Chanel Vs Chanel

The motivation for this post is that when I was trying to make this decision myself a couple of weeks ago I would have liked a comparison of both products. There are a few other reviews online however not many that deal with the lighter end of the colour spectrum. For reference i'm B10 in the Perfection Lumiere Velvet (PLV) and B20 in the Vitalumiere Aqua (VA) as there are slightly more shades available in the latter.

A disclaimer: both of these are light coverage foundations and while they can be built up, they will never provide medium/full coverage. Is this is what you are looking for there are other Chanel foundations that will better suit such as the original Perfection Lumiere.

Both foundations are also scented so again these may not be for everyone, particularly anyone with acne prone skin. I *personally* don't find that they irritate my sensitive skin but all sensitivities are different!

I also had a sample of each to go away and try and I highly recommend doing this. If the counter won't provide you with a sample, walk away. They should do willingly, so find another Chanel concession with more helpful sales assistants.

Coverage & Finish? The PLV is a slightly heavier coverage but it is not noticeable. The finish is as the name suggests, like velvet. It is not a dewy finish but it retains the luminosity that so many people love about the Chanel foundations. The VA is a dewy finish and will most likely need a light powder through the t-zone even on drier skin types in order to keep it all in place.

Longevity? I find the PLV has great staying power, particularly when paired with a primer such as the Benefit Stay Flawless 24 Hour Primer (reviewed here) and will last all day, even in the hot sweaty weather we've has of late. The VA is a little less long wearing in my opinion however it seems to breakdown flawlessly without going patchy and can be easily touched up on the go due to the lightweight bottle.

Overall? At the moment I am finding myself reaching for the PLV more often but that is heavily influenced by the hot weather and not needing a dewy finish as that is coming along quite naturally at the moment IYKWIM. I know that I will definitely use the VA towards the end of the summer and autumn when my dry skin returns to it's normal state and look forward to perhaps doing an Autumn update.

Summer Bronze All in One Palettes

I love an all in one palette, great for travelling and take up much less space in my makeup collection than individually packaged products. Both of todays products fall within the 'higher end' spectrum with regards to price etc so I would love to know if you have tried a budget alternative such as the Sleek Palette.

The Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette was first brought out last summer and relaunched this summer with additional colour ways. This one is the "Naked" variant. It has a large orange toned bronzer, a pink toned shimmer highlight and a pink coral toned blush all in one palette for £22 (available from Debenhams) which is a bit of a steal in my opinion. The bronzer isn't my favourite colour, I normally prefer something with a cooler tone but lightly applied over the forehead and tops of the cheeks will give a natural sun kissed look. It does have a slight shimmer running through so this is not one to use for contour.

The highlight and blush however are both absolutely lovely and great either applied separately or swirled together with a large fluffy brush and applied to the back of the cheeks. 

The Chanel Tan de Soleil in Bronze Rose was a limted edition palette a few years ago and after utterly falling in love with it I quickly repurchased before they sold out. They have however brought out a newer edition tied in with the Les Bieges range called Healthy Glow Multi-Colour which is of a similar vain.

This one has two bronze shades, a highlight and a pink toned blush and is the least fussy product I own. I can apply it using the brush that comes with the palette either taking a sweep across all the colours for a low maintenance holiday look or take a little more time to use the thin brush to contour, blush and highlight across my cheeks. This product retailed around the £50 mark however the newer compacts (which are smaller) are only £39 and available online or on Chanel counters.

A no fuss solution to packing multiple products? Oh yes, now just to stop myself buying more palettes and defeating the object. Sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing!