While I miss the days of tweed embossed eye-shadows and sequinned highlighters, the make-up arm of Chanel is in good hands with Lucia Pica. She’s the kind of creative director that puts the work in – researches to the nth degree and uses an immersion method to unearth nuances of colour that probably disappears over the heads of most of us. But, the point is, it’s there, and for this collection, Vision D’Asie, she spent a month in Japan and South Korea taking pictures and finding colour references.
Most of the Asia references lie in the palette (which I don’t have) that brings everything together, but something I was really pleased to see in the collection is a clear Glow Stick (£33). I love that gleam on bone look which admittedly is more editorial than real-world, but used sparingly over high points gives a low key lit effect. There’s also a shimmer effect Glow Stick that keeps the sparkle to a minimum but will highlight very nicely. I used my fingers to apply, but that little retractable brush(£28) is made for the job.
There are two new shades of Le Vernis; Bleached Mauve and Techno Bloom (£22) that speak for themselves in terms of opposites attracting (personally, I’m going to be Techno on toes and Mauve on fingers).
The Rouge Allure Liquid Powders (£31) also have two new colours; Electric Bloom and Bittersweet. Electric Bloom in limited edition. These aren’t my favourite things from Chanel Beauty because they are just so unbelievably matte but if you love intensely matte formulas that feel light on the lip they are exceptional in that respect.
Three new shades of Rouge Velvet Allure (£31) – two of which are limited edition for the spring collection. I have Infrarose and Nuance above. Nuance and a third shade in red tones, Imperial, are limited.
In the swatch from bottom to top: Nuance, Infrarose, Bittersweet, Electric Bloom and the Sculpting Glow Stick. It’s a small collection, reflecting the fact that we just aren’t buying as much make-up as we were although I imagine that Chanel is fairly immune to consumer fluctuations. If you’re a fan of Chanel Rouge Coco Balms, you might be pleased to know that they’re being completely reformulated and re-presented as Rouge Coco Flash for about March time. The Chanel Spring Collection launches on Friday.
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