Collection Superstition de Chanel - purchases & swatches

Sticking to the plan... mostly :-)

Well, I previewed this collection recently and figured I'd probably want a few items - to look at the new Stylo Yeux eyeliner and to buy the new Volume de Chanel Mascara - both in a khaki-bronze shade.  I had also wanted to look at the nail polish, Le Vernis, in Alchemie (in khaki and gold), to complete the matching triad.  And just to swatch, nothing more, the Ombre Essential shade of Gri-Gri.

I came close enough, with my final purchases, to my original plan :-)

Stylo Yeux Eyeliner - Khaki Précieux

More of an antiqued dirty gold with olive than a khaki bronze.
Tomaytoes, tomahtoes :-)

This is a new shade and whereas it sounds like it should match the mascara, it doesn't really (see comparison swatch below).  I had presumed it was going to be one I'd just look at, as I have a lot of olive/green/gold shades, but it's different to anything else I have - it's more of an antiqued gold shade;  a dirty, old gold with khaki-olive green hints.  It's lovely, but on my colouring, it's really only good on my lower waterline/just underneath my lower lash line as a very subtle nod to my eye colour.  I do like it though.

Le Volume de Chanel mascara - Khaki Bronze

Interesting....

This is a LE shade - I'm not really getting the bronze in this, it's a very flat, dull, greyed khaki shade.  I have had comments on the post and facebook page and over email that a few people have found that this is too muted, too understated, that it dulls down their lashes rather than highlighting them.  I'm inclined to agree - but for two things, (1) it is Volume de Chanel, and I love this formula and (2) I am naturally almost black-hair-dyed-ombre-blonde (or at least, at the moment!) and this shade lightens my eyelash shade so they almost look like they are not totally unmatching my hair (now, just need to do something about my brows that doesn't involve dying them orange in an attempt to lighten them, no, I never did this, I didn't, not me, no sir-ee).  If neither of those reasons floats your boat, and if you like bold lashes, then this is not for you.

They don't really match
Atallatall...

Ombre Essential - Gri-Gri

Gorgeous colour, but it doesn't last long :-(

Another LE shade, Gri-Gri is a "metallic taupe shimmer" per Chanel.  Deliciously lovely, although extremely necessary to use a primer and/or a base shade underneath if you want this one to show up and to last on your lids.  I am smitten with taupe/metallic/shimmer type shades, in any undertone, although I'm more inclined to call this one mink-pink than taupe.

Ombre Essential - Hasard

Hasard is LE and is a "light lavender" according to Chanel.  It's actually a very beautiful colour, very understated, a very soft satin/matte shade, but I found it very similar to a bunch of MAC shades I already have - in fact, almost identical to MAC Malt.  In short - nothing I needed, although it complements Gri-Gri beautifully, either as a subtle crease colour or underneath Gri-Gri to add some depth to it.

I don't have a swatch as I didn't purchase, but I do recommend it if you like Chanel shades and need a greyed mid-tone/transition shade with a cool lavender twist :-)

Le Vernis - Mysterious

Chanel Mysterious, Chanel Peridot

Strangely, when I swatched Alchemie, the shade I thought I'd like the most, it didn't interest me.  Alchemie is LE and touted as a "khaki and gold" shade, so it sounds like it should fit in with the mascara and eyeliner.  It does not.  On my first examination I thought it was a Peridot dupe (one of my favourite Chanel shades).  On closer examination, it is not.  Whereas Peridot is very definitely an antiqued gold with green and blue undertones, Alchemie is like those tones are flipped, with the green at the forefront and the antiqued gold as an undertone.  And incidentally, it's not a Khaki shade either - it looked closer to a pea-green.

Peridot, incidentally, which created a stir when it was first release, I believe is now being discontinued (according to the Chanel SA in Brown Thomas).  So get it while you can.

Chanel Le Vernis in Mysterious
Photographing slightly darker than it is in real life

What I did get was nail polish in Mysterious.  This is billed as a "khaki mixed with charcoal grey" and this is the first description that I agree with.  It's a gorgeous dirty sludgy greeny-greyish almost browned charcoal shade with a tiny hint of a lavender through it - and it looks a number of different things on the basis of number of coats (less = more green evident, more = more charcoal evident).

Mysterious... two coats and you're laughing...

Two coats, for reference, is about right, and gives a nicely glossy finish (it could be slightly glossier for my taste, if I were to be really picky.  Also, purely as a point of interest, adding a matte topcoat to this killed the green undertones entirely, leaving a flat brown-based charcoal on my nails).  I haven't stopped wearing this one.  Love.  Mysterious is not LE as far as I'm aware.