Chanel Mystic Eyes (It's CHANEL!)

Chanel has always been one of those god-like brands to me. To buy anything Chanel is to take the first step into the world of fashion. Of course, not everything Chanel is perfect, but it seems like even the imperfections are god-like. You can never go wrong with Chanel. (I mean just look at this paper box! If it wasn't Chanel then it would be boring, but because it is Chanel, the box automatically becomes classy.)


Since I don't really want to spend a month's salary on a Chanel bag just yet, a Chanel's makeup item seems like a good alternative. Thus, when I saw the beautiful promotional picture for Chanel's winter 2009 eyeshadow palette, my mind went *ding* time to pick up a Chanel quad. The minute I swatched Bird of Paradise from Chanel winter 2009 on the back of my hand, I absolutely fell in love with the shimmer quality. There is one downfall, Bird of Paradise is really colorful, and as I've (recently?) learned, my colorful eyeshadows mostly just sit in my drawers and are almost never used. Thankfully, as I swatched a few more of Chanel's quads, I found that a number of Chanel eyeshadow quads have the same beautiful shimmer, including spring 2009's Mystic Eyes. And that is how I ended up with Chanel's Quadra Eyeshadow in Mystic Eyes ^^


Back when Mystic Eyes just came out, I read a number of rave reviews on the insanely gorgeous taupey palette. Unfortunately, I was only working part time at the time so I refrained from making any expensive ($20+) makeup purchases. I'm very glad then that the Bird of Paradise promotional picture eventually led me to Mystic Eyes again because as the other reviewers say, Mystic Eyes is truly an INSANELY gorgeous taupey palette ^_^


The packaging for Chanel eyeshadow quads is not particularly exciting, but it looks very classy and Chanel-esque to me. As with other high-end brands, Chanel's quads come with a velvet pouch to protect the palette (see above). I always keep the velvet pouch because it looks nice, but the pouch also annoys the hell out of me because it attracts dust like crazy. The quads also come with a sturdy plastic protective covering and two sponge-tip applicators that are so-so in quality.


The eyeshadows in the Mystic Eyes quad are incredibly silky and finely-milled (as are all of the Chanel eyeshadows that I played with at Nordstrom). The lasting power is great, no complaints yet, and the shimmer that I previously mentioned is just out-of-this-world amazing. The shimmer here does not scream party girl but instead oozes sophistication from every little speck. The reason why I love it so much is due to the mix of very fine to fine shimmer that provides a spectrum of reflectivity and gives depth and dimension to each color. Unfortunately, my camera was not able to capture the shimmers well in any of the pictures, so you will just have to take my word for it until you are able to check out the quad in person at your local department store! I chose to provide two product photos below because the left picture (taken partly in the shade) is closer to the actual color, but the right picture (taken in indirect sunlight) shows the level of reflectivity based on the amount of shimmer in each color.

The four colors in Mystic Eyes are a very very pale vanilla pink (A), a slightly coppery medium brown (B), a silvery taupe (C), and a blackened chocolate brown (D). A and C are both on the sheer side but B and D are both very pigmented. There is some level of shimmeriness in all colors but I would say that D is more than 50% matte and A and C are the most shimmery of the bunch. These colors applied together creates a very (surprise surprise) sophisticated and classy look appropriate for both the office and weekends. I haven't tried to use this quad to create a smoky eye look yet, but I think it would also look beautiful (I imagine something like Marion Cotillard on the red carpet).


All pictures in this post were taken under natural light.

In short: A stunning quad worth every penny.