Chanel Neapolis Collection: Les 9 Ombres Palette Édition No1 Affresco

In the ebb and flow of tides, time awaits no man… and so before the year ends, I’d like to bring you the opening act of 2018.  And coming full circle to getting to know the person that is at the helm of Chanel beauty, Lucia Pica brings us to the city of her birth – Naples, for Spring / Summer 2018.  Forget the freezing winters, Chanel Neapolis Collection beckons in the new year with a vibrant array of colors and textures.  Most striking of all, is the limited edition Les 9 Ombres Palette Édition N^o1 Affresco!

Chanel Les 9 Ombres Palette Édition N^o1 Affresco is exceptional as it is the first time Chanel is releasing a palette that consists more than 5 shades.  And I absolutely adore the way the shades are cleverly arranged in trios that work independently and complement each other.  There is a good mix of base/liner/highlight shades, and a range of matte/satin/shine finishes.  Most importantly of all, the palette features beautiful hues of teal and marine green, alongside lush brocade gold and mink brown.

Affresco is interestingly named, because in designing this palette, Lucia Pica had intended for the shades to be buildable so that women can experiment and be spontaneous with the colors.  Applied lightly, they can provide a subtle everyday wearable wash of colors; or easily layered for an intense effect.  Each color sits beautifully on the skin without creasing nor fading, and flatters every skin tone.

I have swatched the shades according to their placement on the palette.  The shades are arranged in trios – basic mattes on the left, high shine vivids in the middle, and satin neutrals on the right.  Each of these shades are nicely pigmented, the swatches feature 2 swipes for each color.  The mattes seem slightly less intense in comparison, but they apply beautifully with a brush, and the softer intensity actually allows for easier application and blending imho.

For ease of description, let me go in clockwise direction starting from top right of palette:

• Pale shimmering pink with good opacity, works well as an inner corner highlight
• Darkened grey with a sprinkle of pink micro-shimmers and a satin finish
• Dark mink brown with a satin finish and a sprinkle of pink micro-shimmers
• Light antique gold with a satin base and filled with champagne gold micro-shimmers
• Matte black with a soft but buildable intensity
• Light barley brown with a matte finish
• Light peach-beige with a matte finish.   This color intrigues me as it shows up easily on my NC25 skintone, and has enough red tones in it to make it so much more interesting than another boring pink, and yet does not give me swollen pink eyes.  It is very wearable on its own, or as a base for one of the other shades.
• Medium teal blue in all its glorious vividness, enhanced by a wash of baby blue micro-shimmers
• Medium marine green with a strong yellow base and some pale gold micro-shimmers

I am so inspired by Affresco, and have created so many different eye looks with it over the past month, some of you already cleverly spied it in action on an earlier post… and here is the closeup:

For this eye look, I simply worked in thirds, using the antique gold in the inner third of my lid, followed by the marine green in the middle and darkened grey on the outer third.  I used a bit of the matte black as a liner along the outer half of the top and bottom lash lines to provide a bit more definition, and finished around the inner corner with the gold.

Here is the full makeup look…

The teal blue created a rather different effect – one that is cooler, and when applied lightly almost silvery:

I started with a light dusting of the matte black all over my lid, concentrating more on the outer corner for a smokey effect.  Thereafter, I quickly layered on the teal blue, this was just one thin layer as I was going for a more muted silvery effect.  I added an additional pat of the teal in the middle to make the color pop just a little bit.  Lined bottom lash line with matte black, and finished with shimmery pale pink in inner corner.

Here is the full look:

And just to show you that Affresco is not just about the blue-green duo, here is a stunning bronze look that swept my breath away:

The full makeup look is even more striking…

I have so much more that I’d love to show you, but I will reserve them for the ensuing posts.  There are full swatches of the entire collection to go through, and I just can’t wait to tell you all about the amazing Poudre À Levres!  So keep your eyes peeled!!

_{This post featured a product that was generously provided for my consideration.  Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.}