Chanel's Soleil Tan de Chanel Poudre Soleil 4 Lumières in Bronze Rosé (#547) for Summer 2011 ($50) is absolutely gorgeous - in the compact and on my face. These are stripes you are going to want to try! The four colors of Bronze Rosé, when swept together and applied as one, yield a sunny pinky-peach blush. I think it will please those with warm and cool complexions, although there is a Bronze Corial shade that is targeted to women with darker or warmer complexions than mine. It has darker stripes, with coral at the bottom.I am using this bronzer as a blusher. I can apply it lightly even though it's fairly pigmented. If I were to pick up more powder with my brush, I could use it as a bronzer. That's one reason I like it so much - it's a two-for-one beauty.
My swatch photo doesn't do it justice (and the swatches appear blurry even thought the whole photo wasn't - sorry). I took the photo yesterday as soon as the sun made an appearance. I applied the shades with a sponge-tipped applicator to try to get enough color to pop in a photo. The top swatch shows the color on my skin when the applicator was swiped across all four shades. I got the bottom swatch for fun to show the pink shade at the bottom of the compact. I don't really know how you would pick up only this shade unless you use an eye shadow brush. Who applies blush or bronzer with an eye shadow brush? The top swatch isn't really representative of how the bronzer looks on my cheeks because they have some pink in them. The combination is very pleasing!
The compact is large because it comes with a wide brush. I can't imagine using that brush except in a pinch - or for travel if you were pressed for space. It's too wide for my tastes.
I know the collection has arrived at Saks Chevy Chase and Neiman Marcus Tysons in the DC area, and InCircle starts this week. I'll bet Neiman Marcus Mazza also has it. I was at Nordstrom Tysons and Bloomindale's Tysons yesterday; it wasn't on display at either of those stores yet. Take heart, it will arrive everywhere soon.
Photos by BTiB