Chanel Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Makeup Museum: Where Cosmetics & Art Intersect

The Curator is over the moon that the beautiful Chanel Fleurs Célestes palette, rumored to be an Asia exclusive, has hit the States. I got it in my hot little hands as soon as I could!

For an explanation of the inspiration behind the palette's design, see my previous post about this collection. 🙂

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I do hope this lovely palette is available in the U.S. eventually. The Chanel fall 2009 collection has just been released here, but no sign of this beauty. I came across it at the Glossy Kiss blog and now I must have it.

According to Glossy Kiss, the collection is "inspired
by the noble and elegant spirit of the pure white floral designs in
Chanel's spring 2009 haute couture collection." Naturally I had to check out the collection to see if there were any flowers and lots of white. And indeed there was! This palette definitely represents the styles that came down the runway – lots of fresh, romantic pieces with tons of roses, camelias, and leaf details. The flowers on the palette look just like this model's headpiece (which, incidentally, was made entirely out of paper):

Or the collar on this jacket:

(photos from glossy-kiss.blogspot.com and style.com)

I think this is one the most gorgeous couture collections I've ever seen. Now I need to get my hands on the palette that matches it!

I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed with the spring 2009 palette from Chanel. The gypsy-inspired collection features dark eye shadows and bright red lip colors. Peter Philips, Chanel's global creative makeup director, was digging through Chanel archives when he found sketches of gypsy dresses by Gabrielle Chanel. He used those as a jumping-off point for the collection. “The
Gypsy is a heroine with very distinctive beauty codes…The gypsy’s eyes are as dark as her lips are fiery. She
has the passion of travel in her veins, that of celebration, dance, and
especially that of darkness and mystery.” While I think the colors overall go with Philips' concept (including lipsticks called Fuego ["fire" in Spanish] and Gipsy Scarlett – both fierce reds), I'm not sure where this palette fits in.

Interlocking Cs are a Chanel icon, but that doesn't exactly scream "gypsy" to me. The design was recycled from an exclusive Nordstrom palette released last summer – a similar palette is currently being sold at Neiman Marcus:

(photos from neimanmarcus.com)

So while I was happy to see that Mr. Philips took his inspiration from bohemian-style dresses designed by Mademoiselle Chanel, this palette sort of missed the mark. What would have been more interesting is creating a palette that incorporated a pattern from one of the sketched dresses he unearthed while going through the archives. The Chanel C's are nice, but very uninspired unlike the rest of the collection. Here's to hoping Chanel will come out with a more innovative palette for the fall season.

Chanel put out this little gem for the spring 2007 collection, but with the colors, texture and shimmer this always struck me as being more appropriate as a holiday release. This palette was "inspired by the hand-detailed designs of Chanel master embroiderers" and features three rows of dazzling sequined-shaped eye shadow/highlighter.

As with the tweed-patterned Pink Lamé palette and the Camelias palettes, this item doesn't focus on any particular season but rather expresses the overall use of sequins by the brand on various fashion pieces, like these couture gowns:

(photos from style.com)

I'd say the color on the middle row of sequins in the palette is a dead ringer for those on this evening bag:

(photo from harpersbazaar.co.uk)

While tweed jackets and camellias come to mind when I think of Chanel, that's not necessarily the case for sequins. I don't doubt Chanel does amazing things with sequins, as seen in the couture gowns and bag above, but I don't think their use is quite as iconic as tweed or camellias. Still, this palette was well-executed, especially considering the tiny "threads" holding the sequins on – it truly looks like embroidered sequins.

The only thing that would have made this palette a little better is releasing it for the holidays rather than spring. Maybe I have Christmas on the brain, but when I opened the compact this morning to help me write this post, all I could think of was how festive and perfect for a holiday exhibition this piece is. Ah, silver and gold…just like the song Sam the Snowman sings in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Raindeer"! If you're not in the holiday spirit yet, here's a little serenade…and a very fitting one for this palette. :)

It's finally fall here in the Curator's neck of the woods – time for cold-weather fabrics like corduroy, cashmere and tweed, so I thought I'd look at Chanel's Pink Lamé palette. Released in the fall of 2006, the palette features a pink tweed pattern with silver and gold running throughout.

As with the Camellias palettes, Chanel took one of its signature fashion symbols and placed it onto a makeup item. While tweed obviously isn't an exclusive Chanel fabric, the tweed Chanel jacket is considered a classic and makes an appearance in nearly every seasonal collection.

I had been thinking for a while how cool it would be to have this tweed pattern repeated in other items within the line, and it looks like the company was reading my mind. Chanel has just released new blushes with tweed patterns on them. So if you missed the limited-edition Pink Lamé (and can't afford a Chanel tweed jacket) you can still get your Chanel tweed fix in these new blushes!

(photo from neimanmarcus.com)

This Monday I'm looking at Chanel's Camélia palettes, which feature four colors molded into the shape of Coco's favorite flower. The first of these, a lip palette, was released for the 2007 holiday season, while the second came out in spring 2008 and featured eye shadow rather than lip color.

Camellias figure prominently in Chanel fashion – the brand even has an entire jewelry collection featuring the flower. From bags to sunglasses to scarves, the ubiquitous camelia has become a Chanel icon.

(top photos from chanel.com)

But why the camellia? According to the Chanel website, "The camellia appealed to Mademoiselle's taste for provocation due to its reference as the forbidden flower, both androgynous and ambiguous. Without perfume or thorns, the camellia seduces by its simplicity. Mademoiselle adored the camellia for its almost geometrical roundness and the regular perfection and classical order of its pure white petals."

There you have it. I think it was about time Chanel spread this famous icon from accessories into their beauty line. The only problem with it is that when one actually uses the palette, the camellia pattern will disappear. We can hope that Chanel will come out with a limited-edition compact in the shape of a camellia or at least put the camellia design on the compact, rather than on the makeup itself. This way people can enjoy this Chanel symbol over and over again instead of ruining it with one use. You can have your camellia and eat it too!