Chanel Allure Homme

Both versions of Chanel Allure, the masculine and the feminine, were launched in 1990s and have been around for a while. If I were forced to choose one for my personal use I wouldn't hesitate for a second and reach for the men's version any time. It's not that I'm that big of a fan, but the women's Allure hates my skin and turns into a screechy synthetic fruity mess upon contact. A mediocre oriental men's cologne is a huge improvement.

The zesty sharp citrus opening wasn't new and unique in 1999 and it certainly isn't now. Chanel simply went with the safest, easiest top note composition a department store shopper would never find objectionable while still detecting it clearly above the general smell of the place. This stage is so generic I'd have the hardest time picking Allure Homme in a blind lineup unless I spent a lot more time wearing it exclusively. But things get considerably better if not more special. The peppery wood, patchouli and a light ambery dry-down make it pleasant to wear and warm enough to enjoy. A man wearing this Chanel cologne to the office would get a reputation of smelling nice and it would probably work just as well on a date. It's a friendly scent with no jagged edges- it remains clean and crisp for a full day.

It's also boring, safe and lacks any individuality. Just look at the original 1999 ad campaign. Chanel took successful and accomplished men and posed them in a series of black and white shots without their names or anything to actually make them stand out. They sort of blend in with the brand and the others participants. From the New York Times:

The print ads are black and white, except for the enlarged Allure bottle, which is in color. The ads for both the men's and women's lines feature attractive people who are identified only by their professions, pursuits and residences, not by name, in an effort to add an element of mystery.

The Allure Homme ads, which carry the headline, ''Real men. Real Allure,'' feature a writer in New York City, a professional golfer in New York, a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, Calif., an architect in New York and an around-the-world solo sailor from France.

By Courtney Kane, Published: December 21, 2000

Bottom Line: The last time a bought a Chanel men's cologne for my father, I chose Antaeus. Make your own conclusion.

Chanel Allure Homme ($72, 3.4oz EDT) is available from most department stores and chanel.com.

All images from Chanel 1999 Allure Homme ad campaign: couleurparfum.com

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette

As promised, here are photos and full descriptions of the colors in the Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette. You will have to forgive me for the lack of swatches-I just haven't had the time (I'm trying to keep several balls in the air as we speak and I still owe several of you emails and replies. I'll get to it as soon as I post this).  I did my best to give as detailed a description as possible.

The palette contains:
3 eye shadows
3 lip colors- 1 is a liquid lipstick, two glosses
2 cream concealers
1 cream blush

General observations:
1. Collection Essentielle de Chanel is quite neutral in coloring and mellow in pigments. The eye shadows lean a little cool (just a little, though), the lip colors are on the warm pink side and a little shimmery, the blush is warm  apricot beige and both concealers are yellow toned.
2. The overall look you will get from the palette is almost-nude. It's office-appropriate and is perfect for a French-inspired face. All you need to add is a black eyeliner and mascara.
3. The color intensity could have been better. The shades are very low-drama and I haven't been able to build them. At all.
4. The applicators are crap. I don't even like the lip brush because it has a blunt end.

Eye Shadows:
What you see in the pan is exactly what you get. All three shadows are matte, which I love- very different from the Holiday Quad and its baked glitter texture. They are reasonably smooth but lack something to feel truly luxurious. The ivory one does not show on my skin at all. It's comparable to Bobbi Brown's Navajo and I guess would work in a similar manner if you subscribe to Bobbi's way of doing eye makeup of starting with a layer of invisible base color. I don't and this annoys me to no end. I would have liked a delicate non-shimmery highlighter that opens up the area under the brow bone.
As for the two mauve-plums, they are nice and create a natural almost-naked-but-not-quite look. The lighter shade is nearly the natural color of my lid. The darker one is not dark enough to be a real liner on me. At first I hoped these colors would make an elegant and subtle smoky eye, but they're simply not smoky enough.

Lip Colors:
The lip colors are best described as warm reddish pink. The dark(ish) liquid lipstick loses the very little shimmer it has in the pan when applied and is a very pretty light berry color- dense but not completely opaque. It's flattering and easy to wear alone or topped with a gloss.
The ligher gloss is a sheer shimmery pink. My natural lips are too dark for it to show, so I only wear it atop a lipstick. The texture is lovely- Chanel really knows how to make a lip gloss. The middle color is a red berry with golden shimmer. It's pretty and can be lightened by mixing with the light gloss or used to give the cream lipstick some extra punch.

Blush:
We don't get many cream blushes from Chanel, at least not as singles, so this is exciting, especially since it's a great product. My skin tone is probably the darkest that can work with this specific color. If you have a tan or are naturally darker than my pale olive skin (NC 30-35ish, but not quite) it's probably too light for you. The blush is sheer and shimmery- on a darker skin it might actually be a very nice highlighter. I can wear it alone but think it's prettier over a powder blush- it tones down the more aggressive Nars Dolce Vita, for example. I apply it with Julie Hewett Cheeky blush brush.

Concealers:
Chanel makes excellent face products and these concealers are no different. They are on the yellow side and I wear the lighter one better but mix a little of the darker concealer in it for custom color where needed. They give excellent coverage and blend perfectly.

Bottom Line: Collection Essentielle de Chanel is nice but a little underwhelming and is definitely not for those with darker skin tones. If you're trying to decide between this one and the other limited edition, Les Regards de Chanel eye palette (back in stock for now), I'd recommend the latter, unless you're utterly in love with the blush.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette ($85) is available now from chanel.com.

All photos are mine, including these two bonus ones starring Lizzy and Sophie:

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette

As promised, here are photos and full descriptions of the colors in the Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette. You will have to forgive me for the lack of swatches-I just haven't had the time (I'm trying to keep several balls in the air as we speak and I still owe several of you emails and replies. I'll get to it as soon as I post this).  I did my best to give as detailed a description as possible.

The palette contains:
3 eye shadows
3 lip colors- 1 is a liquid lipstick, two glosses
2 cream concealers
1 cream blush

General observations:
1. Collection Essentielle de Chanel is quite neutral in coloring and mellow in pigments. The eye shadows lean a little cool (just a little, though), the lip colors are on the warm pink side and a little shimmery, the blush is warm  apricot beige and both concealers are yellow toned.
2. The overall look you will get from the palette is almost-nude. It's office-appropriate and is perfect for a French-inspired face. All you need to add is a black eyeliner and mascara.
3. The color intensity could have been better. The shades are very low-drama and I haven't been able to build them. At all.
4. The applicators are crap. I don't even like the lip brush because it has a blunt end.

Eye Shadows:
What you see in the pan is exactly what you get. All three shadows are matte, which I love- very different from the Holiday Quad and its baked glitter texture. They are reasonably smooth but lack something to feel truly luxurious. The ivory one does not show on my skin at all. It's comparable to Bobbi Brown's Navajo and I guess would work in a similar manner if you subscribe to Bobbi's way of doing eye makeup of starting with a layer of invisible base color. I don't and this annoys me to no end. I would have liked a delicate non-shimmery highlighter that opens up the area under the brow bone.
As for the two mauve-plums, they are nice and create a natural almost-naked-but-not-quite look. The lighter shade is nearly the natural color of my lid. The darker one is not dark enough to be a real liner on me. At first I hoped these colors would make an elegant and subtle smoky eye, but they're simply not smoky enough.

Lip Colors:
The lip colors are best described as warm reddish pink. The dark(ish) liquid lipstick loses the very little shimmer it has in the pan when applied and is a very pretty light berry color- dense but not completely opaque. It's flattering and easy to wear alone or topped with a gloss.
The ligher gloss is a sheer shimmery pink. My natural lips are too dark for it to show, so I only wear it atop a lipstick. The texture is lovely- Chanel really knows how to make a lip gloss. The middle color is a red berry with golden shimmer. It's pretty and can be lightened by mixing with the light gloss or used to give the cream lipstick some extra punch.

Blush:
We don't get many cream blushes from Chanel, at least not as singles, so this is exciting, especially since it's a great product. My skin tone is probably the darkest that can work with this specific color. If you have a tan or are naturally darker than my pale olive skin (NC 30-35ish, but not quite) it's probably too light for you. The blush is sheer and shimmery- on a darker skin it might actually be a very nice highlighter. I can wear it alone but think it's prettier over a powder blush- it tones down the more aggressive Nars Dolce Vita, for example. I apply it with Julie Hewett Cheeky blush brush.

Concealers:
Chanel makes excellent face products and these concealers are no different. They are on the yellow side and I wear the lighter one better but mix a little of the darker concealer in it for custom color where needed. They give excellent coverage and blend perfectly.

Bottom Line: Collection Essentielle de Chanel is nice but a little underwhelming and is definitely not for those with darker skin tones. If you're trying to decide between this one and the other limited edition, Les Regards de Chanel eye palette (back in stock for now), I'd recommend the latter, unless you're utterly in love with the blush.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette ($85) is available now from chanel.com.

All photos are mine, including these two bonus ones starring Lizzy and Sophie:

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette

As promised, here are photos and full descriptions of the colors in the Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette. You will have to forgive me for the lack of swatches-I just haven't had the time (I'm trying to keep several balls in the air as we speak and I still owe several of you emails and replies. I'll get to it as soon as I post this).  I did my best to give as detailed a description as possible.

The palette contains:
3 eye shadows
3 lip colors- 1 is a liquid lipstick, two glosses
2 cream concealers
1 cream blush

General observations:
1. Collection Essentielle de Chanel is quite neutral in coloring and mellow in pigments. The eye shadows lean a little cool (just a little, though), the lip colors are on the warm pink side and a little shimmery, the blush is warm  apricot beige and both concealers are yellow toned.
2. The overall look you will get from the palette is almost-nude. It's office-appropriate and is perfect for a French-inspired face. All you need to add is a black eyeliner and mascara.
3. The color intensity could have been better. The shades are very low-drama and I haven't been able to build them. At all.
4. The applicators are crap. I don't even like the lip brush because it has a blunt end.

Eye Shadows:
What you see in the pan is exactly what you get. All three shadows are matte, which I love- very different from the Holiday Quad and its baked glitter texture. They are reasonably smooth but lack something to feel truly luxurious. The ivory one does not show on my skin at all. It's comparable to Bobbi Brown's Navajo and I guess would work in a similar manner if you subscribe to Bobbi's way of doing eye makeup of starting with a layer of invisible base color. I don't and this annoys me to no end. I would have liked a delicate non-shimmery highlighter that opens up the area under the brow bone.
As for the two mauve-plums, they are nice and create a natural almost-naked-but-not-quite look. The lighter shade is nearly the natural color of my lid. The darker one is not dark enough to be a real liner on me. At first I hoped these colors would make an elegant and subtle smoky eye, but they're simply not smoky enough.

Lip Colors:
The lip colors are best described as warm reddish pink. The dark(ish) liquid lipstick loses the very little shimmer it has in the pan when applied and is a very pretty light berry color- dense but not completely opaque. It's flattering and easy to wear alone or topped with a gloss.
The ligher gloss is a sheer shimmery pink. My natural lips are too dark for it to show, so I only wear it atop a lipstick. The texture is lovely- Chanel really knows how to make a lip gloss. The middle color is a red berry with golden shimmer. It's pretty and can be lightened by mixing with the light gloss or used to give the cream lipstick some extra punch.

Blush:
We don't get many cream blushes from Chanel, at least not as singles, so this is exciting, especially since it's a great product. My skin tone is probably the darkest that can work with this specific color. If you have a tan or are naturally darker than my pale olive skin (NC 30-35ish, but not quite) it's probably too light for you. The blush is sheer and shimmery- on a darker skin it might actually be a very nice highlighter. I can wear it alone but think it's prettier over a powder blush- it tones down the more aggressive Nars Dolce Vita, for example. I apply it with Julie Hewett Cheeky blush brush.

Concealers:
Chanel makes excellent face products and these concealers are no different. They are on the yellow side and I wear the lighter one better but mix a little of the darker concealer in it for custom color where needed. They give excellent coverage and blend perfectly.

Bottom Line: Collection Essentielle de Chanel is nice but a little underwhelming and is definitely not for those with darker skin tones. If you're trying to decide between this one and the other limited edition, Les Regards de Chanel eye palette (back in stock for now), I'd recommend the latter, unless you're utterly in love with the blush.

Collection Essentielle de Chanel Paris-L.A. Palette ($85) is available now from chanel.com.

All photos are mine, including these two bonus ones starring Lizzy and Sophie: