CHANEL – Les 4 Ombres #42 Séduction

 

How fitting that my husband would lavish me with some major seduction on Valentine’s Day … of the CHANEL variety! (amongst others …) For Spring 2013, CHANEL has launched a new capsule collection revolving around eye products, including 2 new eyeshadow quads (#41 Fascination reviewed here), coloured Le Volume mascaras (review forthcoming), eyeliners (happy to see ‘Grenat’ re-released – the most amazing burgundy shade), and 2 Illusion d’Ombre hues;  Convoitise – a neutral gold & brand new (reviewed here), and Apparition – a denim blue, and a re-release (reviewed here). Knowing my beauty tastes quite well by now, my husband chose #42 Séduction for me – the perfect gift from my love (amongst others …)!

CHANEL #42 Séduction

CHANEL #42 Séduction

CHANEL #42 Séduction

CHANEL #42 Séduction

CHANEL Les 4 Ombres #42 Séduction – (CAD $62.00) an eyeshadow quad consisting of 4 complimentary warm-leaning hues in the round pan European baked format (which simply means that these shades can be applied either dry or dampened, without any ensuing product distortion). All four have an excellent colour payoff, made slightly more vibrant when applied wet, their finely milled powder leaves minimal fallout behind, and all shades are easily picked up using a variety of brushes.

• top left shade  - is a mid-tone burgundy whose shimmer only really comes out when dampened
• top right shade – is a pink-tinged champagne with slightly chunkier shimmer – still very workable and smooth laying
• bottom left shade – a soft apricot with ultra fine shimmer
• bottom right shade – a matte chestnut brown with rich pigmentation

I absolutely love the versatility of this compact and having played with it for a few days now, I found it easy to achieve a simple & fresh-looking daytime look by using the 2 lighter hues (with & without the darker colours used as liners), a unique burgundy smokey eye for more impact – still very wearable, and even a more dramatic evening look by layering the darkest shade with the burgundy applied wet for visual impact. Another plus is how these shades made my green eyes completely stand out – with very little effort, although I can see the colours of this quad working beautifully with every eye shade & skin tone.

I find that while CHANEL eyeshadows have decent staying power, my lids are slightly oily so I definitely need to layer primer first, which gave these shadows an easy 10 hour lifespan before I noticed any creasing.

CHANEL #42 Séduction

CHANEL #42 Séduction

CHANEL #42 Séduction, natural light

CHANEL #42 Séduction, with flash

Looking at CHANEL’s Les 4 Ombres #42 Séduction beside #34 Éclosion, my initial thought was that they were exceptionally similar, but appearances ca be deceiving, as the following swatches prove. The pigmentation of the #34 Éclosion shades is significantly lighter, with the lightest hue of that quad also giving off some slight glittery fallout – along with the consistency of them being drier overall.

CHANEL #42 Séduction vs #34 Éclosion, natural light

CHANEL #42 Séduction vs #34 Éclosion, with flash

 

Final thoughts: Unlike nail lacquers where you usually get what you see in the bottle, eyeshadows in general are unique animals and need to be swatched first in order to understand their nature – even more so when that product comes with a hefty price tag. CHANEL, not known for outrageously coloured products in any of their lines, does manage to consistently produce superior quality and totally wearable hues, again, a bonus when paying that steeper figure. Is this a must-have product? It is for me, mainly because it meets all my criteria (workable, wearable, highly complimentary, and amazing quality), but that’s just a personal preference. In any case, it’s definitely worth taking a look at next time you find yourself at a CHANEL counter.

Mine was purchased at The Bay (Canada), but I also saw the collection this past weekend at Holt Renfrew (Canada).