With so much fashion existing online, there’s something refreshing about trying pieces on in-store after eyeing them first on a little screen. Enter Just Browsing: We’re taking you into the fitting room as we preview the newest collections from some of our favorite high-street brands and contemporary labels. We’ll get into fabric and quality, fit and feel, and so much more as we make our way through the shop floor. Happy scrolling (and strolling)!
Before I became a writer, Chanel Beauty felt like the kind of luxury you admired from a distance. The interlocking double C’s held a particular allure—perhaps because they happen to mirror my own initials. Long before I worked at a magazine, I would linger over its glossy ads featuring fashion’s coolest—from Kristin Stewart to Lily Rose Depp—enamored by dazzling makeup palettes and lipsticks, housed in its sleek black packaging.
As luck would have it, a few months after starting at Vogue, my best friend (a fellow Leo who treats celebrations like a competitive sport), gifted me my first Chanel Beauty treasure—a tube of Rouge Coco Flash, small enough to pass as a chic trinket, perfect for surreptitious touch-ups between meetings. It felt symbolic, like a rite of passage: I finally possessed the lipstick I fawned over, while working at the very magazine that introduced me to it.
Equally as kismet, a Chanel Fragrance and Beauty boutique opened around the corner from my apartment in Williamsburg. I’d pass by it twice a day on my daily commute to Vogue HQ, stealing glances through the windows as I hurried toward the L train. For nearly three years, it remained a visual temptation; though it wasn’t until my lease ended and I packed up all my things to move back to Jersey that I actually went inside. Taking a peek in its store, to browse the new Denim Collection, felt like a fitting farewell.
From already adored classics to the spring newness, there’s much to consider, in case you’re tempted to plan a visit of your own—or at least add a few things to cart. Ahead, everything that caught my eye inside the boutique.
Skin-Centric
While Chanel’s makeup is most buzzed about, its skin-care products deliver real potency, not just designer cachet. Consider the Le Lift Flash Eye Masks—the very ones used to prep models’ skin backstage at Chanel shows. Ultra flexible and serum-soaked, the formula is concentrated in low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid for fast absorption—a nice salve for my dry, winter skin. Them being selfie-worthy is simply an added bonus.