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Chanel Silver Light #87 and Noir Intense #88 Stylo Yeux Waterproof – Fall 2012

June 26, 2012

Chanel has released two new shades in their waterproof eyeliner formula this season: Silver Light #87 and Noir Intense #88 ($30 each). I ordered sight unseen and meant to only purchase the silvery shade, however both were sent (and charged). Chanel’s Stylo Yeux Eyeliners are among my favorite for lasting power and texture. They are soft enough to apply easily, yet not too soft that they smudge, fade or bleed. Added bonus: the bottom can be removed to sharpen the tip only, so there’s not too much waste when sharpening (see the diagrams at Natural N Chic Makeup and Makeup and Beauty Blog).

Silver Light #87 is an ultra-pale silvery metallic. On my olive skin it appears slightly greenish (only on the hand). I find it difficult to envision myself wearing this as an actual liner, even in the corners of my eyes or as an accent. It’s simply too contrasted for my skin – perhaps it will make a good eyeshadow if I apply and blend carefully. I find Rose Platine and Khaki Platine much more wearable for my skintone. (Comparisons to be shown below).
Noir Intense #88 is a deep dark black matte shade. When I received this I wondered if it would be the same as Ebene (see it featured on Cafe Makeup here) or if it would be darker/more intense (as the name suggests). Swatched side by side, Noir Intense is darker and deeper. I can’t say the difference is dramatic, to my eye it’s noticeable but still subtle. More close ups and swatches.

Given the fact that Khaki Platine and Rose Platine from past seasons were a huge hit, it makes sense for Chanel to release another silvery shade of eyeliner this season. I personally see it being a difficult shade to pull off myself. Any tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Comparisons to other black eyeliners and silvery eyeliners. All Chanel except where noted. I believe the Khaki Platine and Rose Platine were limited and no longer available. The others I think are still easy to find.

I’m glad that Noir Intense was sent to me unintentionally. I think it is a good purchase for me since sometimes Ebene isn’t deep enough on my skin (many black eyeliners end up looking ashy or greyish on my skin). However, many of you may already have your staple/holy grail shade in your stash making this one an easy one to skip. Silver Light is a beautiful silver but something I’m going to have to experiment with. Any tips welcome.

In general I can’t say either of these are must-haves. $30 is steep for an eyeliner, but the packaging is well designed and these Chanel eyeliners are among the few that actually last throughout the day for me. I love eyeliners from a number of other brands for the color and pigment, but few last as long as I’d like them to.

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Chanel Complice #93, Éclairé #94, Furtif #95 and Infini #97 Ombre Essentielles – Fall 2012

June 25, 2012

Chanel has released a number of new single eyeshadow shades in the Ombre Essentielle formula ($28.50 for 1.6 g/ .05 oz). These contain a new formula that I feel are a hybrid of the regular powder shadows and the Ombres Perleés de Chanel from spring of 2011. They aren’t quite as creamy as the spring palette and a slightly more powdery feel, but not like a typical eyeshadow. I played with these a little and found that alone, they are a bit sheer. Add just a little bit of a moisturized base (cream shadow, eye cream or non-matte primer) and the color intensifies quite a bit. I’ll show you what I mean further down in the swatches.

I’m not entirely sure how many new shades there are available in the US. Promotion sheets showed there were 5-6 shades to be released on a variety of other blogs such as Beauty Crazed and Jayded Dreaming. Rouge Deluxe tweeted some previews of Asia-Exclusives linked here. I received four of the shades in my order from Bergdorfs in Complice #93, Éclairé #94, Furtif #95 and Infini #97. Also at this time I’ve noticed Nordstrom.com lists these same four shades online. Since I haven’t seen these at the counters in person yet, I’m not sure if the US is only getting four shades, if there was a delay in shipment, or if they will be exclusive to select locations.

For now, here are the four shades I have:

  • Complice #93 is a soft iridescent peach champagne (much like a peachier version of the discontinued Chanel Island eyeshadow)
  • Éclairé #94 is a pale silvery gold (more yellow than Chanel Gold but also more silvery since it contains a lot of silver particles)
  • Furtif #95 is a steel blue grey metallic (similar to Chanel Silvery but more dove-blue and more shimmery)
  • Infini #97 is a platinum silver sparkle (compared to Chanel Platine, Infini isn’t quite as pale and has more silver and more sparkle)

Lasting power was about the same as the Ombrees Perles palette from spring two seasons ago: medium lasting power. The formula is quite flexible in terms of coverage. Apply with a lighter fluffier brush and you get a sheer wash of color/glimmer. Apply with a denser brush over a base and the difference is quite dramatic (in my opinion). The glimmer is truly lovely. Visible shimmer without frost. I suspect you can layer these over other shadows but I haven’t tried that yet.

Close ups:

Here you can see the difference swatched with or without a moisturized base. The color lineup reminds me of the limited-edition Tokyo Happening Collection from several years ago.

Comparisons to a few existing Chanel shades. In the past week I’ve received a number of requests for additional comparisons (via email, twitter and blog comments). I apologize but I am limited on time right now and cannot accommodate all requests. Right now I am struggling to review, photograph and compare all the items I purchased and balance my time with other obligations (trying not to sacrifice quality for quantity). I do see many of my readers who have jumped in to help answer questions when they can. Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would do without you!

For now, the few comparisons I did have time to pull, you can see that this season’s eyeshadows have a special glimmer: compared to Chanel Island, Gold, Silvery and Platine.

I am really smitten with the new formula. I think it’s quite lovely, however I find the $28.50 price tag really steep for a single shadow. I’m not sure I’m 100% in love just because of the price. I still think they are worth taking a look at and playing with. The formula is unique and the finish excellent, but as you can see from the swatches above, it’s probably really easy to duplicate a similar effect with Urban Decay shadows or quite possibly some MAC or NARS.
U.S. girls – at the counters did you see the other shades Noir or Indiscreet? To everyone, have you seen the shadows in person? Thoughts? 
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Chanel Lumière d’Artifices Beiges – Fall 2012

June 24, 2012

Chanel’s star product this season is their Illuminating Powder with Shimmer called Lumière d’Artifices Beiges (18 g/ 0.63 oz, made in Italy). It’s an exquisite face powder embossed with round circles that look like overlapped pieces of sequins. The powder itself is dusted with a silvery glitter overspray. Underneath there are stripes of soft golden beige and soft beige-rose. The powder in the compact itself looks more like a light pink/rose. On the skin this translated into a more golden-beige finish for me with only very slight undertones of pink/rose.

The sparkles were difficult to capture with the camera. At an angle the shimmer/sparkle overspray is easier to see:

Under artificial light, you can see the shimmer: 

Here is the powder with the overspray removed. I’ve photographed it at an angle hoping you will be able to see the sheen of the powder. It’s really beautiful in person:

Swatched, this pulls warmer and more beige on me than what I see in the compact:

This is truly stunning on the skin. After the overspray was removed I thought it might be too boring but the color is just really lovely as a highlighter. It’s not too pale and not too dark – it’s perfect for Chanel B30 skin and I suspect it will be lovely on other skintones as well. The pigment is medium but visible and the shimmer just glows on the skin. The texture of this is velvety soft making it easy to blend and layer.

I pulled a small sample of other Chanel powders to compare. Ombres Tissées in Beiges from last August is significantly lighter and more frosty. This summer’s Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronzers have a similar luminous glow, but I would say the Fall 2012 Lumière d’Artifices Beiges has more pigment and a slightly more glowy quality. You might find it too similar to Sable Beige to justify owning both.

I believe this is a limited-edition product. Unfortunately I can’t recall the price – I suspect it was in the $60ish range which I found reasonable given the fact that some other limited edition powders such as Lucky Stripes and Ombres Tissèes Beiges and Route de Indes de Chanel have been upwards of $75 to $95 each.

I personally adore this powder. I do think it’s a must-have for me, but that is simply my own opinion.

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Chanel Rose Initiale Powder Blush #72 – Fall 2012

June 24, 2012
Chanel Rose Initiale Powder Blush #72 ($43 for 6 g/ 0.21 oz) is a dainty rose pink with a beautiful subtle gold and pink shimmer. It’s absolute perfection for a pretty pink glow and definitely a must-have. I like that this has very little brown/rose tones in it. There are a number of gorgeous rose, browns, peaches and bright pinks that exist among Chanel’s blushes, this is a nice addition to their lineup for something in different along the lines of Narcisse/Rose Petale but still different (more on this below). Rose Initiale in the US formula has a wonderfully pigmented texture that is easy to blend. I tried this using blush brushes from MAC and Chanel (the newer ones). I prefer MAC’s for this one since I like to use fluffier brushes for the blushes that have more pigment. For me it helps the color go on more evenly in sheer layers and allows more control
Rose Initiale has a gorgeous petal pink base with finely milled shimmers. The shimmer isn’t visible on my skin though, but it does give this color depth:

Under artificial light the gold shimmer is more visible, can you see the slight glimmer?

Best Things in Beauty has wonderful swatches of this on fairer skin. I recommend you check out her review. Here it is swatched on mine (Chanel B30):

There are most likely similar colors out there to this new beauty, but in my opinion, there are few other brands that have blushes with the finely milled beautiful quality that Chanel does. Don’t get me wrong, I adore many other brands for blushes (NARS, MAC, Armani, Burberry etc.) but I really do love Chanel’s. Many of the blushes have a gorgeous glow. The shimmer is subdued and visible but not over-the-top. In Chanel’s exisiting lineup, I found Rose Initiale unique. My thoughts on a few other pinks by comparison:
  • Rose Petale used to be my favorite pink by Chanel. I find it has some brown tones while Rose Initiale is more of a pure pink.
  • Narcisse is significantly more cool-toned and has more visible shimmer.
  • Pink Explosion (euro formula) has more rose tones and darkens on the skin.
  • MAC Dainty is a color I thought was similar. It is, but on the skin shows up quite a bit more frosty and warmer with more peach.

Overall love love LOVE! I want to wear this one everyday now. I think it is suitable for most skin tones. Definitely check this one out. Blush swatches on the arm never do justice to what these really look like on the face. Many have asked where Fall is available. None of the counters near me have it yet (as of Saturday) in Southern California. I’ve heard Nordstrom Seattle has it, various Neiman Marcus stores and Bergdorf Goodman in NY. Some have reported it arriving in Saks. I suspect most counters in the US will have it by the end of this week. At this time I am not sure if it’s limited or not.
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Chanel Rose Initiale Powder Blush #72 and Lumière d’Artifices Beiges – Fall 2012

June 23, 2012

A quick peek at the new blush and highlighter from Chanel’s fall 2012 collection: Rose Initiale #72 Powder Blush and Lumière d’Artifices Beiges. A more detailed review on each item to come soon.

In natural sunlight:

Under artificial light you can see the sheen of both a bit better:

Swatched (I’m a Chanel B30):
the Beiges Highlighter first has the pale beige
then medium rose-beige swatched
followed by both shades mixed

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Chanel Premier Regard #38 Quadra Eye Shadow – Fall 2012

June 22, 2012
For the eyes this fall, Chanel has released one quad, two eyeliners and a number of single shadows. First up is Chanel Premier Regard #38 Quadra Eye Shadow ($58 for 6.8 g/0.24 oz). This is a subtle, soft and understated palette of sheer warm taupe-brown shimmer, pale dusty satiny pink, pale satiny peach-champagne and a muted black-grey matte. In the compact there appears to be a mix of satiny-shimmers and soft mattes, on the eyes these appeared mostly matte for me.
This quad took me three tries to get a decent application. By itself with only 1 base (I used Edward Bess’s eye primer), this was a disappointment for me. The colors were too sheer and the only color that had good pigment was the black-grey. I felt like the colors went on chalky and too sheer. The third time I finally found a good method of application. Note this quad needs a bit of extra work to show up (at least on my olive Chanel B30 skin).
Step 1: Prep with a good dose of eye cream on the lids and then apply your usual cream base/primer (I used Cle de Peau and Edward Bess).
Step 2: Mix the pink and peach together and blend over lids to soften the skin (this will be sheer but you can apply with a heavier hand if you want them to show up more).
Step 3: Use some kind of a tan/taupe/light cream shadow and blend along lashline and upwards (this serves as the base for the taupe shade, so apply the cream where you want the powder to go, I used Tom Ford’s Platinum Eye Shadow)
Step 4: Take the taupe-tan shade of the quad and dust over the cream eyeshadow (the cream eyeshadow helps the color adhere and blend well, using just a regular base was too dry for me to get any blendability out of the color)
Step 5: Apply the grey-black as a smokey liner (or as a crease shade, or wherever you prefer!)

Under different lighting:

Swatched, three views:

Right now, I only had time to pull two comparisons. When I first saw the promo photos of Premier Regard, I thought it looked strikingly similar to Winter Nights and possibly Dreams (I think both are discontinued in the US now?). The overall effect/theme is similar but the quads are still different. Here they are below.

Overall lovely and understated. At a glance, this seems to be a quad that is goof-proof and easy to apply. I was disappointed in the pigment by itself. The pink and peach look identical on my skin and borderline dusty. I need a moisturized eye base to prevent them from looking chalky on my eyes. A bit of tweaking and this worked better for me. I will definitely need to experiment more.

Have you checked out Premier Regard? How do you use it?

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Chanel Suspicious #561 Le Vernis – Fall 2012

June 22, 2012

Chanel Suspicious #561 ($26 for 13 ml/0.4 fl oz) is a dark raspberry red cream. The coverage on this shade is amazing and finish is flawless with high pigment and high shine. The color itself is perfect for the fall season and yet still appropriate for right now in the summer, however it’s just not quite as unique as I had hoped for. I still like this color a lot, but have quite a few other shades similar to this one. 

Here it is on with two coats. Sometimes this looks borderline more reddish than raspberry/fuchsia. Next to a pure red, like Chanel Dragon, you can see that Chanel Suspicious is really more pinkish. Unfortunately, my Chanel Dragon is missing in action so I didn’t compare it. I did pull some other fuchsia/raspberry colors to compare below.
First, Suspicious #561, swatched with 2 coats:

Comparisons, left to right: Chanel Riviera, NARS Anardana, Chanel Suspicious, Chanel Pulsion, Chanel Splendeur, Chanel Tentation.

All the colors swatched with 2 coats (except Riviera because I ran out of fingers to swatch them on in one photo):

Overall pretty, rich and lovely for fall. Not quite as unique as some other Chanel shades, but still a classic.

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