Swatch/Thoughts: Chanel Holiday Collection 2009

I was not aware this collection has been released for 2 weeks here as I hadn't been to the boutique for some time. Whenever I walked past a Chanel counter, there was always the same old Fall Collection.


Then I finally made a trip to the boutique only to realize that there are many more collections in the boutiques than at the counters! Apparently, there are only 2 places to see complete Chanel products in Kuala Lumpur, One Utama New Wing and Pavilion. All the other counters only have regular stuff and what's carried over. Therefore, this holiday collection should reach some of the counters at a much later stage.


I had a good time swatching and playing with the items from many new collections that I had read about. Other beauty bloggers are usually faster than I am on new stuff so I normally read about them before I go browsing/shopping, which is great as I have some idea of what I might/might not like ahead of time. Anyway, I couldn't manage to try out all the new collections as I had to pick up my son from school. This post is about what I gathered. Hope the pictures and description are helpful for those who are getting to the collection as late as me.

Chanel Holiday Collection 2009





Counter Display

The manager told me that the focus of this collection is on the eyes. Therefore, the eye shadow quad is the key player. You can see the model is wearing strong eye colours but very light on cheeks and lips. I was told that all lip colours are very sheer and many are similar to one another. What the manager said kind of killed my mood of trying out the lip stuff... However, I did appreciate her honesty as always! Not to mention her letting me taking pictures freely! (Love you, girl!)

To be honest, this lot didn't look that appealing to me. I did like the eye colours being colourful and vivid in the display. But I guess my previous experience with Chanel Eye Shadow Quads had taught me a thing or two - not to be deceived by its look as most Chanel quads aren't well pigmented and have gritty texture. Besides, I am not sure if I'd want to look like a Bird of Paradise with all those bright colours on the eyelids like the model... I am not as young and adventurous as before anymore...

Chanel Eye Shadow Quad #15 Bird of Paradise, Limited Edition

I apologize for the inaccurate colours of the display. The strong yellow lighting in the boutique washed out the colours. They are a lot deeper and stronger in pan.


However, when swatched dry, they were rather sheer. I saw more shimmers than colours. This was expected as I had come to the conclusion that Chane Eye Shadow Quads need a booster of a good eye primer. Since I didn't have a primer with me, I did the next best thing to do, dampened my arm! :) The colours were much better for the camera as a result and I'd say they are rather accurate too.

Unfortunately, they didn't look exciting anymore once I swatched them. I confirmed the 4 colours wouldn't do well on me. One thing I knew from my experience was that I needed a dark base for turquoise to look good on me. Adding 3 equally striking colours, despite of their being light, would only make me look like a tramp. The 4 colours were lovely by themselves or as duos (at most) but they wouldn't be a happy bunch when put all together. In the mean time, I found the shimmers overpower the colour payoff in all 4 shades, too. This is definitely something one has to consider hard if you aren't a fan of shimmers.


The 4 colours weren't as gritty as some of the previous Chanel quads. In fact, I'd say the texture wasn't too bad even though not as velvety smooth like that of Shu Uemura's. Acceptable is the word I'd use.

Les Tissages Lames de Chanel/ Shimmering Tweed Highlighter, Limited Edition

This is another star product from this collection. It's a limited edition too. I tried swatching it but all I got was some shimmers from the overspray and a patch of light peachy beige on me. The strong yellow lighting in the boutique didn't help much either. My new camera couldn't capture that colour properly. Therefore, I didn't get the swatch down for you. I'd try it again another day if possible. For now, please have a look at the famous arm of karlasugar's. She's got the correct colouring the the palette. (PS: She is a lot lighter than me so it showed really well!) This is one Tweed Blush Duo that really can be used as a blush and a highlighter. The regular Tweed Blushes are too coloured as highlighters for me.


If you like Chanel Les Tissages De Chanel Blush Duo Tweed Effect #20 Tweed Coral, you may like this limited edition blush palette. However, it is strictly peach/beige without any red/coral under tone. If you have skin tone similar to mine (NC25) or lighter, it will show. Otherwise, you can skip it. (It was sheer on my NC25 colouring and didn't show up on the camera.) One thing to note is that the shimmers will wear off once the overspray's used up like that of Tweed Blushes. It will become a matte blush in the long run. I would have bought it to try, if I were lighter as I love the natural peach and it contains a lot more product than regular Tweed Blushes but still costs the same. A worthwhile purchase, provided with the right skin tone.

Professional Eyeliner Duo in Celadon-Lame, Limited Edition

Once again, we are looking at another limited edition item. (Many of this holiday collection are limited, by the way.) This eyeliner duo is quite interesting, especially that sparking green Celadon, which looks rather black in pan. The manager told me it's best to use that shade dry or else the beautiful shimmers' lost on the contact of a liquid. However, the black Lame is best used wet or else it's very sheer and almost useless as an eyeliner like how it shows in my picture below. (I purposely swatched both colours dry so you can see the originals.)

Chanel eyeliner duos are considered cake liners and should be used with water or a sealant to intensify its pigmentation and also to make it applicable because of the hard and dry form. The Celadon is an rare exception because of its shimmers. You can still use it wet to get a much deeper green but you can't retain the sparkles. The manager told me that one could also utilize this duo as a light smokey duo. Hmm, I am not sure if that's such a good idea because of they are so hard pressed...





The following collage shows the rest of collection, which I was told not the main focus but the supporting products. There are 4 new Aqualumiere Lipstick colours with one limited edition colour. All 4 are sheer and similar. And they are easy-going colours but nothing special. You could very well have these colours in your collection. There are also 3 limited edition Aqualumiere Glosses shades, which are sheer, extremely glossy, and not sticky. It has a brush applicator which I prefer over a doe foot. If you like how sticky and lasting Glossimers are, you won't like these. I quite like the comforting the texture but it's the lacking of the pigmentation that I have a thing or two to complain about. They can on only serve as top coats for me.

There is only one new nail colour in this collection. Again, it's a limited edition and it's really nice! If you are a fan of taupe, this is one to try. My swatch doesn't even do its justice. I don't normally do well with taupe but this silvery colour is something else. It even made my short and stubby nail look rather classy for some reason. Oh, the two colours by its sides were there for show only. LOL.

By the way, do check out the beautiful #367 Trapeze Silver on Lina's finger nails here. She's got a couple of other items from this collection too. Be warned - beautiful addictive site!






My Colouring:

Make Up For Ever Full Cover Extreme Camouflage Cream #4, Lift Concealer #3, Duo Mat Powder Foundation #202, Liquid Lift Foundation #2, High Definition Foundation #125, Clarins Instant Smooth Foundation #1.5, Laura Mercier Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer Bare Radiance, Shu Uemura Nobara Cream Cover Stick Foundation #774

Light Asian skin (obvious brown spots on cheekbones, slightly dry & doesn't break out easily), dark brown eyes, black hair, medium pigmented lips.

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