Aside from my birthday purchases last month, I’ve been doing really well keeping myself in check and not buying any makeup over the past few weeks.  However, sometimes even the best laid plans go askew, am I right?  Some of you may have seen the exchange between myself and Eugenia of Ommorphia Beauty Bar last week regarding one of the Illusion d’Ombre shadows she’d posted about, Abstraction #88- a pinky-coral sparkly-shimmery pot of awesomeness that came out this week from Chanel, as part of their Les Expressions de Chanel collection.  As soon as I saw the swatches, I knew I had to have it.  Fortunately for me (unfortunately for my budget), the next night I was working at Mills, and I got my chance.

(Here’s where my beauty obsession is very clear, so please forgive me in advance)

I arrived at Mills after my *real* job, and as I passed the Chanel counter, I noticed a few unopened product shipment boxes lying there, innocent as can be.  The SA was on her supper break, therefore I couldn’t find out what exactly was IN the boxes, so I took it upon myself to open them (keep in mind, that while I work IN Mills from time to time, I do not work AT Mills and I certainly don’t work at the Chanel counter ~sad face~).  I eagerly peered inside to see if I was going get lucky – was Abstraction in there?  Was I actually going to get to have the precious so soon after I first encountered it?

Oh yeah I was!

At least, give me credit – I didn’t do anything more than open the box, see little Illusion d’Ombre packaging lying there, check to see if one was Abstraction, and then put it aside to purchase when the SA returned.  I DID NOT swatch anything or open the actual product, so…I’m not totally written off, right?  Just somewhat aggressive and intrusive in my approach (oops).  Thankfully, when she returned she was not (visibly) irritated with me and quickly ooh-ed and ahh-ed with me over the shadow.  After I got my fill of the whole collection (there are three expressions: Brown, Purple, and Coral – which is where Abstraction falls), I greedily purchased Abstraction ($37CAD) and then swatched the heck out of it to bask in it’s glory.

What’s that?  You want me to shut up and show you already?

Please, by all means…

Artificial light

Artificial light – blurred to show sparkle

With flash

iPhone photo – sooo sparkly!!

Yeah, Abstraction is just really, really pretty.  It doesn’t show up in my swatch photos nearly as lovely as it is in person.  It’s got this absolutely amazing shimmery quality to it that just mesmerizes me, which you can see best in the iPhone photos, strangely.  It leans more pink than coral, but is still warm enough that it really works with my skintone.  On the eye the color is subtle worn alone, but the pretty shimmer makes up for it.  Somehow, it doesn’t look inappropriate either, I guess because it justs melts into my skin – it’s not like a pale glitter which can look quite obvious (at least on me). I own another Illusion d’Ombre, Émerveillé, which is a warm champagne shade, and I find that it brightens my eye area in a totally different way because it’s lighter than my skintone.  Anyway, Émerveillé doesn’t have the same shimmer tones as Abstraction, so it’s really apples to oranges.

I’ve worn this alone, and layered over a similar shade (I used the rose side of the NARS Grand Palais duo), and didn’t notice a huge difference color-wise.  I plan on playing around with it to see what other combinations of fabulousness I can come up with – I’d love to get the coral-pink tone to really stand out, though I don’t really mind if it continues to elude me.  Playing with it just gives me another excuse to wear it again

As with other Illusion d’Ombre shadows, it wears well and lasts all day with only minimal fading (without primer).  I did learn from the first time around with Émerveillé that it actually behooves me (always wanted to use that word) to use the little brush that comes with the Illusion d’Ombre shadows, as after using my finger multiple times in Émerveillé, it’s gotten sort of pressed down and is hard to pick up without gouging into it.  With the brush, I can just scrape a little bit off, apply it to my lid, and then blend out with my finger.

Anyway, long-winded ramble over – to sum up, Abstraction is all kinds of wonderful, will look lovely on all skintones because it’s not exceptionally warm/cool/dark/light, and sparkles like a beautiful sunset.  I probably didn’t need to get all crazy and buy it instantly, because as far as I know it’s not limited edition – so for everyone else, you can purchase it like a sane person.  But, I suggest you do it sooner rather than later, if only to start enjoying The Precious right away, because it’s that damn fabulous.

Consider yourself warned.

…Thoughts? (about Abstraction, about my beauty obsession, about whatever )