Oh bonjour Chanel Illusion d’Ombre in ‘Mirifique’: you are tres tres amazing. You allow me to create the sexiest, poshest, coolest eye makeup known to the human race, and you allow me to do it in a matter of seconds. With just my fingertips.

Adding Mirifique to your eyelids is the cosmetic equivalent of wearing normal, everyday clothes and then suddenly slinging a £3,000 handbag over your shoulder. It’s instantly eye-catching, sultry, glamorous, festive – it ticks every box. The texture is mousse-like, bouncy, almost like jelly. It’s described officially as a powder-cream texture, but I don’t see it myself! It’s so much fun to use and very different to any other eyeshadow I own.

You have to work fast with Illusion d’Ombre because once it’s set, it doesn’t budge. I find that the easiest application method is to use the little brush that’s included with the shadow and apply all over the lid, up to the crease, and then very quickly smudge out the edges with my fingertips. Not one for people with butter fingers, though, especially if you’re using a dark shade like Mirifique – those who don’t do ‘dainty’ should perhaps use a brush!

The photo above shows my eyes (obviously) after one very hasty application. You’ll see a much better version soon when I record my festive makeup video, but hopefully you can see the wintery sparkles!  I love the reflective particles (can I use the word ‘glitter’ in the same sentence as ‘Chanel’?) that lift the shadow and make it multi-dimensional. It’s young and fresh without looking cheap and juvenile. Very, very nice indeed.

Mirifique is £22.50 from Selfridges online here (10% off until Sunday 27th with code SELF10): http://tidd.ly/8dd89c8e or from Debenhams here: http://tidd.ly/6edf892d