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Chanel Or Rose, Santal and Beryl Stylo Yeux Waterproof

December 27, 2012

Chanel has released three new eyeliners in the Stylo Yeux Waterproof formula for spring ($30 each, made in Italy). The three shades are Or Rose #89 (a luminous sparkly champagne), Santal #100 (a neutral shimmering brown) and Beryl #102 (a pale lavendar). Currently, only Beryl is listed as limited-edition on Chanel.com. The Stylo Yeux Waterproof pencils come in a twist-up packaging with a hidden built-in sharpener at the end of the pencil (see example from Karen at Makeup and Beauty Blog for close up). They are designed to be a long-wear pencil and I find them to be among my longest lasting eyeliners. For me they stay put all day.
The new shades for spring performed just as well as others in the same formula. Shimmery champagnes like Or Rose are good for lining the inner corners or lower waterline. I’m still experimenting with Beryl – it’s such an unusual shade for a liner! Santal is a pretty classic warm brown shimmer. Chanel does lovely neutrals and Santal works perfectly with the Raffinement quad that was released for spring.

Swatches: Or Rose pulls a bit peachy on my skin.

In terms of dupes, I couldn’t find any. Some comparisons are featured below. Or Rose is a lighter version of Peche Cuivre. Shown next to other champagnes you can see Or Rose is definitely on the peachy side. Santal is quite unique and warmer than other brown neutrals. I didn’t compare Beryl to anything since I don’t own any lavendar-colored eyeliners.

Based on my preferences and normal makeup routine, I like Santal the best. Or Rose is gorgeous but I would prefer it as an eyeshadow instead. Same with Beryl. I occasionally use champagne eyeliners but not frequently. They are both stunning though.

Did you pick up any of the spring eyeliners?

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Chanel Raffinement #39 Quadra Eye Shadow – Spring 2013

December 24, 2012

The winter-to-spring season brings quite a few lovely neutral palettes from Armani, Burberry, Edward Bess and Chanel. The Printemps Precieux de Chanel brings us Raffinement #39 Quadra Eye Shadow ($58 for 6.8g/0.24 oz) which is every neutral-lover’s dream. The quad has a mixture of three shimmery earthy warm neutrals and a dark warm matte brown. This is hands down my favorite neutral of all the recent releases. The pigment is excellent, much better than most Chanel palettes in my opinion. The texture is soft and easy to blend. The shimmer is visible but not over the top. It’s a definite must-have.


Here it is swatched, on me it pulls very warm:

Chanel recently discontinued Kaska Beige (which I found to be a good staple, I had to get backups) so I thought that Raffinement would be very similar. However looking at them side by side you can see how they are very different. The color/finish of Raffinement is similar to Armani’s #6 Boudoir. The difference is that Armani has 2 light shimmer/2 mattes while Chanel’s has 3 shimmers/1 matte. If I had to pick one, it would be the Chanel. I added Prelude below to show the undertones.

I could only fit three sets on my arm, so I picked the ones that were most similar, Armani #6 and Chanel Kaska Beige. There are two views below with different lighting. Right now I’m a Chanel B30.

Overall love. Raffinement is a gorgeous palette. The quality and pigment are excellent. Did you pick up Raffinement? Or anything else from Chanel spring?
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Comparisons for Chanel Emprise, Fracas and Accessoire Le Vernis

December 18, 2012

After swatching some shades from my Chanel Le Vernis collection, this is the verdict on dupes/similar colors:

  • Emprise seems to be most similar to Pêche Nacrée, but Emprise is more opaque and pinkish on the skin while Pêche Nacrée is more pearly/peachy. I thought Emprise would resemble Django but it’s quite a bit darker and more peachy. Compared to Rose Satin, Emprise is similar but more opaque and peach. I thought Emprise would be most similar to Inattendu, but swatched side by side, Inattendu almost looks tan.
  • Fracas is a warmer and more vibrant version of Rose Insolent. Compared to other pinks, Fracas makes May look pastel. Fracas has a hint of melon when compared to Dior Plaza, but Fracas is still clearly pink. On the nails on my skin, I feel it’s almost identical in finish to Rose Insolent.
  • Accessoire is a lighter version of Rouge Noir. Compared to others, Accessoire is warmer/redder than Provocation (more purple/plum), more plum-red than Forbidden (most brown), and lighter and redder than Diabolic (the darkest one I have). On the nails, it’s hard to distinguish the difference between shades.

On the nail wheels: Tendresse, Pêche Nacrée, Emprise, Rose Satin, Inattendu, Morning Rose, May, Fracas, Rose Insolent, Dior Plaza, Accessoire, Provocation, Rouge Noir, Forbidden and Diabolic.

Some photos under artificial light, I hope this alternate view will give you a better idea of comparisons:

Although the spring shades from Chanel are very similar to existing colors, I still think they are beautiful options for the season. Perhaps not the most unique, but they are very flattering. My personal favorite is Accessoire even though I do not need another vamp in my stash.
Have you tried Chanel spring yet? What were your thoughts?
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Chanel Emprise, Fracas and Accessoire Le Vernis for Spring 2013

December 16, 2012
Chanel’s spring 2013 makeup collection Printemps Precieux de Chanel offers some beautiful colors this year. I ordered my items sight-unseen from Bergdorfs and have been very pleased with everything so far. First up are the three new Le Vernis shades in Emprise 569, Fracas 571 and Accessoire 573 ($26 each for 13 ml/0.4 fl oz, made in France). I found the shades from Chanel spring to be fairly similar to prior
releases, but think they are still beautiful options for spring. The
colors are solid staples that I think everyone should have in their nail
wardrobe. However, if you have a lot of Chanel or Dior nail polishes, you may want to shop your own stash or test these in
person before buying. The shades this season:
  • Emprise 569 is a soft peachy shade with a hint of pink, there is a subtle pearly shimmer infused in the bottle but the color goes on a cream, finish was semi-sheer, I found it needed three coats for even coverage
  • Fracas 571 is a hot pink melon fuschia, this shade also has that shimmery pearl in the bottle (like Distraction) but doesn’t quite show up on the nail, the shimmers made this one difficult to photograph, in some photos it appears more melon, but it goes on very similar to Rose Insolent, pigment and coverage is excellent
  • Accessoire 573 is a rich plum-brown cream that applies flawlessly with two coats, it’s very similar to other Chanel vampy shades, I was a bit surprised Chanel decided to release something so similar to Vamp, Diabolic, Provocation etc.
Below you can see in direct sunlight that Emprise and Fracas are infused with beautiful shimmer. I wish the shimmer was more visible when applied on the nails!
Close ups and swatches below, Emprise 569:

Fracas 571, note colors may vary per screen, this was really hard to photograph for me, I recommend checking Loulou17 and Blondy Candy for other swatches/photos:

Accessoire 573:

I’m working on comparisons now. Follow up post to come soon!
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Chanel Intuition #36 and Variation #37 Quadra Eye Shadows

November 13, 2012

Les Expressions de Chanel 2012 brings us new options for the eyes. There are new eyeshadow quads, cream eyeshadows, liquid liners and a new mascara. (See the US lineup on La Chanelphile and the European lineup on Café Makeup.) In the US, it appears the whole collection is scheduled to launch Black Friday (at least according to four different counters I’ve talked to in Southern California) although some have reported early sightings at some boutiques and select counters. I think at this time the exact release and availability dates are unclear.  I have yet to see the entire collection in person but ordered 36 Intuition and 37 Variation eyeshadow quads online from Neimans ($58 each).
36 Intuition is a warmer but still somewhat neutral option for the eyes. All the shades are medium in shimmer. It has a soft seashell pink shimmer, a warm sheer gold sparkle, a neutral bark brown shimmer and a warmer brown tan. Pigmentation and coverage is medium-sheer. It performs like most Chanel quads and on my eyes works best over a dewy cream base (Edward Bess’s Eye Base or Laura Mercier’s Metallic Cream Shadows). A few others to check out with features on this quad:

37 Variation is a cooler-toned option. The shades are also on the
shimmery side but not quite as sparkly as Intuition. It has a
cool-toned powdery pink satin, a silvery sage metallic, a warm brown and
an eggplant shimmer. I thought this would be my favorite out of the
two, but it’s borderline too cool for my skin. It’s still quite lovely
on olive complexion but I prefer Mystic Eyes to this one. I haven’t seen the European/baked version of Variation in person, but judging from online reviews/swatches, I think I prefer the color payoff of the Euro one better. Some other swatches to check out:

More photos and swatches below: 

I didn’t have time to do comprehensive comparisons or swatches but caught one slightly blurry photo today for reference. You can see Variation isn’t quite as purple as Vanities, but not quite the same as Mystic Eyes. Intuition is very different from Spices but resembles Dior’s Fairy Golds in color family (which I have not tried yet).

For me Intuition was a lovely surprise. It looked like it would be too neutral or unoriginal but it really is quite lovely. Variation on the other hand was a slight disappointment. The colors are really lovely but needs a bit of warming up for my skintone.

Have you spotted the Les Expressions de Chanel collection yet? I’m still waiting to see the whole collection, but at this time think I will probably pass on everything else. Perhaps I will consider the mascara?

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Chanel Star Dust #73 Powder Blush – Holiday 2012

November 4, 2012

Chanel’s new blush for the holiday is Star Dust #73 ($43 for 6g/0.21 oz). I found this blush to be more of a glimmering highlighter rather than a regular blush. It has a sheer soft pink base loaded with tiny micro sparkles in shades of pink, silver and platinum. It’s quite stunning in the compact. In testing this, I found that I need some kind of a cream highlighter or blush on the cheeks to make this show up (I experimented with NARS Luxor, a few other NARS Multiples, Edward Bess Sunlight and a couple Armani fluid sheers). Alone over foundation and powder (like a regular blush) resulted in a barely noticeable powdery pink cheek. When layered over a cream product, it goes on a soft pink loaded with sparkles. The effect is similar MAC Silver Dusk or Laura Mercier’s Star Dust powder but even more sparkly with a pink base (versus silvery/champagne). Overall the name Star Dust fits the product performance – it gives a sparkle effect to the cheeks. I can only see myself wearing this for evenings out – for me it’s too sparkly for everyday wear.

Close up:

Swatched you can see it’s very sheer. Even with heavy layering, it’s a soft warm sheer pink:

Star Dust is a warmer pink when compared to other soft pink shades, but it’s still clearly pink (not a peachy pink). I pulled a few comparisons to show, I couldn’t find a dupe in my Chanel or MAC collection. Here are a few views to show the shimmer and undertones. First in direct sunlight: Chanel Ombres Tissees in Beiges (limited-edition from August 2011), Chanel Winter Shimmer (discontinued), MAC Porcelain Pink MSF, NARS Miss Liberty, Le Metier de Beaute Whisper:

Comparisons under artificial light (same set of colors):

Swatches, two views:

I’m not completely in love with Star Dust mainly because it didn’t apply on the face like I expected it to. Based on what I saw in the compact and what I’m used to for Chanel blushes, I expected something more pigmented and not as sheer. I’m usually a die-hard Chanel blush fan but this one was just ok for me – the lightness of the color can look a bit chalky for my skintone and emphasize pores if not applied with a super light hand. Still, as a highlighter it’s very pretty and nice for evenings to add that extra sparkle. It’s unique enough compared to other highlighters in the sense that the shimmer/sparkle isn’t your standard silver or champagne. It’s subtle but makes the skin have a really pretty glow as long as you have a dewy base first.
Did you try Star Dust? What were your thoughts? If you’re interested in this I suggest you check your counters soon to try it. Three counters near me were already sold out – although I think it will be easy to find online for a while.
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