makeupandmyself

This collection is a big difference. In the middle of all the summer frenzy with the brightest possible shades splashed all over us and candy pastel colours intrusively trying to make their way on our lids and lips and nails in spring, Chanel Coco Codes is like a breeze proving that one can be elegant at any time. And that there’s a reason why Chanel, of all brands, is the creator of quintessential and iconic elegance. Timeless, that is. For starters, this is the collection you’ll be able to wear whenever, not just in spring or summer. Also, if you are looking for sophistication and understatement, for classic and classy rather than just having fun once or twice a season, Coco Codes is right up your alley. It’s an easy way to always looking chic. And it teaches us how to pull this easy and exquisite look together. Just look at the shades, textures and shade combos, and you’ll know how to do it – with these products or any products you want.

 

The signature item in this collection is this blush harmony that sets the tone for the whole batch to come. It’s surprisingly calm and serene and pulled back looking, even though there’s a clash of warm and cool shades in its core.

 

On top here we have white with cooler beige. And then on the bottom there’s an intense to medium coral red with a warmish golden sand beige. Usually, when there’s such a collision, we get something artsy. Not this time around though.

 

The design is simple, elegant and graphic with straight lines, square shapes and round letters. That is, it’s not that simple either. There’s a little bit of juxtaposition here too. Personally, I like things that have more to them than it seems initially.

 

By the way, when I look at these shades, I can’t help thinking, that they can be more than blush. Contouring, highlighting, strobing – it’s all here, really, whatever your heart desires at the moment and whatever change of heart you might have 🙂

 

And if you feel artistic, inspired and adventurous or all of the above, there’s always a mixing option, when it comes to palettes of the kind. Other than just doing one big swipe over the whole thing, you can mix this and that shade together, depending on your mood.

 

To round it up, there’s something about this palette. Don’t be deceived by its simplicity. There’s so much more here than just what you see at first glance. There are codes and ideas and things you’ll be uncovering, when using these four shades.

 

Speaking about the shades, here we have:

a kind of pearly white with a handful of white sparkle.

 

a cooler beige that perfectly blends in with you skin tone.

 

a vibrant coral red or red coral, depends on how you look at it.

 

and a kind of pearly vintage gold with some golden to bronze sparkle lingering there.

 

One big major swipe surprises me and somehow gives me… pink or lilac pink, romantic in a way with a good degree of sparkle that’s more about reflections and light play than sparkly shine. Wow. Beautiful.

 

The texture is nice and pleasant. I can’t say there’s some extra kick or extra lush feel about it. It’s as elegant and simple and pleasant as the palette itself, as its design and its shades are and just about everything in it. Very nice, indeed.

 

I have to say, Coco Code blush harmony is a great palette in the sense that it brings up a flurry of images, uses, makeup options and what not. Once again, the most important thing here is the combo of the shades, the choice of the shades and the clash of cool and warm. These are the things I especially appreciate and wanna use in my looks.

 

Believe it or not, but there’s another blush in this collection 🙂 This one is Chanel classic. Joues Contraste. It’s a mono powder blush. What we are used to seeing and thinking, when we talk about blush, basically.

 

Now, what did I tell you about what the core of this collection is? Remember? Elegance. That’s the key to this look and these shades and textures. That’s what this blush shade is called too. Elegance. Makes sense, as far as I’m concerned 🙂

 

There’s one thing you need to know about this blush. It has a strong violet scent to it. If you wear Chanel blush and like their limited edition face products, you know this scent. It’s pleasant, but pretty strong. So, if you are scent sensitive, be careful.

 

The texture is nice, one of the best classic powder blush textures out there, in my opinion. The shade is subtle, flattering and wonderful. It’s very much in tune with the blush harmony. It’s the same style and has the same feel about it.

 

The shade is beige, it’s on the cooler side, there seems to be some satiny sheen there. And a handful of sparkle, but just a handful. There’s usually sparkle in Joues Contraste by Chanel. There’s a lingering lilac pink cloud of an undertone hovering over this shade too.

 

This shade is a perfect natural pretty shade. It’s sophisticated, delicate, wonderful. It’s intended to highlight your natural beauty, not to paint you into being someone else. Chanel is really good at coming up with such beige blush colours, generally speaking, and this one is as chic as ever.

 

These are the two face products in Coco Codes collection by Chanel. Consider adding these shades to your makeup stash. They are powerful in their understatement. Also, don’t be afraid to go against the rules and mix the single blush into any of the four shades in the blush harmony. You might come up with something really really exciting.

 

Moving on here. Next thing we are going to see is eye colour. That is, in this collection there are two eye quads – and that’s a lot 🙂 – and then there are eye pencils that are supposed to match the eyeshadow palettes, I guess.

 

Anyway, believe it or not, but the first palette is called Codes Elegants. Told ya 🙂 Elegance is the word, when it comes to this collection. It’s all about elegance and all about timeless here, not about fashion or trends.

 

We know the deal, when it comes to these eye quads by Chanel. Texturewise, it’s traditional powder eyeshadow. The quality is usually good. The shades can be pearly or matt or satiny, any of those, actually.

 

In this palette in particular they seem to be warmer. Oh so warm. Even the one shade that looks cool in the box – looks grey, that is – proves to be a much warmer greige, when swatched. So, this palette is all about cozily warm hues.

 

There’s something about warm shades that makes them languid and exquisite and gorgeous. Special occasion like, to put it simply. At the same time, these shades do not necessarily call for an evening gown. You could wear jean and a sweater and look beautiful, when you wear them.

 

This palette – or these four shades, to be precise – is something you wanna grab and wanna hold. Because you’ll find that they’ll help you out again and again and make your life easy or easier at times. They aren’t kidding, when they say ‘elegance’ here 🙂

 

So, the four shades are:

a gorgeous vintage gold, no, it’s not too bright and not too shiny, even though there’s some sparkle there in addition to pearl.

 

a lighty light pearly whitish gold shade that will – yes – light up any look and bring out the beauty of your eyes, there’s some sparkle here too.

 

a dark copperish satiny shade that calls out exquisite every time I look at it and tries to lure me into wearing it. It might have the same effect on you.

 

a Sunday brunch like greige with a bit of satiny sheen to it. You know why it’s Sunday brunch like? ‘Cause it’s relaxed and nice and sure to please.

 

In terms of performance, these four do what they promise. I didn’t encounter many problems when applying them. They seem to behave, and that’s definitely good news, when it comes to makeup.

 

This eye quad is just so-o nice. So glamorous too in a truly subtle way. The real way. It can carry you through your whole day – from an office or a business meeting to a big party – and you’ll look and feel awesome all along. Great, isn’t it?

 

Here’s the second palette, and I can only hope it will be as amazing as the first one. It’s called Codes Subtils. Uh-huh. Subtils. Yes, of course, there’s a lot of subtlety in these colours. By all means. Makes as much sense as elegance.

 

If the blush harmony is any indication of what’s coming in this collection, I think this palette is going to be cooler. Or else, there are going to be some conspicuously cool shades in it. And, maybe, some warm shades hidden there too.

 

Yes, here we are. This palette is markedly cooler and seemingly has more gleam to it. If you like warmer shades though, there’s a beauty – a couple of beauties, actually – planted there by Chanel in the middle of it all. Especially for you 🙂 Because these palettes are really well balanced. They have it all in them.

 

The shades are as flattering as their warm counterparts from the first palette. What I like about them is that anyone can try them and wear them and look stunning and feel that you do look this way, you know. Without being too made up.

 

As much as I like the warm shades and find them very appealing and very underrated a lot of the times, these four here get me ecstatic almost. This mysterious gleam in them makes all the difference to me and mesmerizes me every time I come across it.

 

Here are our four shades:

a wonderful pearly cool pink with a little bit of a lilac touch to it. There’s some warmer golden like sparkle there, but not too much.

 

an amazing warm pearly golden beige. It’s a great shade to have, and an even better shade, when it has this golden glow in it.

 

a super warm honey beige, copperish almost, but not quite. Amber like. Yes, amber is a good way to describe this shade that doesn’t have any metallic shine to it, ‘cause it doesn’t need it 🙂

 

uh, here it is. Remember that shade in the first palette, that looked grey and promised to be that, but instead actually proved to be greige? Well, this one is grey, rest assured. Satiny, warmer, deep and sultry.

 

Let’s talk quality, performance and application here for a minute. Out of the four shades two are pearly, more so than the two shiny shades in the first palette. The other two shades are classically satiny powder eyeshadow. All four seem to behave 🙂

 

This is a beautiful, beautiful and then some eye palette. These shades might not immediately strike you as something super special, but remember, understatement is the key to understanding this collection. Take my word though, these four colours are superb for eyeshadow, red carpet level fabulous.

 

That’s that, and by that I mean eyeshadow palettes. I absolutely love them. Love the shades and the textures and the combos, everything. Love how they aren’t linear. How warm shades are paired up with cool shades and vice versa.

 

Now let’s see those eye pencils. You wanna guess how many of those there are in this collection? Yes. Two. This eyeliner is long lasting, according to Chanel. I can’t really confirm that, because eyeliners and mascara doesn’t get smudged on me that much. They usually stay in place for as long as I need them to.

 

It’s nice to know though, that this eye pencil is waterproof, just in case 🙂 Here’s something I do like about stylo yeux by Chanel though. It’s soft without being too soft. To me, it’s crucial in eyeliner.

 

When it’s too soft, it’s hard to apply, it goes all over the place, while I like precision, even when I’m trying to create more of a relaxed look. When eye pencil is too hard, it’s just too harsh on my lids. Ouch. I don’t want any of this uncomfortable feeling.

 

You know what I mean? 🙂 I don’t know what that is. Maybe, it’s my lids being too sensitive. I’m just always looking for that perfect balance of not too soft and not too hard, and this eye pencil is up to that mark and a very thin line of mine 🙂

 

Here’s one little inconvenience though, when it comes to this kind of eye pencils. Sharpening them is a drag. A major drag compared to sharpening the basic and usual kind of eye pencil. Even with that tiny sharpener at every eye pencil bottom. Still.

 

The shade is interesting. What’s even more intriguing is that it’s called Noir Petrole. To my eye and in my perception, this shade is a complex grey. There might be something there. Black, blue, brown or whatever it is. But mostly it’s grey, it’s darker, it’s sultry. Hot. At the same time, it’s not as on the nose as black.

 

In terms of quality, this eye pencil is solid, in my opinion. In fact, I’m not very deft, when it comes to drawing lines and arrows, but I can work this pencil, and I can pull nice enough lines with it. And that tells you a lot 🙂

 

At some point I couldn’t really understand, why they keep releasing all those dark grey eyeliners, when there are black eyeliners in the world. Too close. Or is it? There’s something about grey eyeliners though, I’ve come to realize. Something hot. A mystery behind them. Maybe, that’s it. Mystery. A good thing. Check it out 🙂

 

And next stylo yeux shade, please. Let me try to guess. Noir Petrole is cool. Given this collection style and concept, given what those two eye palettes are like, I’m going to say here, that the second eyeliner shade is probably warm.

 

If you come to think of it, that’s what this collection is all about. The combo of warm and cool, that’s pretty natural, in all honesty. Out in the real world warm shades often go side by side with cool ones and somehow correspond and communicate.

 

And we are so used to seeing those two opposites together, we don’t even percept it as a clash. It’s a natural image that we see all the time. That is, having both warm and cool shades in one makeup, even if you are going for a natural look, is possible.

 

So, warm, I guess? Yep, warm it is. This shade is called 932 Matt Taupe. Wa-a-ait a minute. Isn’t taupe usually grey brown or brown grey? That is, a cooler shade, at least, to a degree? Isn’t it? I’m pretty sure it is.

 

Yes, it is. So, does it being matt make it warmer somehow? Not really. Why would it? What does matt have to do with it? Somehow though, this shade is a very interesting warm shade. Well, I’m going to look into it to figure out, what makes it so warm.

 

Wow. It’s a great shade. Yes, it’s kind of matt. And is there some grey brown in it? Maybe, there is. What’s there too though is a great golden tinge that warms it up and makes it special. I haven’t really seen a shade quite like that.

 

This shade is like a greige shade that had some honey added to it. The result proved to be inspiring, really. It’s so flattering for almost all of us. I just wish I found this shade earlier. It will get you through any special occasions with you feeling gorgeous.

 

If we talk about application here, I think it’s fine. I can do it. You can probably do it too 🙂 This shade would be worth it, even if it were capricious, but it’s not. As it is, this greige warmed up by the golden sun, is really a find, as far as I’m concerned.

 

And we are done here with eyeshadow and eye pencil shades. I didn’t even expect the eye pencil shades to prove to be that good. But they are. They are everything this collection promises – subtle, elegant, sophisticated. Great things to have.

 

That’s all for the eyes.

 

Ok, so we’ve talked about face makeup, eye makeup. Now we are going to talk about lip makeup, logically 🙂 There are a lot of lip shades in this collection. And, luckily, they are different. Six shades, three textures, everything you might crave might be there for you.

 

Let’s start with classic cream lipstick texture. If you are a fan of where lipstick started and what it’s always been 🙂 , there are two shades that Chanel prepared for you. The shades are very classic and classy too, so here goes.

 

Rouge Allure by Chanel is a very solid formula. Despite it being a kind of creamy traditional lipstick, there are some innovations there that, in my opinion, are quite good. I mean, let’s remember, that there’s also Rouge Coco out there for those of us, who are looking for an absolute classic.

 

Anyway, according to Chanel, Rouge Allure is luminous and intense. Luminous? Maybe. I guess, you could say so. Although, to me, its luminous quality is very much like cream lipstick satiny sheen without too much shine.

 

And then it’s intense. I would definitely agree with that. This formula is pretty intense. There’s a lot of colour concentrated in this stick. More so than there usually is in cream lipstick. So, if you like radiance and colour in lipstick, you’ll probably enjoy it 🙂

 

And then there’s the packaging, of course. I love Rouge Allure tube. There’s something about this design, where you have to press on the bottom of it and pull it out, you know? To put it simply, it’s cool. Till this day, to me, there’s nothing like that in lip colour packaging design.

 

The shade is truly ardente. It’s burning hot, it’s bright, it’s red. It’s happy. Ardent, yes. But happy too. My favourite kind of red. This happy feeling is what I’m looking for in reds, not so much the vampy quality.

 

If you are looking for vampy and sultry in red lip colour, check out the next shade of Rouge Allure that’s coming up 🙂 While this shade here is poppy reddish and ardent. By the way, you might find that this shade is as hot, only in a different way.

 

In terms of how this lipstick feels on the lips, when it comes to me, it feels pretty good. Even lush, in fact. It has a powdery scent to it that I don’t mind, even though I’m scent sensitive, when it’s about lip colour especially. To cut a long story short, it’s a good formula 🙂

 

A-a-and more Rouge Allure 🙂 It’s interesting, by the way, that with all the mostly rather neutral face and eye shades they went for such bold lip shades. It calls for exciting looks with a zest to them. And I’m always looking for this zest, for something more in makeup.

 

A pop of colour in Rouge Allure is very nice and very becoming, when it comes to reds. Rouge Allure formula doesn’t have much shine to it, just sheen, but it brings out all the colour there is in lipstick.

 

And when we are talking red colour, all of the above produces amazing results. There’s a reason why reds are the iconic lip shades. And Chanel Rouge Allure finish shows to the full what’s so special about them and why we love them so much.

 

The name of this shade is Independante. Wouldn’t you say that it’s very appropriate? There’s something truly independent about red lip colour. It’s part of what makes it so great, its independence.

 

You know how you can just throw on some base and red lip colour sometimes… and that’s it? And look gorgeous? Yep. I was walking out in the street once and was approached by two makeup artists, who asked me to let them take a picture of me.

 

I was like – wha?? And they said they just loved so much my red lip and wanted to show it to other women in their master classes to let them know and see, how easy it is to look stunning, how red lipstick is all we need in certain situations 🙂

 

So, trust me, there’s something about red lip colour. Especially when it’s Chanel quality, Rouge Allure finish and oh so vampy a shade. And that’s what this shade is. It’s darker, deeper, redder, if possible 🙂

 

Even though I like lighter and more radiant or luminous reds – that’s my own preference 🙂 – this red is awesome. I’d wear it. There are certain outfits that call for more sultry reds. Independent reds. Like this one. Especially as it feels so good on the lips.

 

That’s Rouge Allure.

 

We are moving on to a different texture here. It’s Rouge Allure too, but not quite. To be more specific, it’s Rouge Allure Velvet. There are two shades that come in this finish in this collection. I told you Chanel has lip colour to suit any taste here.

 

Let’s try to understand, what Rouge Allure Velvet texture is. Velvet is a little bit confusing, to my taste. What’s velvet? A nice and soft fabric. With some shine to it. But not as much as in, say, satin.

 

Well, once again, that’s confusing. Let’s straighten it all out. To put it simply, this texture is matt like. Very much so, in fact. I dare say, a lot of people will call it matt. Now that’s what I’ll call it here too to make it absolutely clear 🙂

 

Have you noticed, by the way, that Chanel came up with this texture and added it to their permanent range – by the way – much earlier than the whole matt lip frenzy kicked in, and everyone started releasing products of the kind.

 

To me, this texture is not as great as Rouge Allure proper texture, still, it’s better feeling on the lips than a lot of matt lip colour textures that always feel dry somehow. See more on the subject here Matt lip colour: the catches.

 

Okaaay, so our first velvet shade is called La Secrete. Secret. Awesome. That’s what’s so exciting about lipstick in particular and makeup in general. There’s always a secret there, a mystery hovering over those tubes and boxes and stuff.

 

What’s our next look is going to be? What’s our next makeup is going to be? What colours shall we pick? How are we going to combine them? What outfit is this makeup going to match? How it will all come together?

 

Le Rouge Velvet La Secrete by Chanel is very different from the two Le Rouge reds we’ve already seen. It’s a medium warm pink. If you like warm pinks, this is a good one. And the finish makes it stand out quite a bit and not just be yet another pink. Be careful though, warm pinks aren’t universally becoming.

 

Wow. A medium pink all of a sudden, only warm, and in this velvet finish. I wonder what else Chanel has for us here. It seems, with this finish they’ve gone some other way. Not the way they’ve chosen with Rouge Allure and all the reds. I appreciate the thinking behind it all, there’s quite a bit.

 

It makes total sense to me. Red is classic, and the two red shades come in a classically creamy finish. While the shades that are not brights, but more like medium, it seems, come in matt like velvety texture.

 

Speaking about texture, have you ever noticed, that texture can make all the difference in makeup? One and the same shade in creamy, matt or shiny finish reveals various traits, sides and details.

 

So, playing with textures is no less exciting than playing with colours. We all have our likings and preferences, but what are the benefits of velvety matt lip textures? They are softer, not as on the nose, you know, understated.

 

And if we got back a little to what we talked about in the beginning, when discussing face shades and eye shades, this collection is very much about understatement. So, matt finish fits in really well here.

 

In terms of texture, Rouge Allure Velvet feels better than most matt textures on my lips, but not as great as Rouge Allure proper. Due to that dryness always hiding at the bottom of matt textures, even if here it’s actually very slight, it’s just not as lush feeling on the lips.

 

The shade is medium, just like that warm – very warm – pink. A bit cooler, probably, because it’s purple. Or mauve, if you want to know all the details 🙂 A kind of moody mauve though, not pastel in the least.

 

This shade is a perfect everyday shade, even if it’s not pink 🙂 It’s a little on the femme fatale side, because it’s so moody in a way. In a very good way. Here’s the best news about it. It can easily get you through both day look and party night look.

 

That’s Rouge Allure Velvet

 

And that’s not it about lip colour in this collection by Chanel. There’s more coming up. You wanna guess texture or formula? We had creamy, we had matt – well? Uh-huh. Sheer. Shiny, that is. Rouge Coco Shine.

 

I love this texture. It’s just so nice and soothing and everything. I don’t even mind the rosey scent. I’ve told you about Rouge Coco Shine many times. Here Chanel Rouge Coco Shine all shades swatched  and here  Chanel Rouge Coco Shine more shades swatched.

 

Given that I do like sheer texture in lipstick most, I might be prejudiced 🙂 But I’ll tell you what. Of all sheer lipstick kinds – rest assured, I’ve tried a lot of those – Rouge Coco Shine is definitely my favourite.

 

So, any time any new shades show up, I can’t wait to see them and try them. I’m wondering here, what the two shades in this collection are going to be like. Are they going to be bright like Rouge Allure reds or neutral like Rouge Allure velvet shades?

 

Let’s see 🙂 The first shade is called Beige Dore. I’m ready to be surprised here, Chanel 🙂 I find golden beige shades very becoming. They are especially flattering, when they are sheer and shiny and glowy and stuff.

 

This shade is a beauty. It’s lighter, not too golden, not too shiny, just a little beige golden sheen on your lips with a handful of light golden sparkle in it. A beauty. Red carpet level beauty. Mesmerizing.

 

Beige Dore is a perfect combination of everyday and special occasion, of neutral and nude like, of celebratory and pretty, of warm and sheer coolish. This play of contrasts creates an incredible shade that I enjoy a lot.

 

Not only this lip colour is so well put together and subtle and exquisite, it also feels ever so good on the lips. The way Rouge Coco Shine does every time I apply it. It’s one of the few lip colour formulae that does feel soothing on my lips, soothing and caring.

 

We have one last lip shade left to see here, believe it or not 🙂 It’s a shade of Rouge Coco Shine too 🙂 So, I’m prepared for all the good things here. Also, my curiosity is piqued by Beige Dore. What will it counterpart be like?

 

I guess, there are two ways to go here. One way is to make something nude like. But it will be too much like Beige Dore, maybe. Another way is to make something bright and daring, like those Rouge Allure reds.

 

Both ways are valid ways to go. I’m just interested to see the big picture here and see the way Chanel puts their collections together. The look they are going for. Because products in any makeup collection are designed to go together, you know 🙂

 

In terms of my preference, I don’t think I have one here. If it’s a fairy talish shade like that golden beige, that’s cool. Those shades are rare and much appreciated. If it’s a shiny red, that’s no less cool.

 

If you come to think of it, shiny reds are rare. I don’t know what it is, I guess, reds are too bright, and they are afraid of adding shine to this splash of colour, but I, for one, like shiny reds, so I know how hard it is to find them 🙂

 

Chanel surprises me yet again though and does something graphic, something beyond vampy here, a statement of lip colour. Of all the things this here is one thing I didn’t expect. I like that 🙂 It’s nice to be surprised.

 

This shade is black plum, that’s what it is. A shiny black plum too. Stuffed with golden sparkle. Wow. This dark dark purple is even stronger a statement than red. It’s a kind of lip colour you might have to build your whole makeup and even look around.

 

And if you haven’t ventured into such dark lip colour territory before, this is a good time to do so, because this purple shade is not just dark. It’s shiny and has all the sparkle in it, which makes it easier to pull for beginners and experts alike 🙂

 

That’s Rouge Coco Shine.

 

I’ve got to tell you, these six lip colours are spectacular, they cover so much, from light to dark, from sheer to matt, from sparkly to satin, from nude to vampy. So, make your choice and go right ahead 🙂

 

Personally, I can’t wait to grab all the blush and eyeshadow and try pairing it up with different lip shades. Once again, these are the shades to have, not necessarily from this collection, just keep them in mind as something worthy.

 

That’s all about the lips. The last thing left to see is nail colour. It’s amazing, really, how efficiently manicure rounds up our look and gives us that well groomed and sophisticated look that’s so desirable and not so easy to achieve. In this collection there are three nail shades and a top coat. Let’s talk about all of those.

 

You know what shade comes first, don’t you? Red. Yeah, I know 🙂

 

Now, remember that happy Rouge Allure red? The ardent red? Ardente?