I think the title has pretty much given me away: this is going to be a rave, and a picture-heavy one at that about Chanel Harmonie du Soir quad that is the star of the show in their Eclats du Soir holiday collection! There are many great quads out there, but some have a little something special about them. I would categorize Chanel Harmonie du Soir in the latter!
Chanel Harmonie du Soir is the first Chanel eyeshadow quad I own. I don’t know how many of you are aware of this, but there are normally two versions of Chanel eyeshadows (US/rest of the world), and we get the baked one here in Belgium. The texture of Harmonie du Soir however, is similar to a limited edition quad that came out last summer, and it is altogether different from both regular versions. Now, if only all Chanel eyeshadows were like this, I would be in serious trouble because I would want to collect them all!
The eyeshadows in Harmonie du Soir come with the Chanel logo and tweed pattern on top. There is also a plastic cover, and the black velvet pouch is standard. There are two sponge applicators that I personally do not use. I did hear that some ladies in Asia prefer sponge applicators to real brushes. I think they might be useful if you need to touch up on your eyeshadows on the go, but that might be about it.
Let me not pretend it didn’t kill me a little to dip my fingers in the eyeshadows! I have used this a handful of times now, and the logo/pattern have not completely disappeared. However, there is no way for them to stay intact. I suggest you close your eyes and brace yourself for the impact before you dip your fingers/brushes in!
I can tell you it’s totally worth the heartbreak though. Let’s take a closer look at the shades!
The first shade (upper left corner) is a golden bronze. It is beautifully shimmery, pigmented, and buttery smooth. This is again a shade that brings an amazingly twinkle to my eyes, and the quality is absolutely top-notch!
The second shade is a warm taupe. It is again a very dense, buttery, and pigmented shade. It is as good on the inner half as it is on the outer half/outer v. It gives eyes a lot of depth when you use it to contour!
The third shade is a burgundy plum that has more of a satin sheen instead of an intensely shimmery/frosty finish. This is the only color in the quad that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to use too well, but this is where magic happens: paired with the other three, this is a rare reddish shade that doesn’t make me look tired or sick!
Last but not least, we have a slightly warm pink that is rather frosty. It packs a good dose of shimmer and color payoff, though with one swipe it has the teeniest sheerness to it. It might be this way by design though!
The swatches:
All four shades are soft, creamy, easily blendable, and intensely pigmented. I have not detected a single trace of fallout with any of them, and they hold up effortlessly as well. What gets me really excited about this quad is that besides excellent quality, the shade combination isn’t run-of-the-mill at all. In fact, I think it’s positively delightful to see such an interesting mix. As I said, I had reservation about making the reddish plum work for me, but it seems that nothing can go wrong with this one. Whatever I do, the shades work in perfect harmony!
For the look, I used the taupe for the inner half, golden bronze on the outer half and over my lower lash line, the pink in my inner corners, and the reddish plum on the outer v.
If you want to see one more look, here is how I combined the quad with Chanel Apparence:
I’m sure there are other combinations to be explored as well, like using the pink on the lids and plum to contour. It is kind of rare to see a quad that packs mostly medium shades to function so well on its own (and shades that don’t go together evidently at that)!
Bottom line: If you have seen enough quality pieces this season and want something very special, I would urge you to take a good look at Chanel Harmonie du Soir. Not only does it offer quality, but it also really stands out in terms of shade selection. You just can’t combine the shades together wrong, and whatever you do it’ll be a look with an interesting twist!
Have you seen Chanel Harmonie du Soir? Is it something you might pick up for yourself? If I could recommend one piece from this collection this quad would be it!
Sunny, your beauty culture translator xx
