Chanel Illusion D'ombre in Illusoire - swatch and review

In early March I was booked in for another appointment with Chanel and the lovely Marina.  My appointment fell on the eve of attending my first fashion show here in Melbourne.  During my hour long session I had no idea what I was looking to accomplish, except for, perhaps, something a bit edgier.  As you know, I'm a bit conservative with my colour palette.  Natural, neutral, maybe even boring, but never not myself.  Dinner was nigh - we went out for Indian; I thought to myself "what the heck, let's do this." Marina painted and transformed me from light to dark.

Transformation

Darker..

Another view

Ideally, I wanted an easy to create smoky eye; I'm still learning the tricks of the trade and am inept when it comes to "smoking out" my eyes.  This is where Chanel's Illusoire comes in; Marina pointed at her eyes and said, "we'll do this, but lighter."  That day, Marina was wearing Illusion D'ombre in Mirifique, a charcoal black with a hint of shimmer; Illusoire, on the other hand, provided the same amount of subtle mystery, but with a plum hue.

Have brush, will travel

Compact

With cap

This lovely little glass jar contains a bouncy/springy-type eye shadow and is slightly difficult to apply. When I swatched Illusoire I noticed the product began to ball up and turned into a little clump on the tip of my finger; not something you want to have glom onto your lid.  In order to get the best consistency and ideal application, I found it's best if you gently rub the contents until it's warmed to the point where you can have enough product on your finger.  Then, I tap and dab my eye lid, first concentrating there and then working my way out.  As I work my way out, naturally, I have less on my finger which, in turn, creates the smoke.

Illusoire swatch

As you can tell, Marina had a bit of fun with vamping me out. Above, I'm also wearing Chanel Rouge Allure in Maniac on my lips and it was topped off with a bit of gloss in Petillant in to order soften the dark brown, almost black shade. As for the rest of my face, I'm not too sure what else Marina applied; all I know is I have a client card tucked away for potential purchases.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Chanel's Illusion D'Ombre in Illusoire:

• $48.00 AUS, includes brush.

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 9 out of 10 bags – I had to take one full point off due to it being so expensive here.

Likelihood to purchase again:

• Mirifique, you will be mine.