After a long waiting, praying and hoping everything goes smoothly, customs decided to let go off my package, so let the Jardin de Camélias Collection reviews begin! *trumpets*
First a few words about the collection. Chanel releases each year an Asia Exclusive collection around Lunar New Year. The collection is then also released in US, as an online exclusive and unfortunately no where else in the world.
Having I felt in love with the eye shadow quad last year (remember? check out my review here), this year I decided to asked a dear blogger friend for a favour. She was very nice to get me a few items at the time of the release in Singapore in the beginning of February.
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| Chanel Joues Contraste #87 Sakura |
I would like to start with Joues Contraste #87 Sakura. Sakura means cherry blossom in Japanese. Oh remember me trying to learn Japanese from Suqqu quads? It didn't really worked last time with Honey Brown (which I wrongly interpreted as Honey and Tea lol) but this time around I am sure (almost). Such a pretty spring appropriate name it is.
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| Chanel Joues Contraste #87 Sakura |
Sakura is a light pink blush, which has similar shimmery finish to beloved Rose Initiale. These are all baked version Joues Contraste so come in a 4g regular JC compact. As much as I don't like Chanel's baked eye shadow formula, I do like their baked blushes. They apply and blend wonderfully and they have very good longevity. Althought I like using my Tom Ford Cheek Brush with those, which I found to give the best results, today I applied that one with Suqqu Cheek Brush and loved it that way too.
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| Close-up: Chanel Joues Contraste #87 Sakura |
Below you see a swatch on my arm. I am going to post FOTD with Eyeshadow post, so stay tuned for that. On my arm it looks a bit lighter since my arm is darker than my face (sun screen is the one to blame) but still you can see for a light to medium or medium complexion, Sakura gives a lovely natural flush. For deeper skin toned however, it might be too light.
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| Swatch: Chanel Joues Contraste #87 Sakura |
I pulled out some favorite pinks from my JC collection to compare with Sakura. I also included #87 Emotion in the comparison since it has the same number as Sakura, which is a bit confusing. I assure you though, they are very different. I don't know what really went wrong at Chanel Headquarters while giving it a number :-p
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| Chanel Joues Contraste #87 Sakura and similar Joues Contraste |
Sakura fits perfectly between Rose Initiale and Discretion (reviewed here and here). It is a cooler and slightly lighter version of Rose Initiale. You see that Pink Explosion is close in terms of coolness but darker.
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| Swatch comparisons of other Joues Contraste vs. #87 Sakura |
For more swatches & comparison, check out Beauty Look Book and Temptalia.
Final thoughts: Very pretty blush for upcoming Spring. Today I am wearing it and after 8 hours the color is almost intact (there is only slight fading). If you have fair, light, medium complexion and have access to this collection be sure to check it out.
Are you also tempted by products which are harder to get?
Hey Sara, this is such a delicate shade of pink! I have Rose Initiale and I might just stick to that though. It's one of those pieces that I've been in love with for quite a while :)
ReplyDeleteHi Sunny, yes Rose Initiale is one of those all year round shades for all skin tones ;-) I am loving it too and use it very often. Good thing that it is perm!
DeleteI got a chuckle out of the idea of learning Japanese from Suuqu quads. I'm sure many of us have picked up words in Japanese, French, Italian, Korean, Russian, etc. because of the global availability of beauty products and the beauty blogs that defy borders. The world of beauty is just a click away! :-)
ReplyDeleteWe have a beautiful cherry tree in our back hard. It is called Prunus Serrulta aka Japanese Cherry aka Sakura. No matter what you call it, though, when it is in bloom, it is a thing of great beauty--and so is that blush. It sold out in record time here in the States. The Asian Le Blanc collections eventually arrive at our department store counters, though, so there is still hope for those of us who missed out.
Oh Eileen, thanks so much for letting us know. I was really very sad that at the time I posted this, it was sold out online. It is great to hear that there is still hope to get this blush.
DeletePrunus Serrulta should be the latin name for the tree, I much prefer Sakura, lol. That Suqqu post and me trying to find out words online was rather funny. In the end Suqqu Make-up Artist from London twitted me and let me know it was rather an interesting interpretation of the words. He was very kind not to tell that I should rather quit making up meanings for Japanese words lol.
Hey Sara, this collection will be available at our counters in Canada with the date of May 26th, I guess better late than never! This is a lovely blush but I'm more looking forwart to the quad, especially since I missed out on Quadrille. :(
ReplyDeleteHey this is great news! I assure you Jardin Zen is more beautiful than Quadrille, which was too warm and pink for my liking.
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