Recently I have tried to cut down on my beauty purchases, hence the lack of posts in August (but that is also due to time issues).  Instead of buying almost everything that looked good/interesting, I have been editing my wishlist down to the essential "must-buys" from each collection (I skipped the entire Dior Autumn collection).

At first I thought I had to have Lumiere d'Artifices, the stripey sequin palette from the Chanel Autumn 2012 collection.  But after looking at swatch photos and trying it in store, it's a big no for me - the colour just doesn't show up on me.  Then I thought is it absolutely necessary to buy Rose Initiale, another pink blush?

Joues Contraste in Fleur de Lotus is part of the 2012 Le Blanc Fleur de Lotus makeup collection and is an Asia exclusive.  The two feature products, the blush and the green Illusion d'Ombre in Riviere, immediately reminded me of traditional Chinese paintings of Lotus flowers - intense coral (or pink) with a light wash of green.

Santa left me a Joues Contraste in Rose Pétale under the Christmas tree :)

Rose Pétale is a medium rose pink with small shimmers throughout.  It is basically a pink version of In Love #55, except the texture seems to be even smoother and softer.  

I'm a bit of a geek and like to look through backstage photos and videos to see what Peter Philips has in line for the next Chanel collection.  Here's some images I've found from various websites.  Additional information can be found on style.com and lachanelphile.com

New products for June 2012:

• Eyes - Illusion d’Ombre in Nirvana
• Highlight - Route des Indes
• Cheeks - Joues Contraste Blush in Brume d’Or
• Lips - Rouge Coco Shine in Empreinte
• Nails - Le Vernis in Diwali

My latest acquisition is Chanel Joues Contraste in In Love #55.  In Love is part of the permanent line-up of Joues Contraste in the UK. 

I picked up Joues Contraste in Candy #13 from the Harrods Chanel pop-up counter.  As far as I'm aware, this shade is not normally available in the UK.  After a quick google search, it appears Candy might be a permanent shade in Asia.

I know it's been Chanel overload here on the blog but I do love my Chanel.  Right now, the Harrods pop-up counter have some nail polish(es?) and Joues Contrastes that are not normally available at UK counters.

Rose Ecrin is my first Joues Contraste.  I am not sure why, but it might have to do with the fact that I probably have enough different blushes to last me a whole month without ever repeating one of them.