Chanel Apparence Illusion d'Ombre Long-Wear Luminious Eye Shadow from the Éclats du Soir de Chanel Holiday 2012 Collection

Apparence, a Long-Wear Luminous Eye Shadow ($36, Illusion d'Ombre Eyeshadow) was just introduced with the Éclats du Soir de Chanel Holiday 2012 Collection. Gold is, without a doubt, the color of the holidays, and Chanel's gold shadow is an attention getter.

This intensely shimmering long-wear eyeshadow offers true versatility. An innovative gel texture that is both soft and cushiony allows it to be worn as eye shadow or eyeliner. Includes a specially designed shadow/liner brush, developed specifically for this unique formula.

That's not that the half of it for Apparence, described as a gold bronze, festive shade for the holidays. The sheer, feather-weight cream shadow has an overall antique gold appearance with teeny tiny shimmering flecks of gold and bronze. The applied effect, though, is sheer gold.

For my swatch photos, taken in full sun, I applied Apparence with a sponge-tipped applicator, which is not the way to apply it. You can use the tiny applicator that comes with it, or you can use an eye shadow brush. I prefer my cream liner brushes. As a result of using the sponge, I ended up with an uneven swatch - sorry. I'll admit I was in a hurry. The sun had finally made an appearance, but clouds were moving in, scaring me that I wouldn't get all the photos I needed.

You need to know that this exquisite shade is very sheer. If you apply it normally, you will need to build the color to achieve what you see on my arm. I applied about four passes before I had even and relatively intense color on my arm. Even so, my swatches are relatively light on the intensity scale. That's the beauty of Apparence to my eyes.

The sunshine was definitely reflected by my swathes. This luminous shadow will make your eyes the focus of attention in any room - from a night club or restaurant to an in-home party. Your eyes will shine, helping you shine along with them.

The color of Apparence is somewhat unique. It's not your "everyday gold." I think it has some silver in it. I do see gold bronze, as Chanel describes, but I also see an indescribable silver. I'll bet the complex color will please many of you.

I purchased my Apparence at Neiman Marcus. Both of our DC-area stores have received the holiday collection, so hopefully your favorite Chanel counter will have Apparence now. It wasn't on Chanel.com as of an hour ago - yet.

What do you think? I love it.

Make sure to keep the cap on this shadow tightly in place. It will dry out if you don't. I will for sure. I don't want to lose this beauty.

Photos by Best Things in Beauty