I keep waiting for that moment, that pang in my gut that so often happens with Chanel LE palettes, especially the holiday ones. It’s that moment when I realize that — OMG — this palette is worthy of worship, and I can’t live without it. I keep waiting for it to kick in with the new $70 Trait de Caractère holiday palette.
And waiting, and waiting, and waiting…
Trait de Caractère is on counters now, along with the rest of Chanel’s Holiday 2017 Collection, and I’ve worn it several times over the past few weeks, most recently to brunch with my parents (I mixed the matte brown with the shimmery taupe, blended it on my lids, then lined the lash lines with the dark green), and ya know… It’s a’ight.
Technically, the palette ticks the right boxes and has enough goodness to make it memorable. It has five powder eyeshadows that are similar to the eyeshadows in Les Beiges Healthy Glow, in that they’re sheer-to-medium pigment, with soft, easy-to-blend powders. Yeah, there’s a little bit of fallout, but not as much as Healthy Glow, thank goodness… Not enough to turn me off.
Trait de Caractère combines a good blend of workhorse colors with a bright pop of green, so it balances useful and fun, which is always a great thing to me. I can’t complain about the wear time of the shadows, either. They easily last a full work day from 9 a.m. till 7.
But…even with the positive things, Trait de Caractère just isn’t inspiring that next level of lust for me. I think what this palette is lacking is that extra something-something special sauce that separates the “just OK” Chanel palettes from epic ones.
Gosh, remember Codes Subtils from earlier this year, the one with all those beautiful shimmery finishes that were shiny but not too shiny? Almost glossy? UGH. SO GOOD. And even the more recent eye palette from fall that had the crazy teals and matte tan Road Movie, which was so pigmented and rich and fun and lush and just EVERYTHING.
Compared to those other palettes, Trait de Caractère is 100% just OK to me. It’s completely functional, but it doesn’t quite reach awe-inspiring, and isn’t that (awe-inspiring) something one always wants from Chanel? A little dash of magic?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
