Chanel Winter Nights

If you asked me a year ago, I probably would've said that there's no way I would ever become a department store makeup snob. I was just as happy with drugstore makeup as I was with department store makeup. Unfortunately for my bank account, that has changed, and Chanel is one of the culprits. I don't even bother going to the drugstore to check out their new collections anymore; Chanel is my new love and no brand can supplant Chanel's position in my heart. With that said, late last year, I bought a Chanel palette that's been out for quite a while, though I didn't fall in love with this palette until this past May when I took a trip to NYC. I don't know how I've overlooked this palette in the past, but I'm glad that I decided to stop at the Chanel counter at the NYC Bloomingdale's for this fateful encounter with Winter Nights.

There's not much to be said about Chanel packaging. It's been the same for years and years and it's become a classic. It's not exactly the prettiest or cutest packaging ever, but it's classy and it's very Chanel so I don't have any complaints.


As usual, the inside contains a very sturdy plastic separator and two very crappy eyeshadow applicators. Chanel quads would be completely flawless in my heart if they had more decent applicators. Seriously, even some drugstore applicators are better than these.


No complaints about the powder quality. In fact, the powder quality is one of the reasons why I love Chanel so much. You may want to refer to my previous post on Chanel's Mystics Eyes to see why, but suffice it to say that Chanel's eyeshadows are super finely-milled.

The colors in this palette are a medium neutral-warm brown, a light beigey yellow, a pale pink, and a dark blackish olive with gold shimmers. All of the colors are shimmery or at least have a subtle sheen. Another reason why I love Chanel quads is the beauty of the fine shimmers in their shadows. There is nothing garish or loud here, but a sprinkling of shimmer in the colors like stars in the sky. As my swatch really does not do the shadows justice, please check out the palette at Chanel counters to see what I mean.

Overall, Chanel Winter Nights is a sophisticated yet fun palette. The color combination is not boring, but the effect is understated and elegant when the colors are combined on my eyelids. From the promotional pictures of the spring Chanel palette, it seems that Winter Nights is similar to the new palette Regard Perle. However, the brown and dark olive in Winter Nights is replaced by a vanilla and forest green in Regard Perle, respectively. I haven't checked out Regard Perle in person yet, but it seems like a lovely palette as well.

It's been a while since I took the pictures, but all pictures should have been taken under natural light.

In short: A worthy purchase if you like elegant, understated colors, and don't mind the price!