Shiseido Maquillage Powder Celebration 5th Anniversary Set Review, Photos, Swatches

My Shiseido Maquillage Powder Celebration 5th Anniversary Set arrived from Japan last week. Lots of squealing, hyperventilating, and screaming occurred during the surgical procedure of opening and unwrapping the contents of the box it arrived in.

It’s probably my most expensive makeup purchase I’ve made this Holiday season, tipping the scales at nearly $200 USD due to costly airmail shipping.

It’s gorgeous to say the least.

Let’s have a look!

A beautiful array of seven shades of loose powder housed in a vintage glass powder jar to celebrate Maquillage’s 5th Anniversary.

If luxurious makeup is something your savor, this set is for you! It’s simply stunning piece that collector’s will absolutely adore. It’s available for a limited time, in limited quantities, exclusively in Japan. A friend of mine who lives in Tokyo was able to purchase one for me however I’ve seen online shops and E-bay sellers who have it available but just be aware during your purchase.

I expected it to be large but not nearly as large as it really is. I measured it up against one of my other larger powder jars and as you can see it’s nearly twice the size. I meant to take a photo of it next to one of my smaller glass powder jars but I forgot…regardless you can still get a feel for the size.

It’s is indeed glass and has a vintage Victorian-feel. I collect antique Victorian and Art Deco powder and makeup jars and this can compete with any one of them. The jar stands on gold pedestal legs and has “Powder Celebration” embedded into the front of the glass. It’s a very classy piece that will look gorgeous on your vanity.

The outer box this comes housed in is gold and contains two tiers. The first tier houses the glass top of the powder and a small scoop for combining the powders. Lift up the tier to reveal the second layer which houses the powder jar’s base and the powders plus a brush. The outer packaging is just as gorgeous as the glass jar of powder it houses. This box also makes it easy to store your treasure if you aren’t inclined to display it which is understandable as it is a highly collectible piece of makeup.

Inside the glass jar is a closed plastic tray with a small compact on top. It almost looks as if the compact is a topper you can grab to open up the plastic tray but it is an actually small compact which features a face powder. This is just a nice extra touch from Maquillage. I haven’t used the powder on my face but it is a universal shade of beige that seems flattering enough.

The loose powders come in seven shades and all can be blended, mixed, and cocktailed to your heart’s desire to create various formulas for addressing various skin concerns. If you took note in the photos you can see the center of the plastic container is empty, this is where you can mix various shades.

The shades are as follows:

• White (illuminates)
• Beige (offers subtle coverage)
• Voilet (creates dullness)
• Green (creates redness
• Pink (corrects dullness)
• Orange (corrects dullness, adds glow)
• Cream Yellow (can be used around the eye area to conceal)

Pink and Orange can be used as blush but personally I wouldn’t bother as you’d have to be VERY fair to see any color pay off. Where as the other shades can be used as a shadow if you like.

I haven’t quite played around with all the powders yet but they have a super silky feel and work fabulously as a prep for makeup or as a finishing powder. I’m partial to the yellow under my eyes for setting concealer and brightening up the eye area. I also love the pink as it gives me a nice brighter look while easing dullness. It’s tempting to just toss this in the beauty vault and not play with it but I feel like since I invested the money into it and you only live once, you might as well enjoy it right?

The powder has a fresh floral scent which I thought was very pleasant and added to the very feminine feel of the overall presentation of the set.

Although I can rave this until I’m blue in the face I will share some rants I have about it below…

I cannot believe they gave me a plastic spoon/spatula with this. Here I am with a gorgeous, quite heavy glass jar of powder and they give me plastic!? They couldn’t give me a fancier spatula? Seriously? Plastic? To add insult to injury I thought the brush included was just as cheesy. The bristles are soft enough however they split a bit and I’m slightly scared of using it. The handle is plastic and quite flimsy as well. I was shocked that such a beautiful piece of makeup couldn’t have gorgeous accessories to go along with it.

Although I understand that they wanted to keep the powder housed in a separate container so you could re-use the jar I can’t help but express my distaste for the plastic container it comes in. I think I’d rather have preferred Maquillage to have actually cut the jar into sections with glass dividers and place the powders in each section rather than hook me up with a cheesy piece of plastic. I’d also have loved if I could possibly purchase refills in the future for the jar that way I wouldn’t need the plastic piece and wouldn’t feel bad when the powder was gone and the glass was un-usable due to the glass sections.

Sadly, the powder probably wouldn’t see a year out if you used it daily. It’s a very small amount of product for the price and you’re really investing a lot of cash into the packaging here.

• Those who adore beautiful pieces of makeup!
• Fans of Japanese cosmetics.
• Anyone who wants a unique, gorgeous piece of makeup!

• Those sensitive to fragrance in their powders (the powder has a strong floral scent)
• Those unwilling to make online purchases, pay for airmail fees, and track down products that can’t be located within the US.
• Anyone unwilling to shell out $150 or more for makeup (this will set you back around $160-$200 if you have it airmailed from Japan to the US).

Without a doubt this is probably the most stunning piece of makeup I have in my collection right now and believe me my collection is vast. I thought it was a beautiful purchase and I’m very happy to have it. I do have a few rant-y quirks about the design but overall, without any doubt, it’s a gorgeous piece and well worth a buy if you’re in the market for unique, stunning pieces of makeup.

And hey as beautiful as it is, it’s also pretty practical too! The powders are quite nice, although it’s a pain to have to lug around a glass jar for application as I normally apply my makeup in the bathroom!

Very Muse Approved for purchase!

Note: Although I set out intending to swatch the powders, I ended up not doing so because they apply either very subtly or with a transparent finish.