Chanel Les 4 Ombres #43 Mystère from Superstition Collection for Fall 2013

These days I feel like running around and grabbing things from my desk in any order and just writing about one. I am not finished with Dior Summer mix, nor Chanel fall polishes yet, but today I would like to present the new Chanel Quad in #43 Mystère from Superstition Collection for this Fall.

Mystere is right now released in US so it is in US formula, not a baked Europe formula. As many detest the baked formula, I am undecided. I have seen it working with some recent quads such as Seduction and Fascination. Baked formula also comes to life when used wet and I love wet application, so I sometimes prefer it. Chanel Mystere was sent to me from US, again thanks to Mari. I was dying to try out the new quad and couldn't wait one more month. I also wanted to give US formula a try.

The theme of Superstition collection is khaki, green and taupe. Once I have seen the palette, I was wondering how this would compare to Dior's Khaki design palette and after trying out the shades side by side I can tell you that Mystere is not a green palette! Top left shade leaning slightly green because of the golden shimmer particles doesn't necesarily make the whole finish giving a green look. The shades are as follows:

You see the pattern here? They are all rather cool shades so this is not your quad if you search for something warm. The coolness of this quad makes it borderline for my NC20-25 skin with neutral undertones. I can see it working wonderfully with cooler and lighter skin tones but yet again it is rather dark so a light application in this case is a must.

I tried to apply the quad two times since it arrived. I think I may have to play around with it a bit more because I am not very much satisfied with the results. The first time I tried to use the ivory shade (top right) in the corner and taupe shade (bottom left) on the whole lid, defining it with the darker shades on the outer corner and crease. I applied the ivory and taupe shade mixed along the lower lash line. You see the results of this effort in the pictures below. Today I tried to apply the ivory shade all over, hoping that the colors won't get muddy or too dark once this is used as a base but I failed again (thus no photos) and the over all look was too similar to the one below to justify posting another photo. I also had major fall out during application which was a turn-off factor for me.

I am not totally unhappy with the end result but I can't say I look at the mirror and say "wow". I think those colors are just not that flattering on my skin/eye combo. I also found out that this quad is reasonably close to Armani's #11 Mystery (This name? I know right!). 

You see the comparison swatches under full sun below. The main difference of Chanel Mystere is the golden sparkles in the darkest shade which pulls it a bit olive. Other than that they are very close, the ivory and the taupe shade being almost identical in terms of color. It should also be very close to Chanel Prelude (which I don't own) since Armani ETK #11 and Chanel Prelude are very close (see their comparison here)

Be sure to also check out the wonderful reviews from Rads (Weekend Ramblings) and Sabrina (The Beauty Look Book) as well as Amy (Cafe Make-up) and Jenny (Belletristic Beauty).

Final thoughts: I am not very impressed by the formula and the colors are a bit too muddy on my skin tone. This quad is also close to color to Armani's #11 Mystery. I prefer Armani #11 because its lighter colors make it easier to build up the contrasts and I like its shimmering quality better. That being said Chanel's quad delivers a nice fall smokey eye if you like cool tones and darker eye looks, be sure to check it out.

Have you checked Mystere? What are your thoughts about it?