Chanel Illusion D'ombre in Illusoire - swatch and review

In early March I was booked in for another appointment with Chanel and the lovely Marina.  My appointment fell on the eve of attending my first fashion show here in Melbourne.  During my hour long session I had no idea what I was looking to accomplish, except for, perhaps, something a bit edgier.  As you know, I'm a bit conservative with my colour palette.  Natural, neutral, maybe even boring, but never not myself.  Dinner was nigh - we went out for Indian; I thought to myself "what the heck, let's do this." Marina painted and transformed me from light to dark.

Transformation

Darker..

Another view

Ideally, I wanted an easy to create smoky eye; I'm still learning the tricks of the trade and am inept when it comes to "smoking out" my eyes.  This is where Chanel's Illusoire comes in; Marina pointed at her eyes and said, "we'll do this, but lighter."  That day, Marina was wearing Illusion D'ombre in Mirifique, a charcoal black with a hint of shimmer; Illusoire, on the other hand, provided the same amount of subtle mystery, but with a plum hue.

Have brush, will travel

Compact

With cap

This lovely little glass jar contains a bouncy/springy-type eye shadow and is slightly difficult to apply. When I swatched Illusoire I noticed the product began to ball up and turned into a little clump on the tip of my finger; not something you want to have glom onto your lid.  In order to get the best consistency and ideal application, I found it's best if you gently rub the contents until it's warmed to the point where you can have enough product on your finger.  Then, I tap and dab my eye lid, first concentrating there and then working my way out.  As I work my way out, naturally, I have less on my finger which, in turn, creates the smoke.

Illusoire swatch

As you can tell, Marina had a bit of fun with vamping me out. Above, I'm also wearing Chanel Rouge Allure in Maniac on my lips and it was topped off with a bit of gloss in Petillant in to order soften the dark brown, almost black shade. As for the rest of my face, I'm not too sure what else Marina applied; all I know is I have a client card tucked away for potential purchases.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Chanel's Illusion D'Ombre in Illusoire:

• $48.00 AUS, includes brush.

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 9 out of 10 bags – I had to take one full point off due to it being so expensive here.

Likelihood to purchase again:

• Mirifique, you will be mine.

Essie Shine of the Times over Midnight Cami - weekly nail review

Reptile-like, ever-changing and a dash of Culture Club.

"...red gold and green, red gold and green."

This song popped into my head as I was taking pictures of my nails last week.  The sun was shining and the light was reflecting off of my nails, which displayed a spectrum of colours.

I've been absolutely addicted to Essie's Shine of the Times and I think it looks far better on darker shades; but, what I was really going for was Deborah Lippman's Ray of Light as seen below.  The flakes are mixed throughout the dark blue polish, whereas my concoction was layered.

However, after seeing swatches on Vampy Varnish and Temptalia, I prefer the layered look.  The flakes have an increased opportunity to play with the light; meanwhile, Deborah Lippman's formula restrains the holographic flecks. I realise Deborah named her polish after Madonna's single "Ray of Light" released in 1998; perhaps, she was looking to capture the ethereal luminescence conveyed by the theme and lyrics.

For me, my mani wins.  It lasted really well; Janice painted one coat of Midnight Cami and one coat of Shine of the Times.  And, I love the fact that a girl who works for Kit Cosmetics told me my nails looked "friggin awesome."

Friggin awesome indeed.

Essie Shine of the Times and Midnight Cami

From another angle

Rasta Monsta

Dupe of NARS Ramatuelle

Before jumping the gun and dropping something heinous like $89 smackeroos - need I remind you about Arabian Nights?  I decided to take a closer look at the newest NARS trio, Ramatuelle, online, to see if I could duplicate the look with what I already own.  I think I came pretty close.

NARS defines the three shades (from left to right) as silver, icy peach and apricot.  Typical colours which are deemed as being on trend when squeezed into a little black compact.  I'm not being cruel or smart, just savvy with my bottom line.

Lucky for me, I own MAC eye shadows in Electra (a heavy silver which has blue undertones) and Shroom (the champagne of beige), as well as Inglot's shade #407 (sherbet orange). Go on an archaeologic dig, dust off a few compacts and you will most certainly be able to find these colours in your own arsenal.

MAC & Inglot

Electra, Shroom and #407

From left to right: Electra, Shroom & #407

In order to get the look above, I applied shroom from the lash line to just below my eyebrow - essentially, all over. Then, I patted #407 on my eyelid and blended the colour into shroom. Finally, I dusted electra on the inner corners and winged it within the crease in order to open my eyes.

I firmly believe in using an eye primer before applying eye shadow; my lids have a tendency to get oily and quite often damage the effect I was going for.  NARS Smudge Proof Eye Shadow Base is quite simply the best.  Tina Turner must be referring to NARS whenever she sings that song.

The final look

Summery, soft and easy to accomplish.

One final, side-by-side comparison...

MAC's Young Venus Extra Dimension Eye Shadow. Yeah, baby, she's got it

"Goddess on the mountain top Burning like a silver flame The summit of beauty and love And Venus was her name"

I know, the cheese, right?

And you'll be thanking me later for this song getting stuck in your head.

All kidding aside, earlier this month MAC released In Extra Dimension, a 14-piece limited edition liquid-powder collection.  Unfortunately, for the girls down under, we were shorted one of the highlighters; MAC's HQ only shipped Superb and Whisper of Gilt.  To top it off, the shadows alone retailed for $50.00 a piece.  Because I didn't have the third highlighter, Glorify, to compare in store, I purchased Young Venus, a shimmery pastel pink, instead.  You might be wondering why I opted to buy an eye shadow versus a beauty powder; well, the MAC store associate inside of David Jones recommended Young Venus as a multi-tasker - eye shadow and highlighter in one. Prices are high here *continues to hammer point home* and I couldn't fathom asking what the highlighters retailed for. Young Venus will just have to do and it has!

Young Venus applies like a dream either by using your fingers or with the help of a brush. The colour is similar to NARS' Copacabana and is far more compact in size - I think it'd be great for taking it on a weekend getaway.  I didn't breakdown and buy Young Venus due to it being a liquid-powder (I didn't know this was the case at time of purchase); the reviews have been favourable, the store associate's advice was helpful and the promotional image is gorgeous!

MAC In Extra Dimension

Rose gold, navy blue and chocolatey brown equals the modern-day woman's kaleidoscope. At least it does for me.

Let's get to Young Venus and her beautifully designed pressed pan; I think I may have shed a tear as I swatched.

MAC Young Venus

Pearly pink wave

Extra Dimension Eye Shadow

Young Venus close up

MAC Young Venus swatch

MAC Young Venus swatch

Young Venus

Here I am wearing it on my cheekbones, eyes and down the bridge of my nose.  Subtle, but gives you that "lit from within" look.

Eyes, cheekbones, nose..

Just looking at theses pictures makes me long for my long locks.  I let my hairdresser chop off two inches or so - that's about five cm.  Yowza!  It needed to be done, because my ends were getting really dry from blowdrying my hair straight.  My hair's still past my shoulders, but I probably have the most boring haircut on record.  I'll post some pictures of my new 'do soon.

So, what do you think of MAC's Young Venus?  Comparisons have been made (see Cafe Makeup's review);  it's no wonder there's such a striking similarity, Estee Lauder is the mothership of makeup houses.  MAC just so happens to be one of its babies purchased back in 1998.

Enough makeup history for today.  Class, here's your bagful breakdown.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for MAC's Young Venus:

• $50.00 AUS – It sells for $20.00 USD.

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 7 out of 10 bags – great multi-tasker, but I think my wallet is still whimpering.

Likelihood to purchase again:

• I might have to buy one of the new blushes that were released in the Tres Cheek collection. Does someone want to buy it for me from the States?