Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Sheer Hydrating Lip Collection

Chanel's Rouge Coco Shine Sheer Hydrating Lipshine ($32) pays homage to Coco Chanel, the visionary for whom modernity was a sixth sense. Each of the 18 (actually more) has a relationship to her life and loves. We were teased with the introduction of one shade for Valentine's Day. Boy was available for a few days at Chanel and select Nordstrom stores. I got mine from Coral Gables (by phone); I know many of you purchased Boy. I wear it often. Rouge Coco Shine is the replacement for my favorite Chanel lipstick, the discontinued Aqualumière.

I love sheer and shiny. Now, after withholding them for weeks, the Chanel counters have started to sell Rouge Coco Shine. Knowing the lipstick's characteristics from Boy, I selected four, maybe five, must-have's after playing with the testers at the store. Yesterday, I saw the photos below at Chanel's Web site and had a mini-conference call with Kathy Shoreman and Janine Greenberg at Neiman Marcus and selected more shades. I ended up with eight, and they are all gorgeous.

"Rouge Coco Shine Hydrating Sheer Lipshine provides lasting moisturizing shine in a water-light texture. The formula glides on for quick and easy application, and a unique Hydratendre complex hydrates and softens lips, giving them a healthier and fuller appearance." This lipstick is available in a complete range of shades, from delicate beiges to berries, "with a hint of shimmer to enhance a glossy finish." This shimmer distinction is noteworthy because the finish of Rouge Coco Shine is lightly shiny - not metallic, reflective, glittery, or mirror-like. It gleams in a delightful way.

My experience with Boy is that it loses its shine in an hour or two. The color is long-lasting, but the shine is gone. I apply lip gloss at that point to bring back the shine. My lips look fuller (and better) with shine. It's my preference.

I thought you might enjoy seeing the Inspiration, the Story behind Every Shade, from Chanel. You can click on the three photos at the end of this feature to enlarge them.

Given 18 choices, which shades would you select - or did you select? Here are swatches of my eight choices. The first photos I posted were taken in early morning sunlight, and they weren't great. Because there was a threat that clouds would roll in as the day progressed, I wanted to get "something" to show you. Because we didn't get those promised clouds, I modified this feature this afternoon with slightly better (lighter) swatch photos.

I swatched in numeric order. The first four, top to bottom on my arm at right are Unique (#51), Fétiche (#52), Romance (#55), and Aventure (#57). The second four, shown on my arm immediately below left are Élise (#59), Monte-Carlo (#62), Bel-Ami (#6), and Deauville (#67). I hope you can see the difference in these shades, despite my sub-par photos. I think all of Chanel's descriptions shown below are fairly accurate.

One shade, which I didn't purchase and is not shown on Chanel's Web site, is exclusive to Neiman Marcus. It's Misia, a sheer orange/peach/coral shade - not my color, but a popular one for spring and summer.

If I had to select favorites - I'm glad I don't - I would choose Boy, Unique, Fétiche, and Bel-Ami. That's probably because I love rose shades with a touch of brown.

At long last, you can purchase Rouge Coco Shine at Chanel's Web site, Neiman Marcus, Saks, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Bergdorf Goodman, and all Chanel counters nationwide in the U.S. Because they shipped so many weeks ago, all of the counters unveiled them on the same day.

All photos except swatches courtesy of Chanel