Chanel Fall 2011, Illusions d’Ombre, has arrived online at Chanel.com and Bergdorf Goodman in NYC. See KarlaSugar for the lineup on an easy-to-read sheet with descriptions. Check online at Chanel.com for prices, product info, and the breakdown of the fall look. I suspect this will be launched in-store in the next few days and upcoming week – I’m on the West Coast and a few of my local Nordstroms have scheduled Chanel events the weekend of June 24th-26th which I assume were planned to coincide with the fall launch.
I have not yet had a chance to play with the items very much, although I have swiped a few of the new shadows on my eyes and the nail polishes on my nails. I have promised myself a break from my computer the entire weekend, so I can leave work at work and not be tempted, although I know many of you are anxious for the 411, so I will try my best to do full reviews this weekend. I don’t want to rush it though, I want to be thorough so no promises. In the meantime I snapped a few pictures and tried to beat the clouds that were rolling in for June gloom. Here is a sneak peek which I hope will satisfy your curiosity for the time being.
Rose Ecrin Blush, Prelude Quad & Khaki Platine Eyeliner
Overall, everything looks amazing. Had I seen the lip items in person first, I probably would have skipped the lipliners and glossimer, but they are gorgeous nevertheless. Happy Friday everyone!
I’ve written a guest post for Karla Sugar on Burberry’s Spring 2011 Lipsticks 22 Delicate Rose, 23 English Rose, 24 Romantic Rose along with the new blushes as well (previously featured here).
Head on over to her blog and click HERE to see the swatch lineup of the new items from Spring!
I stopped by Burberry Beauty at Nordstrom South Coast Plaza mid-May to check out the new Lip Mists (see my window shopping snapshots here). I came home with three things: Lip Mist in Copper, Eyeshadow in Midnight Black, and Blush Lipgloss.
The new Burberry Lip Mists are supposed to be a sheer natural formula with a dewy finish. I didn’t find them as shiny/glossy as Dior or Chanel’s newest lipsticks, nor did I find them really sheer. I would describe them as a medium finish lipstick, the texture is definitely natural but slightly less creamy than their regular formula. I looked at all the shades, the only two that stood out to me were 02 Copper and 09 Feather Pink. I decided to get just one to try, I came home with Copper, a natural brownish-pink.
I also picked up Blush Lipgloss 04 which I find more pinky-rose than most promotional photos show this one as. This one has been repromoted for spring. I’ve had this on my wishlist for a while, I decided to cave. It’s a lovely natural rose blush with shimmer. I would describe it as a neutral-cool shade.
Last, I picked up Burberry’s Midnight Black Eyeshadow – a soft sheer shimmery black. This has a gorgeous shimmer with a slight greyish undertone. It is a bit high maintenance in my opinion. It’s not as easy to blend as the other Burberry shades I have (I own both light and dark, shimmer and mattes). This one applies streaky, sheer and uneven on bare lids. You need an emollient base like UD’s Primer Potion for it to show up well. I applied this with a fine tip smudge brush as a thick smudgey line and then took a lighter shade to apply on top to blend out the edges and then reapplied the black to intensify the color.
Swatched in a few different views:
Overall I love the Blush Lipgloss. The Lip Mists are nice, but I prefer the regular lipstick mainly because the color selection is better. Formula-wise, Lip Mists are less creamy but do have a semi-transparent texture even if the finish isn’t really sheer (in my opinion). Copper is a nice basic but not a must-have. Midnight Black is a disappointment, mainly because I think it will be more of a high maintenance black shadow, but when applied over a moist base and packed on (rather than brushed on) it does show up.
I have a few comparison shots for your reference. I did not have time to swatch them all though and most likely will not be swatching in the near future due to time constraints.
Chanel is my favorite brand, hands down. Chanel never fails to release something beautiful and each season I find at least one thing that catches my eye. Many have asked for my top ten picks for Chanel in each product category (nails, lips, eyes etc.) but I find it difficult to narrow down my favorites to any given number. My favorites change monthly depending on season, mood and occasion. I will be hard pressed to name something that I don’t love from the brand (although I’m not really fond of their concealer or mascara). I do love all the other color items, however, RIGHT NOW, my favorites include the following:
Perlé Rouge Coco, Seashell Glossimer, Bronze Universel de Chanel (replaced by Soleil Tan De Chanel), Dragon Le Vernis, Jade Rose Le Vernis, Espresso Stylo Yeux, Regard Perlé Quad, Mystic Eyes Quad, Island Soft Touch Eyeshadow
Lips and Cheeks
Perlé Rouge Coco – soft shimmering pink (if you want something less expensive that is similar in effect, check out MAC VGV lipstick)
Seashell Glossimer – sheer shimmer
Bronze Universel de Chanel (replaced by Soleil Tan De Chanel) – the best cream bronzer to contour your face naturally and lasts all day, hit pan on 1, this is my second one
Nails:
Dragon is without a doubt THE best red out there
Jade Rose is subtle but elegant and never fails to look polished
Jade Rose:
Dragon & dreaming of a caviar classic flap in red:
Eyes:
Island Soft Touch Eyeshadow (unfortunately discontinued) is the prettiest soft peachy pink champagne, Liberty and Lotus are similar, or for cheaper MAC Naked Lunch, but to me nothing truly compares
Regard Perlé is still on my favorites list (see it here)
Mystic Eyes is a classic that can take you from day to night
Espresso Stylo Yeux comes with a sharpener at the end to keep the tip pointy, this eyeliner is soft, easy to blend but stays put all day
Chanel Rouge Coco Shines Part 2 (shown above, left to right)
Évasion 48 is a sheer nude peach-pink-beige
Fétiche 52 is a soft mauve pink shimmer
Romance 55 is a bright warm pink
Chance 56 is a pale cream blue-based pastel pink
Below, left to right: Évasion, Fétiche, Romance & Chance
Évasion is a sheer peach that goes on pinkish on my lips. It’s very sheer.
Fétiche is probably my favorite, a mauve pink with subtle shimmer.
Romance is a brighter blue-pink, it has more blue than Aventure (which has a bit of gold shimmer).
Chance is not a winner for me. Lovely in the tube, but it’s too pale and goes on streaky. I suspect it will be better if applied over a darker matte lip color or a pinky lipliner to even out the paleness.
Canotier 41 is a sheer iridescent golden beige with flashes of multi-colored shimmers, this is so sheer it just adds shine with a slightly shimmery sheen
Biarritz 42 is a sheer peach, slight shimmers, pigment is semi-sheer, it evens out the lips but looks very natural
Deauville 67 is a neutral mauve-brown with pink, slight sparkles (note this won’t be re-lipswatched, see makeover with Deauville here)
Bel-Ami 66 is a plum brown, also has slight shimmer, one of my favorites
My swatches are meh. Check out Karlasugar for the best ones of the entire lineup.
I have splurged on so many Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Lipsticks I probably can go the rest of my life without ever having to buy another sheer lipstick. I thought the wait time in between the sneak preview of Boy in February and the actual release in April was so long that I’d be over it by the time they arrived in-store. Initially I was not thrilled with the sheerness, lack of lasting power, small size, standard color and high price tag of Boy ($32). However, my thoughts on these lipsticks have changed since the initial release of Boy (on Valentine’s Day) as I have had a chance to play with the shades over the past months.
To quote one of my Chanel friends, LR, Boy is “a lightweight, glossy, non-sticky lipstick that compliments many a woman.” I agree with her 100% when she e-mailed me her thoughts on Boy saying, “this isn’t a wow color, but IS something you can put on in an elevator, which is my test for a foolproof lipstick.” Her description is dead-on.
I feel this is how most of the shades are – not exactly life-changing, but naturally flattering and easy to apply without requiring a mirror. Every woman is bound to find at least 1 shade that is naturally enhancing. While the lasting power is almost non-existent, it does feel amazing on the lips and fades in a subtle way so it’s not obvious you only have lipstick around the edges of your mouth. Application is super easy for touch ups. I find if I’ve added lipliner and blend it first, then apply the lipstick on top, lasting power is slightly better.
The big question is: with the new sheer lipstick rage, which brand is better, Chanel Rouge Coco Shines or the new Dior Addicts (previously reviewed in March and April)? The answer to that question will be different for everyone. For me, I think they are just different. Neither is better or worse, the finish, texture and color selections are just different.
Dior has more color options, the texture of the actual lipstick is harder, but still easy to apply. The lighter colors are sheer, the darker/brighter colors show up more. Those who like darker deeper colors will be pleased to find a good selection with the new Dior Addicts. The tubes are bigger than Chanel. I find lasting power slightly better than the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines.
Chanel has a softer texture. Tubes are extremely small and compact. There is a wide color selection, but not as diverse as Dior. I feel overall, the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines are sheerer because of the softness of the actual lipstick.
Both have a high-shine finish. Neither have a detectable scent. Both brands have a good range of colors and finishes. For the price, the Dior is the better buy. The packaging is designed so the product fills the entire tube – a bonus for me as I won’t ever have to worry about lipstick breakage. I have to admit I was overwhelmed by the color options in both brands. It took me at least 3 visits to really decide on colors. Even after that, I was overwhelmed and have decided to wait a few months before I try to look into more colors. After a few hours of hand-swatching, many of the Dior shades started to look the same.
Overall, I’m still not smitten with the price for the size of the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines. I believe it should have been priced around $24 max, but yet I have accumulated quite a few. These are all goof-proof, easy to apply, natural and glossy. I don’t know that I can say I find them moisturizing, but they definitely are not drying. The sheerness makes some of the neutrals look the same on my pigmented lips. I do love the brighter and darker ones. After having some difficulty with opaque lipsticks working because that shade just isn’t quite right, I think you come to appreciate sheer ones because they are just so much easier to work with.
I don’t think these are better or worse than the recently discontinued Aqualumieres. Just different. About the same in sheerness, but softer in texture and glossier in finish with less lasting power.
Now that I have shared my thoughts, I’m going to split up my review on the colors for Chanel Rouge Coco Shines into 2 parts on shades I haven’t covered. For prior coverage, you can see Misia here and Aventure here and Deauville here.
