See all the backstage pictures from Chanel’s Pre-Fall show, including the new gold “Diwali” nail polish

Date December 8, 2011

The eyes were impossible to miss at Chanel’s Métiers d’Art show—dark black and deep set, they set the tone of Bombay decadence for the Pre-Fall 2012 collection. Chanel’s creative director of makeup, Peter Philips, created the almond-shaped eye with a new coal-black Illusion d’Ombre shadow, “Nirvana”—part of the exclusive Bombay Express collection due at counters in June 2012. Phillips built an almost-winged shape with the shadow and then used Le Crayon Khol in “Black” to completely line the eye, going from waterline to lower lash line and around the entire lid. The rest of the face was kept very simple, with Rouge Coco Shine in “Empreinte” (from the 2012 Summer collection) on the lips and Joues Contraste powder blush in “Brume d’Or” across the cheeks.

However, what we’re most excited about is, of course, the new nail polish. Models’ fingers and toes were painted with a rich, ivory gold shade called “Diwali”—named for the fall festival of lights celebrated in India and across the world. It’s much creamier than Chanel’s previous gold polish, “Gold Fiction,” and will certainly join the sold-out-in-a-second ranks alongside their other limited-edition shades.