Chanel Illusion d’Ombres #92 Diapason & #93 Impulsion

After my initial survey of the Chanel Spring 2014 collection (here), I didn’t think I would be picking up anything… until Kate the Driveller planted the Illusion d’Ombres in my mind.  And after swatching them for myself, I was convinced that what the rest of the Spring collections seem to be missing, is neatly packed inside these two precious little glass jars (oh, how I hate the new plastic bubble thingys that are popping up this season!).

Chanel #92 Diapason Illusion d’Ombre is a medium dark duochrome purple with multi-colored shimmers.  It almost seemed kind of silly, that I had just recently found a new home for my #83 Illusoire, only to pick up another purple Illusion d’Ombre.  But (I wished I could provide a comparison swatch, but obviously I can’t now) where Illusoire leaned more towards silver and had a grey base, Diapason has a reddish-brown base and leans more towards purple-plum.  Diapason also packs some periwinkle blue, pink, and lilac shimmers which give it the duochrome personality.  Depending on your skin tone and the light, it could appear cool / neutral (on me) / warm-toned.

Chanel #93 Impulsion Illusion d’Ombre is a sweet baby pink with frosty sparkles.  The pastel pink base is somewhat sheerer, and does need a firm hand for the color to show up.  However, I think that to be the differentiating factor as baby pinks we all have, frost-galore Impulsion does not.  Instead, you can choose to either layer on the pinks, or sweep this gently over an existing eyeshadow to bring it to the next happy place.  I know there are some references to Tom Ford glitters, but personally I don’t see much similarity at all – for starters, Impulsion is a gel with a softer texture than powder shadows; also I don’t believe there is a pink shade in the entire Tom Ford line-up that is this sweet; and the glitters are just different.

I must ‘fess up, the idea of layering one over the other did not originate from me but from Kate, and look how gorgeous!!!  But just in case you were wondering how to wear one multi-shimmer dreamcoat and frosty Barbie pink to the office, this is how I do it:

In case you are trying to decide between one or the other, Impulsion is limited edition whereas Diapason is joining the permanent line-up.

xoxo