Chanel N°5 Holiday 2021 Collection – photo courtesy of the brand
Where I got it
If you have been reading my blog or following me on IG (@kittiemui), you would know that I love to shop at the Chanel Beauty boutique in Britomart, Auckland. This is the only beauty/perfume store in Auckland, but we do have Chanel counters in other department stores, but they are nothing compared to the experience you get in their own boutique. Anyway, I have an SA that I keep in contact with who lets me know of VIP events and new launches, etc. See my IGTV unboxing and swatches of my last Chanel haul and the bunch of samples she sent me! Please follow and give me some love!
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Anyway, let’s get back to the Holiday 2021 collection. Honestly, being on the other side of the world, when we get into Spring/Summer, Chanel launches Fall/Winter collection. I am also quite new to the Chanel beauty community so I am not very familiar with the history of their collection, etc. As fas as I can tell, this colleciton focuses on their N°5 perfume as we can see the packaging of all the limited-edition products in this collection a well as the embossing of the eyeshadows in the palette, we can see a lot of the N°5 emblem. I am not a big fan of the perfume so I am skipping that entirely.
Let’s have a look at the collection and what we have in the Auckland store. We have one eyeshadow quad (collector’s item), a illuminating fluid, 2 ombre premiere laque glitter, a red nail polish, and 5 Rouge Allure N°5.
Chanel N°5 Holiday 2021 Collection – photo courtesy of my SA
Chanel N°5 Holiday 2021 Collection – photo courtesy of my SA
Photo courtesy of my SA
What I got
So I ordered 2 of the items from the holiday collection: Iridescent Illuminating Fluid in Or Ivoire, Rouge Allure N°5 Chanel in Rouge Brûlant as well as their new Ultra Le Teint Foundation in shade BD31 (launched in September).
Iridescent Illuminating Fluid in Or Ivoire ($109). Fluide Enulineur illuminates the complexion with light-reflecting pigments. Its lightweight texture melts onto the skin, providing long-lasting comfort. Available in an exclusive shade, Or Ivoire, it enhances the face with a subtly sun-kissed, golden glow.
Rouge Allure N°5 Chanel in Rouge Brûlant ($67). Rouge Allure N°5 celebrates the colour of desire: red. Opulent, sensual and fascinating, red is the promise of a kiss, reinvented time and time again. Limited edition shades of this collection: Emblématique: a deep and luminous red. Légendaire: a brownish garnet. Indépendante: a fiery red. Pirate: a blue-based red. Rouge Brûlant: an intense and warm orange red.
Ultra Le Teint Foundation in shade BD31 ($109). ULTRA LE TEINT, the fluid foundation that pushes the limits: ultra-long wear, comfort, and a natural flawless finish. High perfection, it evens out all complexions and keeps shine under control for perfect skin with a luminous matte finish. Its sweat proof, transfer-free formula offers flawless wear for 24 hours. Its sensorial texture blends seamlessly with the skin for 24-hour comfort. Available in 35 shades. Dermatologist tested. No transfer. Non-comedogenic. Oil free.
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Chanel beauty haul
How I find it
First of all, I have a live swatch video of these products, including comparison swatches with the Les Beiges Healthy Glow Foundation, the CC Cream, and the Les Beiges Sheer Healthy Glow Highlighting Fluid in Sunkissed.
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The Ultra Le Teint is a medium to full coverage foundation with a long-wear luminous matte finish. I’m not exactly sure what a luminous matte finish looks like, but I would say it is more matte compared to the Les Beiges Healthy Glow. The Ultra Le Teint is obviously higher coverage than the Les Beiges and in turn it has made it look deeper than the Les Beiges. Then you can clearly see the coverage of the CC cream is in between the two, but the shade 30 Beige has a pink undertone. Chanel CC Creams have less shade options than the proper foundations, so unless you match the undertones of their existing shades, I would suggest going for their proper foundations. I have only tried the Ultra Le Teint one time because we are in lockdown at the moment and I don’t want to be wearing full coverage makeup at home, but I have worn it once in the weekend because we have a church via zoom and even when we are at home, we dress ourselves property to show respect to God.
Before I try the foundation for the first time, I made sure my skin is hydrated and moisturised with skincare because this is a long-wear, full-coverage foundation which usually means that it will be less forgiving on textured skin. I used about 1 pump and just a little bit more for the entire face and neck area and I did not have to add more product. I used a dense kabuki foundation brush to apply the foundation and it went on really easily and I really really enjoy the scent! Upon first layer of foundation application, I see that the cover surely is between medium to full. The finish started out quite natural, and then it started to dry down and turn quite matte. The foundation did not require setting or powdering in my opinion. I let the foundation set for a minute or so before I continue with my liquid highlighter and blush.
After about 10 minutes, my foundation has set and it really wasn’t transferring. Adding the liquid highlighter on top with patting motions did not move the foundation and the blush went on smoothly and without being patchy. However, I can see in the direct sunlight, the textures on my cheeks, chin and nose area is more obvious. Maybe I needed a little less product or that I need to mix the foundation in with a moisturiser or something, but my skin looked a little dry.
Chanel foundation swatches
From the bottle, the Iridescent Illuminating Fluid in Or Ivoire and the Les Beiges Sheer Healthy Glow Highlighting Fluid in Sunkissed looked very much alike. They have a beige undertone which is quite different to the Le Blanc Rosy Light Drops which is another liquid highlighter/illuminator, but it has a pale pinky tone. Or Ivoire actually looks more champagne and heaps lighter than Sunkissed. Sunkissed is more bronze-toned. But the finish, texture and formulation feels quite the same. You can mix this into your day cream or your foundation to add some glow to an otherwise quite matte-finished foundation. Othewise you can use it as a liquid highlighter that you can use to specific areas. Personally, I would prefer to use the Or Ivoire than Sunkissed because it is more of an overall illuminating shade or highlighter for my skin tone, but Sunkissed gives me a deeper glow for the summer time. My skin needs to be more tanned than what I have right now.
Iridescent Illuminating Fluid comparison with Les Beiges Sheer Healthy Glow Highlighting Fluid
As you can see the Or Ivoire looked like my skin tone, but Sunkissed is significantly deeper. When blended out Or Ivoire looks luminous instead of shimmery. The shimmery particles are really fine and not sparkly so it can look quite subtle. It is non-oily so it won’t interfere with a matte-finished foundation and it hardly alters the coverage, but I also don’t recommend anything more than 3 layers of this. If you want a more blinding highlight, I would suggest applying a powder highlighter on top of this. This big bottle will last me for such a long time, I’m thinking at least 2 years even if I use it every single day.
Iridescent Illuminating Fluid comparison with Les Beiges Sheer Healthy Glow Highlighting Fluid
Lastly, the Rouge Allure lipstick in 191 Rouge Brulant. This is the only shade from the Holiday 2021 collection that is not a bold red shade. Rouge Brulant has an orange/coral undertone and a creamy luminous finish. I love this shade because it can be worn more casually. I totally love the N5 emblem at the top (bottom) of the lipstick, bullet. The push-pop mechanism is really chic and smooth and the formula or the lipstick is also hydrating and creamy.
Rouge Allure 191 Rouge Brulant
Overall
Overall, I am not particularly taken away with the colours of this holiday collection and whilst I check last year’s collection, I did purchase the Les Chaines Illuminating Blush Powder, but that was also a very autumnal/wintery shade which is quite deep and warm. I suppose these colours are suitable for a wintery Christmas party where you would rock a smoky, glam look overall. But that is not really my type of makeup to go for, even when I have an event or party to go to. Anyway, I have seen a lot of people were very excited to own a piece of the limited edition N5 Eyeshadow quad because it was an iconic collector’s piece, but currently I’m not into collecting makeup so I don’t mind skipping it.
I am very happy that I picked up the highlighting fluid instead of the Baume Essentiel because this is much easier to use and would last longer in the bottle, and on the face. It is more versatile because you can mix it with your face cream or foundation, but the highlighting stick can only be used on top. The Rouge Allure lipsticks are really pretty, but I already have a lot of red lipsticks that I think will last me for a few years. I prefer to go for something that I can wear either on a daily basis or more casually.
As for the Ultra Le Teint, I have worn it for a handful of times so far because we are in lockdown and I am hardly going anywhere that I need full coverage, long-lasting makeup. So I will really need to wear that a couple more times to see how I like it. But the shade of this foundation looked deeper than my Les Beiges. I think it’s because of the coverage, Les Beiges is more sheer therefore my own skin tone shows through more. Still I prefer the wear and finish of the Les Beiges because it looks more natural, but Ultra Le Teint is definitely something I would go for if I am going out for dinner, event, etc.
I am wearing Ultra Le Teint in BD31 as my base, Iridescent Highlighting Fluid in Or Ivoire as highlighter, Rouge Blush in 608 Ombre on my cheeks, Stylo Ombre Et Contour in 19 Contour Beige on my eyes and Rouge Allure 191 Rouge Brulant on my lips.
