US Chanel fans have been eagerly waiting for Skyline to be released. It first appeared on the runways at the Spring-Summer 2012 Haute Couture show back in January. It has finally arrived on Chanel.com for $30 (limited-edition) along with the other Blue Illusion de Chanel items. I’ve heard it is expected to arrive soon at select Chanel Boutiques and Studios (such as the one at Nordstrom Seattle). When I first saw swatches and photos from European bloggers, I thought I would be able to pass. It appeared a bit too frosty for my taste. Who was I kidding? Of course I could not resist. After testing this for the past three days, my feelings are mixed.
Chanel Skyline is a gorgeous periwinkle metallic blue. On Polish Police, A Lipstick a Day, and The Make-Up Blogette, Skyline glows and looks smooth without streaks or bubbles. I had high hopes for this color. As soon as I received it, I went for a much-needed professional manicure. I brought my own Chanel base and top coats to use with Skyline. The result was non-streaky and smooth in color, but it had serious bubbling issues (my husband even noticed before I said anything). I removed it within a few hours and decided to try with a different base coat (Deborah Lippmann’s) and still had bubbling issues. My third try, I used it on bare nails – still with the same result. My fourth try, I finally succeeded. The formula on Skyline seems thicker than most of my other Chanel polishes which makes metallic finish prone to visible brush strokes. It’s not quite as bad as Attraction, but the thickness makes Skyline a bit tricky to apply. I’ve never had so much trouble applying a nail polish before and I’m not entirely sure why. My tips:
- Make sure you don’t shake the bottle, roll gently if you feel the color needs to be mixed in the bottle
- Be sure your bottle isn’t warm (room temperature is ok, but this one works better if applied at cooler temperatures)
- Allow the first coat to dry completely (100% dry) before attempting a second coat
- Apply the second coat very slowly and make sure it’s not too thick
Some more photos, swatches and comparisons:
I pulled out quite a few blues to see if Skyline was similar in tone to any other colors I own. I found it quite unique. Skyline is most similar to OPI’s I Don’t Give a Rotterdam. I couldn’t find a dupe and most other blues lacked the luminosity that Skyline does. On the fingers it simply glows.
Swatches below include: YSL #141, Dior Glacier, Butter London Lady Muck, Chanel Riva, Chanel Coco Blue, Dolce & Gabbana Anise, Lancome Le Gris L’Wren, NARS Full Metal Jacket, Chanel Graphite, OPI I Have a Herring Problem, OPI I Don’t Give a Rotterdam, Chanel Nouvelle Vague, Chanel Blue Boy, Chanel Blue Rebel, NARS Kutki, MAC Blue India and Estee Lauder’s Wild Storm.
I love the color of Skyline on the fingers. It’s a beautiful glowy blue shimmer that is unique. The formula issues have me at I’m not 100% in love. The higher price tag of $30 just had me expecting something flawless in terms of application. I feel Chanel has improved the nail polish formula over the past years. They make my favorite nail polishes today. Skyline’s formula seems to be a step backwards (based on my experience). I’m not sure if others have had the same application issues – most that I’ve seen seem to report no issues. To anyone who has bought and tried Skyline, I’d love to hear your application experiences and tips/tricks. I did succeed in a decent application on my fourth/fifth tries – but it wasn’t easy. I’ve debated whether or not to add a thinner to this, but I’m worried about altering the formula.
Have you tried Skyline? Thoughts?
