Recenter and find your Desert Dream with Chanel SS2020
Trends come and go, but generally speaking, Spring trends of years passed tended to embrace icy pastel florals. Personally, I am glad to see that is not the case this year, because I am neither fair (not even in the Asian context) nor do I carry pastels well. Instead, Chanel has taken a rather interesting point of reference for its Spring-Summer 2020 Desert Dream collection… Desert themes frequently show up in summer even fall collections, but sprintime in the desert is certainly something new! It is a kind of silent solitude, scattered minerals across the raw natural beauty of the landscape.
Taking a departure from the strong smokey eyes and glittering sculpted cheeks of last Holiday 2019 [see here], Chanel’s Spring-Summer 2020 look is softer and warmer. The cheeks are touched by a kind of faraway light, gently glistening in the sun. To achieve that effect, Chanel has 2 products to offer…
Éclat du Désert is a warm peach illuminating powder that creates a soft glow on the skin without obvious glitters. The palette has a beautiful zen-like sand dune etched on it, complete with slight undulations. The powder itself is very very soft, the tiniest press of a brush on the surface picks up quite a lot, and I suggest tapping away excess before buffing it onto your cheek bones to prevent fallout. But the overall effect is very natural, giving that imperceptible lift to your features.
The Baume Essentiel which was first introduced last spring [see here] returns this year in a new warm-toned shade called Golden Light. This is a creamy multi-use stick that is designed to bring a dewy glow to the face, eyes and lips. The formula does not have too much slip so wouldn’t cause your makeup to move around, but at the same time it is easy to blend into your skin for a flawless finish. I wasn’t so convinced by the 2 transparent shades last year, and whilst Golden Light is so lightly tinted you can hardly see any color, I personally find it brings a much nicer warmth and depth to my complexion.
I’m always drawn to new Chanel Les 4 Ombres, they are easily one of my favourite eyeshadow formula around. There are 2 new shades this season, and I think you can easily wear these all through spring and summer. Ditching those age-old frosty pastels, Chanel gives us soft warm hues to liven up those eyes. I received the palette called Warm Memories, and that seemed to be the most popular all over social media.
Chanel Les 4 Ombres Warm Memories is beautifully designed for those of us who are far from pale, and wonderfully versatile across seasons and occassions. Flipping through Lucia Pica’s inspiration images, it is clear that Warm Memories was designed to reflect the romantic mauves and peachy hues of the desert.
Warm Memories pulls slightly warm-toned, but still wears well on cooler-toned complexions like mine. The shades, in clockwise order from top left, are:
- Medium warm-toned mauve with a matte finish
- Light neutral-toned mauve with a satin finish and some pale pink and lavender micro-shimmers
- Light golden coral with a shimmering satin finish
- Dark brownish plum with a matte finish though sprinkled with sparse purple microshimmers
Here is an eye makeup look featuring Chanel Les 4 Ombres Warm Memories:
I first applied the medium mauve all over my lid, followed by the dark plum on the outer corner, blending into my crease. Next I tapped the light shimmering mauve on the center of the lid, and popped a bit of the coral in the inner corner as highlight. I also lined my upper and lower lash lines with Chanel Stylo et Contour in Contour Brun.
There are 2 new Chanel Stylo et Contour shades Spring-Summer 2020 season. These are jumbo twist-up eye kohls that are capable of lining the eyes and laying down color as needed. I reviewed the formula when they were first launched, you may wish to check out the review here. The 2 new shades – Contour Brun and Contour Mauve are easy to wear neutrals that will see lots of action through the coming year.
I neglected to swatch another surprising eye makeup item from this Desert Dream collection alongside the other 2 above, but I’d like to draw your attention to the new Chanel Ombre Premiere Laque. This is a brand new product that is released this Spring 2020 to little fanfare, but joins the permanent eyeshadow singles that are offered by Chanel. The applicator is a flat sponge tip that applies the liquid formula well, though it does tend to pick a little bit too much for my liking, so I suggest applying it to the back of your hand or sheering it out on a tissue or side of the bottle before direct application. I found it incredibly easy to blend by lightly tapping with a finger or brush, and it sets within seconds and remains budgeproof all day. The shade Rose Quartz is a very pretty coppery orange which reinforces the golden coral in Warm Memories perfectly. Here is an eye look that I created by first laying down Rose Quartz on my lids, followed by a dusting of the coral shade from Warm Memories, finished with Stylo et Contour in Contour Brun on the outer corners and Contour Mauve on the inner lower lash line.
To round up the collection, there are 2 lipsticks to complement the collection. Chanel Rouge Allure Rouge Brulant is a warm-toned salmon red with a soft velvety luminous finish. It goes on easily and is opaque in a single swipe, but it does dry down to a more matte finish as the hours progress. I get some wearing off in the middle of the lips from drinking, but it generally stays put without leaving stains on my glasses and lasts all day if left untouched.
Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Extreme Endless is a darker warm-toned red with a velvety matte finish. It is richly pigmented so you may wish to feather out the edges using a lip brush unless you like a very defined contour. For such a matte and saturated lipstick, I was surprised it applied so easily and wears comfortably. I did not find it drying out my lips, and the lipstick stays put all day if left untouched.
Here is a full makeup look featuring Warm Memories on my lids, Eclat du Desert on cheeks and nose-ridge, and Endless on my lips. For a bit of fun, I also added a dash of Ombre Premiere Laque Rose Quartz to the center of my lips so you can see a bit of dimensional shine there!
Here is another featuring the 2nd eye look shown above, with Ombre Premiere Laque Rose Quartz as a base and finished with both shades of Stylo et Contour. On the lips I am wearing Rouge Brulant.
Chanel Desert Dream Collection for Spring-Summer 2020 is out in stores now. Have you already checked it out?
This post featured products that were generously provided for my consideration. Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.
