| Review | Chantecaille 20 Year Anniversary Eye Palette
Each year, Chantecaille creates a palette for an endangered animal to support and bring awareness to a wildlife and conservation foundation. For years I have admired these beautifully embossed palettes of endangered animals but never really felt the intense pull to purchase one, until now.
This is year is Chantecaille's 20 year anniversary release of these wildlife palettes and Sylvie, the founder of the brand, has chosen to celebrate two very close foundations to her heart - The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Lion Guardians. Chantecaille has release exclusive palettes for each of these foundations in years past.
The Chantecaille 20 Year Anniversary Eye Palette retails for $85.00 USD and is available at Saks, Nordstrom, and other retailers. This limited edition palette is housed beautifully in a shining gold compact with Sylvie's signature in the front. The palette contains 4 shades, 2 embossed with a lion and 2 embossed with an elephant to represent each foundations. Each of the shadows do have a bit of an overspray but the shadows are not as shimmery as they appear. The compact is also reusable and the shadows can be removed from the compact and replaced with others.
I had never used Chantecaille eyeshadows before but based on their popularity I had high hopes for my first palette. Unfortunately, its not at all what I was expecting from the promotional pictures I had seen when I ordered it. The shades are quite different from what I was expecting and the finishes all seem very similar.
The formula is very soft and creamy. It blends very easily but all the shadows are quite soft and light. Which I don't mind, because I love the Burberry eyeshadows, which are quite soft and on the sheer side but these seem unable to build to a deeper intensity. They seem to apply at their most pigmented from the first application and doesn't build to a higher intensity. The other issues I have with this quad is that all the shades are the same mid-tone and seem to have the same finish. The problem with a quad that has all mid-tone shades is that their isn't any variety to create depth and complexity in your look. It makes your look really flat and almost one-tone, even though you are using 4 different shade. They all seem to be a soft pearly finish, which again makes the palette lack in contrast, so when you use all the shade together you get a lackluster look. Honestly, the shadows are very pretty and have a nice sheer formula but I feel like I bought a palette of only "lid colors" because I feel the need to pull in other eyeshadows to create a more complex look beyond this soft golden-ish eye look. Even with a primer I find the density of the eyeshadows to be quite light and they don't adhere for very long to the skin. The color seems to fade throughout the day, loosing any kind of intensity or pigment.
Gold - This is a very pretty slightly tarnished gold shade it is more pigmented than the other shadows and shimmery. This shade probably has the best pigmentation but because the finish is so soft, its still very low-impact shade.
Beige - This shade is a pearly beige shade with a tint of pink and a soft satin finish. It is quite light and brightens the inner corner or can be used as a browbone highlight without looking overwhelming. This shade has a better pigmentation and surprisingly one of my favorite shade in the palette, as boring as it may seem. The the brightness it brings is very fresh but not too strong and it is a great cheek highlight as well!
Plum - This warm pink-plum satin eyeshadow is very soft and light and makes a nice crease shade but it doesn't build to a much deeper shade than a light pink. It has a beautiful soft sheen to it but it has the driest texture of all the shadows and doesn't build up to be any more intense. Despite all this, this is one of my favorite shades in the palette because it quite unique as far as finish and color.
Kaki - This is a soft shimmering golden-kaki taupe shade that makes a great lid shade but doesn't add much depth when used in the outer corner or in the crease. It is very soft and blends very easily but with the strong golden shimmer and light kaki base, as it wears throughout the day, it looks pretty close to the gold shade in this palette.
I don't hate these shadows but the palette as a whole just doesn't create an eye-catching look. The shadows are much more exciting and eye-catching in the pan than they are on the eyes and I feel that is because this palette lacks a variation in shades and finishes. I have seen some of their other palettes in the past with much more contrasting shades, so the end result will be more complex. I like this sheer texture because it is something quite new to my collection and they are easy to work with. These sheer textures also create a beautiful soft and romantic look, that sometimes is harder to achieve with really pigmented shadows. These shadows have such soft finishes and create a halo of light and color around the eyes, which is natural and beautiful but if you are looking for more depth, contouring, and intensity these are not the shadows for you. I would recommend this palette if you are content with a very soft and natural look or willing to pull out some other shadows to create a more complex and intense look.
After pulling out some additional shadows to add more depth and complexity, I am pleased with the overall look but I don't think you should have to "make a palette work" for you. I think when you're buying and eyeshadow palette, especially an expensive one, it should just work on it's own without any extra products or effort.
Frankly, I'm not impressed with the formula and probably will not be purchasing any more of these shadows in the future. However, I was talking to a friend on Instagram, who happens to be a huge Chantecaille fan and she said their permanent shadows are significantly better and she too is very disappointed in the quality if this palette. I can't speak to the quality of their permanent shadows however, from my experience with this palette, I will not be buying blindly from the brand anymore.
Shop Chantecaille 20 Year Anniversary Collection:
The formula is very soft and creamy. It blends very easily but all the shadows are quite soft and light. Which I don't mind, because I love the Burberry eyeshadows, which are quite soft and on the sheer side but these seem unable to build to a deeper intensity. They seem to apply at their most pigmented from the first application and doesn't build to a higher intensity. The other issues I have with this quad is that all the shades are the same mid-tone and seem to have the same finish. The problem with a quad that has all mid-tone shades is that their isn't any variety to create depth and complexity in your look. It makes your look really flat and almost one-tone, even though you are using 4 different shade. They all seem to be a soft pearly finish, which again makes the palette lack in contrast, so when you use all the shade together you get a lackluster look. Honestly, the shadows are very pretty and have a nice sheer formula but I feel like I bought a palette of only "lid colors" because I feel the need to pull in other eyeshadows to create a more complex look beyond this soft golden-ish eye look. Even with a primer I find the density of the eyeshadows to be quite light and they don't adhere for very long to the skin. The color seems to fade throughout the day, loosing any kind of intensity or pigment.
Gold - This is a very pretty slightly tarnished gold shade it is more pigmented than the other shadows and shimmery. This shade probably has the best pigmentation but because the finish is so soft, its still very low-impact shade.
Beige - This shade is a pearly beige shade with a tint of pink and a soft satin finish. It is quite light and brightens the inner corner or can be used as a browbone highlight without looking overwhelming. This shade has a better pigmentation and surprisingly one of my favorite shade in the palette, as boring as it may seem. The the brightness it brings is very fresh but not too strong and it is a great cheek highlight as well!
Plum - This warm pink-plum satin eyeshadow is very soft and light and makes a nice crease shade but it doesn't build to a much deeper shade than a light pink. It has a beautiful soft sheen to it but it has the driest texture of all the shadows and doesn't build up to be any more intense. Despite all this, this is one of my favorite shades in the palette because it quite unique as far as finish and color.
Kaki - This is a soft shimmering golden-kaki taupe shade that makes a great lid shade but doesn't add much depth when used in the outer corner or in the crease. It is very soft and blends very easily but with the strong golden shimmer and light kaki base, as it wears throughout the day, it looks pretty close to the gold shade in this palette.
I don't hate these shadows but the palette as a whole just doesn't create an eye-catching look. The shadows are much more exciting and eye-catching in the pan than they are on the eyes and I feel that is because this palette lacks a variation in shades and finishes. I have seen some of their other palettes in the past with much more contrasting shades, so the end result will be more complex. I like this sheer texture because it is something quite new to my collection and they are easy to work with. These sheer textures also create a beautiful soft and romantic look, that sometimes is harder to achieve with really pigmented shadows. These shadows have such soft finishes and create a halo of light and color around the eyes, which is natural and beautiful but if you are looking for more depth, contouring, and intensity these are not the shadows for you. I would recommend this palette if you are content with a very soft and natural look or willing to pull out some other shadows to create a more complex and intense look.
After pulling out some additional shadows to add more depth and complexity, I am pleased with the overall look but I don't think you should have to "make a palette work" for you. I think when you're buying and eyeshadow palette, especially an expensive one, it should just work on it's own without any extra products or effort.
Frankly, I'm not impressed with the formula and probably will not be purchasing any more of these shadows in the future. However, I was talking to a friend on Instagram, who happens to be a huge Chantecaille fan and she said their permanent shadows are significantly better and she too is very disappointed in the quality if this palette. I can't speak to the quality of their permanent shadows however, from my experience with this palette, I will not be buying blindly from the brand anymore.
Shop Chantecaille 20 Year Anniversary Collection:
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