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It’s a thrill for every girl to own her first tube of lipstick. Usually it’s some random brand bought at the drugstore and worn inappropriately to catch a distracted boy’s attention. Then, there is the thrill of owning your first real luxury lipstick. Usually a hand-me-down from mom bought on one of her Parisian expeditions.

Only a girly girl can understand such thrills, treasures and such gems. Now, as we get older and none the wiser, our boudoir fills with millions of cosmetics acquired over afternoons filled with heartbreak, stress or boredom, and we try to seek that excitement we felt as little girls receiving their first tube of magic.

It’s hard to get keyed up over products these days.

Once you get past all the products available and survive it in style, the thrill simply isn’t there. A lipstick is still a lipstick, a shadow quadrant is just four colored powders and mascara is just the same old sticky goop. Until of course you discover Pied Nus (pronounced Pee-ya Noo) by Shiseido.

A marriage of thrills combining the exuberant sense of adventure of our first makeup palette (think of all the blues, pinks and greens kicking your beiges’ and browns’ ass) and undeniable luxury (made from the best ingredients and with whimsical packaging, Pied Nus, despite its childlike personality, is the luxury cosmetic line of Shiseido (how very Japanese indeed). At first glance the Crayola colors might be a been-there, done-that for many seasoned beauty mavens, but once you try out the colors you will see where the luxury kicks in.

Green shadow made multi-dimensional by gold powder or lip gloss gilded with microscopic sparkles – this is hardly elementary, my dear Watson. Everything is ergonomic, like the single compact case for eye shadows (hate getting unnecessary colors) and the lipgloss with the indented wand for precise application. A favorite is Lip Neo, a lip-gloss wand where the product comes out of holes at the end and can easily be retracted when too much has been dispensed.

Its unassuming packaging is hardly Versace bling, which makes you realize that all the dough went into the pudding. With its rather sci-fi take on color, even the most jaded beauty queen will find herself giggling like a little girl once again.