Chanel Clair Obscur

 If I could only save one eyeshadow palette in a fire it would probably be Chanel's Les 4 Ombres from autumn 2016. I mean, I probably wouldn't bother saving any cosmetics if my house was burning down around me, but I'd sure be sad to lose that limited edition beaut. Last year's Chanel offering for AW17 was unmemorable, but this year's has got me giddy again. There's two different quads to choose from, one of them has been popular for the blue shade in it, which to me looks positively pond-like (just wear blue or wear grey, why a weird watery mix of both?). It doesn't even look good on the stunning Chanel models, so I've skipped that one. The other one, Clair Obscur, has been criticised for being a bit blah, but that must be by anyone who hasn't tried the extreme silky smoothness of Chanel's Les 4 Ombres before. My gad, these are some soft eyeshadows, and there's no way you can mess them up, they apply like a dream. Clair Obscur may be brown, beige and basic, but for me it's neutral heaven, and just like its 2016 cousin it's all matte. It's not quite up there with the autumnal goodness of the 2016 Les Rouge quad, but it's the only palette I've been genuinely excited about in a long time. Check out the whole matte range for AW18, even the nail polishes and the packaging are matte, which is something special for Chanel collectors.