I have to share with you all this gorgeous cake that my lovely friends got for me for my birthday! They are just so sweet, and of course know me very well to have chosen a cake filled with (edible) Chanel makeup. Yes, they’re not real! Especially the makeup bag, since that’s where the real cake is hidden!
You can’t imagine how excited I was when I saw this cake. :’ )
Were you able to spot some recent Chanel makeup releases? I will have the real items to show you all very soon! : )
Lastly from Chanel’s Asia-exclusive Le Blanc Les Delices de Chanel Collection that I have to share for you all today is the Joues Contraste 78 Delice. I had a very hard time photographing this product, because I don’t think my pictures do this product justice! This is much prettier in person, so if you like the photos or swatches below, then I’m sure you love this even more when you see it in action.
Delice is a frosty white highlighter with multi-colored micro shimmers. The powder is extremely soft and fine, and it’s also very pigmented. 
I really adore this highlighter, it gives a gentle and subtle glow, the shimmer particles are visible but only under certain lightings. You can see below a heavy swatch that shows up pearly white and another that is blended out, creating that subtle glow.
Since I have combination/oily skin, I am always afraid that highlighters would make my face look even shinier than it already is during the day. But this highlighter does not emphasize pores, and most of all it does not make me shinier. I am very pleased with this product, and I think Chanel should definitely make this permanent!
I’ve heard that Chanel from other countries will start to receive products from this collection around May, but it’s unsure whether this specific product will be available, since most products in this collection are created for Asia countries. I suggest you call your local Chanel counters or stores and see if they will receive this as well!
Another item from Chanel’s Asia-exclusive Les Delices de Chanel Collection is the Illusion d’Ombre in 90 Convoitise. This item is also available in the Jeux de Regards collection, so even though it’s in an asia-exclusive collection, this is also available in any other parts of the world that carries the Jeux de Regards collection.
Originally I was a little skeptical about getting this, since it reminds me a lot of the Illusion d’Ombre in Apparence from last Holiday’s collection. But in the end I caved and I’m very happy with this addition to my small Illusion d’Ombre collection.
Convoitise is a sparkly pale champagne silverish gold. It blends with my skintone well because of the underlying pink shimmer in it. The texture is just like the other Illusion d’Ombres, it’s spongy soft and easy to blend. The color is great for most skin-tones, and also for everyday wear. I have been using this a lot lately for a clean look (sometimes paired with liquid liner), and also as a base. I definitely need a primer underneath Convoitise as I have oily lids, but I did notice my eye makeup lasts a lot longer (about 10 to 12 hours) with Convoitise underneath as a base shade.
One thing to note is that the best way to use this product is with fingers. I have no idea how to use the product with the eyeliner-like brush provided by Chanel. It just doesn’t seem to pick up much product.
As I have mentioned above, Convoitise reminds me of Apparence which was released in the last Holiday Collection. So here’s some comparison pictures and swatches!
Apparence is more gold compared to Convoitise, which has a stronger silver hue. Other than that, they both are similar in terms of wear and texture. I love them both, but perhaps I love Convoitise a little more. It just gives a subtle but pretty sheen to my eyes for a no-makeup look, which I find myself starting to wear more often lately.
Chanel’s Les Delices de Chanel Collection is an Asia-exclusive collection released this Spring along with new Le Blanc skincare products. It’s moderate-sized collection with a few limited edition products, and the one that definitely caught my eye is the Delicatesse Ombre Fleuries Quadra Eyeshadow Palette.
The shadows are beautifully embossed with camilla flowers, I almost didn’t want to swatch the palette because just look how gorgeous the palette is!
As for the shades themselves, they have a very similar texture with the Harmonie du Soir Palette from last Holiday’s Palette (reviewed here). They’re just as well pigmented and buttery soft. The shades are a highly metallic aqua silver green, a pearly white with subtle but noticeable celadon shimmers, a shimmery peachy pink, and a soft plumy maroon.
Chanel suggests to layer the pearly white shade on top of the maroon for an almost duo chrome effect, and here I have tried all the other combinations available with maroon as a base. (sorry for the inconsistent lighting!)
From left to right: Pearly white on maroon, peachy pink on maroon and silver green on maroon, and just maroon.
This palette is very easy to use, and with a primer I get a good 10 hours of wear with only minor creases at the inner corners of my oily eyelids. I honestly could not decide which shade is my favorite in the palette, they look gorgeous individually, but also stunning together.
I have been very impressed with recent Chanel palette releases, they’re both beautiful in color and in quality. I guess it is safe to say that you can never go wrong with Chanel eyeshadow palettes!
Chanel’s Rouge Allure Velvet L’Eclatante has got to be the brightest lipstick I’ve ever owned, and I am actually surprised that I would love this color so much on me! I didn’t get this lipstick during my first visit to Chanel for the Spring 2013 Printemps Precieux de Chanel Collection. L’Eclatante just seems too bright for me to even try on, but the second time around, I decided to give it a try, and I think it works very nicely on my skintone.
L’Eclatante is a bright but deep pink. It gives a semi-matte finish, with just a very slight sheen. Usually matte lipsticks are drying and accentuate dry skin, even though I can’t say that this lipstick does not accentuate dry skin, L’Eclatante is definitely not drying at all. The color is intense but it still lets you build up the intensity by layering.
I wish I could wear this every single day, but unfortunately it’s not very appropriate for work. So I only get to wear this when I don’t have work, which lately seems to be impossible…
I love this color and I really want to purchase another one as a back up, however it seems to be all sold out in Hong Kong. I am currently in the States, so perhaps with some luck I’ll be able to find one here!
In celebration of the opening of the new Chanel Beauty Boutique at Hysan Place in Hong Kong, Peter Phillips created an exclusive collection Hong Kong Collection, it consists of a Ombres Matelassees 5 Eyeshadow Palette Pearl River, and a set of two nail polishes, Eastern Light and Western Light.
As I played with the collection at the store, I can’t help but notice how unimpressive the Pearl River Eyeshadow Palette performed, they’re not very pigmented, and the darkest shade which is a deep brown goes on very chalky. So I only went home with the nail polishes which I absolutely fell in love with.
Eastern Light is an enamel white. I didn’t think I’d love this so much. It’s so glossy and beautiful!
This is definitely my favorite white polish to wear. The formula is just a tad thick, and may have a bit of pooling while applying if you apply too much at once. First coat can get quite streaky, but with two careful coats it’s completely opaque. The finish is very glossy.
I didn’t expect myself to fall in love with Eastern Light, but I did. The brush and formula makes it very easy to handle, and I just love how glossy it is!
Western Light is a deep dark brown with red shimmers. The shimmers are more visible from the bottle than on the nails, but under bright lightings the shimmers are a lot more visible.
The formula is very nice, it is not too thick or too thin. It’s perfectly opaque with two coats, and application was easy and smooth. It is also very glossy, but I did add a top coat in the swatches since I find adding it makes the shimmers even more visible.
Here’s a closeup so you can see the shimmers better. I have to say though, it actually looks even prettier in real person, these pictures don’t do the color justice!
I don’t have comparison swatches for Eastern Light since it’s just white. I would choose Eastern Light over my other white polishes though because of the formula and the glossiness.
For Western Light, all the polishes I have today that are comparable are from Chanel, it’s really just a coincidence! : P
I have Chanel’s Vertigo, Rouge Noir and Black Satin.
Chanel’s Vertigo is a deep dark grey with purple shimmers, it’s the same type of polish as Western Light‘s deep dark brown with red shimmers. The shimmers both are less visible on the nails and the shades are dark enough to be close to black. I included Chanel’s Black Satin in the comparison wheel so that you get an idea of how dark Western Light is. Western Light is significantly less red than Rouge Noir, but not too dark.
I am totally loving these polishes, especially Eastern Light! But I will have to wait a while before I can wear Eastern Light since Chinese New Year is almost here, and white is definitely a no-no during this festive season…
For the time being, the collection is only available exclusively at the Hysan Place store, which I think, is definitely the prettiest Chanel Beauty Boutique here in Hong Kong. The collection will slowly make its way to other Chanel Beauty Boutiques in a week or two.
Poudre Signee de Chanel Illuminating Powder is, in my opinion, the prettiest item from Chanel’s Printemps Precieux de Chanel Collection this spring. I mean, how can you resist the gorgeous embossment? The pattern is definitely one of the most intricate I’ve seen so far on any Chanel products, or any high-end makeup product for that matter. It’s a pattern with Coco Chanel’s favorite flower Camilias, the famous Chanel double C logo (of course…), and the best part of it – mini tubes of lip glosses and lipsticks, and my favorite, mini bottles of nail polishes!!!
The product comes in the large velvet pouch and also a large flat sponge applicator, which I find easy to use.
The product itself is a light and slightly pinkish beige fine powder with a golden shimmering sheen. The powder is very finely milled and soft, creating a beautiful glow to your skin.
You may have already read from my previous posts, that I have combination/oily skin, so I usually skip highlighters as I don’t want that extra ‘shine’. But since this illuminating powder doesn’t have any glitter particles, it gives an iridescent finish which makes the result subtle but also noticeable, especially under the light.
It does not emphasize pores, and is pretty long-wearing. It’s hard to determine exactly how long it wore on me since I get ‘naturally’ glowy by the end of the day, but I am guessing that it starts to fade after around 6 hours of wear. (I blotted the ‘natural’ glow away to check.)
My favorite way of wearing this however, is as an eyeshadow. As an eyeshadow it serves as a great base for any eye look, and is very long-wearing on my oily eyelids. I did not experience any creasings at all until after at least 8 hours of wear, and sometimes I wear it alone on my lids with an eyeliner since I find it pretty enough to be worn alone!
If you’re looking for a highlighter, this would be a beautiful one to try. Yes it is rather expensive, but you actually get a lot of product and it’s worth the price!
Chanel’s Raffinement Quadra Eyeshadow from the Printemps Precieux de Chanel Spring 2013 Collection may look a bit too common to justify owning, but the quality of this eyeshadow is simply amazing, and is definitely a must-have unless you already own a great set of excellent neutral shadows.
Even though the shades in the palette may look quite uninteresting, they work perfectly with each other.
There are three shimmers and one semi-matte shades in the palette. The top left shade is a shimmery mid-town mauve brown, the top right shade is a shimmery peachy beige, and the bottom left shade is a shimmery light coppery brown with a hint of lilac. The last shade which is the only matte in the palette, is a reddish brown.
I absolutely adore this palette. All the colors are soft, easy to apply, pigmented and have excellent color payoff. I did not experience any fallouts from any of the shades during application and wear. I love how the shades work with each other so well that I had these shadows on for my recent stage performance, and I have gotten quite a few compliments about my eye makeup that night. : D These eyeshadows are also long wearing, I had these shadows on (with primer) for about 6 hours before the performance, and I didn’t find the need to touch up my eye makeup at all, and by the end of the night (about 10 hours of wear), I only had minor creases on the inner half of my lids. My lids tend to get very oily so I am impressed!
I highly recommend this palette since I think it suits most skin-tones. Yes, it is dupable, but once again, unless you already own a great set of neutral shades of excellent quality, this serves as a staple in everyone’s makeup bag.
You can also check out Burberry’s Complete Eye Palettes for other great neutral palettes!
I am really loving Chanel products lately, have you tried this palette yet? Or perhaps the other items from this collection?
It’s been a while since my last post! This holiday season was a busy one for me, especially when my cousins from the States came to visit. They did bring me some nail polish goodies (Dior and Deborah Lippmann), but posts on those will have to wait since the Spring 2013 Collection from Chanel is already here! I have today for you all the three polishes from Chanel’s Printemps Precieux de Chanel Collection!
Chanel only released one single polish from their last collection (Holiday 2012). Don’t get me wrong, Malice is a complete stunner, but you can never get enough Chanel nail polishes right? So I am so thrilled to see three polishes released in this Spring Collection. 
Emprise is a beautiful beige-peachy nude with fine shimmers. The peachy tone doesn’t show much in the bottle, so at first Emprise didn’t look appealing to me. But once applied, the peach shows and it’s simply beautiful!
Emprise is opaque with two careful coats, the formula is just slightly thicker than the others but you’ll still get an easy and smooth application. I suggest waiting for the first coat to dry completely before going ahead with the second coat, as there may be some pulling from the first coat. It has a glossy finish so a top coat isn’t needed for shine.
I did 2 to 3 coats without a top coat for the swatches.
Accessoire is a vampy red-brown. Even though this is not a typical Spring color to wear, it’s beautiful and I think it is a color that is appropriate for any time of the year.
Accessoire is highly pigmented, and is nearly opaque with just one coat. The formula is just right, not too thick and not too thin, making the application easy and smooth. No top coat is needed for shine as this dries down to a glossy finish.
I did 2 coats without a top coat for the swatches.
Fracas is a bright reddish pink with shimmers. The shimmers are visible from the bottle, but not so once applied. Under bright lighting it’s more like a hot pink, otherwise it’s a vibrant red-pink.
Fracas is once again highly pigmented, and it’s opaque with just one coat. I however did two in the swatches. The formula is amazing, it’s not too thin and not too thick. Application was easy and smooth. It also has a glossy finish just like the other two polishes, so a top coat is not needed for extra shine.
I did 2 coats without a top coat for the swatches.
Here are some comparison swatches on a nail wheel.
For Emprise, I have Chanel’s Beige, Dior’s Charnelle, Chanel’s Frisson, Dior’s Tutu (Spring 2013) and Killer Colors’ Twisted Silk.
As you can see, I have nothing in my collection that’s close to Chanel’s Emprise. The peachy tone from Emprise is obvious in the swatch below.
For Accessoire, I have Chanel’s Rouge Noir, Provocation, Deborah Lippmann’s Single Ladies, Tom Ford’s Plum Noir and YSL’s Rouge Expressioniste.
Accessoire is a lighter version of Chanel’s Rouge Noir, Provocation is more purple, and Deborah Lippmann’s Single Ladies is slightly more red. Tom Ford’s Plum Noir is just like Provocation, which is more purple. YSL’s Rouge Expressioniste is lighter and more red.
For Fracas, I have Essie’s Camera, Dior’s Cosmo, China Glaze’s High Hopes, Chanel’s Distraction and Dior’s Pasteque.
The closest I find is Dior’s Cosmo, but Cosmo still leans slighter pinker and formula-wise cannot beat Fracas. Essie’s Camera is a neon pink, China Glaze’s High Hopes is more a bright orange. Chanel’s Distraction is a coral rather than red-pink like Fracas. Dior’s Pasteque is brighter and more neon.
I love all the polishes from this collection, and Chanel polishes really don’t disappointed! I can see myself wearing Emprise and Fracas a lot this Spring. Have you checked out these polishes yet? What are your thoughts on them?
The Spring Collection is already available in Hong Kong at all Chanel Counters, and the polishes are 190 HKD apiece.
For this holiday season, the only blush I got is the Star Dust Joues Contraste Powder Blush from Chanel’s Eclat du Soir Holiday Collection. It is definitely one of the prettiest blushes I’ve seen in a long time. The micro glitters just make the blush sparkle, and I think the name Star Dust is the perfect name for this blush.
Star Dust is a soft pink with loads of multi-colored glitters. I was really intimidated by the glitters at first. It’s a lot more sparkly in real person than in the photos. I have combination/oily skin so I try to stay away from anything shimmery or glittery on my face. But I decided to give this blush a try. I have never tried anything this glittery on my cheeks before, and this blush is simply too stunning.
Despite all the glitters, on the face the glitters are subtle, and they do not emphasize my pores. This finely-milled blush acts both as a blush and a highlighter, especially for someone with fairer skin. It lasted about eight hours on me.
The only complaint I have for this blush is the strong scent. I don’t like putting on any strongly-scented products on my face. I cannot be 100% sure, but the first time I used this blush, I had red itchy spots on my face which luckily eventually went away after a while. I didn’t have any problem using this blush since then, so I am not sure if the allergic reaction is due to the fragrance from this strong-scented blush. But for those who are allergic to fragrance may want to avoid this blush.
Nonetheless I still love this blush, and I think this is a beautiful blush to use this holiday season. You can never have enough sparkle for the Holidays!
