Chanel’s Birds of Paradise Les Ombres À Paupières Quatuor was originally released as a limited edition holiday 2009 palette; however, Chanel has bought it back for this spring.
The colours are gorgeous and compliment each other very well. It includes turquoise, chartreuse, yellow and orange. Chanel eyeshadows are baked and can be worn wet or dry. Overall, I think this quatuor is very sheer, especially when worn dry without a base. The best results are with a base and wearing dry. Wearing the eyeshadows wet, gives decent pigmentation but gives a sheerer more watercolour painting quality. Although these shadows are a bit sheer, I find them easy to build pigmentation and blend.
The turquoise and orange is the most pigmented. Although the orange looks very bright in the pan, the colour looks burnt when I wear it on my eyes, looking more brown.The orange looks more natural on the skin than it looks in the pan. The turquoise colour is oh so gorgeous and current right now. It is vibrant without being too over the top. The yellow and chartreuse are the most sheer. The yellow is a bit chunky and has a bit of fallout, while the chartreuse looks more golden on my medium skin tone than green.
Having the right bases is important for this palette to work. It is best to experiment to see what works for you to get the results you want. I have tried Bird of Paradise several times with different bases. Below are the results.
Above: Chanel Birds of Paradise with no base and worn dry
When worn dry and without a base, the color payoff is very sheer and takes a lot of effort to build up the colour. It took 3-4 layers of colour to get the colours to show like this without a base. I also got some fallout with the yellow.
Above: Chanel Birds of Paradise worn dry with Medusa’s Makeup Stick It Primer
Medusa’s Makeup Stick it Primer is a clear wax based primer. I find that a sticky primer helps adhere the eyeshadow and colour the best. The colour looks the most vibrant and true to pan. Urban Decay Primer Potion works well too, but I find that it neutralizes the colour a bit. I think if you want the colour very vibrant, it is best to wear a clear base or a colour base that is the same as the dominate colour you are wearing. Any neutral colour bases, such as Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Hunny Bunny or Recess will tone the colour a bit.
Above: Chanel Birds of Paradise with Medusa’s Makeup Stick It Primer worn wet
I swatched the shadows with Medusa’s Stick It Primer and sprayed my brush with MAC Fix+Rose. It is more pigmented than wearing it dry without a base (first swatch picture), but a little less pigmented than wearing it dry with a base (second swatch picture). In fact, I think wearing it wet creates decent pigmentation that is very natural and gives a watercolour painting quality to the eyeshadows. Wearing Birds of Paradise wet and with a base is my favourite method, thus far.
Check out the FOTD, I posted wearing Birds of Paradise with different bases, wet and dry.
Neutral colour base worn wet (Benefit Creme Creaseless eyeshadow as base)
Clear waxy base worn dry (Medusa’s Makeup Stick It Primer as base)
Clear silicone base worn dry (Urban Decay Primer Potion as base)
Great colors! b