Chanel Le Volume de Chanel Prune Mascara

I love summer makeup. Love it, love it, LOVE IT!

Dewy, bronzed skin; lids luxuriating with shimmery golds and other precious metals; slick, shiny corals on my lips…

I feel like Meg Ryan in that scene from When Harry Met Sally — “I’ll have what she’s having” — except that I’m, um, totally not faking it.

I really, really love summer makeup.

Chanel Le Volume de Chanel Prune Mascara

The beauty brands are laying down their beach towels on the warm, sandy beaches of Makeup Land right now with their summer makeup collections…

Chanel Le Volume de Chanel Prune Mascara

I recently added some new Chanel to my summer collection sandcastle, and I’m loving it so far. It’s Chanel’s new $30 Le Volume de Chanel Mascara in Prune, a do-it-all mascara in a blackish burgundy shade that lengthens, thickens and separates.

Basically, the whole shebang, and no flaking or smudging.

Look into my eye…

I’ve got the blues… The Chanel Bleu Le Volume De Chanel Mascara blues…

Blue mascaras usually give me the blues…

Buuuuut, not in the good way.

You know how many times I’ve started out marveling at an intense sapphire on a mascara wand only to get it on my lashes and think, “Um…is that it? It’s not even blue. And where’s the length and thickness?”

Now, Chanel’s new Bleu Le Volume De Chanel Mascara is having none of that. This $30 delphinium is blue perfection in tube, and I think it’s a worthy addition to your fashion-forward wardrobe this spring.

Just look at that magic wand…

It looks lovely standing next to the original Le Volume De Chanel, also known as “The Best Darned High-End Mascara This Side of the Rockies!” Also known as “lash crack!”

A great option for when you feel like mixing things up a little, or just want to wear a conversation starter…like a flashy cocktail ring or that tattoo of “Mrs. Christian Bale” across my left boob.

Ha. Kidding (or was I?).

Like the original Le Volume, Bleu does it all — lengthening, separating, thickening and holding a curl. It even makes it through the entire day without leaving behind a trail of flakes or smudges on my lower lash lines.

But even more important than all that, I can see the blue!

Two coats of Chanel Bleu Le Volume De Chanel Mascara

Those crazy cats at Chanel sure know how to do sophisticated blues. They’re always rolling out elegant, colorful blue eye makeup that works.

Sexy alien blue lashes, these are not. If you’re shopping for blue lashes that are visible from five galaxies away, you may have to keep searching…

Two coats of Bleu on the left, and naked lashes on the right

Say you’re out on a date with your companion about an arm’s length away. They’ll just see quick flashes of blue as you answer, “How was your day?” or, “How did you refrain from shanking your boss?”
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Starring in a reverie near you, Chanel’s $29.50 Daydream Glossimer…

“When in doubt, Chanel it out.”

Wouldn’t that look great on a t-shirt? Or a bumper sticker? Or maybe tattooed on a Chanel addicted beauty fanatic’s inner wrist (in sans serif font, of course)?

This, my friend, is my new makeup mantra: “When in doubt, Chanel it out.”

It occurred to me earlier this week — a revelation of sorts — as I was trying to figure out to wear to that work lunch I went in the city last Tuesday.

I was stumped and rutting around through my makeup drawer. Couldn’t figure out what I wanted to wear, and then I remembered the quad and blush from the spring 2013 collection and spotted one of the new Glossimers from the new Chanel Revelation collection.

“When in doubt, Chanel it out.”

Oh, babe! The spring collection’s glosses, and that Taboo nail polish, are fodder for daydreams. Think glossy, glittery lips and rich, interstellar indigo tips that twinkle like little stars.

For the season, Coco’s crew positioned the Glossimers as essentials for your makeup kit, like must-have purses and shoes — wearable, flexible, because they can go with so many different outfits and looks. The collection includes a mix of 10 new and re-promoted glosses, some of them on the sheer, subtle side, like sheens, and others sparkly metallics.

The new Chanel Collection Revelation collection of Glossimers ($29.50) and Taboo Nail Polish ($27)

Chanel Ocean Shimmer 171, Rose Sauvage 172 and Daydream 174

From the left: Ocean Shimmer 171, Rose Sauvage 172 and Daydream 174

Chanel Ocean Shimmer Glossimer

Chanel Rose Sauvage Glossimer

Chanel releases a new nail polish called Taboo Le Vernis ($27), and the universe collectively swoons…

Take heed, beauty lover! You’ve been warned…

Get too close to Chanel’s new $27 Taboo Le Vernis Nail Colour, and you run the risk of losing yourself in its galactic shimmer for all eternity.

Gazing too closely at the shimmery blue and bronze stars in Taboo’s deep, interstellar purple base is like crossing the event horizon of a black hole — the boundary in spacetime through which matter and light can only pass in one direction.

It will suck you in!

At least that’s what I told El Hub when he said, “You paid $27 for a bottle of nail polish!?”

Every few millennia (okay, years), a beauty brand Big Bang occurs. Chanel crafts a nail polish so striking that it warps the very fabric of space and time.

Taboo!

When I saw it for the first time, I knew that if I let it pass me by, I would regret my decision for — who knows how long? Maybe years (I have a friend who still regrets skipping Jade, and whenever I bring it up, she gets fussy).

Why do I like it so much?

Well, because opalescent copper nebulae streak through Taboo’s blackened purple like comet tails, while flecks of cosmic blue glitter wink and twinkle like distant stars, and because I only need to wear a single layer — A SINGLE LAYER, OMG! — for total opacity.

If you’ve ever wished (on a star, perhaps?) for a darker, sparklier, more intense version of Chanel Vendetta, the universe answered. It’s Taboo.

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Wearing Estée Lauder’s Pure Color Gelée Powder EyeShadow Palette in Batik Sun (from the new Bronze Goddess collection) on my eyes

When I was getting ready this morning, I grabbed my eye shadow palette crush o’ the moment, Estée Lauder’s Pure Color Gelée Powder EyeShadow Palette in Batik Sun from the new Bronze Goddess summer (!) collection, and I wondered about how other makeup lovers like to wear eye palettes.

Par exemple, when you grab a palette, do you usually stick to the shadows in that palette, or do you like to mix and match them with other shades?

I’m not really strict about sticking to the colors in a single palette; it’s mostly about proximity, LOL! If something’s close by and will work with the palette I want to wear, then I’ll add it into the mix. But if I’m traveling and only have room in my bag for a single eye palette, then I’ll just stick to those colors.

A few of my favorite spring and summer palettes…

Estée Lauder Pure Color Gelee Powder EyeShadow Palette in Batik Sun ($48)

Too Faced Summer Eyes Summer Sexy Shadow Collection ($36)

Chanel Ombres Matelassées Eyeshadow Palette in Pearl River ($80)

Guerlain Écrin 4 Couleurs in Coup de Foudre ($59)

What about you? When you wear an eye shadow palette, do you tend to stick to just those colors? Are you an eye shadow palette purist, or do you like to mix it up?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen