Chanel fall beauty is all about mattes with their Le Mat de Chanel Collection for fall-winter 2018. I ordered a few items and am thrilled with all except one of my haul picks. In general I’m usually not a fan of matte finish makeup as it ends up looking dry or flat on my skin. These mattes are soft with a diffused finish and look like skin but with a velvety soft blur. The colors at first glance looked a little boring to me online but after playing with them I’m thrilled to report they are excellent classics you can wear everyday. The colors wear really well – I wish there were more options color-wise because the formulas are beautiful! You can see the entire fall Le Mat de Chanel lineup on their site here. It might be hard to see in the photos but everything is packaged in a soft matte packaging which is just beautiful. Still the same classic sleek Chanel design but instead of a glossy black finish everything from compacts to lipstick casing and caps is matte.
My beauty haul picks:
- Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Quintessence
- Les 4 Ombres in Clair-Obscur
- Stylo Ombre et Contour in Contour Clair
- Le Rouge Crayon de Couleur Mat in Discretion and Impulsion
- Rouge Allure Ink in Serenity
The Joues Contraste Powder Blush this season Quintessence is a soft pink rose. It’s sheer to medium in color but buildable. The color has a matte finish and is very natural. I think it gives the skin a perfect soft wash of pink. I’m medium-tan right now so it’s not quite as noticeable as it will be if you have fair skin.
Swatch comparisons below to Chanel Powder Blush in Angelique (discontinued), Chanel Powder Blush in Foschia Rosa (on the face here), By Terry Compact-Expert Dual Powder in Sun Desire (review here), Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Iridescent Flash (review here), Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Luminous Flush (review here), Tom Ford Sheer Cheek Duo Lavender Lure (blush side, review + on face here), MAC Mineralize Blush in Sweet Enough (review here)
The eye makeup items are my favorite for this collection. I ordered one of the Les 4 Ombres Eyeshadow Quads in Clair-Obscur which has four beige-brown mattes and the Stylo Ombre in Contour Clair a tan brown.
For the Les 4 Ombres quad Clair-Obscur you get ultra smooth shadows for a perfect natural contour eye look. Colors are neutral with a slightly cool undertone. Pigment is perfect and smooth. I found them easy to blend and layer with each other. They almost have a creamy feel. I’ve never loved a fully matte eyeshadow palette like this! The Urban Decay Naked Basics and Naked2 Basics are my current favorites and the colors in Clair-Obscur are very similar so if you don’t want dupes you may want to shop your stash. I don’t mind that there are similarities. Both are excellent in quality and finish. Swatches side by side shows that the Chanel quad has a very subtle luminosity to it vs the Urban Decay which is 100% matte.
Swatch comparisons:
The Stylo Ombre formula has launched in more shades for fall. My previous picks in my New Chanel Eye Makeup Post here. Contour Clair is the perfect medium tan brown that I can use as a base. This one is one I don’t mind that the tip will wear down because I’m just going to use it as a cream shadow base blended. I swatched a bunch of other shades to try and compare but couldn’t find anything like it. Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Color Mattes are close but none of the colors are close. I suspect that the MAC Paint Pot in Groundwork is similar but lighter. I no longer own it so I can’t compare.
For the lips I have two hits and one miss. I bought two of the Le Rouge Crayon de Couleurs and one Rouge Allure Ink.
The Le Rouge Crayon de Couleur pencils are beautiful formulas. They’re matte lip crayons that are ultra creamy and opaque. They glide on smoothly and easily. Lasting power is pretty good – not as good as if you were to line your lips with a regular lip pencil, but better than a traditional lipstick. Discretion is a nude but on my lips it turns peachy. Impulsion looks like a brick red but on my lips it pulls brighter. The Rouge Allure Ink in Serenity is a miss for me formula-wise. I don’t know why I keep buying this formula. I think it’s in part due to the fact that SO many people love these I keep trying to love it. The colors for this formula have been beautiful (Lost reviewed here and Eterea swatched here). I just really don’t like the formula – I think I’ve bought around 5 colors now from past launches and every one has been a formula fail for me. I find them to be sheer, often patchy, and they all disappear from my lips within 30 minutes. The color is a perfect soft rose. If I layer it over a pencil it works, but to me I would rather just have the formula be better. I think the YSL Tatouage Couture Matte Stains are a better buy formula-wise. Swatch comparisons if you scroll down.
Swatch comparisons: Chanel Au Naturel and Warm Rosewood reviewed here, Sisley Phyto-Lip Twist in 19 swatched here, YSL Tatouage Couture Matte Stains reviewed here
A beauty look using the Chanel Le Mat de Chanel picks:
- Primer: Bobbi Brown Primer Plus Mattifier
- Foundation: Bobbi Brown Skin Long-Wear Weightless Foundation in Warm Natural 4.5 (swatches of all shades here)
- Powder: Laura Mercier Translucent Loose + Chanel Les Beiges No. 20
- Brows: Diorshow Browstyler in Universal Brown
- Eyeshadow: Chanel Les 4 Ombres Clair-Obscur 308
- Mascara: Chanel Le Volume Waterproof
- Blush: Chanel Powder Blush in Quintessence 440
- Lips: Chanel Rouge Allure Ink in Serenity 168
- Tank: Madewell
One last look:
Bottom line I love practically everything I hauled. Color-selection wise I do think there could have been a bit more variety with more options, but I think there are some beautiful pieces and I absolutely love the eye makeup. It’s rare that I pass on the nail polishes, I used to be a die hard Chanel Le Vernis collector! However I’ve tried the Velvet Nail Color formula before many holidays ago and I felt like I was putting rubber on my nails so I decided to pass. If the Rouge Allure Ink in Serenity had a better formula it would be perfect as I think the color is gorgeous!
You can find the Le Mat de Chanel Collection out now at all Chanel counters. I ordered my picks from Nordstrom and Chanel. Have you seen the items in person yet? What did you think?
