Chanel Poudre Signee De Chanel Illuminating Powder

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Although I had gazed at this from afar, I had no real intention of purchasing this. However, I went to the mall the day after Christmas and Lord and Taylor had a $20 off coupon when you purchase $40 or more...and it worked on cosmetics. So now this is in my stash. Was it worth it even for the lowered price? I'm still on the fence. The packaging is gorgeous. It comes in a velvet pouch that closes with elastic and when you open it up it has a big sponge applicator in it. There is certainly enough product as well. I don't think I will ever get through this. And of course, the design on the product itself is gorgeous. Chanel describes this as being "a limited edition creation, this sheer highlighting powder is artfully embosses with the icons of Chanel. Bringing a fresh vitality to the face, this soft pink powder lightly dusts over cheekbones and high points to capture and reflect light with a delicate luminosity. This is part of the Printemps Precieux De Chanel collection."

To start with, I hate the included applicator. I used it the first day with that and I hated it. I thought it was the product and almost gave it back. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but it appeared heavy and placed, like i'm wearing makeup and don't just have naturally luminous skin, when I used the applicator. However, when I applied this with a bigger, fluffy brush, it makes my skin look radiant. It is a lovely pinky luminosity that works well with my pink Chanel blush. It lasts pretty much all day (i'd estimate somewhere between 8 and 9 hours) and looks natural and beautiful. It does have a slight perfumery scent, but I think many of channel's products have this scent and I actually kinda like it. I like this product, I'm just not sure I like it more than the Benefit illuminating powder I was using previously. This is definitely a much lighter (and by that I mean it is hard to see it applied in certain lights because it isn't heavy) luminizing powder than the Benefit one (where I can see it applied as soon as I apply it) and is much more finely milled (a gorgeous texture), I'm just not sure I like it better. 

All in all I would still recommend this (especially if you have a coupon), as I do like the product, I'm just not sure it's love. =)

This can be bough wherever Chanel can be purchased (which is pretty much everywhere). I bought mine at Lord and Taylor. It can also be bought on the Chanel website here.