Chanel Illusions D'Ombre

In Autumn 2011, CHANEL released their Collection Illusions D'Ombres: a six colour range of long wear luminous eyeshadows. These creamy eyeshadows are absolutely brilliant. The pot is big for an eyeshadow and a tiny amount of it will go so far with a brilliant effect. The glitter particles are absolutely tiny and won't cause problems for even the most sensitive eyes, this also means that the shadow glides on smoothly and cleanly without bunching. The shadow has a creamy texture in the pot and on the brush but smoothes into a powdery finish when applied. It stays put for hours on end without creasing or smudging, it's the best eyeshadow I've ever used and well-worth the price-tag of  £22.50. The only bad point of these is the brush. Although it is very fine and nice to use, I find a sponge much easier to use and the loose brush just gets lost at the bottom of the makeup bag. I got over this problem pretty sharpish though because this product is simply amazing.

I like to wear the white (Fantasme) or black (Mirifique) on alone with false eyelashes, or use them both together to create a tonal effect with white on the inside, it makes you look awake, and black on the outside to give depth to the eyes. I then use a lip brush (yes, I know..) to draw a thin line of matt black shadow on my bottom lashes, joining up to the top shadow with a slight flick. Both are spectacularly sparkly and using them together produces quite an extreme, stylised look, perfect for a night out.
I often use Mirifique with a plain silver or blue eyeshadow to create a similar result for everyday wear without less glitter impact.

Another favourite is the purple one, Illusoire. This works brilliantly used on it's own or with pink, violet or brown shadows such as the Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof eyeliner in 40 Violine or the Chanel Eyeshadow Les 4 Ombres quad in 19 Enigma.

The greeny gold Epitant is very nice used just to sweep across the top lid when wearing gold/brown/green clothes. Combine with a liquid black liner to create a slick look with luminous shine.

The peach, Emerveille is a lot more subtle than the rest with gold/bronze reflections. It's perfect to use when you're going for a more natural but styled look as it has a mother-of-pearl sheen to it and is just stunning. Combine with a lengthening mascara such as No.7 Extreme Length in black and go for some peach/pink lips. Chanel's Rouge Coco Shine in Chance goes perfectly.

The red, Ebloui, is in my opinion very difficult to wear and therefore the only one I wouldn't have in my makeup collection. It's ruby/bronze and looks stunning in the pot but with my clothes and skin tone I really cant see it working. Paired with dark red lips, maybe Dragon by Chanel, this would look amazing, especially for those with darker skin and eyes.