Hot holiday picks from Guerlain, Shiseido, Elizabeth Arden & Peter Thomas Roth

Every year, Luxasia’s Prestige Cosmetics division holds an “International Press Shopping Day” to showcase the holiday and spring/summer 2018 collections of its brands Shiseido, Guerlain, Elizabeth Arden, and its most recent addition, New York-based skincare brand Peter Thomas Roth.

This was my first time to attend and the event had a glamorous jet-set feel, with Century City’s Activity Center transformed into a loft-like airport terminal.

Guerlain’s Terracotta Gold Light bronzing powder, Gold Palette, Mon Guerlain and limited-edition La Petite Robe Noire fragrances

Guerlain: Going For Gold

Guerlain had the most extensive makeup and fragrance offerings, and they’re all packaged so beautifully many of them are sure to achieve cult status. The legendary French perfume house is releasing a millennial version of its bestselling La Petite Robe Noire (Little Black Dress) scent. Called Ma Robe Hippie Chic, it smells like the original but in a lighter, even more wearable format. Meanwhile, the original eau de parfum is being resold in a limited-edition black-and-red bottle that’s numbered for collectors.

Since I’m always intrigued by gourmand scents, I went for Mon Guerlain (My Guerlain), the house’s vanilla-lavender fragrance developed in collaboration with Angelina Jolie. I’m surprised the rail-thin Ms. Jolie went in an edible direction (maybe she smells her pastry rather than eats it?). The perfume is instantly likeable and mouthwatering, if a bit linear for a house known for its complex scents. Added plus: if you buy the 50-ml bottle, you can have it engraved with your or a loved one’s name.

Makeup-wise this is the first time Guerlain is releasing a face palette, and it’s absolutely gorgeous, with eight multi-use powders embossed with the house logo and signature fan pattern. Other must-haves are Gold Light, the holiday version of Guerlain’s famed Terracotta bronzing powder, which is so gold and so light it’s almost a highlighter; Gold Light Topcoat, a mascara that deposits light-catching flecks of gold on your eyelashes; and Meteorites Gold Light, in which the pearls warm up the complexion with a golden radiance.

* * *

Available at the Guerlain boutique in Greenbelt 5, Rustan's Makati, Rustan’s Shangri-La and SM Makati.

Clockwise from top left, Shiseido Ultimune, Clear Stick UV Protector 50+, Future Solution LX Total Radiance foundation and Essential Energy moisturizing gel cream Photos by WALTER BOLLOZOS

Shiseido: Futuristic Solutions

No less eye candy-ish is Shiseido’s holiday Ultimune bottle. Designed by Japanese calligrapher Sisyu in red, white and gold, it’s a collectible container for Shiseido’s power-infusing concentrate, which is like vitamins for your skin, according to Shiseido product manager JC Pastor. Another hero product is Essential Energy, which is the cream to use if you feel the effects of your skincare have plateaued. “This awakens your senses, reboots your energy and makes products more effective,” Pastor says. “It even complements other brands.” The masculine version of Essential Energy is Shiseido Men Total Revitalizer Cream, which will be available in February.

I fell in love with Shiseido’s Future Solution LX Total Radiance foundation, a silky cream that contains moisturizing skincare so it gives you a velvety poreless look, also available in a holiday set with Future Solutions serum and softener.

Shiseido also has a Maquillage line with foundation and eyeshadow, and Waso, a gently priced millennial skincare line launched last year, but Pastor says their customers really clamor for the Japanese brand’s Clear Stick UV Protector 50+ Wetforce — a roll-on sunscreen that goes on clear so you can apply it even over makeup. Don’t forget Shiseido’s UV Lip Color Splash SPF 42 PA +++ — a water-resistant lip sunscreen in four beach-worthy tints.

* * *

Available at Shiseido boutiques around the metro, like at SM Megamall 2nd floor Bridgeway, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Rockwell Power Plant, Greenbelt 5, TriNoma, Alabang Town Center, and in department stores like Landmark and SM nationwide.

Elizabeth Arden’s Advanced Ceramides gift set, All-Over Miracle Oil, Around the World with 8 Hour travel tin and Beautiful Color moisturizing lipsticks

Elizabeth Arden: Eight-Hour Beauty

Elizabeth Arden is the house that Eight Hour Cream built. Thus, for the holidays the company is issuing the iconic skin protectant in every possible iteration: as an All-Over Miracle Oil for face, body and hair; as an intensive moisturizing hand treatment; and as a lip protectant in four sheer shades.

My favorite giftable item is Arden’s “Around the World with 8 Hour” travel tin containing travel sizes of the hand cream and clear lip protectant, though there are numerous gift sets like Eight Hour Cream Nourishing Skin Essentials and Eight Hour Cream Miracle Moisturizers.

Check out Elizabeth Arden’s lip products, all of which boast superior moisturizing coupled with extremely pretty colors, like the pastel Lip Gelatos and Beautiful Color Moisturizing Lipsticks.

For skincare Arden is also famous for its Advanced Ceramides, now available as boxed gift and starter sets, and for fragrance don’t miss the fresh Green Tea and White Tea scent sprays and stocking stuffer-sized hand creams.

* * *

Available at Elizabeth Arden boutiques in TriNoma, SM Megamall, SM Makati, Eastwood Mall, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Alabang Town Center, and Rustan’s The Beauty Source.

Peter Thomas Roth’s Cucumber Gel, Irish Moor Mud and Pumpkin Enzyme masks; Glycolic Solutions cleanser and toner; and Water Drench Cloud Cream cleanser

Peter Thomas Roth: Mask Consumption

Peter Thomas Roth is a Hungarian gent whose quest to find a solution for his acne as a teen resulted in him founding his own skincare company. The son of spa operators in Hungary who is now based in New York, Roth’s products have a spa-like bent, like his Irish Moor Mud line, but according to the product manager he is most famous for his masks.

The most visually arresting is his 24K Gold Mask, a luxury anti-aging treatment containing pure 24K gold that claims to firm and lift the skin, leaving behind a bright and radiant glow. I wanted to try it via Roth’s “Meet Your Mask” sampler set containing six different kinds of masks, but a mix-up in my shopping currency (International Press Shopping Day has an elaborate system where you have to convert your shopping money into the currency of the country of the brand you’re buying from, like Japanese yen for Shiseido, US dollars for Peter Thomas Roth, etc.) ended up in my not having enough to buy it.

What I was able to try was Peter Thomas Roth’s Instant FirmX Temporary Eye Tightener, and it is amazing. As you can tell from the name, Roth is very specific about what his products can and can’t do. He makes no false claims, and all his products are backed by advanced clinical science (he has his own R&D division in New Jersey).

Containing tighteners like Argatensyl and anti-aging vitamins like A, B5, C, and E, Instant FirmX does exactly what it claims to do. Seconds after you smooth it under your eyes and on the brow-bone area, you see instant smoothing and mattifying — it fills in lines and wrinkles like a dream — and you feel an actual pulling and lifting. You can even use it on the wrinkles between your brows, which makes me liken it to Botox in a tube, though the results only last a few hours.

After one use this has become my favorite eye product, and I can’t wait to try other Peter Thomas Roth products like the Instant FirmX Temporary Face Tightener, the very well-reviewed Retinol Fusion PM, and, of course, that 24K Gold Mask.

* * *

Peter Thomas Roth is now open in SM Beauty Megamall.