Chanel Convoitise (90) Illusion d'Ombre Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches
Chanel Convoitise (90) Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow
Chanel Convoitise (90) Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow ($36.00 for 0.14 oz.) is a softly warmed-up, pale gold with a frosted, slightly metallic, finish. It has hints of yellow, but it’s not a strong, true yellow gold–it is muted and not quite neutral but close. MAC Greenluxe #2 is more metallic. Disney Charming is lighter. Disney Sand in the Glass is less shimmery. Giorgio Armani #18 is similar. NARS Hollywoodland is darker. MAC Retrospeck is similar. L’Oreal Eternal Sunshine is darker, yellower. Lancome Eternal Gold is darker, yellower. Chane lApparence is a bit darker. See comparison swatches.
It’s a new and limited edition shade exclusive to Chanel.com, and later on, Nordstrom. Fans of Chanel’s cream eyeshadow formula will love the way this looks and feels on the lid, because it’s soft, smooth, sparkling, and easy to apply. It also had buildable coverage that could go from sheer to mostly opaque, as it layered well, but it was easily blended out, too. I didn’t have any issues with fall out or creasing over a nine hour period (without a primer), and it has the type of finish that’s sparkling, shimmering, and eye-opening. I can definitely see it working as a one-and-done shadow that gets patted on as you’re walking out the door.
Convoitise (90)
LELimited Edition. $32.00.
Chanel Convoitise (90) Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow
Chanel Convoitise (90) Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow
Chanel Convoitise (90) Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow
Chanel Convoitise (90) Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow
Chanel Convoitise (90) Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow
Chanel Convoitise (90) Illusion d’Ombre Eyeshadow
I just have to say, I believe that if this were a drugstore product it would have received a lower rating.
This looks incredibly sheer. It may not be the case, but it seems that the brand influences the rating.
Hi Michelle!
On the left is the product swatched normally, and on the right, it’s been sheered out to show how it can be used as wash. It’s pretty much opaque in the left swatch! My only guess is that maybe your monitor is showing less of a difference between my skin tone and the product (because it is similar to my skin tone!). But if you check out the review, I mentioned that it was mostly opaque – if it had been sheer or required tons of product to get it to be opaque, all of those things would have been stated in the review! I’ve given Chanel plenty of low grades – all over the alphabet. Even within the Illusion d’Ombre formula, at least two shades to my memory have gotten C+ grades.
Thank you so much for the detailed response! I love your blog (check it a couple times a day) I was just wondering. I have seen a good number of low grades, but it seemed like being a drugstore product it gets graded much more harshly. But if that is not the case then I deeply apologize. Thanks for all the hard work you put into this blog, it really helps us with deciding what is worthwhile. Saved me a ton of money! Again, thank you for the reply!
Hi Michelle!
Plenty of drugstore products get good grades, and of course, some get bad grades – the same is true with high-end. If there was ever a bias, which I really try to avoid and hope there isn’t (which is why I look at what the brand says about the product and how it should perform and why there is no value/price considered in the rating), it would be against high-end, because with the amount of money you fork over, it should be good, and there’s really little that aggravates me as much as a really awful high-end product. One of the reasons I took value out of the equation was I really wanted the product to stand on its merits – I wanted readers to know that an A for a product that costs $1 is the same weight and meaning as an A for a product that costs $45. One person’s budget might be $10 a month, and another’s $100, but you should always get what you want for your money and feel good about what you’ve spent. We can definitely be like, “Well, for $5, I don’t mind reapplying more often,” and not being okay with a more costly product getting away with that, but I think that’s something each person has to determine, rather than me (what is/isn’t something you can overlook – like I hate reapplying personally!), so you won’t see me giving a pass to a cheaper product if it doesn’t live up to its claims. But you also won’t see me justifying an expensive product that under-performs – the last thing I want is someone to buy something on my recommendation and hate it. Even when I really love a pricey product, I am very hesitant to get too excited over it or highly recommend it, because I get nervous! I take it to heart when a reader buys something and doesn’t like it because of me.
A good budget-friendly example would be Maybelline, which rates fairly well overall from what I’ve tried, but their Color Tattoo range has been more miss than hit with the limited edition releases, so those haven’t done as well as the permanent range. I base all of my ratings around what the brand says, and I try to stick with that and avoid assuming (but sometimes brands are vague, so then I do my best), so nothing is getting graded any more or less harshly than whatever the brand says.
Thanks for your feedback!
Also, thank you for your kind comments! 🙂 I am honored and humbled to be able to do this everyday, which is why I take it a little too seriously sometimes.
Maybelline’s CT in Barely branded seems similar and I LOVE it, I even find myself using it as a shadow base lately!
Chanel has this signature color in every collection, I actually find that this color is a dupe for Inglot eyeshadow in AMC 07 :D. LIKE EXACT.
As much as I love the Illusions d’ombre, this doesn’t look at all special. I’ve got so many similar shadows (cream, powder and pencil) that are just too like this and, perhaps, even better. Despite the name, I have no “lust” for this shadow (sorry, couldn’t resist!)
It’s a more dupable shade – it’s going to be someone’s HG and go-to shade for quick, everyday washes, and then it’s someone else’s, “Boringggg!”
I have no issues with “boring” (after all, nothing gets me quite as delighted as a good neutral – I’m just waiting for Bare Minerals’ Power Neutrals palette like it was a necessity of life! So I tend to embrace “boring”) it’s just that at that price (and bear in mind that I’m in Canada so the price is somewhat higher), if I already have dupes, I can put my “convoitise” on the side-lines!
Totally understand 🙂 I agree – if you lots of dupes, there’s never a need for another of the same thing!
Hi Christine,
Have you owned any of these Illusion shadows for a while? I’m curious because I see in the product shot it looks like the cream has “shrunk” a little? Like the size of the glass is noticeably bigger than the glob of cream shadow and it makes me think maybe it has shrunk and possibly dries out with time? I think this looks lovely (and your grade makes me like it even more!!) but I wouldn’t want to invest in this if it will become even more dry/shrunken and become hard to use over the weeks/months.
Thanks as always for your help, your blog helps my decisions so much!!
Hi Sarah!
I haven’t had any issues – a lot of them tend to arrive slightly off the jar (and similar formulas have done this like Buxom’s Stay-There and MAC Electric Cool). I think it has to do with heat, as they tend to stick together as a product and come off the glass. The texture is very sponge-like, so you can push and press them… a bit like Play-doh in a way. I just checked Illusoire and Emerveille, which I’ve had since they first launched (June 2011), and they feel fine – definitely not dried out!
I own three of the original shades that were purchased within a month of them coming out. Epatant (the silvery-green) and Mirifique (sparkly black) have kept their texture. However, Illusoire (smoky purple) dried out within 6 months of purchase. All were stored in the exact same way (upside down in drawers). It still usable (as was pointed out to me by the Chanel sales rep when I attempted to exchange it at the counter), but it’s not the same.
If you can find a suitable dupe for the color/finish of these then, I would go for the dupe.
Crazy suggestion but have you tried popping in the microwave just to melt everything together? It worked with a MAC paint pot and a gel liner that became a bit dried up. Maybe you could try it with a small bit first though, as I’ve never tried it with Chanel’s formulation.
i purchased both of the blue shades when they were released last year and had a similar problem. (My shipment was held up in a UPS warehouse here in MS [long story hate UPS] so they became hot.) They had already sold out when I received it but chanel did offer a refund.
But anyway you can “stir it up” I guess you’d say. I placed on a stainless steel palette and using a spatula reworked it then placed it back in the pot. Some time emollient based products will separate over time or because of the temperature(both heat and cold) making them appear unusable when in fact they aren’t.
Let me clarify one thing in my post-u can’t stir it like its a cake-that’ll interfere with the mousse like qualities-u fold it gently until you get the desired texture.
I have mirifique from the original launch (which I guess was 2 years ago now!) and it came looking a bit “shrunken” like this one, but it definitely hasn’t dried out…I was using it just the other day and the texture was exactly the same. I didn’t bother storing it upside down or anything. 🙂
I have been collecting these since they first came out, and IME, these do shrink and dry out with time. That is not really surprising when you read the list of ingredients — Isododecane seems to be the main solvent, and it is known to evapourate easily in contact with air. Btw, Convoitise has been available since March/April in southeast asia — has it just been released in the US now?
Come on Chanel this color has been done to death! Couldn’t they be a little more creative. I love the Illusion d’Ombre eyeshadow formula wish they would put out more unique colors though!
I know the other posters seem to find this dull, but I’m pretty stoked about this release. I avoided apparance and vision on color and grittiness issues. I love the slightly more skin like tone of this, ans think it will be so easy to wear– I don’t find very yellowy gold tones flattering on my skin. I actually have the Armani eyes to kill shade you mentioned Christine, and I’m still going to get this to add to my other illusion d’ombres. Mine have shrunk a little, but it hasn’t affected quality or usability on them one bit. Love ’em and expect I will this one too.
Do you have pink undertones, Megan? I was thinking that anyone who doesn’t like yellowy golds might like this, because it still has a gold look but without the stronger yellow tones!
I definitely am pink undertoned 🙂 Yellowy golds on me tend not to work, just like orangey coppers and bronzes. They look lovely on lots of other people but instead of being pretty sunset sultriness, it just looks like clash of ill-suited contrasts. I think convoitise will be right up my alley.
I love this it´s gorgeous! I hope it will be widely available in the future 😀 .
I really like this shade. It looks like something I would reach for daily.
I purchased this when it was still exclusive to Saks (not even Chanel.com had stocked it then!) and I love it! Great for “Oh crap, I have five minutes to leave for work!” looks, and I bet it’ll look great when combined with other shades.
So weird! I was told this was a Nordstrom exclusive, LOL!
Glad you got it, though!