Perfect pairing: matte meets shine at Chanel beauty SS19

Chanel beauty SS19 Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick

What do we think is going to be the overriding beauty aesthetic when we look back over the 2010s? Will it be the contoured-to-the-hilt perfection of the Huda Beauty woman, or the ‘natural’ no make-up vibe of Glossier? They’ve risen in parallel but I feel the hyper-filtered, beauty shtick has reached its nadir making it the decade-defining look that we’ll remember. Which leaves the more sympathetic ‘real skin’ aesthetic to continue into the 2020s.

Certainly it’s nice to see the beauty look from Chanel SS19 putting some emphasis on shine and luminosity than the unforgiving uber-mattes that were everywhere last year. In particular, Chanel is pushing its Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick (£33), an all purpose ‘wet glow’ solid balm in a clear (‘Transparent’) or an oyster (‘Sculpting’) shade to dew-ify eyelids, lips, cheekbones and brow bones. I’m definitely up for some ‘wet glow’ lid shine. One of my favourite products from the Victoria Beckham Estée Lauder collab (whatever happened to that? Oh wait..!) was the Aura Gloss lid balm, an idiot-proof honey-like balm flecked with hints of gold. Chanel’s balm actually gives a nice dimension under the matte Clair Obscur shadows from AW18.

Chanel beauty SS19 Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick
Chanel beauty SS19 Beauty Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick
Chanel Beauty Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick

The entire Chanel Vision D’Asie: L’Art du Détail makeup collection was inspired by make-up designer Lucia Pica’s regular research voyages. This time she went to Japan and South Korea, where unexpected inspirations like glimmering fish scales in a Tokyo market were eventually passed through her creative filter and transformed into eyeshadow, lip and cheek textures.

As well as the Glow Stick, there’s the bronzy-neutral ‘Patine Bronze’ Premiere Creme eyeshadow (£26) to add a pearlescent dimension either alone or underneath one of the shadows in the Qunitessence Les 9 Ombres eyeshadow palette. And if you like juicy-textured skin, I can highly recommend a drop or two of Chanel Jasmine facial oil (£97) pressed into cheeks as a last skincare step before makeup application (I avoid the T-zone). Nail-wise, there are two great high shine shades to pick from; Bleached Mauve (a peach-tinged neutral) and Techno Bloom (an unapologetic vivid pink).

Chanel Beauty Bleached Mauve and Techno Bloom nail color

Lucia Pica doesn’t like to dictate though, so for the matte lovers there are still options for a flat, matte lip. In particular, I’m flagging the Rouge Allure liquid powders in Electric Blossom and Bittersweet (£31). Spoiler alert: these are still a tad on the dry side once they’ve sunk in, but I love the light feel, finger-pat application and blurred lip effect you can get. I’ve been wearing Electric Blossom, a very cool electric red that’s best worn over the Glow Stick (note: these are all press samples provided by Chanel). Mattes definitely seem more achievable if you can offset with some shine.

Chanel Beauty Rouge Allure liquid powder in Electric Blossom
But for the matte-shy, look out for the new improved version of Chanel’s Rouge Coco Shine coming next month. Renamed Rouge Coco Flash, these are updated with moisturising waxes derived from mimosa, jojoba and sunflower, resulting in a ‘butter’ that melts on the lip into a sheer, high-shine oil finish. Sounds perfect for me.

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WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla using Chanel Beauty SS19 press samples. Diary by Smythson

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