
the fall collection has been out since roughly january in the united states as far as i can tell. chanel are probably the earliest to market of anyone, which may mean that they capture some early sales, but it also means that by the time the season rolls around, the offering can seem a bit like old news. fortunately in canada, they seem to have some level of respect for the seasons, so we've only started to see autumn 2012 in the last few weeks.
there's a nice sampling of products- a half dozen individual eye shadows plus a new quad, all of which become part of the permanent assortment [a couple of them already were], new lipsticks and glosses in a variety of formulas, some of which will become permanent, a new permanent blush, a limited edition highlighter and, of course, three new [and, i believe permanent] nail polishes. i'd say the colour palette leans a little cool, but mostly it's just very refined and ladylike, very daytime and office appropriate.
the problem for me was figuring out how to stretch my budget to get what i want [which i still didn't, since my counter was sold out of the beautiful "rose initiale" blush] and not end up on the street with a sign.
will be fabulous for food |
the finish is indeed quite different than any other chanel shadows i have. in fact, it's different than any shadow i've ever come in contact with. it's iridescent- not shimmery, because there is no base versus sparkle colour- every particle seems luminous. the texture is exceptionally soft and all the shades seemed to swatch very smoothly and evenly. in the pan, they don't appear to be particularly unique- and "complice" may be the least unique among them- but the finish really does make a huge difference.
complice, natural light |
complice, with flash |
worn in the "real world"- around the house and outside for seven or eight hours- i actually found that the colour didn't crease at all and faded less. my guess would be that the oilier your lids are, the more you run the risk of encountering the negative aspects of the shadow. i wouldn't recommend "complice" or its friends without some kind of primer.
colour-wise, it's not that difficult to find shimmery peach shades. urban decay "sin" is fairly close, but it's lighter and pinker. the lighter half of "sable emouvante" is deeper, warmer, more orange. chanel "beige lamé" is deeper and browner, plus it has a definite sparkle finish [white and blue!]. none of those colours have the intense lustre of "complice" though.
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l to r [natural light] :: chanel sable emouvante, complice, u.d. sin, chanel beige lame [l.e.] |
l to r [with flash] :: chanel sable emouvante, complice, u.d. sin, chanel beige lame [l.e.] |
most people seem to find the rouge coco formula neutral to drying, whereas they find the about-to-be-relaunched rouge allure formula mositurising. i find that rouge allures dry my lips and the rouge cocos are neutral to moist. this one felt a little more moist than others and was just short of opaque. it really seemed to smooth my lips and make them look a touch fuller [they don't claim to do this, but when you get a rich formula and even application, many lipsticks actually accomplish this anyway].
caractere, natural light |
caractere, with flash |
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caractere, natural light |
caractere, with flash |
it is perhaps a sign that theses sort of purple-plum tinged variations on brown are enjoying a wave of popularity that the first shade "caractere" called to mind was nars "vendanges", released just this summer. they aren't the same- "vendanges" is sheerer, deeper and browner- but they are from the same hood. chanel's "baroque", which is the brown to which all other browns are compared, is redder and darker. mac's limited edition shade "riveting"- an overlooked gem- is much cooler.
l to r [natural light] :: chanel baroque, caractere, nars vendanges, mac riveting [l.e.] |
l to r [with flash] :: chanel baroque, caractere, nars vendanges, mac riveting [l.e.] |
i firmly believe that i'll be making a return trip to the chanel counter, because there are definitely items from this collection that haunt my dreams [although last night i dreamed about dragons, not cosmetics]. i'm happy enough with the formula of the new shadows that i want to try more and there are some other soft lip shades i could see becoming favourites in my facial wardrobe.
the collection is achingly sophisticated and while it might seem quite tame for a season that normally sees blackened lips and smoky eyes, it's filled with the sort of things that you're likely to use very frequently. it's like all the advice you get about fashion: investing in the real quality pieces that you will wear again and again. i'm more a kind of "invest a bit in everything until you run out of money" sort of person, but if you're going to go classy, it makes sense to go chanel.
here's the complete rundown...
the base
urban decay naked skin foundation "2.0"
gosh liquid concealer "light"
the eyes
chanel e/s "complice" [irrdescent light peach]
hourglass e/s duo "prism" [steel blue-grey, black with silver sparkle]
urban decay 24/7 eye liner "perversion" [black]
cargo lash activator mascra
guerlain "blush g" [bright tropical coral pink]
the lips
chanel l/s "caractere" [brown-plum with gold shimmer]
and keep an eye on local counters, because chanel as been dribbling new things for a while, just being a little unpredictable about where they'll show up. the next thing to launch is their reformulated rouge allure lipsticks, which will come in more than a dozen colours, including a nice-looking selection of chanel reds.
Comments
Sorry for the non-sequitur, I'm sick and really really tired.
slightly eerie, but i guess you know where i live anyway!
those colours suit you really well...actually i love how the whole ensemble is working together, haircolour, makeup, top...
And seriously, this entire blog is one giant non-sequitur, so never apologise for that.
@anahdara- Thanks, I'm really enjoying what I picked up and I did manage to grab the blush, which is beautiful.