Shu Uemura Custom Quad

I can't believe that after so many years of makeup hoarding collecting, that these are my first ever Shu Uemura makeup items. Shu Uemura do have quite an extensive range of products but there weren't many products that stood out to me on this shopping trip but I was planning to buy some plum/purple colours suitable for bridal anyway, so that was my excuse.

PACKAGING: It's nice, sleek and very light weight which is excellent for travel or even for your pro kit as it won't add much weight - plastic. They've added a mirror which is convenient if you're in a pinch or need to touch up but personally I think that the mirror is too small. A feature I love is the sliding platform for the shadow pans which securely sit in the case, this is perfect for ensuring that the shadow pans never fall out of the palette. It also has a nice snap shut closure which is very secure. The case can hold 4 shadow pans, 2 shadows 1 blush or 2 blushes - nice if you have a few different blush and shadow shades to mix and match.

PRICE & AVAILABILTY: Shu Uemura is only available in select David Jones stores and via the David Jones online store; not easily accessible and I would only recommend you purchase these in store because online swatches will vary depending on your monitor/ display settings. Price wise, I picked up the entire quad for $103 - $22/shadow pan (1.4g of product) & $15 for the empty palette. I think that the price is very fair considering that M.A.C refills are $26/shadow pan (1.5g of product) online and in Pro stores only.

QUALITY & FORMULATION: Both the matte (M) shadows and the metalic (ME) are very impressive, they swatch and apply very evenly and smooth, they aren't dry or chalky at all; I believe there are about 12 matte shades, but the David Jones website only shows 4 which is extremely limiting. These swatch and apply true to pan and are definitely comparable to my M.A.C & Inglot shadows.

OVERALL: Looking forward to using these as bridal colours and smokey eye colours and I can't wait to pick up a few more. Definitely recommend these if you can access them and are looking to invest in a few excellent quality shadows that are a little cheaper and possibly even better than M.A.C.