Comparison and Review: Shu Uemura ME 850 vs Shu Uemura ME 856

Hello my loves!  I got a lovely package from the beautiful Chrissa a few days ago.  It was a complete surprise and I am humbled by her extreme generosity.  She sent me some items that she knew I was wanting.  It was like Christmas came a couple weeks too early.  One of the items she included in my package was the Shu ME 856.  When Shu released their summer collection Color Atelier, they also came out with these new refillable palettes and pressed eyeshadow refills.  The pans are shaped differently than the old pans.  

Me being the “card-holding taupe haux” that I am I immediately was drawn to a specific color, ME 856.  There was a lot of buzz surrounding this color and I think it is mainly due to the fact that everyone is still on the hunt for Shu ME Silver 945 look-alike.  I have never seen that color in person so I am not in such awe of its beauty as others.  I am quite happy settling for the “dupes”, even though several people say that the two shades I am comparing today are not dupes at all.  

I am a huge fan of the Lucite packaging of the original Shu eyeshadows but I must say that I am sort of depot-crazed at the moment so Shu selling the pan version is really nice as well.  It also drops their price point quite a bit.  I love it when brands do this sort of thing because so many people don’t like having a billion individual eyeshadows, they would rather create palettes.  It is very smart for them to do this as well because many people just want a bargain–the cheaper price point will allow more people to feel free to try the brand out.  

 As you can see in the pans below, the colors look very similar.  The only major difference in this shot is the usage.  ME 850 is quite used where ME 856 is untouched and pristine.  

 The next shot is similar to the last shot, except it was taken outside in direct sunlight.  Same description of the colors in the pan.  There is perhaps a slight inclination that the 856 is less purpley-taupe but almost undetectable… 

 These finger swatches below really show you how different they are in texture.  Shu ME 850 glides on like a dream and I never noticed it before but in comparison to the Shu ME 856 it looks like the rougher older brother.  

 Once they were blended out onto my arm the texture was the same.  They both melted like a dream right onto the arm.  Here is where you can really see the difference though.  Once blended out Shu ME 850 looks like a metallic brown taupe and Shu ME 856 looks like a purple-rosy-brown taupe.  Much more comlpex.  I believe that ME 856 was released to replace ME 850 but I don’t find them simliar enough to completely replace.  I actually think that they should still both exist.  (AND SHU–IF YOU ARE READING THIS–BRING BACK ME Silver 945!!!)

 The ‘ME’ in the name description is actually one of the codes for the finish of the eyeshadow.  ME stands for metallic.  Shu Uemura’s definition is “smooth like liquid with a metallic glow.”  And man, are they right.  It is stunning how metallic they are.  Brings a brightness to the eye even when you are using a darker tone like these.