Chantecaille L'Elephant Palette - Swatched

Chantecaille's palettes always excite me. They're gorgeous. Each new one makes me  wonder how Chantecaille will top it the next time - and they do. The latest, L'Éléphant Palette ($82), provides a demonstration of the amazing creativity of the Chantecaille team. Everything about it is stunning, from the design of the palette, with the elephant on the front of an elegant dark green case, to the colors within. Add to that the celebration of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust - a charity I've avidly supported since I discovered it - and I'm delirious. This introduction is one of the best palettes of of 2012. Ask me at the end of the year, and I may tell you it's the best.

L'Éléphant Palette (refillable) was inspired by the fall runway trends and the tireless efforts of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Chantecaille created L'Éléphant Palette, a lustrous eye palette that fuses trendy colors from the catwalk and the Kenyan grasslands with simplicity in an innovative and wearable way.

The palette features Ivory, a soft, pearly beige inspired by the African elephant's tusks, at the top left. Grasslands, at top right, is a trendy green inspired by the color of the lush savannah grass after the rainy season. Red Earth, lower right, is the eye color of the fall runways - a strong copper that mimics the rich, red color of the African cliffs. Iron Ore is a glistening deep grey liner with flecks of gold. It mirrors the way the mineral shimmers in the bright African sunlight.

I was thrilled to have a chance to play with L'Elephant last week at Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie - thanks to Jeannine Barnes. As I swatched the shades, trying desperately not to "ruin" the elephants, I was struck by how down-to-earth they are. Each of the four shades could be a standalone, but together, they offer more than four eye shadows. In the truest sense of the word, they offer a collection, with the shades providing many ways to create complementary looks.

I ordered the palette the second I learned it was available at Chantecaille's Web site. Here is my palette, safely living with me now. This will be the first. I need one to use and one for my makeup museum. Oh, why delude you? I will probably purchase four of them. I've already pre-ordered the second from Jeannine.

I swatched the shades in clockwise order, using a sponge-tipped applicator. I swatched heavily. My photos were taken in full, early morning sun. I'm nearly drooling as I write this feature. Every one of the shades is special.

The Ivory is perfect for my skin tone. For me, it will be both base and highlighter. It blends into my skin tone so well, you may find it hard to see at the top of my arm. Grasslands has to be one of the best green eye shadows I have ever seen. I know that's a sweeping endorsement, and I mean it. It's a green that is totally wearable, and it should reassure green phobes that green is good.

Red Earth is copper on my skin - a copper that looks great with my blue eyes. It has no muddiness in the color. It dazzles. The big surprise of the palette (to me) was Iron Ore. The shade is drop-dead gorgeous. It's supposed to be "the liner shade," but it's light enough that I'll be able to use it as an accent shadow. I fear you won't see the complexity of the color in my swatch photo. I think it's is a hybrid between brown and grey. It's not simply grey, and those little gold flecks give it a life. I may try to get color close-ups later with friendlier lighting.

I am so totally smitten with L'Elephant, I'll babble if I write much more about the superb colors. For now, I'll leave you with the information about Chantecaille's philanthropy. Five percent of all proceeds from L'Éléphant Palette will be donated to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, one of my favorite charities. I've adopted orphaned elephants, donating to help the trust take care of them. I have a special place in my heart for them. Would you support them too, please?

Chantecaille first became aware of the Kenyan-based David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust through a very moving article in National Geographic. Established in 1977 by David Sheldrick's wife, Dame Daphne, the trust embodies her life-long mission and devotion to rescuing and fostering orphaned elephants in Kenya. A pioneer in understanding elephants, Daphne was the first person to successfully hand-rear a newborn fully milk-dependent African elephant.

Dame Daphne's keen ability to identify their needs for survival, from the formula they drink to the emotional nurturing they require, has helped save African elephants from extinction. Her life's work has proven that elephants and humans are extremely similar, from their emotions to family structure. Both species share a mutual need for support and love, with baby elephants taking up to four years to be weaned and needing almost 10 years of care before they are able to join their wild elephant families. Since the trust was established in Tsavo National Park, over 80 elephants have been successfully released back into the wild.

Elephants are the planet's largest living land mammals; they symbolize strength, wisdom, and intelligence. Sadly, the threat to elephants from ivory poachers is greater than ever, with an estimated 38,000 African elephants killed annually, a rate that, if left unchanged, will see elephants wiped out by 2025. Please don't buy ivory!

To help save this species from extinction, in addition to their contribution for every palette sold, Chantecaille has printed a QR code on the back of the palette box. Scan the QR code with a smart phone's QR scanner app to be directed to the screen that provides a link to foster an orphaned elephant. On the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's interactive site, you can choose an orphan based on origin and age. As a foster parent, you will receive a fostering certificate with a detailed profile and photograph of your adopted orphan. You will also be granted access to your baby elephant's Keeper's Diary, which is filled with daily calendar entries and monthly photos. Along with the update, you will be sent a collectible, monthly watercolor of your adopted elephant hand-painted by the talented Angela Sheldrick. I can personally tell you it's a rewarding experience.

Today, you can purchase L'Elephant Palette at Chantecaille's Web site. It will be at store counters very soon.

Three photos courtesy of Chantecaille; other photos by Best Things in Beauty