Chanel Illusion d’Ombre for Fall 2011

The makeup looks on the Chanel Fall 2011 runway designed by Peter Philips were amazing (see them here from Cafe Makeup). The highlight of his collection includes a new cream-gel eyeshadow called Illusion d’Ombre which comes in 6 shades this fall. These are small potted shadows with a twist-off lid and small capped angled brush. The shades are:

81 Fantasme – a frosted sparkly white

82 Emerveille – a soft shimmering nude peach

83 Illusoire – a complex purple shimmer

84 Epatant – a highly frosted khaki silvery shimmer

85 Mirifique – intense black with silver sparkle

86 Ebloui – a reddish maroon with silver and plum sparkles

The shimmer: Each shade is complex with multi-dimensional sparkles. They are all intensely metallic and sparkly except for 82 Emerveille which is a soft luminous peach (still shimmery but the most natural). 81 is the most chunky in sparkle. 84 is the most frosty. 82 is the most natural. The others are somewhere in between.

The texture: These are cream-gel like shadows. Compared to Armani Eyes To Kill Shadows, these come domed without an insert inside. These have a bit more bounce with a squishy texture. Almost like jello, but not as jiggly. The texture is smooth even though there is high shimmer with rich metallic flecks. Mine might have jiggled too much while in transit – the product was on the lids of some of mine.

Application: I tried these with fingers and with the brush. The brushes are surprisingly useful and help pick up the color for an intense application. They are perfectly designed to pick up the color in a way that allows for intense application. The first shade I tried was 86 Ebloui (the red one). I applied it with my fingers and the result was an absolute mess. Red-eye gone bad. I removed everything and started over, this time using the brush. The difference was amazing – rich pigmented and smokey. These definitely require experimentation. I think the lighter shades will be easier to apply with fingers. 82 Emerveille is the easiest for me to apply with the fingers (goof-proof color).

Lasting power: For this I still need to experiment more. I haven’t been able to wear these for a full day to test how long they wear. So far, no smudging for the short period of time I’ve worn them though.

Overall: Very shimmery, but intriguing texture. I find both Armani Eyes to Kill and Chanel Illusion d’Ombres highly metallic, just different in texture and finish. It’s difficult to describe, but although they are both metallic cremes, they are just very unique and different. The finish will be different depending on application technique and how much you apply. The Chanel are very fun to play with. I highly recommend going to the counters to try these out in person. Once they hit the west coast, I will for sure be running to the counter to get application ideas from my local Chanel artists.

The bigger swatch is with the finger, the smaller swatch is with the brush blended out.