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Chanel Holiday 2012 Eyes: Apparence, Nuit-Claire and Harmonie du Soir

October 30, 2012

I chose three items from the Chanel Holiday collection: Apparence Illusion d’Ombre, Nuit-Claire Eyeshadow Duo and Harmonie du Soir Quadra Eye Shadow.

Apparence Illusion d’Ombre ($36 for 4g/0.14 oz) is a stunning brassy-gold metallic. It’s quite sparkly but not too over-the-top when blended on the lids. When swatched on the arms it’s quite warm, on the eyes it balances out to appear a bit more neutral, but still warm and golden. The shimmer/sparkle factor is still fairly high but I experienced no fall-out. Like all other Illusion d’Ombres, this has a spongey hybrid gel/cream like texture with bounce. I like to use the applicators for intense pigment, but use a small shadow brush for a sheer wash. For everyday wear at a conservative work office, it’s borderline too sparkly to pull off. Blending for a sheer wash and combining this with other shades makes it ok for me, but I probably would save this one for special occasions or any time other than just to work. (That’s just me though.)

Nuit-Claire Eyeshadow Duo ($42 for 2.5g/0.09 oz) is a combination of soft classic black satin and champagne shimmer. It’s very subtle and natural looking. Those who think it resembles last holiday’s Noir-Ivoire are correct. This year’s Nuit-Claire is a cooler version with a pinkish champagne compared to last year’s duo, but without comparing them side-by-side, they appear almost identical. (Scroll down for the comparison.) The shimmer in the pale champagne side gives a subtle glow to the lids which is really quite lovely. The black is sheer but layerable for a smokey eye. I don’t think it’s a must-have because the colors are just so basic but if you’re looking for something subtle and refined without too much shimmer then this is definitely something you should check out.

Harmonie du Soir ($65 for 4 g/0.14 oz) is a quad in the Regard Signé de Chanel Quadra Eye Shadow formula. It’s the same formula as Topkapi with the embossed print texture and rich metallic smooth pigment. I didn’t think the colors were a must-have but the formula of these shadows is so good, I caved. The shades include a strong metallic gold neutral, plum-taupe, lilac-pink-mauve and a cool reddish shimmer. The only shade I have issues with is the reddish color, but it adds a nice touch of warmth when layered softly over the gold and plum taupe. To apply, I’ve taken the gold and lilac mixed softly all over the lid, followed by the taupe-plum 1/2 way up the lid with more emphasis on the outer corners and then finished with a soft pop of the red on top blended. To me it’s not an easy combination of colors to apply easily – it takes a lot of blending for me but with a bit of time it works.

Here they are swatched:

Comparisons below to a few other shades:

Out of all three new items for eyes, the only thing I feel is a must-have is the Apparence Illusion d’Ombre simply because I adore neutral gold shimmers, especially for the holiday. The other two items are very pretty, however I’m not quite as smitten with them. (It’s like but not love.) I just found Nuit-Claire a bit too basic and the combination of colors in the Harmonie du Soir aren’t easy for me to pull off. Still the entire collection has a lovely festive feel that’s perfect for the upcoming holiday season.
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Chanel Notorious Ombre Contraste

October 24, 2012

Chanel Notorious Ombre Contraste – Sculpting Veil for Eyes and Cheeks ($43 for 4g/0.14 oz) is a new limited-edition release from the Contrastes Essentielles Collection. We first saw a glimpse of this back in March as seen on Café Makeup’s Chanel Runway Report. It finally arrived on counter just a few weeks ago. I purchased mine from Saks NY, it is available at select Chanel counters and right now on Chanel.com.

Chanel Notorious is a multi-purpose contouring product for both eyes and cheeks. The description “mauve-taupe” suits the product perfectly. On me it’s more taupe with a hint of mauve-grey. It has a satiny finish – glowy but very subtle on the shimmer factor. The texture is soft and blendable – based on the pan, it doesn’t resemble the European/Asian baked formula, but it doesn’t quite resemble the US formula either. I suspect since this is more for eyes and cheeks it has a completely different consistency than the Joues Contraste blushes.

Based on the runway previews I expected a pigmented grey that was layerable for a strong contoured effect. It does layer well for a more intense effect, but I found the formula rather sheer. For me, the color didn’t show up well on the face – I suspect it’s my medium-tan skintone that prevents it from showing up well. I tried a number of techniques with different brushes, no luck. A number of others have shown this to be a success on the face – I suspect they are lighter in skintone than I am.
On the eyes however, I absolutely loved it. Notorious provides a wonderful contour. It’s one of those magical shades that is so versatile. It layers well over metallic creams or sheer shimmers, it looks amazing layered with other colors, it’s a wonder-product to help blend out harsh edges for a smokey eye. The sheerness and layer-ability helps contour the eye to create a soft gradient. It’s a much-needed shade in my collection. In the compact it’s the same color as what I envision a space-rock to look like.

I pulled a few other greys and contouring shades to compare: Chanel Furtif, Gris Exquis, Burberry Pearl Grey, Burberry Earthy, MAC Emote and NARS Notorious (discontinued). I found Chanel Notorious to have enough warmth to suit my olive skintone as the perfect contour – other greys tend to be quite a bit more silver/blue-based (which is nice, but more sharply contrasted with my skintone).

Update: I’ve added one more comparison photo below. Some have commented it resembles Burberry Rosewood. It’s in the same family, but I feel quite different. I apologize I don’t have time to swatch these but I hope this helps as a reference guide. It’s definitely likely there are dupes – in doing a quick search I couldn’t find any, but I didn’t search for all the possibilities. Below: Burberry Rosewood, Le Metier Corinthian, NARS 413 BLKR, MAC Satin Taupe, MAC Smoke & Diamonds, NARS Ashes to Ashes.

I really like Chanel Notorious. I didn’t like it as a blush/contour, but I love it on the eyes. Perhaps it will take more experimenting for it to show up on my face. For reference on other skins, see it swatched on Blondy Candy, Messy Wands, Best Things in Beauty and Indigo-Kir-Royale. As an update, a darker-skinned follower tweeted me an additional look at Notorious on darker skin at Adventures In Makeup.

If you’re considering this, I recommend you order soon. It’s limited-edition. Did you try or buy Chanel Notorious? What were your thoughts? If you tried it – can you share your skintone too for my other readers below?

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Le Métier de Beauté Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope

October 20, 2012

Le Métier de Beauté Nouvelle Vague Kaleidoscope ($95 for 0.56 oz/16gms) has been widely raved about by many. I’ve been waiting for this kit since August when I saw the press release and previews in the Neiman Marcus book. It finally arrived at Neiman Marcus counters and online. It’s a beautiful palette of pinks combined with an intense true black. It does not disappoint and fully lives up to my expectations.

The shades in the palette have names, but they aren’t labeled anywhere on the packaging so I will refer to them as layer 1, 2, 3, and 4 but according to Le , the shades are named as follows:

  • Layer 1: Nouvelle, described as a “sheer mink negative” is a soft warm shimmering seashell pink, to my eye this is almost identical to the one in Antiquité Poupée
  • Layer 2: Gamine, described as a “satin pink celluloid”, a frosted cool pink
  • Layer 3: Icon, described as a “silky matte Parisian mauve”, a lovely mauve-nude satin, the perfect contour shade, but not in the traditional nude or brown
  • Layer 4: Fin, described as a “smoldering black carbon”, an intense true black with slight shimmer, definitely the deepest darkest black I own (darker than MAC Carbon, my older Shu Uemuras, Chanel Black Star, Burberry Midnight Black etc.)

The texture is smooth and colors have amazing pigment. The Couches de Couleur layering technique is pure genius with all their kaleidoscopes. This one is no exception. While most press photos showed this kit in the black packaging, mine arrived in silver from Neimans. It appears most others are also in silver packaging. The actual kit is cooler-toned than online promotional photos. When I first saw it, I was concerned that it might give me a pink-eye look with all the pinks. However, the combination of the mauve and the black prevent it from looking too pink.
Close ups and swatches, (L to R) Layers 2 and Layer 1:
(L to R): Layer 4 and Layer 3:
Swatches:

A few sets of comparisons, first up pinks compared to Le Métier de Beauté Antiquité Poupée, Rose Champagne and Bobbi Brown Pink Pearl:

Second, the mauve compared to Burberry Antique Rose and swatched next to MAC Mauvement:

The black shade swatched next to Burberry Midnight Black, Le Métier de Beauté Thunder, and Urban Decay Zero:

I think it’s a beautiful kit that will suit a wide range of skintones. It stands out among other beautiful releases this winter season. I’ve found it beautiful for both day and night looks. The black is finally what I’ve been searching for for many years. It’s a true intense deep black that doesn’t go on grey or blue (like most other blacks do). It made the perfect look for a night out (went perfectly with a little black dress) last week when my husband and I celebrated our four year anniversary. I matched it with a sheer pink cheek (Bobbi Brown’s Pale Pink + 24k Shimmer Brick) and a rosy pink lip (Chanel Stresa Aqualumiere plus Bon Bon lipgloss, both discontinued).

It should be available to all Le Métier de Beauté counters now. I found mine at Neiman Marcus in store. Did you try or buy Nouvelle Vague? What were your thoughts?

See two beautiful eye looks on Messy Wands and Temptalia.
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Burberry Mulberry No. 24 Sheer Eyeshadow Comparisons

August 18, 2012
By request, a few comparisons of various burgundy-plum-brown shimmer eyeshadows. Included shades: Le Métier de Beauté Silk Road Kalidescope (2 shades), Le Métier de Beauté Alexandrite (from Persephone Kit that was discontinued), Le Métier de Beauté Bordeaux, Guerlain Les Bois de Rose, MAC Trax and Chanel Magic Night.

Swatches, same set/order, just two different views:

I found Burberry Mulberry to be the most similar to Chanel Magic Night in color. There is only a slight difference: Chanel Magic Night has the slightest bit more plum while Burberry Mulberry has more wine/red. I hope this helps with your purchasing decisions!
On a side note, thank you everyone for your continued support and understanding with my recent blog slow down. I really appreciate your patience, comments, emails, tweets and links! To give you a brief update without going into too much detail, I’ve just been busy with projects from my regular full-time job. I’ve tried to snap a few pictures here and there when I can for the blog. Thank you again for your support. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!
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Burberry Autumn/Winter 2012 Sheer Eyeshadow: Dark Sable, Mulberry and Porcelain White

August 12, 2012

Burberry Beauty has released a beautiful well-edited collection for fall consisting of:

  • three new eyeshadows Dark Sable No. 23, Mulberry No. 24, Porcelain White No. 25 ($29 each for 2.5 g/ .088 oz, made in Italy)
  • two new lip cover lipsticks Sepia Pink No. 32 and Mocha Glow No. 37 ($30 each)
  • a new velvet-finish foundation plus a few repromoted items ($54 each, 8 shades available)
Adina from Nordstrom San Francisco at the Burberry Counter just received the fall items last week and kindly emailed me swatches of the new items. I was drawn to the three new eyeshadows and immediately ordered them. Burberry continues to release high-quality products with beautiful pigments, textures and colors. I am very impressed and pleased with these three new beauties.
  • Dark Sable No. 23 is a matte dark brown. It’s similar to Taupe Brown No. 07 but slightly warmer and deeper. It has a smooth finish that is easy to apply. It does require a bit of layering and smoothing out with a brush but stays put for a long time on the eyes without budging.
  • Mulberry No. 24 is a beautiful complex deep dark wine plum shimmer with a reddish base. I am still experimenting with this color but so far love it. I’ve found that my favorite way to wear this so far is to layer it over Dark Sable along the upper lash line blended slightly for an intense non-traditional smokey eye. This combination creates a well defined eye that stands out without looking too harsh. It’s has enough plum pearl to prevent it from being a too auburn or red.
  • Porcelain White No. 25 is a soft white shimmer with a blueish flash. It has the same intensity as Pearl White No. 01 however Porcelain White No. 25 has a slightly sheerer base with more shimmer and more blue. I find this color a bit too sharp for my skin to wear by itself (I’m darker now this summer) but mixing/layering it with a color like Trench or Gold Trench gives a nice glow.
Some more photos and swatches:

Under artificial light:

Comparisons to other Burberry Beauty Eyeshadows:

Thoughts on the other new items available for fall:

  • Sepia Pink lipstick looked absolutely gorgeous but similar to Rosewood, I decided to wait and try in person (the closest counter is over an hour away so this might not be for a while)
  • Mocha Glow lipstick was tempting but I know it will be too brown/nude for me
  • Velvet foundation is something I will probably not try since my skin did not work well with the other Burberry foundation or glow product (both caused a bad allergic reaction for me)

A few other lovely blogs to check out with Burberry Fall 2012 features: A Lipstick a Day, Indigo Kir Royal and Lina’s Beauty Diary.

These three eyeshadows are my favorites out of all that I’ve seen released for fall this year. Dark Sable is probably too close to Taupe Brown to justify owning both, but I like that it’s warmer. Mulberry is a beautiful color that requires layering to work for me, but I love it. Porcelain White is a different kind of white. I like that it’s not a pure white or cream. The blue flashes are subtle enough to not look too blue and the texture layers well with other shades to add a unique touch. Overall Burberry continues to impress me with the high quality and beautiful colors.

I found the fall collection at Nordstrom in San Francisco. You can call the counter (415) 243-8500 ext. 1421. Ask for Adina 🙂

Have you checked out Burberry’s fall offerings? Thoughts?

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NARS American Dream Eyeshadow Palette

July 29, 2012

This fall NARS has released two new variations of their 6-color eyeshadow palettes. Product Girl gave us a sneak peek from an event she attended in July. I, of course fell in love with the neutral option, American Dream 9976 ($55 for .31 oz/9g, made in Canada) which contains Bellisima, Alhambra, Silk Road, Galapagos, Bali and Tzarine.

When I ordered mine from Saks online I couldn’t find a listing of the colors. Knowing that most NARS palettes contain existing shades, I knew there was a chance that I would already own half the colors. Turns out, I already own all of them, but I still find most NARS palettes extremely convenient for ideas and also for travel (my other NARS eyeshadow palettes here and here, still wishing I had purchased last year’s Nordstrom Anniversary NARS palette though).
Four of the shades come from some duos and two are available in single format. The shades with descriptions:
  • Bellisima is a pale ivory matte base loaded with tiny gold glitters
  • Alhambra is a warm champagne peachy metallic
  • Silk Road is a soft pinkish shell with pink and gold glitter chunks
  • Galapagos is a dark chocolate brown with tiny gold glitter flecks
  • Bali is a matte cool brown
  • Tzarine is a beautiful complex grey-blue shimmer with gold and silver flecks
More photos and swatches:

Under artificial light:

NARS American Dream has proved to be extremely versatile. I used it all last week and found that the shades fit nicely into any look, for both day and night, and worked well with a variety of shades from my wardrobe (last week I wore shades of black, aubergine, grey, pale mint and navy). I did have a bit of trouble with Silk Road’s glitter particles. I already own this duo and most of the time I feel the glitter is conservative enough to wear on the eyes for everyday, however there can be fallout issues. With the warm weather this week, the glitter fell onto my face and would not budge.
When using this palette, I’ve found the colors work well over Edward Bess’s Illuminating Eye Bases. I do like using a liner under the darker shades for added intensity in color, but I find it’s not always necessary. I’ve used 3-4 shades at one time (at most) from the palette.
Two looks I did last week, which I hope will give you an idea on how to coordinate the shades with lip and cheek colors.
Look 1 with peachy cheeks and light pink lips: Armani Blush #2 and NARS Deep Throat Blushes layered, NARS Rosebud Lipliner with Chanel Imaginaire Gloss on top, four eyeshadow shades in Alhambra and Silk Road mixed all over the lid, Bali and Tzarine blended along lash lines smoked upwards.
Look 2 with pinky-bronze cheeks and a sheer glossy bronze gloss: Shadows in Bellisima and Alhambra mixed together, Bali and Galapagos layered (slightly damp) as a liner, NARS Lovejoy blush with a swipe of Desire on top for a healthy glow, NARS Hopi Velvet Gloss Pencil with a bit of Dior Addict gloss on top.
I believe this palette may be available in some stores now, however my Nordstrom associates told me they were not allowed to sell until August 1st. I purchased mine online from Saks.com, I think it’s also available at Barneys online too, it should be available at most NARS counters starting this Wedesday August 1st. I’m fairly certain the palette is limited-edition, but I’m not 100% sure.
Have you seen or tried NARS American Dream? Do you already own most of the shades? I personally love it.
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Chanel Complice #93, Éclairé #94, Furtif #95 and Infini #97 Ombre Essentielles – Fall 2012

June 25, 2012

Chanel has released a number of new single eyeshadow shades in the Ombre Essentielle formula ($28.50 for 1.6 g/ .05 oz). These contain a new formula that I feel are a hybrid of the regular powder shadows and the Ombres Perleés de Chanel from spring of 2011. They aren’t quite as creamy as the spring palette and a slightly more powdery feel, but not like a typical eyeshadow. I played with these a little and found that alone, they are a bit sheer. Add just a little bit of a moisturized base (cream shadow, eye cream or non-matte primer) and the color intensifies quite a bit. I’ll show you what I mean further down in the swatches.

I’m not entirely sure how many new shades there are available in the US. Promotion sheets showed there were 5-6 shades to be released on a variety of other blogs such as Beauty Crazed and Jayded Dreaming. Rouge Deluxe tweeted some previews of Asia-Exclusives linked here. I received four of the shades in my order from Bergdorfs in Complice #93, Éclairé #94, Furtif #95 and Infini #97. Also at this time I’ve noticed Nordstrom.com lists these same four shades online. Since I haven’t seen these at the counters in person yet, I’m not sure if the US is only getting four shades, if there was a delay in shipment, or if they will be exclusive to select locations.

For now, here are the four shades I have:

  • Complice #93 is a soft iridescent peach champagne (much like a peachier version of the discontinued Chanel Island eyeshadow)
  • Éclairé #94 is a pale silvery gold (more yellow than Chanel Gold but also more silvery since it contains a lot of silver particles)
  • Furtif #95 is a steel blue grey metallic (similar to Chanel Silvery but more dove-blue and more shimmery)
  • Infini #97 is a platinum silver sparkle (compared to Chanel Platine, Infini isn’t quite as pale and has more silver and more sparkle)

Lasting power was about the same as the Ombrees Perles palette from spring two seasons ago: medium lasting power. The formula is quite flexible in terms of coverage. Apply with a lighter fluffier brush and you get a sheer wash of color/glimmer. Apply with a denser brush over a base and the difference is quite dramatic (in my opinion). The glimmer is truly lovely. Visible shimmer without frost. I suspect you can layer these over other shadows but I haven’t tried that yet.

Close ups:

Here you can see the difference swatched with or without a moisturized base. The color lineup reminds me of the limited-edition Tokyo Happening Collection from several years ago.

Comparisons to a few existing Chanel shades. In the past week I’ve received a number of requests for additional comparisons (via email, twitter and blog comments). I apologize but I am limited on time right now and cannot accommodate all requests. Right now I am struggling to review, photograph and compare all the items I purchased and balance my time with other obligations (trying not to sacrifice quality for quantity). I do see many of my readers who have jumped in to help answer questions when they can. Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would do without you!

For now, the few comparisons I did have time to pull, you can see that this season’s eyeshadows have a special glimmer: compared to Chanel Island, Gold, Silvery and Platine.

I am really smitten with the new formula. I think it’s quite lovely, however I find the $28.50 price tag really steep for a single shadow. I’m not sure I’m 100% in love just because of the price. I still think they are worth taking a look at and playing with. The formula is unique and the finish excellent, but as you can see from the swatches above, it’s probably really easy to duplicate a similar effect with Urban Decay shadows or quite possibly some MAC or NARS.
U.S. girls – at the counters did you see the other shades Noir or Indiscreet? To everyone, have you seen the shadows in person? Thoughts? 
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