Chanel Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow in Intuition from Les Expressions de Chanel

Black Friday? Maybe somewhere. Not here! I picked up Chanel's Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow (Ombre à Paupières Quatour, $58) in Intuition (Brun Mordoré) today, thanks to all my astute readers. I now know to take the rollout date provided by regional representatives and subtract a month - at least for Chanel.

Much of Les Expressions de Chanel has arrived at Neiman Marcus, and it's available on the Web site (not Chanel's - maybe that's the connection to Black Friday?). I actually feel badly for my friends at Saks, who don't expect to receive it until the end of the month. It seems like Neiman Marcus always gets a jump on them - certainly in my part of the country.

Intuition is the centerpiece of the Brown Expression Collection (earth tones with glints of gold). The eye shadow quad offers four beautiful shades: light pink, gold, chocolate brown, and shimmering brown-grey. It's a beautiful palette - a color harmony I love. I also purchased Variation, which was too gorgeous to leave behind; I'll feature it no later than tomorrow.

Take a look at these swatch photos and see if Intuition will go on your shopping list. I swatched with sponge-tipped applicators and moved clockwise from the pink at the top left to the greyed brown on the bottom left. I took my photos in full, afternoon sun. It's surprising how the sun's angles have changed so much in the last week or so (while it was missing). It's 2:00 pm as I write, and much of my "normal" area for taking swatch photos is shaded over.

All four shades in the quad offer a shimmering finish. The pink is really a pinky-peach to my eyes. Whether you see it as pink or peach, it's a beautiful shade that will serve nicely as a base or accent color. The gold is yellow gold. It's richly pigmented, applying evenly and easily. The chocolate brown was perfectly described by Chanel. I can't think of a better description than chocolate brown.

I could wax poetic about the shade at the bottom of my arm. It's brown, and it's got a grey hue to it.  All true. However, it's much more appealing to me than brown-grey, which sounds a bit ho-hum. This is the kind of shade that looks perfect in my crease and outer corner of the lid. I suspect I'll wear the pinky-peach and this shade together and wear them out before I run out of the other two (which will look nice when paired).

Just in case you are new to Chanel - is that possible? - here is a description of the company's eye shadow quads.

• Coordinated quartet of shades in one compact
• Wet/dry formula with shade combinations for multiple looks, contrasting or complementary
• Apply dry for subtle shadowing or with a slightly moistened applicator for a more intense shade
• Organic polymer derivatives ensure smudge-proof long wear, particularly in high temperature or humidity

I doubt any of you needed that short reminder of the fab features of Chanel's quads. As noted above, I purchased Intuition at Neiman Marcus. It's available on the Neiman Marcus Web site with free shipping in the U.S. (FSFALL). Elle commented that she purchased her new quads from Bloomingdale's, but I didn't see the new quads online. Now I see them there too. If you want them now, go shopping!

Photos by Best Things in Beauty