CHANEL

Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Foundation Review and Swatch

January 12, 2016

My blogging mojo is finally back after a much-needed lazy but wonderful short holiday break! Starting the new year with a new foundation review – the latest Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Foundation (also available on Chanel.com ). This new range came to my radar as soon as I saw the preview picture last year, and I am thrilled to find that this is officially my favorite foundation by Chanel as of now!

Texture

It has a lightweight creamy consistency that is different to the usual liquid foundation. It is almost similar to a tinted cream consistency but applies more opaque with a better coverage. This creamy foundation melds into the skin with minimum blending required and leaves no streaks nor dry patches. It also feels weightless and breathable on the skin which is ideal for the spring and summer time.

Coverage

Like most Chanel foundations, the Les Beiges offers sheer to medium coverage. On me it requires less than a pump for a sheer coverage, and buildable to a fuller coverage with 1 and a half pump. Since this foundation has a thicker and more opaque texture than a liquid foundation, I find that half a pump of this gives the same coverage as with a full pump of a typical liquid foundation. It covers most of the mild imperfections and redness, and also covers the pores exceptionally well. In comparison, I would say the coverage of this one is better than Chanel Vitalumiere AQUA, MUFE Ultra HD Foundation (review), and on par with Chanel Perfection Lumiere (review) or Dior Diorskin Star Foundation (review).

Finish

Every good foundation has one element that stands out, and to me the finish of Les Beiges is absolutely unbeatable. It is exactly what I am after from a foundation to use in the warm weather season, and I am completely obsessed with this healthy glow that it gives. Once applied, it settles into a dry finish so no loose powder is required after that. The finish is very natural and porcelain-like – it’s not dewy but it makes the skin look more smooth and creamy, and gives a radiant glow that doesn’t look so artificial. I like to apply this foundation with a sponge (highly recommend the Shu Uemura Sponge) rather than the foundation brush, and if I just tap the foundation into the skin with a sponge, it gives the best result for a more flawless finish.

Lasting Power

Thumbs up for lasting power as well. It controls the oil really well over 7-8 hours of wear, and keeps the complexion looking fresh with no oxidation. To retain the coverage, you will need a bit of retouch once a day.

Color Match

I bought shade 10 (the lightest shade) which has a neutral undertone and is a great match for my skin at the moment (NC10-15).

pictures are taken under natural light

Bottom Line: If you are generally a Chanel foundation fan, you will fall in love with this new foundation. I actually think this is the best foundation Chanel has ever released for my skin type. The Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow retails for AUD$89, and is now available here and here in Australia.

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Labels: CHANEL • foundation

A Round-up of the Best base face products for combination and oily skin

November 28, 2015

My previous post on my reader’s requests about how I clean my brushes was very well received, so I though I’d include a post that addresses some of the other most frequently asked questions. Today’s round-up is my picks for the base products for normal, combination to oily skin that have a great staying power in hot and humid weather and still look natural.

This is the list of my favorite products that are great for controlling the oil throughout the day, and most importantly they tick the criteria for not looking too matte, powdery and cakey on the face.

1. MAC Prep and Prime -I bought the full size bottle of this after using a sample as I loved it so much. I am not a big fan of MAC base products but thumbs up for this one. It smoothes out the skin, covers and fills up the pores and creases, and slightly mattifies the skin without feeling silicony and heavy. The foundation sets beautifully on top of this primer, and gives an airbrushed finish of a more even and refined skin texture. It also helps to keep the shine and oil away for a longer time.

2. Make Up For Ever Smoothing Primer – Similar concept to the MAC, but more mattifying and covers the pores better. It has a heavier silicone texture than the MAC, and takes away excess oil and shine completely. Highly recommend it to anyone who has oily skin with large pores.

3. Chanel Mat Lumiere Foundation – My go-to foundation for the hot weather. It has a milky fluidy texture, feels lightweight, and offers a great coverage. It sets slightly more matte and powdery than the other fluid foundations, but it still gives the signature Chanel radiant glow from their Lumiere range. It also photographs beautifully – natural with a soft glow but not shiny.

4. Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation (reviewed here) – I wasn’t very impressed with this foundation at first as I was in a ‘dewy foundation’ phase back then, and fell in love with it during the summer time, as it has an amazing stay power and keeps my face looking fresh and clean for the whole day. It gives a velvety finish that is a tad more matte than the Mat Lumiere upon application, and it becomes more natural and luminous over time. Would only recommend this to normal to oily skin types.

5. Chanel Natural Finish Loose Powder – A very mattifying powder, and a little goes a long way. I only dust a very sheer amount on to my t-zone on a normal day, and it keeps the shine away for the whole day. I brought this along with the Mat Lumiere foundation to my last tropical vacation, and they worked wonders keeping my makeup on without melting for the whole day in very humid weather. It can look slightly powdery if applied too much, and it is not the most finely milled powder (can slightly enhance the pores around the cheeks) compared to the other high end powders I have in my collection.

6. Cle De Peau Translucent Loose Powder – My absolute holy grail for so many years. The most luxurious, silkiest and finely milled loose powder you can find in the stores. It looks natural, non powdery, and gives a brightening and more refined finish as it helps to cover the pores and lift the dullness. It slightly mattifies the skin and guarantees to keep your makeup stay put all day.

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Labels: CHANEL • CLE DE PEAU • foundation • MAC • Makeup Base • MAKEUP FOREVER • My Favorites • POWDER • PRIMER

Chanel Le Top Coat Lame Rouge Noir Review and Swatch

November 10, 2015

I am not extremely fond of fancy nail design, but the Chanel Le Top Coat Lame Rouge Noir (limited edition) captured my heart this season. The golden flecks set in a black-red tinted clear base is absolutely gorgeous from the Chanel bottle. On the nails, it is a perfect match with the Chanel Rouge Noir, and it would also complement any other dark nail colors. The golden glitters are flat so the top coat dries into a smooth surface. For application you must give give the bottle a vigorous shake to achieve a coat with dense glitters.

Not only does it add a sparkly touch to the nail, but as a top coat it works better than my HG Seche Vite (now available at Sephora Australia) ! It dries fairly quickly (within 90 seconds), adds a glossy shine to the nails, and it also helps to prevent chipping. Normally my nail polish with the Seche Vite top coat starts to chip from day 3-4, and I have had this top coat on me for about 6 days and there is not a single chip yet!

I bought mine here in Australia.

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Labels: CHANEL • NAIL POLISH

Chanel Le Vernis Rose Fusion 757 Review and Swatch – Rouge Noir Absolument Holiday 2015 Collection

October 21, 2015

The holiday makeup collections have started emerging from the shops , with Chanel Rouge Noir Absolument Holiday 2015 Collection (also called Vamp Attitude) being the first release hitting the Australian shore. This year, Chanel pays tribute to its iconic nail polish – the Rouge Noir, hence you will find that this collection features a lot of products that are inspired by this unconventional yet timeless shade. The stunning Chanel Le Vernis Rose Fusion 757 Nail Polish is my first purchase from the collection (others are on the way!).

I have had this color on my nails for several hours now and I have yet to conclude how to describe it – it’s possibly the most complex and interesting nail color I have ever seen from Chanel. The color changes under different lighting as well as from different angles. From the bottle it looks like a metallic taupe color with an olive undertone with an iridescent sheen. It has a lot of micro multi-colored glitters, and unlike other Chanel nail colors with shimmer, these glitters in Rose Fusion appear more visible on the nails. It applies smooth and streak free with 2 coats, and sets into a foil finish. I have put together some swatch pictures to show you how the color varies under different lighting – sometimes it looks like a silvery charcoal, or a rosey taupe color, and sometimes it appears more golden olive.

a macro-shot- more olive with a golden hue

The entire new Chanel Holiday 2015 collection is now available here online in Australia.

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Labels: CHANEL • NAIL POLISH

CHANEL CHANCE Eau Vive Review

October 6, 2015

Today’s review is for my current favorite fragrance – The CHANEL CHANCE Eau VIVE . I have never been a big fan of Chanel’s classic fragrances such as the No5, No19, Coco Chanel etc as I feel they smell a bit ‘too old fashioned’ on me. However their recent additions including the BEIGE (reviewed here) and MISIA from the Les Exclusive line, and Coco Noir have thoroughly impressed me. They are alluring and seductive with a modern take that would appeal to the younger women. On a side note, the CHANEL BLEU is my DH’s favorite perfume at the moment!

CHANCE Eau VIVE caught my attention after I was randomly sampling a lot of fragrances at the counter. This one stood out and connected with me, and I knew this would be a lovely choice. For days I could not forget about it so I had to get one for myself.

This perfume was designed by Olivier Polge, which was his second creation after he took the helm from his famous perfumer father Jacques Polge. A true perfumer is regarded as an artist in France and is also referred to as ‘The Nose’. Jacques Polge is a legendary name in the perfumery industry. He has created an array of timeless fragrances for Chanel throughout his career since 1978. This year he had retired and his son Olivier Polge became the newly appointed Chanel Fragrance creator to succeed his father. His first creation for Chanel is MISIA (another gorgeous scent), and the Eau VIVE is his latest release that is exactly what I would expect from a second generation of perfumer. It is elegant and posh with a playful and modern twist. VIVE has notes of grapefruit, blood orange, jasmine, cedar and iris notes. On me it smells floral (not sugary), fresh with dominant zesty notes as a top note. Once it starts to dry down, it becomes more clean and slightly woody and still floral. I adore both – it works well with my body temperature and goes well with my day-to-day style. It is a warm and fresh scent that can be worn all year round, and 4-5 spritz last about 5-6 hours on me.

I bought mine here online in Australia.

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Labels: CHANEL • FRAGRANCE • PERFUME

Chanel Liquid Eyeliner Ligne Graphique Dream Blue, Illusion D’ombre Melody and Stylo Eyeshadow 127 Laurier Rose Review and Swatch

September 10, 2015

Today’s review is for an eye makeup combo that I’ve been loving lately. The Chanel Liquid Eyeliner LIGNE GRAPHIQUE De Chanel Dream Blue and the Cream Eye shadow Illusion D’Ombre Melody 98 are from the latest Chanel Blue Rhythm Collection , and the Chanel Stylo Eyeshadow 127 Laurier Rose is from the permanent line that I picked up a while ago.

The Chanel Liquid Eyeliner in Dream Blue is one interesting purchase for me. I didn’t plan to buy it but got lured in after the SA tried it on my eyes. Though I own a significant amount of eye makeup, I don’t change the way I apply eye makeup that much – always some neutral eye shadow colors and an intense black eyeliner. So I thought using a colored eyeliner would be an easy step that I can take to add some variety to my makeup look. The formulation is very fluid and gives a smooth and even indigo blue line in one stroke. The applicator is thin and small that allows for an easy and precise application. I particularly love wearing this over a black eyeliner, as it becomes a blackish midnight blue color. It defines the eyes without looking too sharp, and it also brightens up the eyes. The difference is subtle but noticeable.

Different to their previous Illusion D’Ombre eye shadows that are on the shimmery side, the finish of Melody is almost semi-matte with a hint of satiny sheen. I would pass on this if it was just an ordinary matte peachy eye cream color, but the subtle rose gold sheen makes it special. It has a marshmallow-like texture, and feels more creamy than the others. Melody applies smoothly without caking up and looking dry and heavy on the eyes. It is a lovely everyday color that I would get so much use out of, and works excellent as a base color for all over the eye lid. It can also be doubled as an eye primer as it stays put for the whole day, and also prevents other eye shadows from creasing.

The Chanel Stylo Eyeshadow offers intense pigmentation, applies silky smooth with a cooling sensation and it has a great staying power. Laurier Rose is a beautiful vibrant coppery color with a rose undertone and has a slight metallic sheen that just makes your eyes pop. I particularly love the slanted tip which allows for a more controlled application, as it can be used as a thick eyeliner, or for applying over a larger area. I wish Chanel would release more of this in neutral colors!

EOTD: Wearing the blue dream eye liner, and Illusion O’mbre Melody all over the lid, with Stylo Eyeshadow 127 from the lash line into the crease.

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Labels: CHANEL • EYELINER • EYESHADOW

Chanel Le Vernis FORTISSIMO 681 and VIBRATO 665 Swatch and Review – Blue Rhythm De Chanel Collection

September 3, 2015

It is the time of the year when Sydney is running the major Vogue Fashion Night Out event, and the highly anticipated exclusive Chanel Blue Rhythm Collection is only available on the night in Australia. Chanel fans would know that they always release some stunning nail colors for VFNO, and this year the two blue Chanel Le Vernis FORTISSIMO 681 and VIBRATO 665 are no exceptions. Along with the nail polishes, I also picked up several other products which will be covered in a future post.

Fortissimo is a midnight blue color with micro shimmer. As with most Chanel nail colors with shimmer, once this is applied on to the nails, it goes on to a cream finish and shimmer that can only be seen at certain angles. When I first saw the two colors, I was immediately drawn to Fortissimo as it looked quite wearable for a blue color. But once I had tried Vibrato on my nails, I could not take my eyes off this color – it’s a bright dark cobalt blue color that will catch people’s attention to your nails straight away. The color is very fashion-forward in a Chanel way, as it’s not over the top, but it just has some special element to it that makes it look expensive but young.

Swatch – 2 coats each color. Both colors are very opaque and apply smoothly and evenly.

Both nail colors are limited editions, and they are now available on Nordstrom and Chanel Online with the Blue Rhythm De Chanel collection in the US.

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Labels: CHANEL • NAIL POLISH

Current Favorites – Red Lip Colors by Chanel, Charlotte Tilbury and Surrat

August 17, 2015

Bold lips have been my statement look over the past year – whether wearing the red lip color in a full opaque coat or as a sheer stain, I am infatuated with how much impact it adds to the overall look. Today’s review is for my 3 current favorite red lip colors – Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Red Carpet, Chanel Levres Scintillantes Glossimer Rose Paradis 447 and Surrat Automatique Lip Crayon P.O.C. They are all of different texture and finish, so they offer different options for achieving different looks.

The Chanel Levres Scintillantes Glossimer Rose Paradis 447 (available here in Australia) is from the Chanel Summer 2015 Collection. It is a highly pigmented rosey red color that has a transparent finish which makes it very wearable for the day and night. I really like the Glossimer formulation for intense colors, as it is very easy to sheer out and gives a lovely wash of stain on the lips in a glossy finish. During the day I’d like to wear a sheer layer of this – it’s pretty and youthful and the color helps to brighten up the complexion. If you are after a dramatic and bold look, the lip gloss is intense enough for delivering its full color with a jelly like finish.

As the name suggests, this Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Red Carpet is the red color for making a statement. It is a cool deep ruby red with a hint of burgundy undertone in a matte finish. It is bold, sultry, a little vampy and the velvety matte finish adds an edgy and fashion-forward spin to this classic color. I absolutely adore the formulation of Charlotte Tilbury’s Matte Revolution Lipsticks (detail reviews on other colors are covered in this post). Red carpet is no exception – it ‘s non drying and extremely long lasting. Available worldwide here.

Surrat is a new makeup brand that I am still uncovering. So far I have only tried their lip products, and also interested in exploring their luxury brushes range! Love their sleek frosted black packaging design, and their Automatique Lip Crayon range has some stunning colors. I picked the color P.O.C which is the most beautiful warm red with a hint of orange tone that I have ever seen. This is a summery red in my opinion, and looks great on either fair or tanned complexion. It has a non slippery crayon-like texture so it goes on very opaque and applies relatively creamy and smooth. I would say the texture is quite similar to the Nars Velvet Matte Lipstick Pencil, if you are interested in exploring new brands, Surrat is a good option. Available here worldwide.

Group Swatch:

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Labels: CHANEL • Charlotte Tilbury • LIP PENCIL • LIPGLOSS • LIPSTICK • Louis Vuitton • LV • MAKEUP POUCH • SURRAT

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