Shanghai Surprise

Chanel's Noir Et Or Paris-Shanghai Makeup Collection

Peter Phillips, Global Creative Director of Chanel Makeup, created an exclusive collection Noir Et Or. The collection was inspired by Shanghai in the 30's and 40's. The twist is the Coco Chanel was never able to visit the east. However, her apartment is filled with objects of art from the Orient. You can see where Mr Phillips sought inspiration for this pre-fall makeup collection.

The black and gold cosmetics perfectly reflect the gilded walls and ebony statues.

Ligne et Ombre de Chanel in Jet-Gold

This duo palette features a matte black liner and a sparkling soft gold eyeshadow. The gold is warm and avoids any brassy undertones.
The palette retails for $45.

There are three nail polishes. One is a matte black called Black Velvet. It retails for $25 and quickly sold out online. (BTW: It has been restocked!)
The other nail lacquers are golds.

Le Vernis Nail Colour in Gold Lame is a creamy, satin gold nail shade. It retails for $25.

Le Vernis Nail Colour in Illusion d'Or is a transparent, sparkling gold filled with shimmer chunks. This packs a serious glimmer punch. Carla from Product Girl successfully layered Black Velvet with Illusion. The shimmer fire was blinding. It retails for $25 and is a "must have".

I layered the gold nail polishes.

I thought it was a fetching nail combination. Very light and summer appropriate. The shimmer caught the sunlight. It survived well throughout the week. The picture below was taken an hour before a new manicure. There was slight wear and tear near the tips.


The products are available online at http://www.chanel.com/ for purchase. This collection never made it to my local Macys store. If you have seen this collection in stores...please let us know in the comments.

Disclosure: A press sample was provided by Chanel
Credits: Blogdorf Goodman and Chanel PR

Susie Bubble posted on Youtube a great video recap of her tour in the Chanel apartments.

Guerlain Vol de Nuit Evasion

This is the only fragrance I purchased while I was in Paris.
And technically...I bought this while flying the friendly skies with Air France.

The notes are peach(so fleeting), rose, iris and jasmine. The drydown is composed of precious woods, vanilla and a rich velvety amber.
I bought this unsniffed because I was in a panic I did not purchase anything.
I could not be the girl that went to Paris and did not buy a thing.
I have no regrets.
The fragrance is quite comforting and lovely.

From what I read in the Air France magazine...this will be exclusive to the airline and Guerlain boutiques.


Credits: Blogdorf Goodman
Disclosure: This Paris trip was made possible by Chanel.

Part X: Polge, Sheldrake and Helleu...Oh My!


The tour of the Chanel fragrance laboratory was a highlight of my Paris trip. I never dreamed that I would ever be given this opportunity. To actually meet Jacques Polge or shake the hand of Christopher Sheldrake was beyond a thrill.
At dinner the night before the tour, I compared Polge to Paul McCartney and Mr Sheldrake to Mick Jagger. For perfumistas these men are legendary rock stars. Polge is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend with Sheldrake being the new bad boy of perfumery.
As a team...they will be unstoppable.

The bloggers were broken up into two groups for the tour. My group consisted of Seth & Aimee from Cool Hunting, Kay from The Clothing Project, Betsy from Fashion is Spinach and Adrian from Fashion Verbatium.
Jacques Polge and Christopher Sheldrake took us on an olfactory tour.
They showed us a can filled with vetiver, a bowl filled with the most incredible smelling patchouli leaves and a root from an Iris plant. This specific root is aged for three years and then crushed and ground for distillation. Polge stated that is the most costly ingredient in Chanel perfumes. While he was speaking my eye spied lab bottles of Tonka Feves, Tolu, Poivre Essence, Fir, Baise Rose and Violette on the shelves. Polge then generously offered to let us smell anything in the lab. I immediately asked to smell their Iris. There is nothing more heavenly than that pure note.
Sheldrake opened lab bottles of their jasmine. We actually got to smell side by side Jasmine from the Chanel Grasse plantations to Jasmine harvested from Egypt.

Seth from Cool Hunting then requested to smell "the worst ingredient in the lab".
This request was a pure delight to Polge and Sheldrake. Polge wanted us to sniff a note that smelled like rotten eggs. The nameless assistant in the back of the lab began saying "No" a hundred times with a violent shake of her head. Sheldrake then thought of a note that was being stored in their fridges. This note was a musk extrait from a beaver.
Sheldrake dipped testers in the bottle and quickly passed them around.
Adrian at Fashion Verbatium proclaimed that beaver essence smelled like olives.
It was a compelling and interesting smell.
It was slightly earthy and green.

Jacques Polge was studying literature when he stumbled across an offer to become "a nose" for a company in Grasse. He spent two years in the United States learning the craft and eventually worked for Roure-Betrand-Dupont. Mr Dupont had "a long standing vocation to create fragrances for coutiers".

He joined the Chanel family in 1978 following the footsteps of the legendary Ernest Beaux(creator of Chanel 5) and Henri Robert(creator of Chanel 19). Polge's mission was to ensure that the original scents were being reproduced to the letter and that the materials being used were of the highest quality.

Polge created Coco in 1984. He was inspired by Mademoiselle Chanel's apartment on the Rue Cambon. He was inspired by her decorative choices and work. The apartment with it's baroque and eastern feel gave him the idea of the Coco fragrance.
After the launch of Coco,many successful fragrances launches followed such as Allure and Chance. Coco Mademoiselle was created in 2001 and contains the notes of Rose de Mal, Patchouli, Vanilleine, Iris Absolute, Jasmine and Vetyverfract. Polge wanted a fragrance that was "distinctive but did not wear out it's welcome with the wearer". Mademoiselle has a gentle sillage that wafts around the wearer. I always receive lovely compliments when I wear it.

My personal favorite fragrances from Chanel are in the Les Exclusifs line. These scents were inspired by places in Chanel's life from her apartment(31 Rue Cambon), country home(28 La Pausa) to her favorite coromandel screens(Coromandel). Polge was given free reign when it came to the creation of these scents. He is most proud of this body of work. He enjoyed being able to create fragrances based on materials seldom used like Amberette Seed. This ingredient plays an important role in the No 18 fragrance. The Exclusifs line is currently available at Bergdorf Goodman and select Chanel boutiques.

Chanel fragrances are exquisite in many ways besides their exceptional ingredients.
At Chanel, the fragrance is treated like a "luxury, small scaled product".
They have their own harvests, plantations and laboratory. The bottles have hand made touches. The Chanel creative team and staff have been long standing employees within the company. People do not leave for greener pastures. This company is the pasture with the greenest blades of grass. Many of the employees I spoke with had been with the company for decades and proud to call Chanel home. New employees had that special glow that comes from having a job you admire and love.
Can you imagine waking up and actually looking forward to a day in the office? Chanel staff can.
They get to work in a beautiful smelling office and drink coffee out of Chanel mugs.
Adrian(Fashion Verbatium) and I practically squealed when we spotted them on Chanel desks.
I bet my Maxwell House would taste 1000 times better out of that mug!

Credits: Blogdorf Goodman and Chanel.
Disclosure: This Paris trip was made possible by Chanel.

Chanel Tour Part VIII: Stags


Chanel surrounded herself with art that reflected her personality. There were many lions, camellias, ornate mirrors and crystal balls.
I also spotted several pairs of deer littered throughout the apartment.
Deer often symbolize independence and pride.

Chanel's apartment is often the source for inspiration for everything from the fall collections, new fragrances, commercials and the actual interiors of the boutiques.

From Vogue:
Inside the store(Hong Kong), which is inspired by Mademoiselle's Paris apartment, the collection of specially-commissioned pieces includes a endearing cast bronze doe sculpted by Francois- Xavier Lalanne, a 32-meter three-storey strand of Murano glass pearls by Jean-Michel Othoniel (which weighs 500 kilos and necessited a reinforcement of the supporting structure of the building), a huge, but delicate Conte-crayon Camellia drawing by Joseph Stashkevetch, and a diamond-dust portrait of Chanel by Vik Muniz, all from the outside too.
http://www.vogue.co.uk/vogue_daily/story/story.asp?stid=31266

Credits: Blogdorf Goodman and Vogue.co.uk
Disclosure: This Paris trip was made possible by Chanel.

Stumbling across Serge Lutens...

I was a horrible perfumista while I was in Paris. There just was not enough time to visit the perfume shrines.
I did manage to locate the Serge Lutens boutique. I gazed longingly at the Sarrasins and Louve bottles through the closed doors.
But...do not cry for me.
Later that day, I met Mr Christopher Sheldrake himself.
The man responsible for my beloved Fumerie Turque and Ambre Sultan.
I wanted to kick myself for not choosing to wearing one of his scent creations. I had foolishly worn Frederic Malle's Iris Poudre.

I told him that I was a huge fan and he seemed startled by the fuss. I am guessing that he is blissfully unaware that he has a huge cult following on the fragrance board at Makeupalley.

He is full of charm and it was a delight to hear him speak on the art of perfumery.

So in honor of my latest crush...
A Fragrance of the Day Poll

What fragrance did you choose today?
What is your favorite Sheldrake creation? (This is for the perfume junkies)
What is your latest crush?

Credits: Blogdorf Goodman

Disclosure: This Paris trip was made possible by Chanel.

Chanel Tour Part VII

This exquisite tiny birdcage from Chanel's apartment so inspired director Jean-Paul Goude that he created the very memorable Coco commercial with Vanessa Paradis. In the commercial Vanessa is perched on a swing inside a birdcage while a hungry kitty cat looks on.

I always thought it was a more glamorous version of Sylvester and Tweety Bird. You almost expect to see Chanel come into the frame with a broom to chase the cat away.




Credits: Blogdorf Goodman and Youtube
Disclosure: This Paris trip was made possible by Chanel.

Blogdorf Goodman's Chanel Tour Part VI

One of the most magnificent items in Chanel's apartment was her custom made chandelier in the sitting room. It was loaded with stunning rock crystals and detailed iron work. If you look closely, you will spot the infamous interlocking C's, the number 5 and the letter G.

I loved how she managed to monogram a chandelier.
She really took everything to a tasteful extreme.

Credits: Blogdorf Goodman
Disclosure: This Paris trip was made possible by Chanel.

The Chanel Seal of Approval
Chanel Tour Part V



There was a second half to the demonstration of the packaging of Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle Extrait de Parfum bottle.


Each bottle is branded with the Chanel hallmark of interlocking C's. This process involves fire, thick wax and a steady hand.




Many bloggers attempted this process with great success. Seth from Cool Hunting and Kay from The Clothing Project nailed the perfect interlocking C's on their first try. The C's must be centered "just so" to be acceptable and Chanel worthy.

I was very enchanted with this part of the Chanel tour. I had no clue that these hand crafted touches still existed in the perfume industry. I assumed that my parfum bottles were crafted by machines and assembly lines.

Chanel gives a couture touch to each extrait bottle.

Every detail is exquisite and a homage to the woman herself.

Photos: Blogdorf Goodman
Disclosure: This Paris trip was made possible by Chanel.

Chanel Tour Part IV
Chanel Baudruche Process


A highlight of the Chanel Trip was witnessing some of the hand crafted methods of packaging a extrait de parfum bottle. We were given the opportunity to watch and participate in the Baudruche process.
In simple terms, this is when the extrait de parfum bottle is sealed with a wax-like translucent membrane and tied with 4 rows of cord. This time honored technique is a hand crafted touch for all extrait bottles. Besides Chanel Mademoiselle, I also own extraits from Guerlain and Caron. I can tell you that they are never easy to open and often require a steady hand and mind. I was a nervous wreck when I opened my Guerlain Chamade bottle. This bottle was from the 1960's. The first whiff after the struggle was heavenly. The fragrance was just as stunning as it was first poured.

Jacques Polge in 2001 created Coco Mademoiselle. It "marked a return to sobriety, with a fresh fragrance and light,almost abstract, notes of morning rose and jasmine petals". Other notes are a burst of orange, bergamot with a drydown of a rich earthy patchouli, vetiver and a dash of tobacco.

My favorite moment with Coco Mademoiselle has always been in the early morning on a cold day. The moment the air hits that patchouli note you are smitten with its power.

Photos: Blogdorf Goodman
Disclosure: This Paris trip was made possible by Chanel.