Chanel love and now fall by video

What a mess. Chanel lipsticks and packaging strewn all over the place- so stressful

Since getting cornered into buying a Chanel Rouge Allure lipstick, much has happened. I decided then that I would just have to make the best of it (you’ll remember that in my guilt and haste to get the hell out of Holts, I nervously threw out my receipt in the first garbage can). Back then I read meaning in the name of the colour I chose: “Hyde Park” reminded me of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and having resolved to wear it every day, my life was just like the novel.

As a gal who is still applying makeup from a trunkful of MAC Cosmetics from a decade ago and now only adds freebies to the pile, this was quite a commitment. I’d actually have to make an effort to wear makeup daily. But I got over that pretty fast since I got endless compliments on the Jekyll/Hyde Park shade. But none of this was really about making an effort- in fact, it was all about wanting to do it.

Knowing that the Chanel lipstick is luxury went beyond the price tag and I got over that, too: I was particularly cash-strapped at the time, which made me sweat the purchase. But every time I felt my fingers glide along the slick packaging, press the gold spring-loaded bottom and unveil that tube of gold, I relished at the designed experience of it. This is what decadence feels like. This is what it feels like to be rich. Someone came up with this design, and they got it so right.

I enjoyed it all so much and began to look forward to re-applying. I’d be throwing on a coat before a meal (that seemed foolish in the past) and as the only thing I’d wear on the weekend (well, sometimes I’d throw on some blush). I’d be going out for a stroll wearing Crocs and Chanel. I loved treating myself to an application while waiting at a red light and looking at myself in my beloved car’s rearview mirror.

Chanel promotes its fall 2012 Rouge Allure lipsticks with a controversial video that pays tribute to Erwin Blumfeld, Dadaist photographer known for his iconic images including this 1950 Vogue cover. More on this sticky issue below

I’m the kind of person who loves to share the wonder, and so I did countless demonstrations to my gal pals: I’d hand the lipstick over to them and say, open it. Just like my first time, it took them a couple of seconds to figure it out and then ah-! The outer black glossy shell would slide in their fingers and reveal a gold inner tube topped a bright coral. Like me, they got lost in the moment of that smooth opener.

I was in love. I was going to wear that shade of hot pink/coral all summer long, and I did until one day when I was surprised with the most unexpected self-indulgent gift: a Chanel lipstick and two glosses. I was in shock. At first I wondered if I could possibly enjoy the Chanel experience if it was so plentiful. I began intellectualizing (even more) my relationship with luxury goods, cosmetics, and Beauty in all its identity and feminism-tinged sting. At first I only wore the new lipstick, and then I gave myself permission to just go whole hog and put lipstick on the pig.

Now I can hardly believe it- it’s like a Chanel counter over in my purse. And I love them all, and like all parents, I claim to love them equally for different reasons.

My kind of army: Chanel soldiers lined up for a day in the battlefield

Mine mine mine. And might I add that the colours are all lovely on me, different from each other and ever pleasurable to apply? I’m giddy with Chanel. From left: Rouge Allure in Hyde Park, Rouge Coco in Taffetas Rose, Rouge Coco Shine in Monte-Carlo, and Rouge Coco Shine in Effrontée

Product Packaging Award: Chanel Allure

I love the Hyde Park colour because it’s unique and very summery, but more than anything I’m addicted to the packaging of the Allure collection. I have now tried the other collections’ packaging and as an experience design amateur, you don’t have to tell me that packaging matters. We are sensory-based beings and our emotions guide our pocketbooks.

Chanel Allure in Hyde Park: I love that the Allure collection has a glossy shine finish and gives nice mid-weight coverage and a comfortable, non-dry wear

Best Scent Award: Rouge Coco Taffetas Rose

Smells like the colour name.

This was offered to me as a gift and I absolutely adore this shade and the luxury texture of the lipstick. The colour is a rich rose that is so beautiful- I’ve worn it this summer but am looking forward to it for fall since it’s richer than my coral hue. I also get a kick out of the scent: it actually smells like the name, Taffetas Rose

Best Foodie Appeal: Packaging for the Rouge Coco Shine

It reads: “Le rouge brillant fondant hydratant”

Fondant! oui!

These two Rose Coco Shine glosses have been so fun for me to throw on especially since I’m so lazy about applying makeup when it’s 30-degrees outside. Lightweight gloss says summer but also fall and winter since I like a nude lip once in a while- I don’t think we need to modify our colours that much over the year, but with a tan, these were perfect. At left is a bright pink shade that gives me a nice puckered look, and at right is just one shade off my natural lip colour, so it’s perfect for creating that bare lip look

Now I should add that Chanel isn’t (yet) endorsing any posts on Fashion in Motion. I’d love it if it did since I’m such a ridiculous fan now that I caught myself thinking yesterday, “Those lipsticks are worth every penny.”

I get such a buzz from buttering my lips with Chanel lipsticks- more than any other Chanel product. (My unbelievably generous and loving friend Geneviève who is a Chanel addict bought me the eye creme and pot of lip moisturizer last year and although I love them both, nothing comes close to putting on the lipstick.) There’s something so iconic about Chanel and the red lip. It’s made me coco.

But not so much coco that I’m going to just dismiss this little anti-feminist situation arising out of the new fall Allure collection. Preempting next week’s product release with a teaser video, Chanel is taking a lot of flack for what’s said in the flick. Beautifully shot and styled as a tribute to Dadaist photographer Erwin Blumenfeld, the video by Sølve Sundsbø ends with what appears to be the model saying, “Men don’t like women who read.”

Take a look for yourself, and then please, tell me, what’s a Chanel girl to do about this?