Chanel Charming Ombres Matelassées Eyeshadow Palette ($80 for 9g/0.32 oz, limited-edition) has finally arrived in stores. It’s a stunning soft delicate palette of neutrals – all shades are come in a lovely quilted pattern. The colors are soft powders but with decent pigment. Layered over a base the colors show up much better on my medium skin. The colors left to right include:
- A soft delicate champagne ivory shimmer
- A satiny fawn tan brown
- A glimmering chocolate gold shimmer
- A soft semi-satiny brown
- A cool grey matte tinged with slight blue tones
Chanel Charming retails for $80. It’s limited-edition. My counters report they have received a very limited supply, but not to worry. It’s online at numerous locations. I bought mine online from Nordstrom. You can also find it online now at Neiman Marcus and Chanel.com.
The colors layer quite well together on the eyes. Each color in this palette is wearable enough to wear all five shades at once. I layer from left to right (light to dark). This palette is sometime I envision to be an everyday kind of palette. The middle gold shade gives it a slight holiday feel, although not quite as glitzy or glamourous as the beautiful Illusion d’Ombres in Fatal and Initiation. I suspect layering either shade on top of this powder palette would add a bit of glitz for the holiday.
Shown without flash, there’s a soft glowing quality from each color:
Close up of the shades, here in sunlight:
Here, under artificial light with flash:
The colors swatch very nicely on the skin and the eyes. Being the neutral lover that I am, I adore each shade in this palette. There is just no comparison with the finely milled satiny shimmers here.
In sunlight, no flash:
Comparing this to other Ombres Matalassées Palettes, Charming proves to be the safest neutral. Pearl River (limited from the spring 2013 Hong Kong collection) was a more edgy non-neutral. It’s been sitting in my drawer neglected and unused although I keep intending to use it (I keep getting distracted with Le Metier de Beaute kaleidoscopes and Edward Bess palettes). 51, Montaigne (also limited edition from 2012) is more yellowy and khaki-colored. Charming is the warmest, although still a neutral. Here are the palettes side by side for comparison.
Overall, Charming Ombres Matelassées will be one of my staple work-horse kind of palettes for everyday. It may be too neutral for some although I do love how the shades can be layered for a subtle warm smokey eye. If you’re looking for something different and unique, I’d suggest you opt for the holiday Illusion d’Ombres (reviewed here). This one is definitely must-have for me (although pricey).
Chanel Charming Ombres Matelassées is a limited-edition palette. It retails for $80. Online now at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Chanel.com.
