Chanel has released a new beautiful palette to celebrate the opening of one of their new boutiques in Paris. The palette is called Ombres Matelassées 51, Montaigne ($80 for 6g/0.21 oz, Made in Italy). It comes with five stunning soft silky-smooth shimmery eyeshadows embossed with the classic quilted pattern. The colors aren’t all that unique to Chanel’s prior releases but the texture is amazing with an ultra-smooth finish and satiny feel. Pigmentation is medium, like most Chanel eyeshadows. The shimmer is very soft and subtle. At $80 this is extremely pricey (especially when you consider the fact that the Ombres Perleés de Chanel from Spring 2011 was $65). I fell in love with the beautiful presentation and packaging but I’m not really comfortable with the price. (I skipped the Vegas de Chanel face highlighter and so felt this splurge was justified.)
The colors, left to right: soft iridescent ivory, pale gold shimmer, satiny warm gold, khaki olive shimmer, soft greyed-black with a tinge of navy. A few more close ups.
Swatches:
Comparisons to a few other shades, Chanel Ivory, Chanel Blazing Gold, Burberry Midnight Black, Chanel Black Star and Chanel Noir-Ivoire. (The greenish/olive shade wasn’t compared because I don’t own any of the Chanel khaki shimmers.) As you can see the theme is not extremely unique, but still extremely beautiful.
I’m not sure exactly where this will be available. My guess is this will be available at the counters and stores that receive the special exclusive launches (such as Les Jeans de Chanel, Vegas de Chanel, etc.) I know Nordstrom in Seattle has received the palette and have seen reports of this being spotted at various Boutiques and select Neiman Marcus counters. I’m assuming it will be launched online at Chanel.com eventually but at this time I’m not sure. I purchased mine at my local Neiman Marcus although they did not have any testers. See other photos at Best Things in Beauty and Luxury-Makeup Livejournal.
Overall beautiful presentation and extremely high quality. There is a lack of originality with the colors (I found them to be repeats of prior/existing shades) but the palette is a classic and I really love it. The texture is better than some of the singles, which I’m a huge fan of, but sometimes can be a bit chunky in feel. I personally cannot envision wearing all 5 shades at once. I’ve tried a few combinations and prefer to use 3 at most at one time. I find it wears very well and adheres well to the lids like the classic Chanel eyeshadows do.
Bottom line, it’s a true luxury product, not a necessity. I love it but I don’t think it’s a must-have for those who have a lot of other Chanel eyeshadows. I simply think you will find this redundant. I like the convenience of having all shades in one palette and felt the presentation is just exquisite. At the price it’s definitely a splurge. If I could only have 1 palette this season, I think it would still be Dior Grège 734 (reviewed here), although a few photos of summer collections have been surfacing and I’m kinda dying over the NARS trio coming out for summer (see it on Specktra.net here).
Have you seen/tried this yet? What are your thoughts?
The Las Vegas de Chanel collection was released a month ago exclusively to the Bellagio Chanel Boutique in Las Vegas. It has recently been launched online at Chanel.com and select stores (I know Nordstrom Seattle has received the whole collection). I decided to wait for photos and reviews to surface before jumping to order. I was going to pass on the entire collection but once I saw it online I caved and ordered the Gold Fingers Nail Polish ($28, limited edition).
Chanel Gold Fingers is a sparkley liquid gold shimmer. It has a similar finish to Graphite with a slightly clearish base loaded with multi-colored sparkles. Although initial photos made me think that Gold Fingers would be too yellow for my skin I decided to try. It is indeed very yellow, much like pure 24K gold. I don’t know that I love it but I don’t exactly hate it.
Here you can see it’s very sheer with 1 coat. Unfortunately although it’s sheer on a naked nail, it’s not quite sheer enough to be a layering color over other shades (like Illusion D’Or was). It still has enough color to cover the nail if you try it over, say a red or orange.
I did pull a few other golden shades. I prefer Golden Sand and Gold Lame from seasons past compared to the new Gold Fingers. L to R: Dior Or Divin, Chanel Gold Fingers, Gold Lame, Golden Sand and Peridot.
I passed on everything else from the Vegas collection and don’t intend on ordering anything else, did you purchase anything? Thoughts?
Chanel Tentation 541 Le Vernis is a striking deep fuschia-red shimmer. It’s the pinker sister to last holiday’s Rouge Carat 587 (reviewed here). I thought I would have something similar but I don’t. It has enough dark red shimmer to prevent it from looking too neon or cheap. I think it’s appropriate for year round. The texture is smooth and pigment rich with just 2 thin coats. If Chanel had made Attraction in the same finish I would have loved it as well. In the sunlight it glows. I love that the shimmer is visible on the nail, not just in the bottle.
In looking through my collection I found that I don’t have very many dark pink shimmers. This one is a nice addition to fill in the gap. Comparisons below to a few other Chanel shades like Rouge Carat, Pulsion and Rose Exhuberant.
Swatches of a few more, including Laura Mercier’s Luscious and Flamingo:
This season seems to be the season of beautiful corals and Chanel Distraction 549 is no exception. Distraction is a stunning coral infused with a subtle hint of fuschia shimmer that makes it glow in direct sunlight. On the nails it’s a vibrant coral with a slight hint of pink to prevent it from looking like a straight orange. The finish is slightly jelly-like with a semi-transparent texture but it has rich and smooth coverage with 2 coats. Depending on the angle you hold the bottle or the nails, sometimes it looks more orange, others more coral.
Swatched, here you can see it glow:
It’s very similar to other oranges and corals but I love it. I know many of you wonder how it compares to Laura Mercier’s Cabana – almost identical. LM’s is a bit softer, while Chanel’s is a tad bit more vibrant. Here are a few comparisons swatched.
How do I feel about Chanel Distraction even though it’s practically identical to other corals?
Chanel Frisson 543 Le Vernis is soft super-sheer baby pink infused with gold flecks and tiny multi-colored micro sparkles. From the promotional photos this one looked the most stunning out of the four newest shades, primarily because I found the gold shimmers to be breathtakingly gorgeous. I ordered mine online sight unseen but once the reviews started to surface, my heart sank when I saw how sheer it was. These sources were extremely helpful: Specktra.net, The Purse Forum and Best Things in Beauty’s blog. While all have posted great accurate photos, I was let down when I saw that it didn’t appear to be all that special. Frisson is indeed gorgeous in the bottle and although I know it was designed to be a sheer jelly-like color, I am disappointed. It requires 3 thick coats to show up on my fingers which I feel is too much for this particular shade (it ends up looking goopy). Those who love to layer might like this one. For me, I prefer 2 coats max (of the actual nail color) so I feel this as a topper won’t be good for me. Here are a few more photos.
Here it is swatched, your standard soft pale pink shimmer:
In direct sunlight you can see the gold shimmer:
It’s very similar to previously released soft pink shimmers from Chanel. I understand that repeats are bound to happen. After all there are only so many colors that one can create that are new, fresh and unique. Frisson is definitely among the most complex out of all the paler pinks that I own from Chanel. Not quite as epic as Pink Satin (which I adore for the silver glitter and opalescent sheen), but pretty close.
The good news is that if you missed out on Pink Satin, Mica Rose or Flamingo, the newest Frisson will fill the gap in your collection if you want something similar. Also, good news, if you own any of those shades, you can safely skip Frisson and save for something else. To me I could barely tell the difference.
Pink Satin has more of an opalescent sheen and has silver glitter.
Frisson is the most complex with bigger more visible gold shimmers.
Mica Rose flashes green/blue in the shimmers slightly.
Flamingo has the most smooth shimmer (rather than sparkle) with more white/silver veining.
I should be in love with this shade. It’s soft, natural, pink, shimmery, complex and Chanel. Right now I feel lukewarm. Perhaps it is all the other knock-out killer brights that have my attention right now? It is a stunning shade in the bottle and lovely on the fingers. I know this is something that will grow on me. Part of it is that I was expecting something as epic and unique as prior seasons like Steel, Black Pearl, Quartz, Graphite etc. As of late I feel that Chanel has been repeating themes that are a bit too similar (how many bright pink creams and reds can one possibly want?). This might just be me. When will I learn to wait before jumping to order?
Did you check out the new shades yet? What did you come home with? Or has something else caught your eye for this spring season?
Chanel Attraction 545 Le Vernis ($26 for 13 ml/0.4 fl oz) is a limited-edition cool-toned pearly white frost that has been released as part of the Roses Ultimes de Chanel collection. We saw the first sneak peek of this color on the Spring 2012 Runway Show last October on Café Makeup and La Chanelphile. Pearly whites can be challenging to wear and this one is no exception. The pigment is rich and color striking against my skintone, however the metallic formula is extremely streaky and difficult to wear. Even with very slow and careful application, streaks cannot be avoided. I am not a fan but am undecided whether to keep and try to make it work or regift/return. For the price I would prefer a non-high-maintenance nail color. Nevertheless here are swatches, comparisons and close ups.
Pearly whites aren’t new to Chanel’s Le Vernis releases. I wish they would bring back their classic Le Perle (currently I’m hoarding this using very sparingly so it has not been swatched/photographed). Here are some prior releases, I believe all of these were Limited Edition and no longer available (maybe Intermezzo or Pearl Drop can be found at some counters).
Blanc Petale, Attraction, Intermezzo and Pearl Drop
I’ve added one more shot with a different angle so you can see the hint of shimmers/undertone of each shade, while they are all pearly whites, there is a subtle difference with the pigments.
I ordered my Chanel Le Vernis shades from this collection online at Chanel.com but all counters should have it in store now. Did you buy or try Attraction? What were your thoughts?
It’s been on and off rainy here so the Chanel swatches will be delayed until the sun comes back. In the meantime, I wanted to share some of my nail care tips. Many of you have asked what are my favorite base and top coats. I’m by no means a nail expert (even if I am addicted to Chanel and Dior nail polishes) but here are my top picks.
A brief intro: I think the right base coat or top coat will depend on what kind of nail color you are using. Formula matters. Some top coats are not compatible with all brands of nail colors due to ingredients. For the most part, I’ve found top coats and nail colors within the same brand work well together. However, I rarely stick to 1 brand of nail polish so I’ve looked for base coats and top coats that are versatile among the brands I use the most. These include Chanel, Dior, Rescue Beauty Lounge, Dolce & Gabbana and OPI.
What else I look for: The things I’m most picky with include bubbling and shrinkage. For actual nail colors A number of drugstore brands caused bubbling (I can’t recall which ones, but Poshe is one that did). I found OPI’s top coats just ok, they lacked long-lasting shine for me. The highly acclaimed Seche Vite only worked on Essie and OPI, but for all other brands I’ve tried caused extreme shrinkage. Nail shrinkage is when you see the top coat shrink from the tips and cuticles after application so it looks like it just wasn’t applied over the entire nail. There is debate about what exactly causes shrinkage, I found threads on The Purse Forum and an article on Beaut.ie extremely helpful. I’ve concluded that since SV isn’t 3-free it’s what causes messy-unfinished-looking nails. I even tried adding their thinner (which many have recommended) but it did not work for me.
My picks: I’ve by no means tried every single base or top coat on the market. I can’t say whether these are the best or better than other brands, I just know they work for me for the brands I like to wear.
Deborah Lippmann Rehydrating Base Coat ($18 for 0.50 oz at Nordstrom) – This one I have Amy from Café Makeup to thank. We were chatting about swatching one day and I mentioned that changing colors frequently to do comparisons was harsh on my nails and that my fingers were starting to hurt. She suggested Deborah Lippmann’s base coat which is a wonderful hydrating base coat. It contains aloe and while it won’t solve dry cuticle issues, I’ve noticed a visible improvement in my nail texture after using this. It helps nail color apply smoothly as well. I don’t use a base coat all the time but when I do this one is among my favorites. (Chanel’s is also nice but pricey.) You can read Amy’s review here.
Rescue Beauty Lounge Top Coat ($18 but sold out on Rescue Beauty online) – I purchased this in their Treatment System Trio and fell in love with this thin but super shiny hard-finished top coat. I really hope Ji Baek decides to bring it back. I agree with other reviewers this one takes a bit longer to dry (just a few minutes more) but the finish is shiny and protects the nail polishes pretty well. The thin texture makes it easy to apply smoothly and quickly in a few strokes.
Chanel Laque Brilliant Extrème ($25, I purchased mine at Nordstrom but I’m not sure if they still carry this instore) – A few years back Chanel released a new reformulated base and top coat in the US. I never tried the originals although they were raved about my a number of Chanel fans as the best in the market. I gave the new ones a try. At first I was not impressed, mainly due to the price (versus the $6 OPI options at Ulta). I kept trying this one and really love how shiny and lacquered they make the nails look. They add a shiny smoothness that has a slight cushy look. The texture is slightly thicker but not too thick. Drying time is a bit longer but the result are freshly polished nails. I found that it helped with lasting power as well.
Creative Nail Design Super Shiney Top Coat ($8.50 at Ulta) – This is hands down my favorite top coat for the price that I’ve ever tried. I discovered it at one of my local nail salons. Out of all the different kinds of top coats they’ve used this one provides the longest lasting manicures that are shiny and glossy. The shine is just as good as Chanel’s although not quite as cushy-glassy looking. For the price and quality it can’t be beat. It’s one of the few that I’ve found doesn’t bubble or shrink. It’s 3-free with a slight tint which is supposed to be a UV absorber that guards against fading and discoloration. (I’ve stopped using the nail dryers at the salons and prefer the fans or air drying even though it takes longer. I’ve found that sometimes the light dryers change the color of reds or purples and darkens them.)
My personal top 2 picks: Deborah Lippmann and CND. What are your favorites?
