Okay. Where do I begin? I’m sure this appears to be just an unassuming shimmery, medium brown eyeshadow, but of course, it is actually pretty magical.

I bought this while looking for things to check out in Japan. Glossed in Translation featured a look that had this gorgeous color on her eyes. I bought it right away because I am impulsive and you can’t really go wrong with browns/neutrals anyway.

I waited about a week before I popped this baby open (because I needed to take a pristine~ picture before using it) and holy cow, is it buttery. I find that shu uemura eyeshadows have the rare ability to make me roll my eyes up in pleasure when I touch them. It’s quite disgusting to think about and is really quite sad, but they are truly marvelous things.

Swatch: shu uemura eyeshadow in ME medium brown 885

“ME” refers to the finish, which is metallic, which I don’t normally like or gravitate towards, but this is a beautiful exception. As you can see, it has a rich depth to it that I honestly haven’t found to be present in most eyeshadows and I feel like this is what makes this particular brown unique.

I wore it lightly here in this look, without a primer or a base. I lined my eyes and did my eyebrows and that was that. It’s very wearable for everyday, even though it looks quite scary with a heavy swatch. Even if it looks sheer here, the color is buildable and it is extremely blendable.

What I’m Wearing: Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow in Cheers to Me Champagne, The Body Shop Brow and Liner Kit in 02, Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Lover, Le Métier de Beauté Colour Core Moisture Stain Lipstick in Bondi Beach, shu uemura Eyeshadow in ME medium brown 885, K-Palette Liquid Liner

These refills retail for ¥1890 or $15. I can’t seem to find how much they are in Manila, but as of 2011, they retail for Php 695, which is weird because that means that—if they haven’t raised their prices here since 2011—they are cheaper to get in Manila.

I’m not sure if shu uemura, as an entity separate from L’Oreal, its parent company, tests on animals, but here is L’Oreal’s entire position on animal testing. Here is a condensed version of the gist of their position.