Chanel.com’s exclusive Le Vernis shade in Beige 565 just arrived yesterday ($26 each). Here’s a quick look at the color plus comparisons. I couldn’t get good nail swatch photos before the sun went down. Hopefully I’ll be able to post better photos this week. Chanel Beige 565 is a true beige. I was hoping it would be a pearly beige with pinkish/pearl tones like the promotional photos online. It does have a luminous pink glow that flashes (much like Jade Rose, Rose Cache, Distraction) but it’s more of a nude-yellowish beige. I personally find it flattering and polished looking, although I’m not sure that fairer skins will like this. It might have too much yellow. Initial impressions are that this has decent coverage but it doesn’t apply flawlessly like Dragon, Riviera, Blue Boy etc. It’s not quite as difficult as say Mimosa or Riva to apply though. More thoughts to come later, but I’m happy I purchased this one.
You can see the shimmer when you hold the bottle at an angle in direct sunlight.
Comparisons to other beige-nudes below. Note that Chanel Beige Petale was not swatched because it’s so sheer. You can see it reviewed here though. I believe most of the other shades swatched have been reviewed in the past (use the search bar to find more detailed reviews and swatches). You can see that Chanel Beige is fairly unique and more of a beige-yellow nude. All photos by me. Kindly respect the copyright and do not republish without permission.
Le Métier de Beauté Come One, Come All Kaleidoscope Eye Kit ($95) was recently released as an exclusive to Nordstrom Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, Maryland. Many thanks to Best Things in Beauty who told us all about this the morning it was released for the Trend Show. She provided detailed descriptions, contact information, swatches and photos and I called to order as soon as I saw it. The colors & descriptions (thanks to Charleston Girl for providing the names as well since the kits don’t have names on them):
Haute Honey is a glistening warm champagne gold
Tawni Taupe is a shimmering frosted taupe with gold shimmer and slight olive tones
Montgomery Mauve is a mauve reddish purple
Bethesda Brown is a deep brown with gold flecks
Haute Honey
Tawni Taupe
Montgomery Mauve
Bethesda Brown
It took a little over a week to arrive from the East Coast and when it did, it took my breath away. I was however slightly let down for two reasons: 1) The kit contains yet another warm burgandy/plum/mauve shade which I feel are in too many Le Métier Eye Kits (I find these difficult to wear on my eyes, even with layering). 2) I found that three of the four colors are duplicates from other kaleidoscope kits, Splendid Frost from last holiday and Silk Road from this past fall. Makeup Magpie has also identified the same dupes. I highly recommend you check out her beautiful photos and swatches on her blog to see them on different skintones. (I did not photograph my swatches of the dupes but they are indeed identical. You can click for larger viewing.)
I applied this on the eyes as soon as it arrived using the Le Métier couches de couleur method of layering from top shade in the kit to the bottom color. The result: unexpectedly gorgeous. Yes, I detest warm reddish shades, but layering these colors resulted in a really stunning eye look (not to sound vain, but the color combination is really astounding). So I take back part of my pouty attitude, the colors are really very wearable. I wore this kit every day for the last week. I still cannot take good eye pics so I tried to layer on my arm to show you how they look mixed. I love the convenience of this kit.
At this time I do not know if the kit is still available but check out Best Things in Beauty for the contact info for the counter. If you have Silk Road and Splendid Frost, I don’t think you need this one. I still haven’t found a good dupe for the top shade although it reminds me of Chantecaille’s Rose Gold Eyeshadow (currently missing in action, I’m just disorganized at the moment).
Even with the dupes, many might ask: was it worth the $95? I think so, but I could have lived without this. Curiosity got the best of me. Still, I adore it and I would have never thought to combine the colors together like they are in this palette. The versatility of this palette is amazing. I think that Come One, Come All should have been released for fall instead of Silk Road since it appears to be more neutral and universally flattering. Silk Road is indeed gorgeous, but a bit difficult to pull off because it’s so warm (at least in my mind but of course I still caved even though I did not review/feature it).
Many have been asking if I will order Dustin’s new kit from Bergdorfs (see preview on Messy Wands). I’m still undecided. That rust-shade scares me but every NY girl tells me it warms up the look wonderfully. I’m still not sold … yet.
Chanel and Harrods partnered to create an exclusive makeup collection to celebrate the “Chanel at Harrods” exhibition. The pink-themed collection is called the Knightsbridge Collection which consists of:
Poudre Tissée in Brompton Road (£46.00 on Harrods.com)
Rouge Allures in Kensington, Hyde Park and Belgravia
Glossimer in Chelsea
The items are exclusive to Harrods for a limited time. Currently only the powder is available for purchase online. You can check out the coverage of the event on these resources:
Style Bubble has beautiful photos and a snapshot of the entire makeup collection
Combine the words “exclusive”, “Chanel” and “pink” and I was sold. I purchased the powder in Brompton Road (converted into approximately $72) online. It’s a satiny pink base with soft white-beige shimmery Cs that comes with an overspray of beautiful silver glitter. Per Harrods, “The Exclusive Creation POUDRE TISSÉE in Brompton Road, opens up to reveal a fabric-like effect, evocative of a fine, light and refined knit. The sheer, satiny powder enhances the radiance of the complexion while giving it a beautiful translucency. Brompton Road, a tender pink with golden shimmers, can be dabbed onto cheekbones to subtly brighten and freshen the face.”
With overspray:
Without overspray:
The powder comes in a similar format to the Ombres Tissées in Beiges from the Aquarelles Collection. Both compacts come with the same embossed quilted pattern covered in a beautiful oversprayed layer of sparking glitter. Both are made in Italy and have multiple colors in the compact which are intended to be swirled together to create a glow. The differences (aside from the colors) are in the intended use and finish:
Beiges has 13g / 0.46 oz and is labeled with the name Ombres Tissées – Iridescent Effects Eyes (although I’ve used this on the cheeks as well), this comes with three layers of iridescent pale beiges and pinks for a highlighting effect, it also comes with a sponge tipped applicator
Brompton Road has slightly more product with 15g / 0.50 oz and is labeled with the name Poudre Tissée – Highlighting Powder and Blush Natural Finish, this comes with two colors, a soft shimmering white-gold in double-crossed Cs and warm pink background that is more matte, the powder comes with a small angled brush
The top layer of glitter is easily removed to reveal a soft powdery mixture of pink and a soft beige-white shimmer. Combined they give a baby pink cheek without any detectable shimmer (at least from initial testing). The texture is a dry powder similar to the Beiges that almost feels creamy when you touch the compact with your fingers. It does not arm or hand-swatch well. As you can see below and from other blogs, it appears rather chalky on the hands. On the face it blends nicely to give a soft pink glow. Here it is swatched, L to R: both colors mixed, pink and white (these were finger swatched over bare skin).
I found this Hyde Park Rouge Allure feature to be lovely:
I’ll be posting a few comparisons and more thoughts later. I do believe you need to have fairly decent skin to wear this. The texture tends to emphasize any imperfections when applied to the face directly (over foundation and powder). Perhaps adding a luminzer underneath will help the application to appear more natural. It doesn’t appear chalky on the cheeks but the dry texture of the powder emphasized all my bumps and pores. Do note that my skin is recovering from an allergic reaction to trying a sample of Burberry’s Fresh Glow, so this is probably not the best time to make judgements about the finish. Compared to using my MAC blushes this past week, it appears the Chanel Highlighter emphasized bad spots while the MAC worked normally. That being said I’ll only be wearing this on good skin days.
Review of a few Chanel Le Blanc items (only found in Asia) coming soon. Many thanks to Rouge Deluxe for her support & inspiration, and most recently I want to thank her for helping me locate these hard to find Chanel items. {I swoon!}
You all know that I love the unique and the hard-to-find 🙂 I fell in love with the Pink Oyster Shimmer Brick ever since I saw Haru’s review on Rouge Deluxe back in May (see her review here) and knew I had to find it. I am happy to report that she enabled me to get my hands on the Pink Oyster Shimmer Brick from Singapore thanks to a lovely custom purchase and I am forever grateful. (Thanks Iris! xoxo)
The U.S. market received the Beach Shimmer Brick for the summer collection. You can see my review, swatches and comparisons here. I called my in-the-know sales associates here to inquire about it’s possible release here (especially since Neimans sometimes gets exclusives) – but no luck. At this time, you can only get it in Asia. It’s a lovely block of white gold, sandy beige, pale gold, and light pearly pink shimmers. Swirled together it’s absolutely stunning. It’s definitely more of a highlight power – hard to describe but it gives a nice glow.
Here it is swirled, swatched and compared:
Compared to Pink, Platinum Pink, Pink Quartz:
Pink Oyster (Asia Exclusive, Summer 2010):
Platinum Pink (Spring 2009):
Pink Quartz (Holiday 2007):
Pink (Regular Line):
How much did this set me back? After the exchange rates, a little over $50ish USD each (which included shipping for 2 well padded shimmer bricks). Pricey? Yes. Worth it? Definitely yes. Unfortunately, even in my extensive stash of highlighters, I cannot find a dupe. It’s what I wanted NARS Albatross to be (which turns a horrid yellow-gold on me).
Bobbi Brown has released a new palette in the U.S. exclusive to Bloomingdales called the Antigua Palette. It retails for $55 and has the following colors:
3 eyeshadows in Navajo, Oat, Caviar (all matte)
3 lipsticks in Ballet Pink (creamy), Kitten (creamy) and Azalea (metallic)
1 illuminating bronzer in Antigua
The Bobbi Brown collections this year seemed to have been a slight digression from her typical Bobbi-style, but this palette seems to be right on track for her typical classic, feminine, natural sense of color. Four of the shades are repromotes, but the combination is convenient, simple and chic in an all-in-one compact. My only gripe I have is that it mixes powders and creams in the same level which can get messy for the lipcolors if you’re not careful – but the size for the price is great so I’m not complaining.
My descriptions:
Navajo is your basic matte bone white (but not stark white)
Oat is a medium oat-brown color which appears to be a true neutral (like the name implies)
Caviar is a matte black (which is one of the few wearable true blacks for me)
Antigua is a soft shimmery pink
Ballet Pink is a bright pink base with gold shimmer
Kitten is a creamy beige (but goes on a light pinky-beige)
Azalea is a cool-plum with subtle gold flecks
Overall thoughts: The eyeshadows are great neutrals, but don’t apply well without some kind of base, so if you tend to find Bobbi Brown’s matte shadows a bit chalky, try applying them over a cream eyeshadow or shadow base. I had initially wished there were more new/exclusive colors to this palette to make it more unique, but I like the fact that it has everything I need in one palette which makes it convenient to put in my purse for touch ups. I like that it has 3 different lip colors which allows you to customize your look for neutral to more dressy. Definitely a winner for me, but mainly because I like all the colors and find that this will be good for a no-fail look when I am short on time and need a quick touch up.
Two more views:
FYI – Check your local Bloomingdales for their Beauty Benefits event GWP. I don’t see the details online, but saw one at my local Bloomies. I didn’t spend enough to get the GWP so I didn’t pay attention to the details, but definitely call yours to see what they have!
I am so excited to tell you all I have found the Limited Edition Love Dior Set by Tyen! For this purchase, I have Marina from Makeup4All to thank for writing about the set back last October in her Tyen: 30 Years of Creation Love Dior Palette and also my fellow makeup guru Parsi who told me she spotted it at the Dior Boutique in Las Vegas and immediately sent me a rave review knowing this would be something I would be interested in learning more about. The Dior Boutique in the Forum Shops did have a few left in stock and I was ecstatic!
The set is called Love Dior which retails for $80 US. It comes with an Eyeshadow Palette that is called Love Dior, but can also be used on cheeks as a highlighter. There is also a gorgeous nail polish that has complex shimmers of burgandy-wine-purple-fuschia which I am absolutely in love with.
One more shot, natural light:
I haven’t had a chance to play with the palette yet. It’s too pretty, I don’t know that I want to touch it. The “i” in the Dior arrived crumbled, but no biggie. I will try to pull some similar nail polish shades to do a comparison post soon!
