Chanel Joues Contraste in Rouge and OR Swatches

After lying on the bed and surviving on  instant korean ramen for the past 2 days,  I am finally feeling better today and have the energy to do a blog post for the Chanel Joues Contraste Blushes in ROUGE and OR from their Byzance Collection. I had to admit..I initially only wanted to buy the gold blush (OR), as the red blush just looks too shockingly red for my fair skin which I would never wear. Obviously I had a change of mind after the SA told me if I layer the red with the gold, it gives a beautiful rose gold effect. Yes..the word Rose Gold totally sold me..

Everything from the Byzance Collection is much more pigmented than the regular Chanel’s.

Heavy Swatches (by fingers):

Swatched by brush:

Chanel Joues Contraste in OR is a true gold blush (although from some certain angles I can see a little bit of bronze sheen) with tons of gold flecks. The texture feels quite grainy and powdery hence there are a lot of fallout in the pan once you start using it.

It is definitely more of a highlighter rather than a blush to me. When I use it as a highlighter on my skin it transforms into a very subtle golden sheen.  The gold surprisingly blends into my naturally yellow skintone really well – it brightens as well as warms up my complexion without looking too yellow.

Applied OR on the top of my cheekbone.

Chanel Joues Contraste in Rouge appears as a true bright red with pink shimmers in the pan, but on the skin the shimmer is less noticeable. Unlike OR, the texture of Rouge feels smooth and soft. It is also insanely pigmented – a tiny amount of it is enough to do the whole cheek.

I had a really hard time applying just a sheer wash of color with Rouge. It was my 6th attempt to get a sheer finish shown in the picture below. It is so pigmented,  applying with the softest and fluffiest blush brush with the lightest hand doesn’t help much.. I still ended up look like a clown.  To get the result I had to dip the brush into the pan at the sofest pressure I could, then swipe the brush on my hands to remove most of the product first before applying it on my cheeks. Once I got it right, it gives a natural flush of color – reminiscent of  a “just went for a jog” look.

Applied Rouge on the apple of my cheek

Layer OR on top of Rouge:

I am glad I got both blushes in the end. They look the best when they are layered on top of each other. They red balances out the warmth of the gold, and the gold sheen softens the brightness of the red, making it more glowy and dewy.

Stay tuned, I might update this post or do a new post showing you some possible dupes of these blushes.

BTW Chanel Joues Contraste retails for $74 in Australia.