Hi all!
As you all know, I’m a beauty addict – I’m obsessed with trying out new products and staying on top of new releases. But beauty products are expensive – especially when shopping from luxury brands like Chanel. This post will outline the products I’ve tried, what’s worth it, and what I’m dying to try from Chanel beauty!
The first Chanel makeup product I ever tried was Le Correcteur de Chanel. This is a longwear concealer that comes in a tube with a doe-foot applicator. Le Correcteur de Chanel has a beautiful thick and creamy formula that covers undereye circles and acne spots beautifully. I love this concealer, but at $43 it is very pricey. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer has a very similar effect for over $10 less. Alternatively, Maybelline’s Fit Me Concealer is a great drugstore dupe and only around $6.
Chanel’s Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronzing Makeup Base may be the brand’s most iconic beauty product. This giant tub of cream bronzer is so beautiful – it’s poured into the container with the most perfect swirl. It has an incredible consistency that makes it easy to blend over skin using either a brush, sponge, or even fingers. It does a great job of warming up the face or contouring. The downfall to this product is that it’s a distinctly warm shade and isn’t all that dark, meaning it only works for select skin tones. I actually ended up selling mine after discovering the Milk Makeup Matte Bronzer which gave a similar effect but with a cooler tone. If you have fair to light skin and decide to splurge on the Chanel, you probably won’t regret it – it lasts FOREVER since there is so much product, and it is a beautiful formula. I just decided that since I have so many products it wasn’t one I needed to keep in my collection.
Chanel lipsticks are also iconic in their own right. It’s to be expected that a French brand would create perfect red lipsticks. I have the Rouge Allure lipstick in Rouge Tentation, a beautiful, deep, true red. I also have the Rouge Coco Flash lipstick in the shade Boy, a well-known and well-loved shade from the brand. It’s a beautiful, slightly shimmery and slightly sheer, nude color. This formula reminds me a lot of Charlotte Tilbury’s Superstar Lips Lipstick (but Chanel’s is actually cheaper!). For an inexpensive dupe, try this L’Oreal lipstick. Most recently, I picked up the Rouge Allure Camelia in the shade Camelia Blanc that launched with the SS20 Desert Collection. This shade looks like a super light milky pink in the bullet, but applies more like a balm on me – perhaps the slightest milky tone.
I also own two shades of the Chanel Lip Blush Hydrating Lip and Cheek Sheer Colour. This is a unique formula – it’s similar to Colourpop’s Ultra Blotted Lip or Kylie Cosmetics’ Lip Blush, but with a bit more moisture and slip. I have the shades 414 – Tender Rose and 420 – Burning Berry. I like that these are buildable – you can add just a bit and smudge it out with your fingers for a subtle tint, or apply multiple layers for a fully-pigmented lip. These can also be applied to the cheeks.
Chanel launched the Baume Essential Multi-Use Glow Stick last year in two shades – Transparent (a translucent balm stick to give a dewy glow) and Sculpting (a slightly pearly balm stick with more of a highlighting effect). Tower28’s SuperDew Shimmer-Free Highlight Balm would be an excellent dupe for Transparent, and is only $18 vs. Chanel’s $45 stick. Glossier Haloscope in Quartz is a great dupe for the Sculpting shade, and is over $20 cheaper. Ciate’s Dewy Stix would be a great dupe for either shade, Transparent or Sculpting, depending which color you select.
This year, with the launch of the Spring-Summer 2020 desert-inspired collection, Chanel launched another shade – Golden Light. I picked this up recently since it seemed completely unique and unlike any other product I had, and I’m so glad I did. It’s a beautiful bronze color that gives the skin a subtle glow with a bit of color. I was afraid it wouldn’t show up much on the skin, but it looks amazing on natural makeup days to add real-looking color to the skin. It works beautifully under my cheekbones as a subtle contour or on the apples of my cheeks to make it look like I was kissed by the sun. It would make a beautiful highlighter on darker complexions as well.
Now that I have these products in my collection, there aren’t many more Chanel makeup items I’m dying to try. I am, however, interested in the Rouge Coco Gloss lip gloss. For years people have raved about this formula and the one previous (they were called glossimers, I believe). The shade Icing is calling my name. There are also two blue shades – Aphrodite and Fraicheur – that are really intriguing. Apparently, blue toned lip shades (even as subtle as a gloss) make your teeth look noticeably whiter.
In terms of skincare, I haven’t tried many of Chanel’s products because they are so darn expensive. Like, double or triple the price of even the most expensive Drunk Elephant products. I have tried a few samples, and one that really stood out to me was La Solution 10 de Chanel. It’s a sensitive skin cream that feels so rich and hydrating on the face. The hydration really lasts, too, which I love.
I really want to try La Creme Main hand cream – you know, that cute little Chanel egg you see in beauty flatlays. I love hand cream, especially in the winter time, so I may be trying this sooner rather than later. It just looks so chic!
Lastly, we have Chanel fragrances. My first Chanel perfume was Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum. I love the smell of this – it makes me feel like a woman rather than a teen or young adult. However, it is WAY too strong for me. Whenever I wear it people ask what perfume I’m wearing, and while that’s usually a good thing, I can’t help but feel self-conscious about drowning everyone around me in the scent. I can’t imagine why they felt the need to create an intense version!
I just got Chance Eau Tendre Eau de Toilette in the mail after receiving a sample with my last order, and it’s my new favorite. The eau de toilette is still plenty strong enough on me and has enough lasting power to get me through the day. It’s floral, yet has enough fruitiness and musk in it to make it young and approachable, and perfect for all seasons. My sister has Chance Eau Fraiche and it’s equally as gorgeous of a scent. If you’re a younger woman and looking to venture into Chanel perfumes, I’d start with the Chance line. Get these adorable Crayons de Parfum to try each of them. Maybe one day I’ll be sophisticated enough to wear Chanel Nº5!
That’s it for my Chanel beauty roundup. Have you ever tried anything from the brand, or is there anything you’re dying to get your hands on? Let me know in the comments!
Xo,
Meg