The highest concentration of pink this season goes to Paradox, Shu Uemura’s spring line of colored cosmetics. I do like the Rouge Unlimited lip color in dark pink #336, which I believe, like the other lip colors from the new formula, is the best lipstick investment yet, because it keeps its promise to moisturize the lips, while at the same time, blends well with other lip colors, but I’m still very much in love with my Rouge Red 170—thank you very much. The limited-edition collection also offers pink buffet on Gloss Lacquer, a new product that comes in three genuinely girly shades of Fluorescent Pink, Vivid Violet and Baby Pink.

Personally, the hero look is much too masculine for me, despite the abundance of pinks, but, perhaps, that’s the point of it. The androgynous appearance brings out the femininity in the model. Will it translate with equal success to any un-feminine looking lady? That’s the challenge, not just for this line, anyway, to get the beauty out of our own paradoxes. Personally, I find that trying the lipstick is the best way to go about getting the true lady out. With all that pink, there’s no way she’s staying deep down inside.

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Lancome, on the other hand, still with pink, but more pastels, may bring out a different lady. I think, from the photograph, it appeals to that "inner genteel," the one that’s not naughty, and so the palette is as light and young as any color collection can be. It has eye and cheek powdered blues, yellows and pinks encased in a beautiful palette that comes with a cherub charm. The collection is very much appropriate for casual daily wear, though not to say that it won’t make magic at night. It is, after all, the official makeup for one of the runway shows in the recent fashion week in New York. Personally, I find the metallic eyeliner gel to be the winning piece, although I have seen the same technology in last Christmas’ color collection from the Body Shop. I’ll say, this one has finer glitters that adhere better and its brush is less invasive when run through the lower lids. It pays to have really working tools, and this one is worth the investment.

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Speaking of The Body Shop, I think their Vibrant Lights Spring Collection may just be another winner. I can’t say fully because the entire collection has not yet arrived, but the colors are as spring as any collection can get. Unlike last year’s hot pinks, electric blues and confusing prism pieces, this year, while still with floral inspiration, the color summary for the eyes plays on powdered blues, greens and browns, and the blushes are ice cream pink and bronze. Even the Liplife Glosses, which come in cute test-tube packaging, are a bit yummy to be decorative, hopefully they are not as extremely iridescent as last year’s. It’s spring, after all, not that we can actually relate, but the colors allow us a bit of that.

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Another great investment, if I were to buy, judging on catalogue, would be the Givenchy Collection, where the colors are as vibrant as you can get. I thought, with all the fluorescence, the collection may not be for Spring, but that’s what it read. I’ll reserve comment until I’ve seen and touched the collection myself. I heard from a few people who ordered online that the collection is quite exciting as it looked. I’ll see about that, although, judging from the beautiful colors, it just might potentially be "the runaway hit." Then, again, given that it’s Givenchy, the collection, while possibly telling the best color story might also possibly run away with my wallet and all that’s in it.

Beauty, indeed, has its price. Where superficial beauty is involved, anyway, that’s how it will always work. There will always be more price than prize, really.

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Shiseido will be coming out with a spring collection as well, but with similar palette to Givenchy—which is more like an evening flower garden, with lusty shades of reds, rich violets and metallic moss greens. Among its new SKUs, I find two pieces that are promising to the more sophisticated local market, the Make-Up Shimmering Lipstick, which serves as a glossing lip color and a lip concealer to cover rough lip surfaces and minimize unevenness. The second product is the Make-up Hydro-powder Eye Shadow, of which the violet as worn by the model in the photograph, seems to be the most alluring of all the shades. It is cream in texture but dries into crease-resistant powder, so it can be quite intense in color. Like most eye colors, it can easily be worn alone or layered with another shade.