Chanel & Dior limited editions spring 2016

It’s that time of year: the sun has been peeping out more and the promise of spring is in the air. And with that promise come some new beauty launches of course. Where most people are completely enamored by Christmas limited editions, I usually prefer spring collections. The colors are fresher and thus much more up my pale skin street. This year I found two beautiful products from the Chanel and Dior Spring 2016 limited editions: LA Sunrise & Glowing Gardens.

Chanel LA Sunrise Limited Edition Blush Harmony Sunkiss Ribbon
Dior DiorSkin Nude Air Glowing Gardens Illuminating Powder 001 Pink

I bought both a blush and a highlighter. Both are absolutely stunning: so much so that I barely dare using these. But it’s not just about the beauty of a beauty product, you also have to be able to wear them of course! Since these are high end products, they are pricey. The Chanel blush retails for €57 and the Dior highlighter for €58,50. That is a lot of money for a single make up item, but I already knew these products would be absolutely amazing. I already own a Chanel blush, be it a creme one and Dior is one of my favorite brands on the planet, so I knew this would be good stuff.

Chanel LA Sunrise Limited Edition Blush Harmony Sunkiss Ribbon

Chanel packaging is gorgeous to begin with. In a way, I am a little disappointed that they don’t really do any special packaging for their limited editions. What the brand is good at though, is sticking to their iconic features. You know you’ve got a luxury item in your hand when it is black and has the double white C logo printed on top.

Don’t ask me why, but high end brands always package their products in these velvet pouches. At first I loved them, now I just chuck them out. I wouldn’t even dare travel with this blush to begin with. Better keep it safe and sound in my make up drawer and use it at home.

This blush also comes with a brush, which for once isn’t awful. It isn’t the best brush. I find this to be a little flimsy. But it is still good enough if you do happen to chuck €60 worth of blush in your on-the-go make up bag. The hairs are soft and the angled cut makes it easy to use.

——- Can we just back up a sec? Yes, scroll back up and look at that picture again, just look at it! Wah! How pretty is that? The compact comes with a good sized mirror and inside is one of the most stunning blushes I have ever laid eyes on. There are 5 different shades which can be used to customize this blush whichever way you want.

The 5 blush shades could technically be worn on its own, but of course some of the colors are small and difficult to get your brush into it. Each shade is perfect for spring: there is a hot pink, a peachy orange, a coral, a light pink and a dusty rose shade.

Close up so you can see the gorgeousness in all its glory! This blush is pretty much matte. There is a hint of shimmer running through the dusty rose shade, but none of that really shows up. And I love me a matte blush: so much better for layering under or over a true highlighter.

As you can see each blush shade is very distinct. However, once you swirl your brush into it and blend all the colors together you get the prettiest coral blush with a pinky undertone. And you need a light hand with this too, especially if you’re fair like me. This blush packs a ton of color: a single tap is enough to coat my cheeks in this marvelous color.

Dior DiorSkin Nude Air Glowing Gardens Illuminating Powder 001 Pink

The minute I spotted this online, I knew I had to have it. I already own a Dior highlight from the 2014 Transat collection. On my super fair skin, however, that highlight is too golden. It only works for me during summer and only if I get a bit of a tan. It is pretty and I still use it, but when I saw this collection contains a pink highlight, I knew I had to have it.

Just like the Chanel blush, Dior gives you a velvet pouch for travel. The compact here is absolutely stunning. I think Dior does some of my favorite packaging with the quilted cannage detail and silver mirrored compact. It feels heavy and luxurious, unlike the lightweight plastic of Chanel.

This also comes with a brush, be it a miniature kabuki brush. I believe all of Dior’s blush and highlight products come with one of these and they are nice but a bit too small for on the daily. However, I have chucked one of these in a bag when traveling and they work really well. They are not too dense and very soft and due to their small size make great travel companions.

Another: HAAAAH moment. This product is just perfection. From the flower print relief to the tone of the highlighter and the gigantic mirror in the lid: Dior truly pays attention to every little detail.

The highlighter itself may not look like much in the pictures, but that’s mainly because I had a hard time capturing this on camera. In real life this looks like molten metal which has been branded. That is, if white gold with a pink undertone would in fact exist. Yes, it is that shiny.

Again a close up so you can see even better. I tried capturing the shift in the shine of this product as you tilt and move it around in the light. Luckily, the product also does that in a swatch and on the face. And this color is just spot on: it’s neither very cool toned nor very warm toned. So if you’re a neutral undertoned gal like me, then this highlighter is definitely for you.

Swatched on the skin, you can truly see how mesmerizing this highlighter is. This collage features the same swatch. All I did was shift my arm so the light would hit it at a different angle. I have plenty of nail polish that I just keep staring at when I wear them. This is the first make up product that had the same effect.

Nothing but contour
With blush
With highlight

To show you the effect of the products on my face, I decided to apply the products in a slightly different order from my usual routine. Usually I apply blush last, but for the occasion and purpose of the review I decided to add the highlight as my last step.

As you can see, the blush adds an instant fresh hint of color to the cheeks. It blends out nicely and looks like a very natural flush. I feel that adding the highlight toned it down a bit and made it look slightly less full on. The highlight also only needs a light hand. I only dipped my brush into the product to create this magnificent glow to my cheeks.

Blush – Highlight

Full face

In the above picture you can see a lot more clearly what the blush and highlight do for my face. The blush gives off the perfect natural amount of color: like it was always supposed to be there as my natural blush shade. The highlight can be quite full on and I think this would be a great highlight if you were into strobing. Yet with a light hand, this can also be worn more subtly, like I have here.

Of course I absolutely love these products. I usually do my research before buying high end products, so I knew I would love these before I even got them. My philosophy is that if you’re going to splurge on a make up item, then you might as well invest the time and effort into looking into the products as well. If you’re looking to treat yourself or are looking for a great blush and/or highlight, then Chanel Sunkiss Ribbon blush and Dior Glowing Gardens highlight are the way to go for spring 2016.

What items do you like to splurge on?