I See Gold with Chanel Illusion d’Ombre Vision from Les Expressions de Chanel: Swatch, Review, Comparison, FOTDs

Hey everybody!

I hope your Monday wasn’t too rough and your week is off to a good start! I also hope the weather is nicer where you are. It’s been around 10 degrees (around 45 degrees Fahrenheit) and rainy here for the past couple of days. It’s hard to believe it’s already June! I am seriously tempted to turn the heater back on!

After the quick n’ dirty swatches of the three Illusion d’Ombre in Les Expressions de Chanel collection that I showed you yesterday, today I have the swatch, full review, comparison, and FOTDs of Vision (89) for you!

Since this is my first Illusion d’Ombre, I am going to briefly go through the packaging and formula. According to Chanel, Illusion d’Ombre is supposed to be an intensely shimmery long-wear eyeshadow with a gel texture. It should function as both an eyeshadow and an eyeliner.

Illusion d’Ombre comes in a glass pot. I love the sturdiness and the weight in my hand. It also comes with a brush that is designed to both lay the color down on your lids and line your eyes. The brush looks like this when you open the box:

Once you pull it open and attach the parts together, this is how it looks:

I find it a decent size to use without straining my hand muscles, and it does work as an eyeliner brush really well. The bristles are soft and non-scratchy, but it does have enough give. However, when it comes to laying color down on my lids, I still prefer to use my pinky. It’s easier, and I find there is far less fallout that way.

The texture of Illusion d’Ombre is entirely different from everything I have tried so far. The best description I can find is spongy. When I press a little harder with my finger, I can feel how spring-y and spongy it is. However, due to the highly soft and dense nature, there really is no need to press down that hard!

In terms of lasting power, I got about 6 out of these without a primer before it started creasing a bit. With a primer however, it lasts all day! I have tried to wear it alone and as a base, and I found that as long as there is a trusted layer of UDPP underneath it, Vision stays put throughout the day.

I don’t think it’s a surprise for anyone that Vision is the piece that I wanted to try the most out of the whole collection. Gold eyeshadows are really no-brainers for me! Vision is a very metallic and shimmery (but not glittery or gritty. My lids are sensitive and I don’t feel it’s grainy) lemony gold. Out of the gold shadows I own, this would be the coolest one. However, it is not SO cool that it doesn’t flatter my very warm skin tone, so I would say it should work for most people.

As smooth as Vision is in texture, when I sheer it out, it looks almost like a clear base with golden shimmer. In other words, it doesn’t offer a lot of opacity as a shade. However, because of how dense the shimmer is, it still looks unmistakably gold on my lids.

Here is the comparison shot I did with some of the gold eyeshadows I have. From left to right: Urban Decay Chase, Urban Decay Vanilla, Maybelline 24-hour Color Tattoo in Bold Gold, Chanel Vision, Urban Decay Half Baked, and MAC Woodwinked.

Compared with Vision most of them practically pull orange!

I did a look with Vision all over my lids, Urban Decay Evidence (dark navy blue) blended into the outer half and crease, and Urban Decay Vanilla for the inner corners. My lower lash line is lined with MAC Coffee Eye Pencil (swatch and review coming soon). I went over the inner half of the line with Vision, and outer half with Evidence.

I personally think the best way to use Vision is as a base, because the pretty gold shimmer does show through whichever eyeshadow you choose to layer over it (I’ve tried a matte black and it’s stunning). It also works very well as a liner. However, as an eyeshadow on its own, it might not be as amazingly pigmented and opaque as its siblings in the same line, which makes it less versatile in comparison.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for a cream shadow that will add a lot of glitz and glam to your (especially matte) eyeshadows, look no further. Vision offers great texture, minimal fallout, lasting power, and a lot of bling. If you’re looking for a gold cream shadow that will work on its own, then Vision might not fit the bill. I am personally convinced by the formula and I can’t wait to try some more Illusion d’Ombres!

Have you tried Chanel Illusion d’Ombre? What shades would you recommend? Does Vision look like something you might be tempted to swatch?

Sunny, your beauty culture translator xx

Bonus kitty photos: I can haz Chanel! This is about the only picture in which Tango is not trying to murder me with a ribbon around his neck. I know he was sleepy, but most of the time he reacts pretty violently to similar attempts!

Muffin still doesn’t care.

Disclosure: The product mentioned in this review is sent by the PR for my consideration. All opinions are honest and my own. I am in no way compensated for this review. I have always been, and will always be committed ONLY to my readers.