A Soft, Pretty Ballerina From La Perle de Chanel Collection for Spring 2015

Today is the eve of Chinese New Year, which is traditionally a celebration of spring, the mark of fresh beginnings. And there is nothing more appropriate to talk about on the blog than the latest Spring 2015 La Perle de Chanel Collection!

Typically Chanel releases a special Asia-exclusive makeup range in the spring, about two months after the main collection launches worldwide, but this year the collection is also made available on Chanel.com. La Perle de Chanel provides a lovely counterpoint to the unexpectedly bold looks from the earlier Reverie Parisienne Collection. Inspired by the graceful world of ballet, La Perle de Chanel features delicate eyes, soft rosy cheeks and fresh lips. The overall look is very harmonious, both eyes and lips are well balanced, neither overshadowing the other. To capture that spotlight though, there is a pop of glimmering metallic interjected.

As a complete collection, this is probably my favorite from Chanel so far, and it was with great difficulty that I narrowed my picks to 3 items from the collection – Les 4 Ombres #248 Tisse Rhapsodie (limited edition), Stylo Yeux Waterproof in #916 Perle de Lune (limited edition), and La Crème Blush de Chanel #80 Invitation (repromote).

La Perle de Chanel Les 4 Ombres Eyeshadow Quad #248 Tisse Rhapsodie draws on Chanel’s classic formula of a purple with pink. As a self-confessed purple addict, I thought I had overdosed on so much purples over the past 2 years that I have seen them all (and probably owned them all too!), but I found Tisse Rhapsodie to be completely irresistible! And the reason for that was the stunning shimmering charcoal that is surprisingly complex.

Swatches from left to right correspond to shades on palette in clockwise direction starting from top left:

• Top left: light-medium cool-toned pink with a frosted finish. When swatched dry, it turned out slightly sheer but buildable. This semi-opacity makes this a wonderful layering shade to create more depth to the darker shades. Also, remember this new formula of Les 4 Ombres can be used wet, so that is an option for those seeking greater opacity.
• Top right: light pink with a frosted finish. This had better opacity than the top left shade, and gives an immediate brightening pop when used on the inner corners of the eye.  It blends out easily and gives a soft highlighting effect when used under the brow bone.
• Bottom right: dark charcoal with a golden sheen and very fine multi-colored shimmers. It is a soft take on black, and not as cold as grey, therefore providing an ideal base for the other shades in Tisse Rhapsodie.
• Bottom left: medium-dark warm-toned purple with a satin finish.  There is some fine shimmers in this shade which lends the color greater depth.

To complement the shimmery charcoal in Tisse Rhapsodie, La Perle de Chanel includes a limited edition Stylo Yeux Waterproof in #916 Perle de Lune. I’ve found the quality of Chanel Stylo Yeux to vary quite a bit between the shades, and some of the limited edition ones were particularly dry and stiff (for example True Blue from Chanel’s Summer 2013 L’ete Papillon Collection). Perle de Lune, on the other hand, is quite possibly the softest and smoothest Stylo Yeux that I’ve ever tested! It is a shimmering taupe that leans towards purple, making it perfect for layering with Tisse Rhapsodie.

For a pop of theatrical zing to the eyes, there is a limited edition Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow #102 Mysterio. Mysterio is a straight laced, center of the line, silver filled the lots of metallic shimmers. Personally, I don’t find it particularly complex, certainly not the way other Illusion d’Ombres have intrigued me, and it frightens me a little. However, I have seen it in action – just a tiny dash in the inner corner of the eyes, or just a light dab on the center of the eye. It gives that instant shine that will draw all eyes to you.

And here are the swatches of Perle de Lune and Mysterio next to Tisse Rhapsodie to give you a better idea of how they coordinate:

The La Perle de Chanel Collection also includes a limited edition Joues Contraste Powder Blush #250 Crescendo.

Crescendo is a medium pink that pulls just slightly warm-toned on me even though it doesn’t appear that way in the pan. I don’t own this so I can’t tell you how it performs in real life, but when I first swatched it, it felt sheer and less pigmented than some of the other Joues Contraste blushes.

Given its success last year, Chanel has re-introduced for a limited time, the Le Blush Crème #80 Invitation. Invitation was actually a repromote from last year, although I didn’t remember seeing it for some unspeakable reason. It is an incredibly gorgeous peach pink, not as pink as Affinite nor coral like Presage, but somewhere in between.  On my skin it looks fresh and healthy, very much my skin but better. What makes it special is the sprinkling of micro-shimmers that I’ve not seen in any of the other permanent Le blush Crème de Chanel, which basically melts into the skin when blended to give a luminous finish.

Although when swatched, Invitation seems quite pink and very shimmery, when blended out properly, it is the most wonderful cream blush evaahh! Just to put things into context, I used to own 3 of these cream blushes from Chanel, and recently destashed 2 of them because I just didn’t feel for them at all (would have sold the 3^rd but Fantastic is limited edition so it stays).

There is also a limited edition 5-color lip palette, 1 Rouge Allure lipstick in #158 Virevoltante, and 2 Aqualumiere Glosses #91 Tutu and #92 Corset. But as usual, you’d have to look to a better blogger for swatches of those as I’m (a) too lazy, and (b) have too many lipsticks to last a lifetime #onepairoflipsonly, and (c) was immobilized by the goo-goo-gaa-gaa-ing over Tisse Rhapsodie.

And before I dash out the door for my reunion dinner with the family, here is a LOTD featuring Tisse Rhapsodie on the eyes, and Invitation on the cheeks!

On face: Estee Lauder Perfectionist Foundation, Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultra Radiance Concealer, Guerlain Meteorites Compact #03. Also wearing: Surratt Artistique Blush in Grisaille for contouring, YSL Desir du Jour for highlighting, Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Sculpting lipsticks Dominant and Infamous on lips.

A closer look at Tisse Rhapsodie:

For this EOTD, I wore the shimmery charcoal in the crease, and patted the medium-dark purple in the outer corner. Light-medium pink all over the rest of the lid, and light pink in inner corners to highlight. Lined upper and lower lash lines with Stylo Yeux Perle de Lune.

And that’s all folks!  Have a blessed Year of the Sheep to all those who are celebrating, and for the rest of the world, happy hump-day! I may be gone for the rest of the week as I stuff myself silly with goodies!!!  Baaaah!