For summer Chanel has a new limited-edition powder called Lumière d’'Eté Illuminating Powder ($65 for 8 g / 0.28 oz). It’s called an illuminating powder but to me this is more of a soft satiny bronzer. There is a very slight sheen to this when you swatch it and look at it in the pan. On the skin it looks glowy but not shimmery. It has a similar effect to that of the Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Colours in No. 30/40 but with a more bronzed and luminous effect.
The bronzer has an ultra soft but dense texture. It seems a bit harder/firmer in formula compared to traditional powder bronzers, almost creamy but not quite. This makes the color easy to layer and build in terms of pigment. A looser brush will give you a more sheered out glow while a denser brush will give you more color, almost like a contour on my medium Chanel Beige 30 skin. The Lumière d’'Eté Illuminating Powder comes with the embossed camellia pattern which is so so gorgeous.
On my skin, this is a medium neutral bronze that pulls slightly warm on my medium skin, but it’s not as warm in tone compared to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzers. The warmth prevents it from looking muddy on my skin (I cannot wear cool-toned bronzers or contouring products easily).
A heavy swatch below:
The Chanel Lumière d’'Eté Illuminating Powder will have a similar effect to a number of other bronzers. If you already own a lot of other bronzing powders you may want to shop your stash. What I find unique about this season’s Chanel is the texture. The firmer/gel-like almost cream to powder texture seems particularly good for warm weather. It adheres really well to the skin but melds in naturally. It doesn’t look fake or look like it’s product just sitting on the skin. I liked that it didn’t emphasize pores or clog pores too. Lasting power is very good from early morning until late afternoon without fading. I pulled a few bronzers and Les Beiges powders to compare:
Hourglass Radiant Bronze Light (review here)
Tom Ford Gold Dust (Full Size and Small Travel Size for size reference)
Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Powder No. 30 and No. 40 (review here)
I’m one who can’t resist a Chanel bronzer, this one is no exception. Right now I am a Chanel B30 but am getting a bit of color so the darkest I will get is probably a B40 (foundation equivalents for me right now are NARS Punjab, Tom Ford Bisque 04 (foundations in rotation listed here). I haven’t used a MAC foundation in years because the formulas don’t work for my skin type (I break out in a really bad allergic reaction to those) but I was always matched to a NC30-35. I suspect if you are anywhere from the Chanel B40 or darker range this bronzer will look more like a subtle natural contour or nude illuminator on your skin rather than a bronzer. I found it worked well on my normal combination skin but if you are super dry, you may need some kind of a creamy base on the cheeks to help bring out the color more.
I give this one a huge thumbs up but I am a huge fan of bronzer in general. There are a number of new bronzer releases out this time of year. I would say the Chanel Lumière d’'Eté Illuminating Powder is a good in-between option in terms of warm but not too warm if you’re light to medium in skin tone. I’m still testing out a number of bronzers to see which one I like best. Initial thoughts: The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzers are warmer and more luminous, the Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Powder Duos are a lot softer and lighter in color if you’re fair and don’t like darker dramatic bronzers, the Guerlain is probably the best bet for you. Tom Ford repromoted both of their bronzers in white/gold packaging and a mini size, both are classics. If you want a matte bronzer Terra has no shimmer.
The Lumière d’'Eté Illuminating Powder is limited-edition. You should be able to find it at all Chanel counters and boutiques now. Online at Chanel.com, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, and Neiman Marcus.
