Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette

As promised, here are photos and full descriptions of the colors in the Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette. You will have to forgive me for the lack of swatches-I just haven't had the time (I'm trying to keep several balls in the air as we speak and I still owe several of you emails and replies. I'll get to it as soon as I post this).  I did my best to give as detailed a description as possible.

The palette contains:
3 eye shadows
3 lip colors- 1 is a liquid lipstick, two glosses
2 cream concealers
1 cream blush

General observations:
1. Collection Essentielle de Chanel is quite neutral in coloring and mellow in pigments. The eye shadows lean a little cool (just a little, though), the lip colors are on the warm pink side and a little shimmery, the blush is warm  apricot beige and both concealers are yellow toned.
2. The overall look you will get from the palette is almost-nude. It's office-appropriate and is perfect for a French-inspired face. All you need to add is a black eyeliner and mascara.
3. The color intensity could have been better. The shades are very low-drama and I haven't been able to build them. At all.
4. The applicators are crap. I don't even like the lip brush because it has a blunt end.

Eye Shadows:
What you see in the pan is exactly what you get. All three shadows are matte, which I love- very different from the Holiday Quad and its baked glitter texture. They are reasonably smooth but lack something to feel truly luxurious. The ivory one does not show on my skin at all. It's comparable to Bobbi Brown's Navajo and I guess would work in a similar manner if you subscribe to Bobbi's way of doing eye makeup of starting with a layer of invisible base color. I don't and this annoys me to no end. I would have liked a delicate non-shimmery highlighter that opens up the area under the brow bone.
As for the two mauve-plums, they are nice and create a natural almost-naked-but-not-quite look. The lighter shade is nearly the natural color of my lid. The darker one is not dark enough to be a real liner on me. At first I hoped these colors would make an elegant and subtle smoky eye, but they're simply not smoky enough.

Lip Colors:
The lip colors are best described as warm reddish pink. The dark(ish) liquid lipstick loses the very little shimmer it has in the pan when applied and is a very pretty light berry color- dense but not completely opaque. It's flattering and easy to wear alone or topped with a gloss.
The ligher gloss is a sheer shimmery pink. My natural lips are too dark for it to show, so I only wear it atop a lipstick. The texture is lovely- Chanel really knows how to make a lip gloss. The middle color is a red berry with golden shimmer. It's pretty and can be lightened by mixing with the light gloss or used to give the cream lipstick some extra punch.

Blush:
We don't get many cream blushes from Chanel, at least not as singles, so this is exciting, especially since it's a great product. My skin tone is probably the darkest that can work with this specific color. If you have a tan or are naturally darker than my pale olive skin (NC 30-35ish, but not quite) it's probably too light for you. The blush is sheer and shimmery- on a darker skin it might actually be a very nice highlighter. I can wear it alone but think it's prettier over a powder blush- it tones down the more aggressive Nars Dolce Vita, for example. I apply it with Julie Hewett Cheeky blush brush.

Concealers:
Chanel makes excellent face products and these concealers are no different. They are on the yellow side and I wear the lighter one better but mix a little of the darker concealer in it for custom color where needed. They give excellent coverage and blend perfectly.

Bottom Line: Collection Essentielle de Chanel is nice but a little underwhelming and is definitely not for those with darker skin tones. If you're trying to decide between this one and the other limited edition, Les Regards de Chanel eye palette (back in stock for now), I'd recommend the latter, unless you're utterly in love with the blush.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette ($85) is available now from chanel.com.

All photos are mine, including these two bonus ones starring Lizzy and Sophie:

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette- Sneak Peek

While I passed on the entire Chanel Holiday 2010 Collection, the newly released limited edition Collection Essentielle de Chanel (aka the Paris-L.A. Palette) had me clicking "add to bag" faster than my Buffy can say "purrr". By the way, the highly-coveted Les Regards de Chanel eye palette is back in stock for a limited time, so those who missed it the first time around get another chance to buy it.

This is just a little preview since I only got the Collection Essentielle de Chanel the other day and didn't even swatch it yet. I plan on wearing it exclusively over the weekend so I'll have something to report early next week. In the meantime, here's a quick overview and impression of the collection:

The Paris-L.A. palette looks nicely edited. On the website they call it "a plum harmony", though the cream blush is more of a beige peach and the lip colors (two glosses, one cream lipstick) seem red-based in the pan. The eye shadows are ivory and two plum/mauve colors that look neutral and polished. There are also two shades of concealer, which is an excellent approach- it allows you to mix and customize your concealer for a perfect match and tailor it to your needs in different areas of the face.

The applicators that come with the palette are tiny and other than the lip brush not too useful (a sponge applicator? seriously?). They are placed inside special slots in the Chanel velveteen pouch, which is an improvement and a nice touch. All in all, I can't wait to start playing.

Stay tuned.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette ($85) is available from chanel.com

All photos are mine (a lot more to come). Model: Buffy.

Chanel Allure Homme

Both versions of Chanel Allure, the masculine and the feminine, were launched in 1990s and have been around for a while. If I were forced to choose one for my personal use I wouldn't hesitate for a second and reach for the men's version any time. It's not that I'm that big of a fan, but the women's Allure hates my skin and turns into a screechy synthetic fruity mess upon contact. A mediocre oriental men's cologne is a huge improvement.

The zesty sharp citrus opening wasn't new and unique in 1999 and it certainly isn't now. Chanel simply went with the safest, easiest top note composition a department store shopper would never find objectionable while still detecting it clearly above the general smell of the place. This stage is so generic I'd have the hardest time picking Allure Homme in a blind lineup unless I spent a lot more time wearing it exclusively. But things get considerably better if not more special. The peppery wood, patchouli and a light ambery dry-down make it pleasant to wear and warm enough to enjoy. A man wearing this Chanel cologne to the office would get a reputation of smelling nice and it would probably work just as well on a date. It's a friendly scent with no jagged edges- it remains clean and crisp for a full day.

It's also boring, safe and lacks any individuality. Just look at the original 1999 ad campaign. Chanel took successful and accomplished men and posed them in a series of black and white shots without their names or anything to actually make them stand out. They sort of blend in with the brand and the others participants. From the New York Times:

The print ads are black and white, except for the enlarged Allure bottle, which is in color. The ads for both the men's and women's lines feature attractive people who are identified only by their professions, pursuits and residences, not by name, in an effort to add an element of mystery.

The Allure Homme ads, which carry the headline, ''Real men. Real Allure,'' feature a writer in New York City, a professional golfer in New York, a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, Calif., an architect in New York and an around-the-world solo sailor from France.

By Courtney Kane, Published: December 21, 2000

Bottom Line: The last time a bought a Chanel men's cologne for my father, I chose Antaeus. Make your own conclusion.

Chanel Allure Homme ($72, 3.4oz EDT) is available from most department stores and chanel.com.

All images from Chanel 1999 Allure Homme ad campaign: couleurparfum.com

Chanel Wild Rose (119) Glossimer

The same day I lost my mind and bought the oddly pink Courtisane Glossimer I also went the opposite direction and got the very demure Wild Rose (no. 119). I hoped it would be along the same line as Summer Plum (#90), a color I love and actually finished two tubes since it came out. Summer Plum is a sheer and shimmery purple, very light with just enough pigment to keep things interesting. Wild Rose definitely looks this way in the tube and when swatched on my hand. However, on more pigmented lips like mine, the color just about disappears and becomes an almost clear shimmer. It's not that one doesn't need a sheer nude with shimmer to help perk up the face or a matte lipstick, but I hoped for something more exciting.

Bottom Line: I should have bought another Summer Plum instead.

Chanel Glossimer ($27) is Wild Rose and other colors can be found at most decent department stores and chanel.com.

All photos are mine.

Chanel Teint Innocence Compact Makeup (76 Soft Bisque)

A couple of months ago my sister and I were at my local Saks Chanel counter. She needed a new lipstick so I decided to introduced her to Chanel Rouge Coco. The result was she ended up with a gorgeous Rouge Allure (go figure) and both of us fell in love with Chanel Teint Innocence Compact Makeup. I got it in Soft Bisque(#76) while my sister needed something much lighter, probably Gentle Ivory. No, we look nothing alike. Maryam, the SA who helped us and did our makeup was obviously excellent.

One thing to know about Chanel foundations is that the shades differ greatly between formulas. You can't order blindly even if you wear another Chanel foundation. Definitely not as long as Chanel website only offers those ridiculous tiny color swatches that mean absolutely nothing. Soft Bisque and Beige look almost identical online, so one needs to be at a counter to get a perfect match.

Teint Innocence Compact Foundation offers medium coverage. The texture is not heavy and does not weigh down the skin. It can, of course, be used over the entire face, but I prefer to apply it on areas needing more coverage than what I get from my beloved Peau Vierge (Le Metier de Beaute). I can even skip concealer when I'm using both, and the results are satisfyingly flawless- Teint Innocence hides those little sun damage spots on my cheek.

I like the creamy feel and the way it melds with the skin and whatever base product I have on (the foundation looks exceptionally luminous over Le Blanc de Chanel or Cle de Peau luminizing primer). It stays on from day till night, though I never tested it without a base product and a finishing powder. The SA recommended applying Teint Innocence with a makeup sponge. I also like using a foundation brush, either a regular one or a duo fiber ("skunk"). The latter is especially good when blending two different products together for an even finish.

Chanel Teint Innocence Compact Makeup ($56) is avaialble from decent department store and chanel.com.

All photos are mine.

Les Khakis de Chanel Nail Polish

I know I'm the very late in reporting on these, but I was away when Chanel released the nail polish trio Les Khakis on Fashion's Night Out. I got them as soon as I came back, of course, because the colors were so special and irresistible to me in their edgy elegance. I chose to skip Khaki Vert, the mossy green one, for practical reasons. It's beautiful, but knowing myself it's not something I'd wear very often and I already had Essie Sew Psyched, so I felt covered in this color department.

Les Khakis de Chanel are a limited edition, and I enjoy Khaki Brun and Khaki Rose so much I'm considering a backup, especially for the latter. It's such an easy to wear shade and works for me perfectly. I love that they are a little muted and it takes a second glance to realize how unique and complex they are. This fact makes them quite office friendly and ensures one would get a good use of the Les Khakis.

Khaki Rose is a warm beige brown. The rose undertone is more pronounced in full sun, while a gray and rainy day like today brings out the brown cinnamon heart. I find it very flattering on my hands and makes me want to go shopping for some accessories in this color. Khaki Brun is a very interesting polish. As you can see in the photos taken in direct afternoon sun, it has a lot of khaki in it (thank you, Lady Obvious), but indoors it's much more of a taupe in the same mushroomy style Chanel has made famous. It's still elegant enough to be perfectly acceptable in all but the most conservative environments.

Quality-wise, Chanel has made some serious progression. As Sabrina of the Beauty Look Book observed the other day, the creamy consistency is so opaque you only need one coat for a uniform full coverage. I can't begin to tell you how happy tis makes me. I'm a DIY girl despite my klutziness, so being able to paint and go without waiting between coats (and messing up my nails every time a cat even looks at them) makes it the polish I'm more likely to use.

Bottom Line: I wish it were part of the permanent collection.

Les Khakis de Chanel Nail Polish ($25 each) can be ordered online from chanel.com.

All photos are mine.

Chanel Coromandel (Les Excluifs)

At its best, Coromandel from Chanel's Les Exclusifs line smells like the most elegant and airy interpretation of patchouli- the old hippie cleaned up well, got a real job and started making enough money to wear Chanel. On its (or, more accurately, mine) off days it's a bleached and washed out Borneo 1834, complete with a chemical note that annoys me and makes me long for the real thing. The company's website clearly states that Coromandel was composed by their in-house nose, Jacques Polge. Since Christopher Sheldrake who created Borneo for Serge Lutens is also on Chanel's payroll, I wonder how he feels about this homage to his work. For that matter, I'd also like to hear what Uncle Serge has to say about it.

Still, on good days I really enjoy wearing Coromandel, even if like the other Les Exclusifs, I need to spray it with abandon to make it stick (which explains how I've managed to drain a second 5 ml decant this year). The patchouli here is less dark and chocolaty than in Borneo, and the dry-down is not as sweet. My favorite part is the moment a waft of clean incense rises into the air while at the same time I can almost see the plush velvet drapes being pushed aside and daylight pouring in.

Coromandel, like several other Chanel products from lipstick to nail polish, was named after the Chinese lacquered wood screens in Coco Chanel's home. I'm usually more than a little annoyed with the constant use and abuse of Mademoiselle's decor by their marketing department. Eventually they'll run out of nooks and crannies in that famous apartment and then what? But at least in the case of this perfume I can actually see the connection. There's something exotic, elaborate and, of course, woody about Coromandel. It has an oriental base, a level of lushness and luxury that can be very Chanel, and a smooth varnish feel. I think I like it best when wearing Coromandel out of the house, where it can waft and move around. For a more cashmere-like treat and to enjoy my chocolate patchouli in all its glory and weirdness I'd still choose Borneo 1834, but I'm a Serge fan girl and would usually take a Lutens over Chanel.

Coromandel and the rest of Chanel Les Exclusifs were first released in those huge and annoying 6.8 oz jugs. Apparently someone at Chanel has been listening and they recently launched a more reasonable bottle. While 2.5 oz ($110) is not exactly petite, it's actually a very good size considering the amount one needs to apply of this EDT.

Photo of a Coromandel screen at socialite Dodie Rosekrans' residence in San Francisco photographed by Lisa Romerein, featured on a very inspired and inspiring blog, thestylesaloniste.com.

Bleu de Chanel

The business-oriented part of my brain understand why someone at Chanel decided they needed Bleu. Their main competitors in the big name market, Dior and YSL, have some super popular men's colognes. While Chanel has both classic and modern masculine perfumes, none have a distinct name and bottle (Allure Homme Edition Blanche doesn't sound very snappy). So why not claim the shelf space and place on the best selling list?

Bleu de Chanel smells exactly like a business decision. I have tons of respect for Jacques Polge, Chanel's in-house master perfumer, whose job is to practice his art while keeping the suits happy. But his latest creations, from Cristalle Eau Verte, Chance Whatever and Bleu only make me hope that whatever they pay him is worth it.

The top and heart notes of Bleu de Chanel are nothing but the generic fresh citrus wood thing you can get from far inferior labels. I guess I should be thankful they didn't overload it with stomach-turning calone or other aquatic aromachemicals, but it still smells flat and cheap. I didn't enjoy wearing it and didn't like it on the husband, either. Gym Locker fragrances are not my thing for either gender. Longevity isn't very impressive, but that's a good thing in this case. What's left in the late drydown (an hour later, that is), smells somewhat better- a pleasant soft woody nothing. It's sad that this is what sells-- faceless, shallow and bland clones of the same idea that wasn't all that exciting to begin with.

Bottom Line: Obviously, all the money went to paying Martin Scorsese for the commercial, not into making the juice.

Blaheu de Chanel ($59, 1.7oz) is available everywhere under the sun, online and in store.

Art: High Society by Rene Magritte, 1962

Chanel Glossimer 138 Courtisane

Even beauty bloggers get the blues (and buy the weirdest stuff).

When Chanel Fall 2010 collection came out two months ago I chose several items (Rose Temptation blush and the two single eye shadows) and passed on the new Glossimer colors because they didn't look special or pigmented enough. All was good and well until one gloomy summer afternoon when I decided I actually needed a new Glossimer (or two) and decided on last fall's release, Courtisane (138). The problem? It's pink.

Very pink.

Barbie pink.

And I don't do pink.

I look horribly trashy when I try and then I get jealous of people with mainstream skin tones who can wear pretty colors. Of course, this being a Chanel with a nice shine and pleasant texture I can wear it to tone down a variety of my plum lipsticks or mix it with other colors. But I just can't pull off Courtisane by itself over naked lips.

Bottom Line: What were I thinking?

Chanel Glossimer 138 Courtisane is available from your favorite department stores and chanel.com.

All photos are mine.

Chanel 31 Rue Cambon (Les Excluifs)

Can we just not call these sophisticated patchouli perfumes "chypres"? Please? Chypres as we used to know them are dead and we can either hoard vintage perfumes or move on. Or both. Just let's not lie to ourselves about what's currently on the market, because perfumes like 31 Rue Cambon deserve better.

31 Rue Cambon, one of the original 2007 Lex Exclusifs, is a beautiful fragrance. It's a "designer" scent in the best sense of the word- something that goes with a perfectly tailored outfit from the poshest of boutiques, elegant, elaborate and a bit aloof. I'm not sure it relates well to the way modern Chanel, headed by celeb-friendly Uncle Karl has immersed itself in pop-culture, but those of us who have a thing for bygone days when it comes to fashion and style can easily embrace it.

Like most Chanel perfumes, 31RC is an abstract floral with quite a bit of understated iris -not too rooty, not too powdery, nothing that crosses the lines of wearability into weirdness. It's feminine when I wear it, but there's nothing girly or frilly there and I'm sure that many men can easily pull it off, as long as they're dressed right and feel comfortable showing their urban metrosexual side. 31 Rue Cambon is deceivingly soft spoken and pale, but there's an edge there and it actually wears much longer than one may suspect at first- it's more than a skin scent, though and when applied lavishly enough remains there for at least 8 hours, becoming part of me and moving around with my dresses.

31 Rue Cambon ($210, 6.8oz EDT) like the other Chanel Les Exclusifs is available from select department stores and Chanel boutiques around the world. The Posh Peasant and the Perfumed Court sell samples and more reasonable sized deacnts.

Photo of a 1957chanel suit and accessories: myvintagevogue.com

Chanel Taupe Grise 87 Vert Khaki 88 Fall 2010 Ombre Essentielle Eye Shadow

Chanel single Ombre Essentielle eye shadows are often overlooked in favor of the glitzy quads, but the truth is the singles have proven to be a better buy for me- they have richer and deeper pigments than several of the quads, less shimmer and often a smoother texture. The Ombre Essentielle shadows blend perfectly and I often reach for them when I'm in a hurry and need a fool-proof, quick and easy look.

The fall 2010 collection, Les Contrastes de Chanel, offers Enigma, a very nice quad which I liked in theory but when tested at Saks it just wasn't all that exciting and the light pink shade looked all kinds of wrong on me. So I passed on it and picked instead the two gorgeous singles, 87 Taupe Grise and 88 Vert Khaki, both embody the look and spirit of the dramatic fall collection while still easy to wear and combine with nudes and neutrals. These two colors have depth, subtle shimmer and look like a million dollar even with minimal effort and work.

Vert Khaki is a dark golden olive. It's very close to Bobbi Brown's Golden Leaf from last year's Ivy League collection, just less shimmery and a little more brown-based. Taupe Grise is a complex taupe (thank you, Ms. Obvious) that looks like a gray smoke over a chocolate base. If you saw Christine's photos and swatches on Temptalia, hers seem to be much more cooler toned. I double and triple checked mine to make sure I didn't pick and photograph the wrong color and it's a warm taupe both in the pan and on skin. Please also take note  I swatched with a sponge applicator to show the colors' full intensity. When using a good brush the shades are more muted and can be softened and toned down for an elegant daytime look.

Bottom Line: I'm wearing these eye shadows right now. Not waiting for fall.

Chanel Ombre Essentielle Eye Shadows in Taupe Grise 87 Vert Khaki 88 are a limited edition  for Fall 2010. Both colors ($28.50 each) can be found at every Chanel counter and on chanel.com.

All photos are mine.