Chantecaille 15 Year Anniversary Eye Shade Trio

In celebration of this milestone year, Chantecaille unveils the limited-edition 15 Year Anniversary Eye Shade Trio ($68) – a striking, yet natural, eye palette inspired by animals from the land, sea, and air. Embodying Chantecaille’s commitment to the environment, this limited-edition, philanthropic palette revisits the causes that have remained closest to the Chantecailles’ hearts throughout the years and are still urgent today.

Known as Africa’s gardeners, for the role they play in clearing new paths and dispersing seeds, elephants are being killed for their ivory at the worst levels since the 1980s. With an estimated 38,000 elephants killed annually for their tusks, they are under grave threat - at a rate that, left unchanged, would see elephants wiped out by 2025. Making a vast desert of the land they travel across, increased use of pesticides is also killing the many wild plants key to sustaining their migration.

At risk of disappearing, the monarch migration is the most spectacular two-way migration carried out by an insect. Now on the endangered species list, the monarch butterfly’s fragile ecosystem has been disrupted in recent years. As a result of changing agricultural practices and deforestation, the population of hibernating monarchs was down by 95% in 2013, an all-time low.

Struggling for survival, sea turtles are among the most migratory of all creatures. Traveling for tens of thousands of miles, encountering waste, garbage, and huge drift nets, they give us an accurate reading on the health of our oceans. Persistent over-exploitation and the widespread collection of eggs are largely responsible for their depleted status. Resulting in deaths of tens to thousands of turtles annually, they are also captured in active or abandoned fishing gear. In the midst of danger for years, unfortunately many have been lost due to our lack of action.

The alarming rate of disappearance of these species is extremely critical in 2014. With this palette, Chantecaille continues to focus its efforts on making the situation known with hopes that knowledge will bring solutions. On the horizon we already see action that will change theses problems drastically and help save these highly endangered species.

Proceeds from each Anniversary Trio sold will be proudly donated to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Monarch Butterfly Fund, and WIDECAST to help protect our endangered elephants, butterflies, and sea turtles respectively.

Housed in a refillable collector’s edition gunmetal palette, decorated with Sylvie Chantecaille’s signature, the trio embodies the iconic Chantecaille woman. Effortlessly complimenting the Fall 2014 runway trends, each sophisticated shade symbolizes an endangered species that still urgently needs our help.

Elephant at the left in the palette is a deep, earthy aubergine that can be applied wet or dry to the crease or lash line. Butterfly (middle), a warm buttery vanilla, can be used to smooth and highlight the eyelid or brow bone. Sea Turtle at right is a delicate copper infused with light-reflecting rose gold pearl.

Cruelty-free, paraben-free, lanonin-free, petrochemical-free, fragrance-free, and without any animal or mineral derivatives, the 15 Year Anniversary Eye Shade Trio is a perfect palette to purchase to support our natural environment.

I was able to get swatch photos this morning when we had a temporary break in the clouds. I swatched with a sponge-tipped applicator, starting with the Elephant shade and moving down my arm. I took my photos in "almost-full" sunshine.

The Elephant shade left me deliriously happy. I was afraid from photos that it would be too aubergine, too eggplant. It's not. It's a gorgeous brown with an aubergine undertone that makes it unique.

The vanilla Butterfly shade in the middle on my arm is hard to see because it's the color of my skin. It's a lovely base shade, and I know I will use it often.

The gorgeous Sea Turtle is a hybrid between copper and rose gold - a shade you won't see often. I went from delirious to seeing stars when I tried it. I can see myself using the Butterfly and Sea Turtle shades every day as I head off to work.

Chantecaille could not have created a more perfect trio of eye shades for its anniversary - and a philanthropic endeavor. I was not kidding the other day when I said I needed four. At $68, it's affordable, is refillable, and it comes with a very nice, cruelty-free eye shadow brush. In reality, I'll probably buy only three. Because it's limited, and because I know I will wear it often, I won't want to run out - ever.

It is available now at Chantecaille's Web site, where I purchased my first. You'll find it in August (no later than September) at Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Frédéric Fekkai Salons, Neiman
Marcus, Space NK, select Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Nordstrom locations. Neiman Marcus tells me it has already shipped to them, and they hope to have it next week.

Photos courtesy of Chantecaille and by Best Things in Beauty