The Toll to Cross Chanel Brompton Road Is a Whopping $80! — But It’s the Quickest Way to Get to Chanel’s New Highlighting Powder and Blush

I dunno, J. Lo. You say that “love don’t cost a thing,” but I’m beginning to suspect otherwise.

Reason No. 1: My cat, who only gives lurvies in exchange for gravy. Unless I make a nightly Friskies deposit, there’ll be no purrs or kitty hugs for me. Slowly but surely, I’ve come to accept my role in this organization as a gravy delivery system for Tabs.

Reason No. 2: The new Chanel Poudres Tissée Highlighting Powder and Blush in Brompton Road. The price of falling in love with this pinky coral blush, one of five pieces in Chanel’s online-exclusive Knightsbridge Collection, is a jaw-dropping 80 bucks!

Inspired by London’s colorful, regal spirit, the Knightsbridge Collection’s pieces for cheeks and lips started hitting online shopping carts last month. From the release, the Brompton Road powder/blush compact and its totally tweed pattern was the first thing to catch my eye; the second was the $80 price.

Ouch! That’s even high for Chanel.

For that kind of money, a product had better be downright exceptional (like Mat Lumiere Soft Matte Makeup with SPF 15), something so close to perfection that it makes me clutch my pearls and gasp!

Versatility would also be nice — the ability to wear something a number of different ways, sheer to opaque, in a wide variety of looks.

This week, to find out how far $80 takes you when you’re cruising down Brompton Road, my cheeks and I took it for a test drive.

Right off the lot, wouldn’t ya know it, we got off to bumpy start. A silver glitter overspray tops the pattern on the pan, and until I worked my way through it, I was getting very little pigment and mostly large flecks of glitter on my cheeks.

Shoot, I love glitter as much as the next girl, but this was too much glitter for a weekday afternoon, and I ended up buffing most of it off.

After that, things took a turn for the better. The pigment beneath the silver glitter overspray is a super pretty pinky coral with a golden opalescence.

One moderately pigmented layer produces a smooth, natural-looking pink cheek flush that lasts me all day long, and one or two more layers cranks up the brightness and intensity to a much more noticeable level.

I’d probably stick with one layer (paired with a pink and coral lipstick and gloss) for movies, trips to Trader Joe’s and high tea with Ryan Gosling (I wish!) and go with two or three for nights out on the town.

Like Tabs, Brompton Road feels fluffy — fluffier than the other Chanel blushes I’ve tried, like the Joues Contrastes — so I thought the grains would cling to the little baby hairs on my face. Nope, they don’t.

I think Brompton Road’s big sticking point will be its cover charge. Despite its complex, long-lasting, flexible color, $80 is likely to give all but the most adherent Chanel collectors and die-hard fans reason to pause.

PRICE: $80
AVAILABILITY: Available now exclusively online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

Not over you-oooh!

Blast you, Gavin DeGraw! I’ve had this song of yours stuck in my head for 48 hours…

I love the song, but that video? I don’t know. I actually wish I could un-see homeboy’s little make-out session there at the end… Kinda gives me the willies! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen