CHANEL · Vison d’Asie: L’Art du Détail, Spring Summer 2019 Collection

Once Christmas passes, I begin anticipating the warmer weather with all the new beauty collections it brings, and first out of the gate for Spring/Summer 2019 is CHANEL’s Vision d’Asie: L’Art du Détail. Embarking on a photographic journey through Japan and South Korea, Lucia Pica — the brand’s head of makeup — was inspired by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi: the art of seeing preciousness in imperfection, thereby elevating the mundane into something so much more. In the end, it’s about the interplay between shadow & light along with classic tones paired up against unexpected pops of colour … and it all just totally works.

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Baume Essentiel (CAN $60.00/each) | First spotted backstage at the recent Métiers d’Art 2018/2019 show in New York, this is the brand’s first cream stick highlighter product. The Transparent shade can also be used dabbed over eyeshadow for a glossy look that’s editorial and really cool, although it will crease fairly quickly applied this way — but I don’t mind a deconstructed effect every now and then. Used along cheekbones, it imparts a natural-looking gleam to skin that never feels heavy. The Sculpting shade was designed to provide a subtle glimmer and the way it catches light gently transforms (“sculpts“) the skin — it’s all about a fresh look, so don’t expect any heavy contouring — which suits me just fine, thank you very much. Note that neither shade dries down, but they both unexpectedly provide an excellent hydrated feel to skin.

Transparent – colourless with a high gloss sheen
Sculpting – pearly pink hue, ultrafine shimmer

Pinceau Illuminateur Rétractable (CAN $66.00) | Created to be used with the Baume Essentiels, this is a face brush housed in a retractable case. The size of the brush — being neither too wide nor floppy — makes it easy to use along specific areas, in particular narrow sections of the face. That said, when used along eyes, it’s best to stick to the outer edge (towards temples). I was surprised to note that this brush actually does an excellent job of picking up product directly from the stick highlighter, note to mention how softly it lays it down along the skin — but using fingers for the job helps to provide a stronger intensity. What this brush does beautifully, is in diffusing the edges of the highlighter, imparting an absolutely seamless finish.

Rouge Allure Velvet (CAN $46.00/each) |There are 3 shades released with this collection (not shown: 72 Infrarose), in the brand’s soft velvet finish. With their creamy texture, both provide full coverage from the first swipe and leave lips feeling moisturized throughout wear. Obviously, a lighter hue such as Nuance will have a shorter wear time, but it’s a stunning neutral shade to balance out a stronger eye look. The colour of Impérial is not only a classic hue, but so perfectly captures the essence of “royal” red.

71 Nuance – nude beige, velour finish
73 Impérial – true red, velour finish

Rouge Allure Liquid Powder (CAN $46.00/each) | Introduced this past Fall (reviewed here), these are unique liquid “lipsticks” that come to a soft-focus powdery finish. Ultra lightweight in both texture and feel, they are meant to provide a blurred effect to lips. The colouring of the soft casing indicates the shade found on the inside (which makes it convenient to know what you’re reaching for), while the flocked applicator makes it easy to apply the product to lips, although as they’re not designed for precision, don’t expect any crisp lines. You can start with a light wash of colour and build up to a deeper impact, and I like patting the colour in with a fingertip to press it in a touch deeper. Not exactly a true matte finish, these are more “cloud-like” in effect (if that makes any sense), and I suggest priming lips first with a balm that’s blotted before going in with colour, for the smoothest application.

962 Electric Blossom – orange red, soft powder-matte finish
964 Bittersweet – plum berry, soft powder-matte finish

Le Vernis # 646 Bleached Mauve (CAN $33.00) | Before I get into the actual shade, it should be noted that CHANEL has done some amazing improvements to their brush over the last few collections, making it now so easy to use. With a hybrid crème-jelly texture, this is a soft nude shade with mauve undertones, applying in a self-levelling manner and coming to a naturally glossy finish. Semi-sheer at the first layer, full opacity is reached by a second coat.

Swatch: 2 coats of polish, no top coat

Le Vernis Neon 648 Techno Bloom (CAN $33.00) | Inspired by the modern vibe of today’s Asia, this is an electric fuchsia hue with cool undertones, although it can easily be worn by those with warmer complexions as well (like me). The texture displays the bounce of a jelly, and is relatively self-levelling upon application, and while 2 coats provide good opacity, once dry you might still see a hint of translucency (which is such an odd effect for a shade this vivid, but I’m really into it just the same). As with all of CHANEL’s neon polishes, this one comes to a “rubberized” finish, although you can always add a top coat to switch things up, as seen in the swatches below.

Swatches: 2 coats of polish, 1 without top coat and 1 with

While my love of CHANEL has been well-documented on the blog, it doesn’t change the fact of how much I still anticipate each & every collection, and this one doesn’t disappoint. With a lovely selection of fresh and totally wearable shades, I have been loving every piece shown, in particular the new Baume Essentiels, and the healthy-looking shine they impart to skin. Note that this collection also includes a new eyeshadow palette plus a cream eye shadow, neither of which was received in time for my review — but I can’t wait to get my hands on those as well (so gorg). So the question is: who’s ready for Summer? (ME. Always).

Available January 7th at all CHANEL beauty counters