii' collection as opposed to his usual, minimalist, classy style.

Product


This palette contains 6 eyeshadows, and I think it is beautifully put together. The colours complement one another beautifully, and 6 eyeshadows means a plethora of different looks can be put together depending on the occasion.
It comes with double-ended applicators, one a sponge and one a brush. I would personally just use my brushes with this, because the applicators aren't the best.

Below are swatches of the eyeshadows in this palette. All colours go beautifully together, though I personally think they should have put in a bronze shimmery shade in place of the hot pink shade at the very end.


Performance
I have tried a lot of eyeshadows; enough to have a general idea of what kind of texture to expect of a certain type of eyeshadow. For example, it is extremely difficult to find a good eyeshadow with chunky bits of glitter in it. It almost always ends up being too chalky, or if it isn't chalky, it doesn't hold the glitter very well and bits of it will end up all over your face.

Not having played around with Shu Uemura eyeshadows much, when I first saw the first, second and fifth colours in this palette, I immediately thought that they would be dry and sheer, and difficult to swatch. The moment I touched the first eyeshadow, though, I knew that I was wrong.  It was incredibly buttery soft and smooth, and the eyeshadow applied beautifully to give me a sheer, even wash of colour that could be built up and layered to increase the intensity.

Whether you're a Shu Uemura newbie who hasn't tried out their eyeshadows, or a seasoned veteran who owns something from every piece and collection, this collection is definitely something to keep in mind the next time you go shopping. Plus, you get to see the Shu counter girls all dolled up as Mon Shu girl! I myself will be checking out the lashes and the eyelash curler!

The Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura collection is out on Shu Uemura counters, so head in store and get ready for cuteness overload!