Chantecaille Iridescent Eye Shade in Sel - the perfect taupe.

Chantecaille Iridescent Eye Shade in Sel is one of those legendary must-have taupes in the beauty world, a colour that is not talked about as often as it deserves, but only causes praises and worship everytime it's mentioned.
so of course wandering around in the beauty blogs of some great cosmetic connaisseurs like The Non-Blonde (see her review here) or The Beauty Look Book (Sel was featured here), i couldn't escape it eventually ;)
Chantecaille was once sold at hqhair.com when they were not part of the Hut Group (i did buy my Future Skin Foundation there - review), but now you can't seem to order it online anymore (at least from germany). i found out though, that Quartier 206 in Berlin would stock on Chantecaille. if you live there you're lucky but if you don't, i think you can give them a call and they would send you.
i of course have my Maureen, my "rare brands dealer" from overseas ;D

i think the fact that the company was founded by Sylvie Chantecaille, a french woman based in NYC (who first worked with Diane von Fürstenberg and later launched Prescriptives) and now ran with the help of her Daughters Olivia (who also is the "face" of the brand) and Alexandra makes the brand very likeable for me.

the eyeshadow comes in a chic container with metallic looking bottom part and milky/semitranslucent lid of rubberized plastic. it contains 2.5g of eyeshadow and costs 30$ each, they also come in refill pans for 22$.

Sel is a taupe eyeshadow, very basic, very wearable. flattering for every skin tone to create a natural shadow to your lids and give it some dimension. it's not an average taupe, though. Sel is a sand coloured light to medium shade with silver sheen and gold shimmer and pink. thanks to multicolour shimmer it looks very dimensional and complex. sometimes it's a pewter, sometimes a sand shade, in some lights it's a plummy taupe, sometimes it's rather gold, sometimes it has rosy hues.
it has a very fine and extremely silky texture with good colour pay off. it applies evenly and sheer but builds up well. it blends beautifully and lasts on my oily lids without creasing.
it's a staple for a super simple daytime sweep over the lid and to add a colourful eyeliner to avoid the boring routine, but it's also great to combine with darker shades for a smokey eye.
i love how it glistens in sunlight.

Chantecaille Sel swatched in natural light + flashlight (far right)

tihilw

here i'm wearing it on its own over the whole lid & lower lashline. i added a deep purple gel liner to break up the very neutral look.

comparison

1 - Hourglass Visionary Duo in Suede (taupe side) - review
2 - Chantecaille Sel
3 - Chanel Safari - review
4 - Artdeco #12 - review
5 - Laura Mercier Topaz
6 - NARS Ashes To Ashes - review
7 - Dior 5 Couleurs Iridescent in Earth Reflection (taupe shade) - review

Sel is most similar to Chanel Safari but is more cool toned than Safari and has more complex shimmers.