Sunday 30 January 2011

Chanel Spring 2011 Collection: Les Perles De Chanel

The Ombres Perleés de Chanel Eyeshadow Palette (£39) contains 5 metallic eye shadows with multi coloured shimmer. The colours are a sheer golden toned white, warm pink champagne, charcoal violet, greyed green, and smoky grey. Overall I’d say they lean cool. The colours are complex and beautiful however this palette is disappointing.
The formula is in between a powder and cream finish. To me its like they tried to get the texture of the Armani eyes to kill shadows but it went a bit wrong. I find application difficult as they adhered to the skin straight away rather than being easy to spread. As the texture is so soft they do not layer at all well and ball up. This is workable as long as I don't layer or blend the shades into each other. My biggest stumbling block is the wear of the product. I have three eye primers all by different brands and not one can get these to last past four hours on me without creasing and colour fade and I don’t even have oily eyelids.
Here's a close up of how the shadows look after they have been used which will hopefully show you what I mean about the soft texture.

Regard Perlé Quadra Eye Shadow Palette (£35.74) contains a warm pink, sheer white with a golden tone, peachy beige and dark forest green.
The finish of the lighter shades is more of a subtle shimmery sheen, whereas the green has slight micro glitter and a dryer texture. I bought this for the green but on application it almost doesn't register as green which is a shame.
I have bought quite a lot of Chanel varnish over the years but I always buy them for the colour rather than the formula, which I find requires 3/4 coats and is prone to chipping. Black Pearl (£17.20) is a graphite with a heavy green/teal tone. The colour is stunning and this is easily my stand out from the collection and something I would recommend.

In Hindsight I should have just got the nail polish but I had put my name down for these items so that I could buy them a few days before the official launch (for fear of them selling out) not something I would normally do and it did make me feel like I was duty bound to buy them.

16 comments:

  1. I went to Selfridges yesterday and had a play with the Ombres Perlees palette and quite liked how it swatched on my hand but as I remembered you commenting that it didn't wear well I wasn't tempted to get it. Agree Black Pearl is the standout - it's stunning!
    On another note, I couldn't go to Selfridges and not check out Le Metier de Beaute after your very tempting posts - I have to agree about the Les Artistes palette - so gorgeous in real life, and even though I am not usually a fan of lip palettes I loved this and ended up getting it. I have crossed the path of no return! :)

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  2. Oh dear, I'm so sorry these did not work out for you! They look so very pretty, such a shame...I swatched them the other day, but they were too cool for me. I was really lusting over the Glossimer but I was a day early apparently...
    Regarding your question about a spring collection from Le Metier, I was told that they would not be putting out something new for the time being, focusing instead on suggesting layering combinations of existing single eyeshadows.
    Interestingly though, the SA mentioned that they are working on the product selection they will offer to the UK market. Oh, and she did not think they would be getting the Christmas Kaleidoscope either.
    Have a great week hon!
    Nina x

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  3. Black pearl look stunning. i agree Chanel polishes are amazing in terms of the shades they offer but rubbish in terms of staying power!

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  4. I've been on the fence about this palette, even though all the reviews have been glowing. The EOTD pics on forums have not been very impressive! Thanks for posting your review, expressing a different perspective that is helpful.

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  5. Black pearl is definitely a gorgeous color, it's the only "trendy" dark nailpolish I own!! I quite like the Peche Nacree too, nice pearly peach. The nailpolish colors echoing the quad is quite cool in my opinion, as pointed out by other bloggers!

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  6. The palette looks as if the shadows maybe too buttery for their own good, shame as the colours are lovely. The quad is nice but again would be nicer if the green was still green when it was on your skin! Luckily Black Pearl seems to live up to expectations, not seen it in the flesh though and it does look a bit "frost" in some of the pics I have seen which would make me run a mile!

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  7. I have just got this month's Red magazine (March even though it is not Feb until tomorrow but what the heck) and there is a supertempting pic all beautiful and in hi def of the Regard Perle compact, it is the first time that I have been drawn to an eye palatte in ages, the colours look phenomenal. I come to your post Replica, someone who's opinion I know is not influenced by how many pages of their magazine have been "bought" by Chanel for space and who's opionion I trust and I get a decent and honest review. Increasingly I go to my favourite beauty bloggers for their opinions and this just underlines my point. Thankyou R. Jan x

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  8. Hi Meeta,
    I'm so glad you liked the Les Artistes palette enough to buy it, I can really see myself using this palette up. Now I wonder if this will be the start of a costly LMDB phase? ;)

    Hi Nina,
    I do wonder what is going on with LMDB, I would have thought they would just offer the same products as they have in america, wonder if its not doing well here?
    I think the Chanel SA's may get in trouble for selling early if found out as I know my one had to scan the boxes inside a bag and put it on a lower level so noone saw, was quite odd! x

    Hi Imo,
    Glad its not just me that thinks that :) I can see black pearl selling out very fast.

    Hi Joolz,
    Thanks. Yes I think EOTD's can be very telling sometimes, I'm probably put off a few people with some of mine I'm sure ;)

    Hi Lakshmi,
    You are right, I think the colour coordination of the palettes and nail polishes really worked well, I think it was a very well thought out collection in terms of colours and quite different to the other spring collections, I do feel like Chanel is bringing more warmth into their colllections since they got that new creative director a while back.

    Hi Debbie,
    Buttery is the right word for it. I was a bit miffed about the green, it is better when used wet as a liner, but still not how I expecting from the pan. You know I'm not sure how I would describe the finish of Black Pearl but its not frost so don't run away :)

    Hi Jan,
    Thank you for such a lovely comment, it really does mean a lot to me.
    Funnily enough since I started blogging I don't buy magazines anymore as like you I just look for the reviews/pictures on blogs where I value their opinion x

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  9. I'm sorry Ombres Perlées didn't work for you :-( I don't use them entirely on their own. For me, they are like finishing powders except for the eyes. I use them to add a soft pearl glow to my shadows or to add a luminous highlight to my eye look. To illuminate a large area, I use my Edward Bess' eye shadow brush; for precision work, I use sponge tip applicators. I know many people have been using the sponge tip applicators with great success. Bottom line: this is a beautiful embellishment to have in my stash, but it's not a necessity.

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  10. Hi Eileen,
    I will have to try using them over a shadow to see how that works, thanks for the suggestion :) It does seem the majority of people like this so I am hoping I can get better use out of it.

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  11. Hi replica

    I am still on the fence about this palette- I love the colors and the finish but I had such trouble applying it. I find patting/pressing it over my Benefit Stay Don't stray primer with my fingertips is the best bet. I didn't have trouble with it disappearing on me but then everyone is different.

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  12. Really sad to hear about the longevity of the Ombres Perlees quint...!
    Especially since we're not talking about a cheap product here...!The colours do look nice though, but then again, if the quality is sub par, that doesn't make much of a difference!!!

    I have my eyes set on the quad... hopefully it will be just as beautiful in person as it is on your swatch photo! :)

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  13. Hi Jeanie,
    I think in terms of blog posts its only mine and yours I have seen that has not given this glowing reviews. Thanks for the suggestion, I have had some good advice on application which I will try, to see if I can get it to perform better x

    Hi Tina,
    I think you are right, had it been cheaper I wouldn't have been that bothered but when you pay a certain price you have higher expectations, Chanel does seem to be a hit or miss brand for me though.
    The quad is quite nice, will be interested to see if you end up picking it up ;)

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  14. Hi again,
    I also want to say that Chanel is a hit or miss for me as well. I do like their single e/s, glossimers, lipsticks, blushes and some skincare. I have two e/s quads that everyone loves, but I don't know how to make them work for me.

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  15. I bought the quint palette too -- haven't decided on it yet -- not instant love though for sure. I'm intrigued by this polish now though!

    Michelle

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  16. Hi Joolz,
    It is always worse when everyone raves about something but you just can't get it too work, what were the two quads you weren't getting on with?

    Hi Michelle,
    The polish is my stand out. I really wanted to get the blush from the collection you did but unfortunately it contained corn starch which usually makes me itch, oh well, money saved ;)

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