For those whose keep up with Chanel, they will know that most specialty limited edition (LE) products launched in the US inexplicably and annoyingly never make it up to Canada. Usually, I get my LE Chanel fix from my good friend Rajeev in NYC, who has on more than one occasion hit the boutiques in my honour - most notable was his major score of Chanel Nuit de Russie nail polish and Chanel Maniac Rouge Allure lipstick. Shout out to my connect in NYC!
Well, when I saw the first reviews of the Topkapi turning up on the internet in July, I thought I would have to get on the NYC connect. Luckily, through the excellent customer service provided by my local Chanel counter at Holt Renfrew in Edmonton, I got hooked up big time. Apparently Holt Renfrew in Vancouver was getting 6 of these impossible-to-get quads in and thanks to my early asking, I was going to get one.
The Topkapi quad is unique and not-so unique in a number of ways. First what makes it unique is this is a different formula of eye shadow than usual Chanel eye shadows. These shadows are texturally a cross between a cream and powder eye shadow. They are highly pigmented, silky and apply like butter. These are excellent quality, which leads us to question why Chanel doesn`t make this their normal formula...
Photo taken without flash on NC 40/45 skin.
The colours themselves are not that unique, but they do form a very nice palette. A gorgeous, high shimmer silvery taupe, shimmery yellow gold, and shimmery warm golden brown are combined with a dark satin ash brown. This is the kind of palette that would suit all skin tones, as it has an even balance of warm (gold and warm brown) and cool tones (silver taupe and ash brown). The only way I can see this being a little less than versatile is in the finish, which is all high shimmer, except for the darkest shade.
As this product is no longer available, except maybe for an unreasonable price on ebay, the question of "do you need this?" is a bit academic, but I'm going to answer it anyways. In short, I don`t believe this is a must have purchase, especially if you are on a budget ($65 CA/US). However, if you love neutrals and fetishize Chanel, this will make you very, very happy.
Chanel @#&*!
What didn't make me so happy - I discovered one of the eye shadows came loose from the palette! I could have dropped it or it could have gotten shook up in shipping, but unfortunately it`s common that super fine shadows like these come loose from their packaging. If this product was still around I would exchange it for a new one but since that`s not possible, I`ll have to rely on those weird little plastic guards Chanel puts on everything to keep it in it's place.
C'est la vie!
J