Review and Swatches: Chanel Fall 2018 – Le Mat de Chanel

I wasn’t planning on getting any of the Chanel Fall/Winter 2018 collection. Chanel isn’t always a brand that comes out with must-have products because their products don’t always look like they would be flattering on my skin. But as I’m starting to realize with Chanel, their products have an understated ingenuity that when applied,come together flawlessly than the swatches actually show.

That’s exactly what happened with the newest Chanel launch. On a trip to what I call a fancy Ulta that sells Chanel products, I was able to swatch and test all of the new products in the launch. I only walked away with both of the eyeshadow quads, but I was seriously tempted by the matte lip crayons and the Style Ombre et Contour eyeshadow sticks.

I didn’t get a chance to take pictures of my swatches so take my first impressions of the products that called to me with a grain of salt, but if you care to read my first impressions on the products I didn’t purchase, read on. If you would like to see swatches of more items of the collection, head on over to Chloe Ash’s blog, one of my biggest influencers for Chanel makeup. Feel free to skip down to swatches and my review of the eyeshadow quads a little further down.

On a whole, the collection looked and felt amazing. The textures and shades were better than most Chanel products that I’ve tried. The matte lip crayons were really an unexpected standout that made me take a second look at the permanent range of matte lip crayons. They have such a rich and velvety formula that isn’t dry at all. I’ve already added a few shades to my wishlist…

The Style Ombre et Contour are Chanel’s version of eyeshadow sticks that can be used as eyeshadows, liners, and khols. I had heard that these were good, but I was really drawn to 12 Contour Clair, a matte taupe brown shade. From a small test on my hand, they wore really well, so I may end up picking that shade up soon. I also really like the look of 14 Contour Graphique, which is a deep navy shade. I just bought a navy eyeliner so I’ll be skipping this one, but I would recommend it if you’re looking for an alternative to black eyeliner!

There are also a few new shades of the Rouge Allure Ink, the matte liquid lips. I didn’t swatch them because the shades didn’t look too different from the shades I already have. However, I do love the formula of these so I don’t think you can go wrong with these shades. There are also a few new nail polishes, but to be honest, I’m not a huge nail polish collector anymore so I wasn’t interested in them.

Onto the eyeshadow quads.

These were probably the biggest surprise out of all the products I tried. I had seen swatches online and thought they looked nice, but was not expecting them to be so nice in person. I picked up both quads: 308 Clair-Obscur and 312 Quiet Revolution. They will be permanent and are the standard price of $61 for Chanel quads. The quads have matte packaging, which is a small detail that I love.

Clair Obscur is a neutral toned neutral quad. It has a midtone brown, a cool concrete-brown shade, a beige, and a deep brown shade. This quad in particular is excellent quality. All four shades are super smooth, velvety, and pigmented. Compared to the only other Chanel quad I have, Candeur et Experience, this is much more velvety feeling. They almost feel like cream shadows. If you’re thinking that this might be too cool toned (because I did), don’t. Even though I have warm olive undertones, this still manages to look very natural on me. The concrete-brown shade doesn’t make me look sallow or washed out. I love that with this palette, I can create a perfect work look. I use the top left medium brown in the crease, the concrete brown and beige on the lid, and the chocolate brown to deepen the outer V or as a liner. With all the glittery shades on the market, I think these all matte shades are a refreshing change for the transition to fall.

Quiet Revolution was an unexpected buy for me. I rarely wear blue eyeshadows other than as an eyeliner, but I was really inspired by this quad. The shades include a cool tan shade with the slightest mauve undertone, a deep teal navy, a bright cobalt blue, and a deep charcoal grey. The shades here don’t feel *quite* as velvety across the board, but they still have excellent texture and pigmentation. The cobalt blue in particular was uber pigmented with one swipe, so a little bit will definitely go a long way with that one. The deeper teal navy shade was slightly drier and patchier, but will still perform well with a natural hair eyeshadow brush. This will serve mostly as accent shadows, paired with Clair Obscur, but I am feeling really inspired to wear all of them together soon.

Now onto the swatches:

I also compared the shades to Candeur et Experience because I think they would all work really well with each other.

All in all as far as the eyeshadow quads go, I think Clair Obscur is a must-have if you’re looking for a workhorse palette for work or everyday. I recommend Quiet Revolution if you’re looking for some extra boldness or drama and you need a hit of inspiration like myself.

What did you think of this collection? Will you be picking anything up?

As always, thanks for reading!