It’s true, Chanel rarely puts a sling-back foot wrong. This applies to beauty, too, and their latest wonder palette is testament to this. The ultimate new complexion product, the Palette Essentielle is the coverage equivalent of Coco’s LBD.

The product of Chanel Global Creative Makeup and Colour Designer Lucia Pica, it is the first complexion product from the makeup marvel, and one Pica had been conjuring for a while. A 3-in-1 highlighting palette compromising creamy concealer, highlighter and blush; it’s the antidote to any complexion conundrum.


Inspired by the visual cues of a recent Californian road trip, creamy dappled sunlight, arid terrain and urban grit was captured by way of beauty: in an all-new Chanel collection.

”You can be inspired by a photograph that already exists, but creating your own inspiration gives another dimension to the process – it gets much more exciting…”

The centrepiece of the collection, the Palette Essentielle, plays on the notion of effortlessness in beauty a notion which binds both Chanel and Pica  and redefines it for the modern, and eternally busy, woman. Naturally intuitive, its directive is to conceal, highlight and colour; and is available in three shades: Beige Clair, Beige Médium, Beige Intense. Of course, the palette is encased in that iconic black shell, with its design inspired by the “Coco Crush” fine jewellery collection. Together, they work in harmony to create a fresh, glowy complexion all day long, with that essential touch of refinement and polish – something Lucia Pica describes as her ‘signature for skin.’

“I wanted a product that could achieve that fresh skin look I do on shoots.”

Photoshoot or not, they coexist to make our lives just that little bit easier; the blush even designed by Pica to be used on both lip and cheek. A broadening of beauty horizons, the palette is an exercise in coverage and class – of the highest order.

Here, Pica shows us exactly how to use le Palette on English rose, actress Ellie Bamber.