You can’t go wrong with a soft peachy-gold eyeshadow for an all-over easy & quick eye look. For girls with medium skintone, there are tons of your-lids-but-better options out there for a no-fail shimmery peach. My all time favorite is Chanel Abricot which I hear has now been discontinued. Luckily you can probably still find it at one of your local counters. Some of the peachy shades look pale on my skin even though they look peachy in the container.
Dior Beige Select, Chanel Abricot, Trish McEvoy Golden Apricot, Bobbi Brown Golden Peach, Laura Mercier Guava (old formula)
MAC Rubenesque & Shu Uemura Cream P Beige
MAC Hush, Motif, Jest, Arena (in pro-palette form)
Urban Decay Blaze, MAC Evening Aura, MAC Say Yeah
Paul & Joe #22, Paul & Joe #003, Armani Maestro #19
MAC Jardin Aires Pigment, MAC Melon Pigment, Laura Mercier Gemstone Mineral Eye Color, Laura Mercier Peach Luster Mineral Eye Color
All the shades grouped together (note, I apologize for the error below, but the color labeled Dazzleray is actually Jardin Aires):
Last August, Chanel released their Rouge Allure Laque collection in the US which included new rouge allure lipsticks, a new liquid lipstick and new nail polishes. I wrote about Ming, Dragon, Santal and Mythic last fall, but I soon added Coromandel Nail Polish to my collection – a very bright and very warm tomato-orange with slight red tones and has the slightest bit of iridescence in the bottle. The shimmer doesn’t really show up once you apply it. I don’t know that I can pull it off on the fingers but I love it for the toes even though it’s pretty vibrant. It’s one of those colors where I can’t really tell if it’s more orange or more red. It’s one of those right in-between colors.
I tried photographing a comparison of Dragon v Coromandel, but they pictures turned out pretty much the same so you can’t tell the difference. In real life, Dragon is similar, just more red and less orange.
Chanel Coromandel – 2 coats. Sandals by Tory Burch from Nordstrom.
1. Paul & Joe Alice in Wonderland Fantasy Set – So cute, I can’t help but smile everytime I look at my P&J Alice sets. I wish I could take it with me in my purse, but it’s not really practical for toting around. The lipbalm goes on basically clear even though it has a pink tint. I haven’t seen the new movie – anyone who has, what are your thoughts?
2. Chanel Sillage Eyeshadow – From the spring collection, this is a lovely shimmery light highlighting color. It’s along the same lines of Lotus, Liberty and Island eyeshadows but has a bit more pink with slight peach to it. It gives a lovely glow to the lid.
3. Chantecaille Sel Eyeshadow – Yes, of course, I’m always loving at least one taupe shade every month. This month my favorite is Chantecaille Sel – a complex color that has shades of silver, taupe, grey, and gold making this very uniquely stunning. It looks different depending on what angle you hold the compact at. I have a hard time pulling off most silvers. Taupes I can do, but pure silvery shades end up making me look tired. On my skin Sel is more silvery but the gold in it makes it wearable for me which is a plus. I love this over Laura Mercier’s Platinum Metallic Cream Eyeshadow.
4. Giorgio Armani Maestro 23 – This color replaced the original Eyeshadow #4. It’s a deep navy-black with a satin finish that has a slight shimmer. There are definitely other similar colors, but I like that the Maestro 23 isn’t too harsh like most blacks or navys which are typically flat matte shades. The texture makes the finish a bit softer since you can blend and layer it to the intensity you prefer.
5. Lancome Pop Petrol 014 Nail Polish – See the full review plus some other views here. Such a lovely murky steel green blue shimmer. I prefer it on the toes rather than fingers, but I’ve never received so many head-turns, compliments and random women coming up to me to ask “what color is that you’re wearing?” just from a nail polish.
6. NARS Ophelia Lipgloss – Also from spring, this is a sheer healthy pink with shimmer. Looks lovely over the new Cruising lipstick or Tutti Frutti lipstick. (Pictured below, swatch is at the top.)
7. Chanel Maline 141 Glossimer – From the spring 2010 collection, it’s on the sheer side and basically goes on clear, but I love the sparkles in this. It looks great over lipsticks to add a pretty sheen. I really like this over nudes like Chanel Como Aqualumiere and MAC Marquise D. (Pictured above, bottom swatch.)
8. Chanel Gardenia 13 Rouge Coco – This is exclusive to Neiman Marcus. It’s a soft shimmery warm pink on me. I’ve already reviewed/featured this before, but here it is on me below again. It might be replacing my Chanel Waikiki for HG (holy grail) status.
Also check it out on Tali at The Gloss Goss here to see how it looks on a different skintone. It’s gorgeous on her!
9. Chanel Caprice Blush – This came out years ago in the US and is by far the prettiest pink blush I have ever seen. I was really sad that it was discontinued but luckily I have a back up! It’s like a soft pink version of Chanel Rose Bronze/Armani Blush #10 without the bronzey looking finish that these have sometimes. There’s no dupe for this that I know of and I’ve searched hi and lo through almost every high-end brand. No luck.
10. Chanel UV Essential – For the past week, I’ve been using this on top of my moisturizer, underneath foundation as a primer. It’s very liquid and has a thin texture so a little goes a long way. The recommended use is to apply it as the last step of your daily skincare regimen. It works really well for me to make my makeup last all day.
I’ve been testing out the new Rouge Cocos, one by one, and am pleased to report that I find them to be everything Chanel claims them to be: lightweight, hydrating, full coverage and pure luxury. For the most part, they all seem to be full-coverage, but there are a few shades that seem a bit sheerer than the other which are basically the lighter ones like Perle. Here is the line up of the other shades I have: Perle 02, Secret 03, Cashmere 04, Camelia 10, Bois Des Iles 33, Sycamore 32.
I won’t be posting a swatch line up on my arm, but will be posting a few lip swatches in the near future like I did for Gardenia, Sycamore & Mademoiselle. There are already a number of great blogs who have swatched the lipsticks including Karlasugar, Temptalia, Makeup & Beauty Blog and Cafe Makeup, I highly recommend you check them out! Or even better, run to your nearest Chanel counter to try these if you haven’t already.
This is an up-close feature of the new Chanel Rose Paradise Nail Polish I purchased from Neimans a week ago from the Beauty Week Event. (Read about the other Neimans Exclusive Items Here.) In the bottle, it looks like a complex warm bronzey-pink shimmer, but on the fingers, it went on a bit lighter than it looked in the bottle. I guess it depends on what angle you hold the bottle at. I wouldn’t call it a duo-chrome, but there are so many different colors of shimmer in this little bottle, it looks different depending on how you hold it.
Here it is, 2 coats, and it’s pure love:
Compared to some other Chanel Pinkish Colors:
I am super picky with pink nail polishes. Chanel usually comes out with great pinks. I love other brands like OPI and Essie, but warmer pinks don’t always work for my skin. They end up looking too coraly or have some color in it that makes my skin look very yellow.
I was so smitten with this new color I went back and got a couple more for my sister and mom. It was available on neimanmarcus.com a week ago, but it appears to have sold out. Call your nearest counter – you might have better luck finding it in store. The color is also available at chanel.com as a limited edition color.
Today’s lips of the day features the new Chanel Rouge Coco in Sycamore #32 and Paul & Joe’s Lip Lacquer Magnifique #10. Both colors are in the plummy-brown category.
I also used Paul & Joe’s #2 lipliner (not pictured) which is a perfect match for both colors. The lipstick has amazing pigment and those who like darker plummy-browns will really like this. It’s like a more brown version of the Crazed Rouge Allure (which is another favorite).
Swatch of all 3 lip items used:
I attempted lip swatches, but they turned out more red and a bit washed out than it looks in real life. In real life, the lipstick is a pretty plummy-brown shimmer and the gloss deepens the color and adds shine. The swatch photos really don’t do the lipstick/gloss justice.
Check out swatches on other blogs such as Karlasugar and Temptalia to try and get a better idea of the color on different skintones.
Just the lipstick (looks less reddish and more plum in real life):
Lipstick & gloss (note the sun makes it look lighter, this is actually darker in real life):
Yes – I am a die-hard Chanel fan and went nuts over the new Rouge Coco Lipsticks. Even though I love the unique smaller independent brands, if I were pressed to pick only one brand to use, it would hands-down be Chanel for the color selection and quality.
When I heard the news of the upcoming lipstick launch, I initially thought, oh great, another brand revamping something just so they can charge $30 for a lipstick. But when my friend and I checked out the new lippies, we couldn’t contain ourselves. We were like kids in a candy store and bought way too many lipsticks – but at least we can feel like we look good.
Most of the shades are available at all Chanel retailers. The U.S. Exclusives I know of include:
Chanel.com – Teheran #56
Saks Fifth Avenue – Byzantine #28 (vibrant berry wine/almost fuschia color with slight shimmer)
Neiman Marcus – Gardenia #13 (featured one post below)
While swatching the colors at Saks and Bloomies, I started at #01 and swatched consecutively so I wouldn’t miss any colors. However I lost track after I ran out of space on my hand and I didn’t see 07, 12, 30 or 35 in the line up at any of the counters. So the investigator in me wonders if they simply skipped those shades or if those are exclusives elsewhere.
So far, to our knowledge, Nordstrom and Bloomies do not have exclusive shades. We didn’t even think to go check out Macys. In 2 hours we had literally shopped until we were ready to drop.
If anyone has details about the other major department stores exclusives, please let me know!!
Some of the colors I bought: Mademoiselle, Ruban Rose, Gardenia, Muse & Rose Comete. I swatched these today but failed miserably. It’s cloudy and rainy and the swatches were just very blah. The remaining shades I purchased will be featured at a later date.
Swatch fail, please don’t let these crummy swatches deter you – this is for the commenter who wanted to see how Gardenia compared to Ruban Rose.
Pigment: The pigment is excellent. Some of the colors are a bit sheerer than others – but they those are the ones like Perle, Ruban Rose and Rose Comete. They aren’t super sheer like Aqualumieres – it’s just some of the lighter colors have a more transparent finish.
Texture/Finish: I’ll reiterate that I think these are a great swipe-and-go lipstick. I loved the Peter Phillips videos featuring his discussion of these colors. La Chanel Phile is great for info and news (thanks to Leslieal for pointing this out to me). The formula is moist and creamy and easy to apply, yet lightweight. My SA said it’s like they took the Rouge Allure + Aqualumiere and mixed them together for a rich creamy moisturizing lipstick.
Scent: No overpowering scent. There is a subtle hint of a lipstick smell, but it’s nice and soothing. I can’t put my finger on exactly what that scent is though. I have one of the pickiest noses and only tolerated the Hydrabase Lipstick Scent simply because it was Chanel.
Packaging: These come in a new metal tube rather than the plastic. It definitely has a more luxurious feel. The Chanel design team did a great job giving this lipstick a higher-end feel in the material without changing the classic packaging – one among the many thing I really appreciate with Chanel. I really like the fact that they have kept the same classic packaging over all these years keeping the product true to their brand image and feel. I love that they are classic and trend-setters both at the same time.
The lipstick caps have a more snug fit to the lipstick itself. There’s no loose feeling when you push the lid down. The tube is metal like the Rouge Allures.
One more thing I am happy to report is that they have maintained the same product weight for the Rouge Coco as with their other lipsticks. They are still 3.5 g/.12 oz. Big YAY from me – especially when it’s a trend with other lines to revamp packaging and give us consumers less product.
Here are a couple of the Hydrabase tubes compared to the Rouge Coco Tubes, left to right: Lilac Sky Hydrabase, Rose Comete Rouge Coco, Rose Baby Hydrabase (Euro)
