Chanel Les Essentiels de Chanel Fall Collection 2012 - Review and Recommendations

I went to the Chanel counter in Myer a few days ago when I was researching cream eyeshadows and found an unexpected surprise! The testers of the upcoming Chanel Fall 2012 Collection has arrived and the sales assistant allowed me to play with and advance buy any items I wanted on the spot! Can you imagine my excitement right at that moment? My sanity and common sense walked right out the door and I walked away with a few items I think I'd totally love.

First up is the Lumiere D'Artifices Beiges Illuminating Powder with Shimmer. This is one beautiful highlighting powder. There is a strong glitter overlay but it goes away within a few swipes with a powder brush.

With glitter overspray

Without glitter overspray

Top to Bottom: Peachy Dark Beige/Sable, Beige, Both Shades Mixed

The powder underneath is a beautiful beige with a slight peachiness to it. The darker stripes might push this into blush category for me when its winter (in fact, it would make a beautiful nude blush!) but this would be a great highlighter for darker skins. Since this is the star product of the fall collection, I have included plenty of pictures to give it the coverage it deserves! :D This is my favourite product from the fall line-up. The powder is soft and luminous and lays down on the skin in the most natural and flattering way.

Next up is Chanel Le Vernis in Frenzy. This is a beautiful taupey grey in a cream finish. The formula is fabulous, very easy to spread, not too thin and not too thick. You need two to three coats to achieve opacity. The colour is tres chic! Love.

The first photo of the polish is the most colour accurate representation of Chanel Frenzy. I have no idea why the colour looks different in the second the third photo, and I didn't notice it at all when I took these photos.

Top- Bottom: Delight, Frenzy

If you think that I've finished, then you would be wrong. I purchased all four of the new Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadows in 93 Complice (Irridescent Soft Pink), 94 Eclair (Sheer Gold), 95 Furtiv (Silvery Blue Grey) and 96 Infini (Glittery Platinum). I swatched the shadows in the following order 94, 93, 95, 96. I don't know why I did that, I must have thought that the yellow was #93.

All of these new shadows are super soft like the permanent singles. However, the new colours are really exciting to me. I've rediscovered softer colours of late (and pastels!) and I do not have a single eyeshadow like any of these in my stash at all.

I also purchased the two Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in 68 Troublant and 67 Caprice. Caprice is a baby pink gloss and Troublant is a rosy brown gloss. Both are more pigmented than the glossimers and have a soft scent. Troublant really makes my heart race, its such a beautiful fall shade. The lasting power of these glosses are not exceptional - my experience is that its good for about 3 hours before reapplying. But then if you eat less than me, it might last longer! Haha...

Aaaaaand that's it for the reviews. My recommendations from this collection are the Lumiere D'Artifices Beiges highlighting powder, Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in 68 Troublant, Le Vernis Nail Colour in Frenzy, and Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadows in Eclair (gold) and Furtif (silvery blue).

The rest are definitely nice to have, and I do like them a lot, but if you were on a budget, you should get the above first. There are a few more items in the collection (two other nail polishes, a blush, and a quad), but I didn't think they were worth purchasing to be honest.

Cindy