For Cruise 2018, CHANEL’s Global Make up and Color Designer Lucia Pica has created a collection that celebrates the golden glow of summer. ÉCLAT ET TRANSPARENCE DE CHANEL is a suite of products that beautifully enhance and highlight the wearer’s natural beauty through shades of bronze and gold as well as pinks, aqua, and khaki. A master of color and technique as well as being known for creating beauty looks featuring flawless skin, Pica speaks of ÉCLAT ET TRANSPARENCE DE CHANEL as a way to “transform that glamorous feeling of Summer into something that is still striking, but feels more transparent: more as if it really becomes part of the skin.”
A creation that will undoubtedly become a summer beauty staple from the House of CHANEL, L’EAU TAN is not only a first for Pica but a first for the house as well. This self-tanning mist perfectly marries the House’s incredible technical skill within the realms of skincare, makeup and fragrance to create a truly unique product. A collaboration between Pica, the CHANEL skincare laboratories, and the renowned perfumer Olivier Polge, L’EAU TAN not only delights the senses with its unique fresh and invigorating scent but also leaves the skin sun-kissed. Inspired by Mademoiselle Chanel’s ground-breaking creation of L’Huile Tan in 1932 but rooted in modern self-tanning technology, L’EAU TAN has a lightweight watery texture and contains a very small percentage of DHA (which is considered the most effective active ingredient in sunless tanning products) which results in the skin having a soft but radiant bronze glow that develops over time and applications. Not simply a beautiful product for your vanity, it’s presented in a sleek glass bottle that is a reinterpretation of the packaging of the 1932 L’Huile Tan, it’s a product that gives a beautiful glow without looking over-tanned. As someone who all but bathes in sunscreen and turns a shade of red that is reminiscent of a lobster when exposed to even the slightest bit of summer sun, I think this is such a wonder product. I love that it gives the prettiest light tan that is all but impossible for me to achieve naturally and in such a controlled manner.
As a perfect accompaniment to L’EAU TAN, Pica has created a stunning summer addition of her beloved PALETTE ESSENTIELLE. Since first introducing this genius compact that so perfectly represents Pica’s love of effortless modern beauty, it has become a staple of her collections and a favorite of the CHANEL beauty universe. This season’s PALETTE ESSENTIELLE été – éclat Solaire – features two creamy highlighters in beige-caramel and gold as well as a vibrant raspberry red blush that builds beautifully and can even be used as a lip tint. As easy to apply with a brush (Pica recommends the RETRACTABLE DUAL-HEAD FACE BRUSH) as with one’s fingers, the blush and highlighters in this compact give a beautiful radiance to the wearer.
For eyes there is the CRÉATION EXCLUSIVE ÉCLAT ÉNIGMATIQUE, a quad of eyeshadows done in a satiny ivory, a concrete grey, a brick red, and a bronze brown. Speaking of this gorgeous quad, Pica notes “the colors in Éclat Énigmatique eyeshadow palette are made of a more transparent texture so even if you have a red, bronze, grey and pearlescent gold colors, when you apply them they have a very transparent texture, so you have this hint of glamor.” While I tend to favor very muted tones for eye shadow, this has actually become a go-to favorite of mine. I love how it allows me to embrace more warm tones in a way that is glamorous yet subtle. What is more, the eye shadows are wonderfully buildable for those looking to create a bolder eye look.
Another eye product that is an absolute favorite of mine is the STYLO YEUX WATERPROOF, which I will continue to champion as the best eye liner EVER. Cruise 2018 features SECRET, a deep green that is a beautiful alternative to black, CHARME (pictured in this post), a brown-aubergine, and RÉVÉLATION, an intense rosy taupe with silver reflection for a beautiful hint of metallic. As for lashes, Pica has reworked LE VOLUME DE CHANEL WATERPROOF mascara in GRIS VOILÉ which is a beautiful and universally flattering blue-grey.
As for lips, there is LE ROUGE CRAYON DE COULEUR in a beautiful pastel milky pink called À La Rosée, a rosy caramel nude called Au Naturel, a fruity coral raspberry called Rose Shocking, or the vibrant tangerine red Ultra Rose. Wonderfully hydrating, these are the ultimate lip crayon combining lipstick and lip liner in one wonderfully effortless product. I love that these apply so smoothly and easily, with no precision techniques required!
And finally, for nails Pica has created three shades that are subtly sophisticated. HALO is a milky pink that is far from the typical nude pink while CHICNESS is a stunning mauvy deep burgundy and LÉGÈRETÉ is an elegant khaki green.
