I’m not sure how many people know this, but the son of the late Shu Uemura, Hiroshi Uemura, has a cosmetics line too – UTOWA.
The Utowa line of cosmetics seems quite small at this time, but is pretty complete with everything ranging from concealers to foundation to lipsticks to mascara.
The packaging of the lipsticks remind me of the Guerlain Divinora cases. The color selection looks awesome with predominantly red hues.
I think the triangle blush singles are certainly something different. I’m not sure how practical they are in terms of storage though. The palette compact is designed in a square to fit 2 singles. Sneaky way to make you buy 2 blushes eh? The colours looked a little blah though but if the philosophy of the company is anything to go by, it’ll be sheer yet natural.
The eyeshadows too come in the form of triangle singles. Very sneaky!! You’ll definitely need a compact palette to hold them so you are likely to end up buying 4! But with such awesome selection of colours I don’t forsee a problem for me.
The Utowa line also carries brushes and if Shu Uemura’s brushes are anything to go by, Utowa brushes should be a treat! Utowa cosmetics are found online at Utowa, Beauty.com Your Cosmetics (all of which unfortunately do not ship internationally), and Mecca Cosmetics (Australia) (they ship internationally but at high rates). They can also be found at Mecca stores in Australia so if any Australian girls have tried this, I’d really like to hear from you!
This is what Your Cosmetics says about Utowa:
UTOWA – Hiroshi Uemura founder of UTOWA and the son of legendary Shu Uemura brings consumers a modern approach to skin care and color.
UTOWA ML Skincare awakens the skins natural ability to preserve balance levels of moisture keeping the skin soft and hydrated. With its unique ingredients it helps stimulate the production of moisture with Lily Turf Extract while purified deep sea water helps the ingredients penetrate into the skin. Phospholipids acts as a barrier locking in the skins natural moisture while Meadowsweet and Geranium Extracts, rich in vitamin C and natural Salicylic and Citric Acid, act as an anti-aging antioxidant. Rich oils, and other natural moisturizing and beneficial facial ingredients, work together to keep skin healthy, glowing, and looking its best.
UTOWA ML Color Series is associated with theories found in watercolor paintings. Washes of color enhance the primed canvas creating a perfect and balanced work of art. In the same manner, UTOWA skincare primes the face for color enhancement creating a perfectly balanced beauty. Color is translucent, and the skin is sheer yet flawless with micro-milled spherical crystal powders and other natural ingredients that help prevent dullness and create vivid, natural, beautiful color.
Diana says
March 24, 2010 at 7:01 pmCommenting to this post very much after the fact, but I follow your blog pretty regularly, and I’ve just tried the Utowa lipsticks for the first time this week. I bought two in Red 73 (rich garnet) and Rose 55 (deep rose). For AU$50 you get 3.3g of product. The lipsticks smell faintly like roses.
The textures of both is quite sheer, compared to most other reds I wear (Chanel, NARS, Guerlain), but is definitely buildable. You get a lot of drama with just one swipe. Lasting power is about average, but they leave a lovely stain. I’ve tried them with and without lip liner, and haven’t had problems with bleeding.
Red 73 reminded me of one of my favourite red lipsticks, NARS Transeurope Express, but much more light-weight and moisturising – it could very well be my new HG red! I think both could transition well from day to night.