Is Stunning… Stunning?

Chanel Stunning Rouge Coco Lipstick ($30.00 for 0.12 oz.) is a pearly peach-beige with subtle champagne shimmer and a rather glossy sheen.   It applied smoothly and pretty evenly, and it felt more moisturizing than other Rouge Cocos I’ve tried in the past.  It’s comfortable to wear, and this lighter shade lasted beautifully  under a glossimer (over seven hours). It’s a very lovely barely-there shade, and I think it will flatter all skin tones.  Though it’s soft in color and a little sheer, it is versatile; it can be worn on its own for an everyday look or layered underneath a more pigmented gloss to add some oomph.

I think the name sort of gave me high hopes, but the color itself was a bit of a let down. I think with a name like “Stunning,” a bolder, really show-stopping kind of shade was in order.   Instead, it’s much more of a my-lips-but-better hue. I’m not sold on it, even though it looks nice on, just because it’s not my cup of tea.  I can see why this sold out, though!

I would say it’s similar to Chanel Chintz (pinker), Chanel Mythic (a bit lighter), Guerlain Gabrielle (pinker), Urban Decay Peroxide (frostier, pinker), and Smashbox Charming (peachier).

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• Product: 29/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: Well, if you’re able to track it down and you like subtle shades that are similar to your lip color, you may enjoy Stunning. If you’re more into opaque lip colors, I would skip.

AVAILABILITY: Sold out!

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Chanel Stunning Rouge Coco Lipstick

Chanel Stunning Rouge Coco Lipstick

Chanel Stunt Rouge Allure Laque

Chanel SoHo Story: Stunt

First, I must warn you: I LOVE ROUGE ALLURE LAQUES. I received a few to review when they first came onto the market, and I literally ran out the next day and bought four more. (I’ve reviewed all shades to date here.) I get four to six hours of wear with the formula, which I find rich in color, lightweight, and comfortable to wear; they’re moisturizing enough to keep my lips in good shape whenever I wear ‘em.

Chanel Stunt Rouge Allure Laque ($32.00 for .20 oz.) is a pink-kissed plum with a very creamy look, slight glossiness, and rich, opaque color. LOVE! This is a flattering shade on both cooler and warmer skin tone. It is also such a needed shade to the Rouge Allure Laque range, which makes it a real shame that it’s a limited edition color. Stunt is such a wearable shade of pink/plum that’s not too light or dark, nor is it bright pink like Phoenix.  So happy I bought it–now, if only Chanel would add about eight more shades to the range and make those all permanent…

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• Product: 29/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 5/5
• Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: If you like opaque lip color that feels lightweight and never sticky, you might like Rouge Allure Laques.

AVAILABILITY: Chanel

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Chanel Stunt Rouge Allure Laque

Chanel Stunt Rouge Allure Laque

Chanel SoHo Story: Stupendous

Chanel Stupendous Eyeshadow Quad ($56.00 for 0.24 oz.) is new and limited edition for Chanel’s SoHo Story Collection, which celebrated the grand reopening of SoHo Boutique. It contains for shimmering shades: a pink champagne, plum-tinged gray-brown, burgundy brown, and icy blue with silver sheen. This is one of the more pigmented Chanel quads I’ve crome across where every shade looked as rich and pigmented wet as it did dry. (Typically, products always look more intense when used wet.)

All four shades seemed rather cool-toned to me, and after using everything together, the entire collection is definitely on the cooler side of the spectrum. Though if you’re warmed, it’s still a very wearable set of products. It leans cool but it’s not so cool where I’d be leery, but just because a product leans the opposite of your skin tone doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t wear it. It’s all a matter of what you pair it with! For instance, try doing one cool area (either lips, cheeks, or eyes) and pairing with two warmer areas (whichever two you didn’t use a cool product on!).

I posted this look earlier in the week. Though I wasn’t sure the blue was going to work paired with the other quad colors, it worked out in the end. I do think it veers on being overly frosty/shimmering, though. As a way to highlight the inner tearduct, I like it, but those wary of ultra frosty products, this might be one of those danger! kind of shades.

Stupendous is consistent with Chanel’s quads–soft, buttery consistency that feels like silk and blends easily. The formula is such that the powder binds well to the lid, even without a primer (though, don’t expect it to last 18 hours if you have oilier lids!), though I’d never wear eyeshadow without a good base! (That’s beauty blasphemy!!) Some readers compared this quad to Mystic Eyes, but going by the only swatches I have posted (I don’t own it), they’re not too similar.

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• Product: 28/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: I think cool-toned beauties will find this just works beautifully. For warmer skin tones, it’s not a must-have, but paired with a peach blush, I think it’d be lovely.

AVAILABILITY: Chanel

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Chanel Stupendous Eyeshadow Quad

Chanel Stupendous Eyeshadow Quad

Chanel Stupendous Eyeshadow Quad

Chanel Stupendous Eyeshadow Quad

Chanel Stupendous Eyeshadow Quad (Wet, dry, wet, dry)

Chanel Stupendous Eyeshadow Quad (Wet, dry, wet, dry)

The Most Dazzling Lips at the Ball

Chanel Star Glossimer ($27.00 for 0.19 oz.) is a sheer gloss strewn with silver and white flecks of dazzling shimmer. My lips looked so slick and wet and juicy as soon as I applied Star; I was like, “OOH, LA LA!”

And if you have not witnessed the magic that is Chanel Glossimers dancing like sunlight as it shimmers against water, I urge you to try it sometime. The effect is delightful. Star seemed to have that gorgeous shimmering effect more than other Glossimers–the way it glinted even indoors was phenomenal.

I went through some of the Glossimers I owned to see if there are comparable ones, and the closest I found was Futile (from Spring 2010), which looks more similar on than it does in a side-by-side swatch. The warmth of Futile is less noticeable when it’s worn. Star has a lot more white and silver shimmer flecks–just a smidgen brighter, but again, the difference is minute. I was also reminded of MAC Sugarrimmed Dazzleglass.

Glossimers have a medium-thick consistency that’s just a touch tacky, but I wouldn’t describe them as sticky at all. I tend to get about three to four hours of wear with these, and the other day, I wore this shade over Stunning Rouge Coco and the combo lasted quite well for eight hours (even with a meal!).

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• Product: 29/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: It’s virtually colorless on my lips, so if you prefer more pigmented glosses/shades, this is definitely a pass for you. If you love products like MAC Dazzleglass, Glossimers are totally up your alley.

AVAILABILITY: Chanel

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Chanel Star Glossimer

Chanel Star Glossimer

Chanel Star Glossimer

Chanel SoHo Le Vernis: Should You?

Chanel SoHo de Chanel Highlighter & Blush ($65.00 for 0.45 oz.) is the star of the collection, is it not? It’s easily the prettiest, with the raised SoHo lettering and design of the powder. It has three distinct shades: rosy brown (it doesn’t read plum on me, though Chanel describes it as such), pale powder pink (but don’t expect to use that shade on its own–it’s such a thin strip!), and satiny pale white with subtle pink undertones (this is the highlighter). If you mix them altogether, the result is a lightly shimmered, glowy mix of muted rose.

Surprisingly, it swatches rather sheerly, but it applied much better with a blush brush on my cheeks–it was more pigmented than I anticipated (based on the subtler swatches). I actually loved the luminous sheen in the finish when they were swirled together–it’s glowy and rosy without being too pink. It is on the cooler side, but I think it still worked on my warmer skin tone, because it does have a touch of brown in it.

You could use the blush/highlighter shades separately if so desired, as both pieces are large enough to do so. The highlighter has such a fine sheen that I could see it being dusted all over as a finishing powder.  Overall, the powder applied really smoothly and evenly, and it was a cinch to blend out.

At $65, it’s not exactly a necessity item, but Chanel packed a surprising amount of product into this compact–a whopping 0.45 oz.–as compared to their blushes which weigh in at a mere 0.14 oz. By the ounce, it’s cheaper than NARS, can you believe it? This is one of those rare moments in beauty where I’m awarding Chanel 10/10 on value!

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• Product: 27/30
• Value: 10/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 5/5

RECOMMENDATION: Chanel collectors should be pleased with the way SoHo looks and feels but also how smoothly it applies. For those less motivated by the brand itself, if you pick it up, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed–but don’t sell a kidney for it or anything!

AVAILABILITY: Chanel

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Chanel SoHo de Chanel Highlighter & Blush

Chanel SoHo de Chanel Highlighter & Blush

Chanel SoHo de Chanel Highlighter & Blush

Chanel SoHo de Chanel Highlighter & Blush

Chanel SoHo de Chanel Highlighter & Blush

Chanel SoHo Le Vernis: Should You?

From Chanel’s exclusive and limited edition SoHo Story, we have two new and limited edition shades of polish. I am a fan of Chanel’s polish–I have no issues with wear or the formula (typically), and I think they often create unique, inspiring shades. Each retails for $25, and last I checked, were still available online.

• Steel is a charcoal gray-black with silvery gray micro-shimmer. When the flash fired, it also illuminated flashes of teal, violet, and green micro-shimmer, but I really didn’t see the effect of these in natural light. It reminded me of a subtler, more micro-shimmered version of Nubar Night Sky (which is also matte). This doesn’t seem like an overly unique shade, and though I can’t name any other specific dupes, my stash and archives aren’t as exhaustive as I’d like for dupe-finding purposes. Two coats.
• Strong is a deep, dark burgundy-brown with brighter burgundy micro-shimmer. Like Steel, when the flash fired, flecks of copper, amber, and burgundy micro-shimmer were noticeable. I feel like I’ve seen this shade before, but after half an hour of going through my photos, I couldn’t find anything.

The formula on these was consistent with Chanel overall–on the thicker side but very pigmented. I included a photo of Strong with only one coat to show you just how intense the color is. I still find that I can never get away with just one coat and always go for a second. Though I like both shades, they don’t inspire me as much as other past shades have (like the recent Paradoxal).

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• Product: 29/30
• Value: 6/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: The formula was smooth and easy to apply with plenty of pigmentation. I’m not sold on these being over-the-top unique as many Chanel shades often are, though.

AVAILABILITY: Chanel

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Chanel Steel Le Vernis

Chanel Steel Le Vernis

Chanel Steel Le Vernis

Chanel Steel Le Vernis

Chanel Steel Le Vernis (Flash)

Chanel Strong Le Vernis

Chanel Strong Le Vernis

Chanel Strong Le Vernis

Chanel Strong Le Vernis

Chanel Strong Le Vernis

Chanel Strong Le Vernis

Chanel Strong Le Vernis (Just one coat!)