Chanel Deauville Rouge Coco Shine 67

Another week, another Chanel Rouge Coco Shine to love.

This one is #67, Deaville, which is a decidedly brown-based pink. It's not as summery as some other colors in the range like Fetiche or Monte Carlo, but very wearable all year around. Deauville is a very neutral color and lets just enough of my natural lip color through, like all the other Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks I have, so the result is a twist on the "my lips but better idea", only with a shine and elegant color.

It's a good question why Chanel's marketing focused on the most fleeting aspect of these lipsticks, the glossy finish that fades within an hour. After all, their main strength is leaving a long-lasting but subtle stain that doesn't need any touch ups for the better part of the day other than topping it with a gloss. I love Deauville paired with YSL Glden Gloss in Praline, Burberry Sepia or Hourglass Eden. The low-key color is great as it is, and especially on days I go all out on the eye front (aka green eye shadow days). I'm having a hard time thinking about a complexion that would clash with this color, but I'm sure it's out there. The rest of us can consider it a favorite.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks ($32) are available at the counters and on Chanel.com.

All photos are mine.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine 59 Elise

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Elise (no. 59) is a cheerful berry color, a sheer raspberry with medium level shimmer. It's a touch lighter and more pink than Unique and Bonheur, but still adds quite a bit of color to my lips. It's even more visible once the shiny finish fades, so I can pair Elise with just about any medium plum gloss or even a clear one.

For some reason I find Elise to be a bit more dry than the other Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks I have. It means I have to make sure my lips are nicely prepped before applying it in the morning and use a hydrating gloss on top later. I'm not sure what causes the difference between this one and other shades (I hear Elise is not the only one), but my guess is its the pigmented base as the shine looks and feels the same in all the RCSs.

The rouge Coco Shine series is a great choice for summer. It's good for a quick application on the go  and doesn't require a liner. The dark colors have a long-lasting pigmented base that stays on for several hours and survive a drink or a snack. I know it's not the case with all shades and the light ones did nothing for me, but I only picked plum, berry and red colors and have been wearing them constantly.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks are available from most department stores and chanel.com.

All photos are mine,  lovely assistant is Buffy.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine 51 Unique

We're half way through my top picks from Chanel Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks. To those just joining us: my lips are somewhat darker than average so my preference, even for sheer lipstick formulas, is shades that pack some punch and actually show up on me. Chanel Rouge Coco Shine have a unique quality of losing their Shine pretty quickly but leaving a pretty and tenacious stain on the lips.

Unique, No. 51, is a decidedly pigmented color, pink berry or red plum or whatever you wish to call it. Unique has a warmer, more golden sheen than some of the other Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks, hence the changing undertones you see in the photos taken in various lighting conditions.

I enjoy wearing Unique with just about any makeup look. Plums are my natural pick for lip color as they work with my coloring very well. It's a shade that perks up a tired face and it goes with an evening look just as well as it works during the day. Once the shiny finish fades I've topping Unique with many lip glosses- from Chanel Glossimer in Myriade to  YSL Golden Gloss in Plum something-or-other and LMdB Bali for a very bold evening look.

Bottom Line: as pretty as they come.

Chanel Rouge Coco S hine 51 Unique ($32) can be found at most department stores as well as chanel.com.

All photos are mine.

Pairs Division: Parker and Broderick

A deep, abiding concern.

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Michelle Williams Covers Interview Magazine

Raiding Rosemary's closet.

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Chanel Fetiche Rouge Coco Shine

Fetiche. Seriously. I don't know who in Chanel is responsible for naming their products, but there's nothing fetishistic about Rouge Coco Shine lipstick in Fetiche (52). It's medium almost-mauve pink that I wear as a my lips but better color on days I'm indulging in more prominent eye makeup and would look equally wearable and nice on just about everyone (though the intensity would change, of course, according to your skin tone and level of natural lip pigmentation). On me it's a very simple and uncomplicated color.

Like the rest of the Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks I've tried (no idea how the really light colors behave), the shine disappears quickly but the actual color stain is nicely long-wearing. Once the finish wears off I top the lipstick with lip gloss, because I don't need to reapply the color for several more hours. Good matches for Fetiche are Chanel Glossimer in Summer Plum or Wild Rose (depending on the undertones I want to bring out), or even Smashbox Limitless gloss in Endless. I've also been experimenting by mixing some gloss and Chanel Coco rouge Shine on the back of my hand and applying with a brush. It makes for a very polished look that's also long-lasting.

Bottom Line: Summer love.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine lipstick ($32) is available from department store Chanel counters as well as chanel.com.

All photos are mine.

Chanel Monte Carlo Rouge Coco Shine

What's behind the hype (and some of the subsequent disappointment reports) of Chanel's newest lipstick formula, Rouge Coco Shine?

Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks are interesting little things. I got a few in the most saturated/darkest shades and I like them. They're a sort of hybrid product, but not quite what I expected- they're not a balmy lipstick, despite the high shine finish they have when first applied. It's more like a high quality lip tint with a glossy top coat. Despite what one would expect from a product named "Shine", this glossy finish fades quite quickly and the main strength of these Chanel lipsticks is in the stain that's left behind and stays on for several hours (at least in the six dark colors I have).

Monte Carlo is a summery bright very warm (bordering on orange-red) pink. I would never wear this color in an opaque formula, but since Rouge Coco Shines are sheer, I have more wiggle room with the shades- my natural color neutralizes the orange and I get a lovely, happy color that cheers me up. As I said, the shiny gloss finish fades, but the color itself stays behind even after my second cup of tea, and still coats the lips very evenly- a great surprise. Monte Carlo is the perfect partner for Chanel Summer 2011 Glossimer in Pensee- they're quite similar in color, so since I don't need to reapply the lipstick for pigment (you can, and it's buildable), I simply add the gloss as needed or desired.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine ($32) is available from most decent department stores and chanel.com.

All photos were taken by me with Sophie's help.

Chanel Pensee Glossimer Summer 2011

Chanel Glossimer in Pensee (277) is the third and last item I picked from Chanel Summer 2011, Collection les Fleurs d'Ete. Out of the three Glossimers offered in the summer collection, Pensee is the brightest and most color saturated. The other two, Aurore and Pink Peony, are very pretty but too light and pink for me. Pensee, with its bright fruit punch almost coral hues is enough of a departure from my normal comfort zone. But since it is a lip gloss and sheer enough I figured there won't be an issue pulling it of.

I was right. Pensee might be almost be guava-colored (sorry, I have guavas on my mind because of an upcoming perfume review), but it's also happy, wearable and adds just enough color and brightness to a summer makeup look. My lips are naturally almost purple in color, so they probably somewhat neutralize the gloss' brightness and make it into a lovely pop of color. Fans of Chanel Glossimer usual texture will not be disappointed- the gloss is soft, non-sticky and very moisturizing. The first time I used it I thought there was some grittiness from the shimmer particles (it's not really glitter, though). It was either my own lips or I just got used to it, because I no longer feel it.

Bottom Line: summer love.

Chanel Pensee Glossimer Summer 2011 ($28.50) is a limited edition color. Available now at the counters and from Chanel.com.

This concludes my Chanel Summer 2011 reviews, but if you're a member of The Non-Blonde Facebook group, you already know there's more Chanel coming up here- all approved by Sophie.

All photos are mine.

Chanel Bronze Corail 537 Soleil Tan de Chanel Summer 2011

At first glance the Corail part of the new Chanel Bronze Corail 537 Soleil Tan de Chanel for summer 2011 looks quite intimidating. I don't think I have anything quite bright and orange in my makeup collection and I doubt I ever would. But upon inspecting the entire compact you realize the other parts are very tame and barely bronzer-like. Since you're supposed to swipe and swirl your brush over the whole design you're not likely to turn  Snooki.

As you can see from the swatches (I also swatched each color separately, just to give you an idea), Chanel was really careful with these shades. They have a golden cast, a satin-like shimmer and are just a little punched up with the coral stripe. I use it in two ways- with a dense face/bronzer brush (Sephora bronzer brush or Edward Bess face brush) for a true but subtle bronzed look, or with the huge Louise Young fan brush for the just the lightest golden touch that's more appropriate on this rainy April week.

The texture and feel of Bronze Corail  Soleil Tan de Chanel is very fine and light. The simple stripes in the compact look far less elaborate and impressive than other summer bronzers we've seen lately (Estee Lauder Sea Star, Dior and that sunny Guerlain one), but the product itself is pretty and very effective, so I'm happy.

Chanel Bronze Corail 537 Soleil Tan de Chanel for Summer 2011 ($50) is available from most department stores and chanel.com.

All photos are mine.

Chanel Lilium Eye Shadow Quad Summer 2011

I don't remember ever being so excited about so many summer collections and items in one season, but Summer 2011 is shaping up to be very much my season. This isn't the first time we see a green eye shadow quad from Chanel: Murano has been a favorite since it came out, and before it there was Garden Party (I didn't buy that one). But Lilium is different enough, pretty enough and offers several interesting look options, from a dramatic green smoky eye to a soft summer garden.

As a long-time Chanel fan, I'm thrilled with the evolution of the eye shadow quads texture and quality. Lilium feels softer and smoother than ever before, all shades blend easily and the results make me a little too proud of my application skills. I doubt the credit belongs to me, though.

The four colors (clockwise)  are a very (very!) light milky peach, deep green, taupe and a yellowish green/greenish yellow that has turned out to be the a real star. All four shades have a shimmery finish but none of the glitter or fall-out that have plagued too many of Chanel's eye shadow sets over the last year. As you can see in the arm swatch, the peach is barely there, though on my brow bone it's a perfect highlighter that's low-key enough to look natural but better. The taupe is of medium intensity. It's a great lid/crease color, requires no effort and stands out even among other Chanel classics such as Safari and the newer Taupe Grise. The taupe from Lilium is a tiny bit more brown than both singles- it doesn't have Taupe Grise mauve cast or Safari's khaki leanings. The rich emerald green is  a mid shade between the two greens of Murano. It makes a gorgeous dramatic lid color or a liner. I consider it an evening shade, but it's a personal choice.

The big surprise of this quad is that greenish yellow eye shadow. Had it been released as a single I doubt I would have picked it, which would have been a shame, because apparently this color is actually very flattering on my equally weird skin tone. I wear it in the inner corner and/or the inner part of the lid and it brightens, lightens and emphasizes all that's good about dark brown eyes. I wear it with the peach and taupe together (with just a hint of brown liquid liner and a little mascara), and it makes me feel almost summery and definitely pretty.

Bottom Line; even better than I expected.

Chanel Lilium Eye Shadow Quad Summer 2011 ($57) is available from Chanel counters everywhere as well as online.

All photos are mine.

Lily Allen For Chanel

Back when it was announced that Lily Allen was going to be a spokesperson for Chanel handbags I wasn't all that thrilled. After all, she was most commonly seen stumbling drunk and Winehousely disheveled. Not exactly the poster child for Chanel chic. But I'm glad to see that quality time with Uncle Karl can fix janything. Lily Allen cleans up exceptionally well and I love everything about her look here, coat (Want!), accessories, hair and makeup. Karl Lagerfeld seems to approve Lily as well.

Photos of Lily Allen and Karl Lagerfeld before the Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall/ Winter 2011-2012 Paris Fashion Week show by Bauer Griffin via Zimbio.

Chanel Iman in February 2011 Elle UK

20 year old Chanel Iman has a whopping 18 page spread in February’s Elle magazine. She models Spring 2011 looks from Louis Vuitton , Miu Miu, Chanel, Fendi and more.

Chanel in Louis Vuitton

The article is called ‘The Collections’ and reports on the trends, cuts, colours and fabrics that are key this season. We’re off to buy our copy!

Chanel in Chanel

Chanel in Dior