Chanel Ombre Essentielle in Taupe Grise: Subtle Smokey Eyes

There was a bit of a Chanel-shaped hole in my makeup collection up until recently, with the exception of their liquid eyeliner and of course, various must-have nail polish shades. For some reason I rarely gave the brand much consideration when it came to makeup. However, when the loveliness that is the Taupe Grisé shade of their Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eye Shadow, €25, launched with the AW 10 collection, I knew it was time to rectify the situation. And now that I've started, I'll definitely be going back for more.

Taupe shadows are a bit of an obsession with me - I have favourites in this shade from Armani, Stila, Shu Uemura and Bourjois and there's still space in my collection for more. Taupe flatters my green-blue eyes, can be worn alone or blended with other shades and works for both day and night. In short, you can't really go wrong with it.

This Chanel version is a grey-based taupe with a hint of purple to it in the pan. Once applied, the complexity of the colour is revealed - a wash of this on my lids can look like I spent ages applying and blending various shades. An ideal shade for a non-artist like me when it comes to eye shadow, this gives a perfect smoky look every time.

The texture of these single shadows is absolutely gorgeous. I have looked at the Chanel quads before and not been too impressed with the texture - they seemed dusty and lacking in pigment. The Ombre Essentielle shadows are much nicer - silky and smooth enough that they blend easily on the lid, but not so soft that they crumble or cause much fallout during application. The shadow also feels smooth and creamy on, which can sometimes lead to creasing, but not in this case - I've worn this all day and it looks as good in the evening as it did when first applied.

The packaging is pure luxe - the shadow comes in a case which is three times as big as it needs to be (though it does mean the mirror inside is a very useful size), which is in turn housed in a black velvet slipcase embossed with the Chanel logo. At the price, you'd want to feel you were getting something special for your money besides a lovely eye shadow and they manage to achieve that.

Add this one to your Christmas list if you can wait that long!