Blue Rhythm de Chanel- Swing Eye Shadow & Dream Blue Eyeliner

I'm always excited when Chanel releases a blue color collection. Part of is for nostalgic reasons, but also because I can count on Chanel to make it classy and wearable. In the case of the latest collection Blue Rhythm de Chanel I passed on the eye shadow quad (Tissé Jazz) because I already have enough blue palettes (including Chanel Lagons), and chose the single Ombre Essentielle in Swing and the liquid eyeliner Ligne Graphique de Chanel in Dream Blue (the latter is a limited edition item).

I hoped that Swing would be a good companion to my beloved Chanel Bois Bleu. I adore that one, from color to finish, so a deeper, bluer shade would have been welcome. What I wasn't expecting is the amount of shimmer particles in Swing nor the dark, almost navy, base color. As you can see, the swatch looks quite different than the color in the pan. Swing is actually almost blackened blue that appears lighter because of the huge amount of silvery blue glitter it contains. It's not bad, and with a careful application I can get a pretty look (the key, as usual is a good creamy base and patting the eye shadow on without blending it into an uneven cloud of pigment and glitter). But at this point in the game I expect Chanel to do much better than an eye shadow that looks like an Urban Decay reject.

The liquid eyeliner, Ligne Graphique de Chanel in Dream Blue, is a different story. It's a gorgeous and smooth medium/dark true blue with a very subtle sheen. The applicator is very thin and so easy to control that I actually attempted writing for the swatch above. Of course, my handwriting isn't what it used to be even with a (non-makeup) pen or pencil (typing your life away would do that). But it's still shows that you can get a very graphic line that goes from thin to thick or use it any way you want. The applicator is very reliable and doesn't pick up half the tube in one go, and the inkwell is well-designed so the product doesn't pool around the opening creating messes. Longevity is great (only starts fading after about eight hours), and since it dries quickly there are no accidentals smears by the time you're ready to apply mascara.

Bottom Line: skip the eye shadow, get the liner while it's still around.

Chanel Ombre Essentielle in Swing ($29.50, made in France) and Ligne Graphique de Chanel in Dream Blue ($34, limited edition) are part of Blue Rhythm de Chanel Collection, Available at select department stores and from chanel.com.