Chanel Gris Exquis ($28.50) is a limited release from the Aquarelles collection. It’s described per Chanel as an “elegant dove grey, ideal for achieving soft, romantic eye looks.” I couldn’t describe it better. The finish is matte although it’s not completely flat in texture. On my skin it goes on very blueish. I applied this alone over eye cream this afternoon and initially I felt it made my skin/eyes look aged. Taking the tips from a few readers in the Beiges posts, I tried layering it. On one eye, I layered it with a softer brown, Chanel Slate, and it looked softer on the eyes. On the other, I layered Beiges highlighter and mixed/blended on top of the Gris Exquis. The result was a well put together look which softened the blue tones. For me, since I have olive tones (Asian skin), if shadows have any hint of blue-grey, I need shimmer or else I end up looking like death. I am glad that Gris Exquis layers well (I ordered it sight unseen from Bergdorfs) although if I had seen/tried it in person first I know I would have passed.
Here are two swatches, even with a heavy swatch you can see the finish is still very soft.
Looking at my collection of greys, I noticed that even my blue greys were not quite as blue as Gris Exquis for mattes. Here are some comparisons to others including Chanel Safari, Chanel Slate, Chanel Gris Exquis, NARS Notorious, MAC Apres Ski, MAC French Grey and Laura Mercier Stone Suede.
Overall, I agree with Chanel that it is a soft, romantic and elegant. If you love blue-toned shadows then this is one you will adore. I like it, but don’t love it simply because blue-grey mattes aren’t my thing. I need shimmer, although I will say this makes a nice layering shadow. Wearing this shade alone on eyes makes me look at least 5 years older. Did you try/buy this shade yet? What are your thoughts? If you love blue-grey mattes, how do you wear them?
One last shot of the 2 Aquarelles items I purchased: Gris Exquis and Beiges.
This morning I applied Chanel Beiges as a highlighter on the cheeks over Chanel Rose Petale Blush. It lasted all day and well into the evening. The powder underneath has a unique texture that’s almost creamy, but not quite. After swatching all three shades, I found that they all look fairly similar on my skin. Blending them together doesn’t really change the effect. What I see is a pale pearly highlighter with a beautiful shimmer. On tanned/darker skins this may show up as a white frost – but only because of the contrast from the pale powder to a darker skin tone. I think if I get a few shades darker this might be too light for the face. For the eyes though, I think it would suit a number of skintones. It makes the eyes just glow with the most beautiful refined shimmer and sparkle. I adore it!
Here are the swatches of the product (what’s underneath the glitter).
The colors look remarkably similar on the skin to Dior’s Limited Edition Pink and Peach Lace Powders from Spring 2010 (here).
Overall love. I don’t believe the Beiges palette will be a must-have for most women as the effect on the skin is not all that original in terms of the finish. There are other highlighters out there that will get you a very similar effect. However, it’s a stunning piece to own simply because of the design. Even though the pattern will disappear with use, the quality and long-lasting power on the cheeks is a huge plus for me. I didn’t like the glitter on the skin but it did add a beautiful finish to the powder for aesthetics/design. I am glad it was easy to remove. Bottom line, for Chanel lovers, like me, the Beiges highlighter is a must. My camera simply cannot capture the beautiful sparkle this powder gives to the skin, but on the eyes, it’s magical with the subtle extra twinkle that makes the skin just glow.
We’ve all been waiting for Les Aquarelles de Chanel for ages ever since we saw previews from the Chanel Couture show in Paris earlier this year. Café Makeup gave us the sneak preview of the whole collection. It has finally been released to Neiman Marcus and Chanel.com – I am waiting for news of other stores and boutiques that also might be getting this (will update when I find out). The Beiges highlighter is something I’ve been waiting to receive for eons. It’s a multi-purpose powdery-cream highlighter for eyes and cheeks. The product is pricey at $75 but the product is a work of art and in my opinion worth every penny.
Per Chanel, Ombres Tissées Beiges – Iridescent Effects Eyes:
“This unique illuminating powder from LES AQUARELLES DE CHANEL Makeup Collection adds captivating shimmer and iridescence to eyes and cheeks with pale pink and ivory tones. The harmony is embellished with a luminous layer of shimmer and embossed with an iconic woven tweed effect. Limited Edition.”
The design of this palette is simply exquisite. The top layer is heavily oversprayed with chunky glitter. Those who detest glitter (like me) will be happy to know it’s only the top layer and can easily be removed without damaging the beautiful quilted pattern by brushing a skunk brush over the top to remove the overspray.
Underneath you see three layers of soft pink and peach, the three blend together for a pale wash of highlight. I haven’t had chance to swatch or apply these on the eyes. I’m scared of ruining the beautiful texture! I will update later with swatches and further thoughts. In the meantime check out Front Row Beauty and Joeys’pace for their lovely thoughts, photos and reviews.
Good morning readers! After a few recent e-mails from readers discussing something that was soon to be released, I realized not all of my readers are social media users. I had assumed one of my readers had seen news of upcoming releases because the info had been tweeted by others. After a few discussions, I then realized not everyone is on Twitter. Oops! So I want to ask my readers, are you on Twitter? I am and my twitter account is @BeautyLookBook which you can see below (my most recent Tweet is actually a re-tweet of Paul & Joe Beaute’s picture of their new Autumn Collection at Bergdorfs).
For the longest time, I had an inactive Twitter account because I did not know how to use it. I had to ask Josie and Karla for Tweet help because I didn’t know what all these acronyms stood for. I had resisted for a long time for a slew of reasons: I don’t have time, I can’t figure out what Tweets are, how will I manage all this noise?
It’s all still a learning process. As many have noted, the biggest challenge is how to scan for the relevant information. I’m more of a passive follower than active Tweeter. I check my blog reads and Twitter feed via my iPhone every few hours while at work during the week and given my schedule I just can’t always manage it during the day during a busy work week. Here are some of the reasons why you should join Twitter!
You discover new things: I’ve discovered new blogs and vlogs. People I follow will often re-tweet content they find interesting to spread the word. I find these extremely helpful (most of the time). I’ve also discovered new blogs from people following me and tweeting interesting news.
You can keep track of what’s up and coming: I’ve learned new things from various store or brand Tweets such as upcoming releases, events and apperances.
Meet new people: There are brand managers, editors, artists, designers, company founders on Twitter. It’s interesting to read what they are loving right now!
Track the brands you love: If you are a Sprinkles Cupcakes fan like me, you can find out where their SprinklesMobile is headed next by following them on Twitter@sprinklesmobile!
Get advice fast: Several months ago, my dog ate my NARS Angelika Multiple and I freaked (after all, a NARS multiple is like the equivalent of maybe 4 full sized lipsticks?). I called the vet who assured me it was ok as long as she didn’t eat any of the plastic. Still in major panic mode while on the phone, I tweeted this to see if anyone else had a dog who ate their makeup. Sure enough people tweeted me back to reassure me I had no need to worry.
A few favorite recent tweets (and people you should follow!):
@NathanBranch of Nathan Branch gives us the latest news on the luxury markets & is my go-to source on fragrance news alerts 5 Aug – Luxury & Fashion Biz News: http://bit.ly/oPX1Vt – Luxury is back in the black, Annick Goutal changes hands, and the emergence of the DIY.
@PerilouslyPale of Perilously Pale has the funniest tweets 30 July – Well it’s official. Hubby now knows I have a blog.
@the_non_blonde of The Non-Blonde has tweets just as wonderful as her blog posts (yes for me on this!) 4 Aug – All the naps I resisted and fought as a little girl? I’ll take them now, please and thank you.
@CafeMakeup of Cafe Makeup’s tweeted what she’s loving/wearing right now (love her updates) 3 Aug – @rzrachelzoe Loving Chanel Quartz for Fall–a metallic fawn–very complex and pretty http://twitpic.com/60ejxj
@KarlaSugar Karla Sugar tweets new beauty news and shows pics (love her extra tidbits of news) 2 Aug – AND @MetierBeaute is coming out w/ a slew of nail polishes at @neimanmarcus as holiday stockingstuffers. Hope Chrome Passion is one of them!
@naturalNchicmak snapped a photo of Armani Fall 2011 at the counters (instant gratification for me while I wait for it to arrive in Southern California) 6 Aug – Armani fall collection: http://yfrog.com/kh8xeumrj
@BTiBeauty lets us know as soon as the newest items arrive instore! 3 Aug – Actually, all of the Aquarelles de Chanel Collection collection arrived @neimanmarcus Tysons Galleria today. Located all of it in shipment.
Also courtesy of Nathan Branch, here’s an interesting article on Twitter and Brands (see it here).
If you want to share why or why not or other thoughts, please do so in the comments, thanks!
Guerlain Les Fumés 06 is a neutral palette suited for light-to-medium toned skin women like to contour the eyes with variations of flesh-toned natural colors. This one appears to be the least shimmery out of the three I bought. It has more of a satiny-finish on all shades with the exception of the silver on the far right. The colors clockwise from left are a satiny grey with plum (very soft shimmer), dusty rose pink matte, silvery cool toned grey with a tinge of mauve, dark dusty bark-like brown.
At first glance, I was initially worried these might look muddy on the skin. The nude-mauves and nude-browns while gorgeous had me concerned that these might look ashy on the eyes. Upon application this morning, I was pleased to find out the colors are not muddy at all – but you do need to use a moist base to help pick up the colors. The darkest brown shade at the bottom is slightly ashy though, I recommend trying to apply directly over a gel eyeliner or with a slightly damp brush (emphasis on slightly so you don’t ruin the powder). This is a fairly neutral palette on my skintone. I’m not sure how this will translate on tan/darker skintones. It might be too nude to show up.
Although neutrals often seem very unoriginal, I couldn’t find anything quite similar. After swatching this on my arm, I thought the dusty-pink and silver looked remarkably similar to NARS Grand Palais (Fall 2011). I highly recommend you see Amy’s review at Café Makeup (she has a few links to some looks of this on the eyes). I do not own this duo as I passed on the fall collection from NARS entirely. I did swatch it at counter and based on my recollection, the rose was too warm for my taste. Guerlain’s Les Fumés works better on me. The dusty pink is slightly darker than my skin so for me, I wouldn’t apply it with a heavy hand.
Today, I applied this quad as follows:
Step 1: Apply Laura Mercier’s Gold Metallic Creme shadow as a base
Step 2: Apply the dusty pink on lids, heavier near lash line, lighter closer to brow
Step 3: Apply the silver frost on top of pink and blend like crazy
Step 4: Apply the taupe-mauve (left shade) on outer corners inwards to mid-point of eye
Step 5: Take the pink shade one more time and apply from inner eye (close to nose) and blend outwards
Step 6: Take the darkest brown shade with a slightly damp brush and trace along lashline for definition
I’ll need more practice, but so far, I love it. They layer together wonderfully. Here are comparisons to the closest shadows I could find – no dupes, but I hope these help you! I suspect there are closer dupes that I’ve missed, this palette looks extremely familiar, perhaps it’s close to one of the 6 Couleurs from last year?
Bottom Line: I’ve ignored Guerlain for some time for a number of reasons such as high price points, bulky packaging, lack of interest in the color options, inconsistent eyeshadow pigmentation, heavily fragranced products. The products have always been of high quality but I’ve normally been more drawn to brands like Dior and Chanel. However reviews on other blogs have helped tremendously. In addition, since falling in love with their Lingerie de Peau foundation, innovative blushes and bronzer and now with the release of these quads, Guerlain has caught my eye. These quads are truly amazing – there is a wide selection of colors and finishes. The mattes are divine and shimmery colors finely milled and well designed that everyone is bound to find one to suit their preferences.
I don’t need any more eyeshadows, but I can’t wait for these to arrive at counters near me so I can play with the other colors.
Guerlain Les Gris 05 seems to be ideal for a dramatic smokey eye with a cool-toned finish. The palette seems to have a good mix of matte with shimmer. The texture is smooth and pigment is nice. Initially I was torn between Les Gris 05 (see it on Best Things in Beauty) and Les Noirs 09 (see it on Makeup and Beauty Blog). I decided to opt for the blue-grey palette because it seemed more unique to me. The descriptions of the colors from left clockwise: a sheer neutral-cool matte grey, a soft silvery shimmer with a very slight mauve tinge, a brilliant silver metallic, an intense dark navy-teal with finely milled shimmer.
I pulled a few classic smokey eye palettes from Dior and Edward Bess. To date, Edward Bess Soft Smoke is my holy grail smokey eye palette (most others are too ashy or harsh for my skin). For all three, I would say the Dior is the most silvery-blue, Edward Bess is the classic, Guerlain’s Les Gris is a blue-grey version of the classic smokey eye.
Update: Thanks to the keen eye of my readers, some pointed out that Les Gris appears similar to NARS Dogon. (Great eyes!) I pulled this out to compare and noticed I actually do have quite a few blues from NARS. NARS Dogon’s blue is similar in the compact but darker. (Note these were taken early morning without direct sunlight so Les Gris may look different.)
Here are just the blues:
Here is everything from each duo: NARS Brumes, NARS Thunderball, NARS Dogon, NARS Tzarine (I apologize for the crappy swatches) compared to Guerlain Les Gris
The verdict on similarities:
Guerlain’s top silver-mauve looks like the silver in NARS Okinawa
Guerlain’s bottom teal-navy is NARS Okinawa’s blue+Thunderball mixed
Guerlain’s left matte grey is similar to NARS Brumes’ grey, but Guerlain is more cool toned
Guerlain’s brilliant silver grey is unique in my eye
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Guerlain 04 Les Bois de Rose is an iridescent quad with a soft pearly white, medium cool rose frost, taupe-grey-mauve shimmer, and a plum brown. The texture is soft and easily blendable. I’ve had good experiences with the prior releases from Guerlain, but found their older quads a bit dryer in texture making them hard to blend and requiring heavy application. The new Écrin 4 Couleurs appear to be much softer and smoother in texture, yet have excellent pigmentation.
The shimmer in this quad is on the medium-to-high side, some might find this too frosty. It’s almost as sparkly as some of the Bobbi Brown Metallic Shadows but not quite as metallic-like. I applied this today over UDPP on the eyes using the sponges on one eye and my regular brushes on the other. The sponges work just fine but I prefer the brushes for a better application.
1. Apply white shade on lids (about 1/2 way from lash up to middle of eye)
2. Apply the right taupey shade on outer corners inward to middle
3. Apply rose frost from inner corner (part closest to nose) and blend towards outer corner mixing with the taupe
4. Apply the darkest shade to line and smudge along upper lashes
I’m sure there are similar colors out there, but I couldn’t find a quad from Chanel or Dior that was exactly the same. I did pull out my Armani Eye Mania 05 and Dior Pink Idol quint to compare for you. Those weary of pinks because of getting that pink-eye look need not worry with the Guerlain. I avoid pinks like the plague but the Guerlain Les Bois de Rose works beautifully.
