Chanel Ombres Fleuries Quadra Eye Shadow in Délicatesse

Le Blanc Delices du Chanel 2013 collection is released in February exclusively in Asia. I am hearing that some of the pieces of this collection will be available early in May in US too. When I first saw the promo pictures, I knew that the center pieces of the collection, an eye shadow quad embossed with beautiful camellia motives was a must have for me. Not just the design but also the colors blew my mind. I contacted my friend in Hong Kong and she was so nice to send me one, I really can't thank enough to her but I am going to keep her name anonymous so that she doesn't have to send hundreds of this one around the world *winks*

Chanel Ombres Fleuries Quadra Eye Shadow in Délicatesse

The quad is named as Chanel Ombres Fleuries Quadra Eye Shadow after beautiful flowers embossed on each color. It has round shape typical to Asian/European baked releases of Chanel but it is not a baked formula. Instead similar to the Christmas release Harmonie du Soir, it has a soft buttery texture. Here is a close up of the beautiful design.

Chanel Ombres Fleuries Quadra Eye Shadow in Délicatesse, close-up

Upon receiving the palette, I couldn't touch it for a long time. I was worried to ruin the pattern. I chose to enjoy it before starting to use it. The design is indeed beautiful but after two usages it almost disappears. Below I swatched the shades clockwise, starting with the silver shade on top left corner. The colors are very soft but the eye shadows are very pigmented. I used my fingers to pick the product for the following swatch.

Chanel Ombres Fleuries Quadra Eye Shadow in Délicatesse, arm swatch under indirect sun light

The silver shade is a glitter with a clear base and can be layered on other shades for a special effect. Next to it is a warm white, almost ivory once swatched. The burgundy shade has a beautiful pinkish sheen to it, can better be seen under sun light (see the swatch below). The peachy pink shade is very close to my skin color but is easily visible as it shines beautifully both under direct and indirect light.

Chanel Ombres Fleuries Quadra Eye Shadow in Délicatesse,arm swatch under direct sun light

Before I go onto the application and results, I would like to also refer to review in Kai's Obsessions for layered swatches. She mentioned that ivory and peachy pink shades could also be layered with burgundy shade for duo chrome effect.

I started padding the peachy pink shade on the inner half of the lid. I was a bit disappointed with the color pay-off at this point and quickly moved on to the burgundy to bring some drama. As they were not properly blended and burgundy was very pigmented, at this stage I was almost lost. Then I started bringing the burgundy shade to the middle where it met the peachy pink shade and the magic happened. The colors could be layered and as they started to be mixed, became even more beautiful. After applying the burgundy shade on the crease and applying the ivory shade to the inner corner, for a short moment I was clueless about the silver glitter. I thought about my Tom Ford quads and decided to layer it on top of the other shades to add some dimension. After picking up some glitter with the brush (I usually use my fingers for that matter but yes this one could be picked up by brush) I padded a gentle amount directly on the eye lid and the effect was wow! I loved how it brightened up those already awesome colors. Unfortunately it is not easy to catch this effect by photography but hope below gives some idea how the quad looks like once applied.

Chanel Ombres Fleuries Quadra Eye Shadow in Délicatesse in action, eyes closed

I finished the look with eye pencils from Chanel, Silver Light on lower lash line and Cassis along the upper lashes to give some thickness to the lashes. As mascara I applied Volume de Chanel on upper as well as lower lashes. As a finishing touch, I highlighted the brow bone with peachy pink shade from the palette. Here is the result.

Chanel Ombres Fleuries Quadra Eye Shadow in Délicatesse in action, eyes open

After getting so impressed by the application and many layering possibilities, I took out the Variation quad of Chanel for a comparison. It was the closest I thought of as I knew this one was also a combination of silver and plum colors. I have to admit Variations is one of those quads which I rarely reach for. I tried to make it work many times but somehow I failed. It looks very washed out on me and I am not impressed by its color pay-off. 

Chanel Palettes Variation (left), Délicatesse (right)

These two palettes are similar in terms of color theme. On the other hand in terms of application and color pay-off they are totally different. The clear base glitter, the ivory and peachy pink shades of Délicatesse can be layered but I can't layer Variations. Even blending doesn't work so evenly (if you can do that better than I do, then happy you! Please share your tips and tricks with me.) As opposed to Variation, Délicatesse is a breeze to work with. Instead of chunky glitters like the light pink shade of Variations has, Délicatesse colors have fine satiny finish and each color is so finely milled that it melts like butter on the lid. Full sun swatches of both of the quads can be seen below.

Chanel Palettes Variation (up) and Délicatesse (down) swatched under direct sun light

Final thoughts: Délicatesse is a very versatile quad which almost applies itself. Layered, it turns out to give many other possibilities. The color combo may not be very original but the uniqueness of the palette comes from the formula and the application. For me it is a must-have and it moved quickly up on my list of favorite palettes even after the first try. Unfortunately it won't be released world wide. It will hit some US counters and probably Chanel US website in May so you may want to reach for a friend if you are not living in the States.

Do you have your heart set on this quad? Do you like glitters on your daily make-up? Please let me know your comments and thoughts about this post. I am going "yay!" with each and every comment ;-)