Chanel Holiday 2010

Chanel’s holiday collection delivers a lot of surprises. The eyeshadow quad is European (round pans; baked shadows); there’s no holiday highlighter; the collection includes a number of repromoted items… and where last year’s holiday collection was very “resort,”  this year’s collection is in a much different vein. Does brown and pink say “holiday” to you this year? I confess, my head was in a different place.

Tentation Cuivree ($56) is unusually sparkly for a Chanel quad. It includes a warm cocoa with silver sparkles; a very soft, gauzy, whitened pink; a peony pink with silver sparkles; and a darker, richer, wet-earth, warm red-brown with copper sparkles.

I was surprised by the color of the newest “Ombres d’Eau” Fluid eyeshadow ($32). Splash was officially described as pewter — it’s not.  I was expecting a metallic gold-silver mix (see Bobbi Brown’s Pewter Chrome shadow); Splash is actually taupe (cool brown).

The new nail polish for the collection is bright pink Pulsion. Mica Rose is a repromote (and some counters had put another shade in its place). These are $23 each.

There are also two new Rouge Coco lipsticks ($30): Patchouli is a shimmery peachy, rosy brown. Magnolia is a somewhat sheer creme pink.

Stylo Yeux Waterproof eyeliners ($28) Espresso and Cassis are both repromoted shades. I didn’t swatch them, but the collection also repromotes Inimitable Intense Noir Mascara, Eclat Lumiere highlighter pen in Beige Rose, and eyeshadow duo Misty-Soft.

There are four holiday Glossimers (each $27). 237 Charming, 227 Pleasing, and 247 Pink Pulsion are new. Different counters had different opinions on whether the fourth Glossimer should be 131 Mica or 139 Futile — they’re both pale pinks.

There’s also a new “Tweed” blush, Tweed Fuchsia ($45). I didn’t really know how to swatch this one… it’s almost three blushes in one. On first swatch, it has a lot of gold sparkle, but that’s all overspray. As you work through the gold, the color is a warmer, lighter, more watermelon pink — the result of color variations (the tweed patterning) in the powder, mixing a lighter pink with the darker raspberry/fuchsia underneath. But as you continue to work your way down, the blush appears to be a solid fuchsia (unlike the other Tweed blushes, which are two-color, split-pan blushes, under all the decoration). I settled for swatching a relatively well-loved tester, to show you that final, bottom color.