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Coral Nail Polishes for Spring and Summer

April 7, 2012

Coral seems to be all the craze this year for spring and summer nail polishes. My peachy-coral obsession for blushes has now transitioned into nails. I’ve already reviewed a number of new peachy corals this year: Chanel June, Laura Mercier Cabana, Dior Riviera and Chanel Distraction. Many have asked about the newest from Dior Bikini. From promo photos it can be difficult to identify differences between so many similar shades. I gathered what I could find online, here they are lined up:

In real life, here is what I see below, they are all more similar than promotional digitized photos appear to be. (Many thanks to my Twitter friends who let me know Dior Bikini arrived online at Sephora.com.) Here is the verdict, left to right:

  • Chanel Orange Fizz – is the lightest and brightest, it’s more orangey than all the rest
  • Dior Bikini – has the best coverage, it’s more of a true peach, with slight reddish tones, slightly darker
  • Chanel Distraction – semi-sheer medium jelly finish with the subtle iridescence
  • Laura Mercier Cabana – most jelly-like, slightly more pink undertones
  • Dior Riviera – most vibrant coral red

A few more swatches to other oranges, peaches and corals: Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral, Revlon Demure, Dior Sweet Orange 334, Dior Bikini 231, Chanel Distraction, Dior Riviera 537, Laura Mercier Sizzle, Chanel Orange Fizz, Chanel June, Chanel Miami Peach, Laura Mercier Cabana.

Overall, if you have Chanel Distraction or Laura Mercier, you do not need Dior Bikini. I do believe Dior Bikini has the best formula and richest coverage. I really do love it (even though it’s almost identical to other corals) and it would be my vote for the season’s best coral. At this time I haven’t seen Dior summer anywhere on counter on the West Coast (Southern California), although it has just arrived online at Sephora.com and Nordstrom.com as well. I suspect it will arrive any day in store.

Have you checked out any corals for nails this summer? What is your favorite? Or do you have a classic coral in your collection that you’re loving right now?

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Chanel Ombres Matelassées 51, Montaigne Eyeshadow Palette

March 15, 2012
Chanel has released a new beautiful palette to celebrate the opening of one of their new boutiques in Paris. The palette is called Ombres Matelassées 51, Montaigne ($80 for 6g/0.21 oz, Made in Italy). It comes with five stunning soft silky-smooth shimmery eyeshadows embossed with the classic quilted pattern. The colors aren’t all that unique to Chanel’s prior releases but the texture is amazing with an ultra-smooth finish and satiny feel. Pigmentation is medium, like most Chanel eyeshadows. The shimmer is very soft and subtle. At $80 this is extremely pricey (especially when you consider the fact that the Ombres Perleés de Chanel from Spring 2011 was $65). I fell in love with the beautiful presentation and packaging but I’m not really comfortable with the price. (I skipped the Vegas de Chanel face highlighter and so felt this splurge was justified.)
The colors, left to right: soft iridescent ivory, pale gold shimmer, satiny warm gold, khaki olive shimmer, soft greyed-black with a tinge of navy. A few more close ups.

Swatches:

Comparisons to a few other shades, Chanel Ivory, Chanel Blazing Gold, Burberry Midnight Black, Chanel Black Star and Chanel Noir-Ivoire. (The greenish/olive shade wasn’t compared because I don’t own any of the Chanel khaki shimmers.) As you can see the theme is not extremely unique, but still extremely beautiful.

I’m not sure exactly where this will be available. My guess is this will be available at the counters and stores that receive the special exclusive launches (such as Les Jeans de Chanel, Vegas de Chanel, etc.) I know Nordstrom in Seattle has received the palette and have seen reports of this being spotted at various Boutiques and select Neiman Marcus counters. I’m assuming it will be launched online at Chanel.com eventually but at this time I’m not sure. I purchased mine at my local Neiman Marcus although they did not have any testers. See other photos at Best Things in Beauty and Luxury-Makeup Livejournal.

Overall beautiful presentation and extremely high quality. There is a lack of originality with the colors (I found them to be repeats of prior/existing shades) but the palette is a classic and I really love it. The texture is better than some of the singles, which I’m a huge fan of, but sometimes can be a bit chunky in feel. I personally cannot envision wearing all 5 shades at once. I’ve tried a few combinations and prefer to use 3 at most at one time. I find it wears very well and adheres well to the lids like the classic Chanel eyeshadows do.

Bottom line, it’s a true luxury product, not a necessity. I love it but I don’t think it’s a must-have for those who have a lot of other Chanel eyeshadows. I simply think you will find this redundant. I like the convenience of having all shades in one palette and felt the presentation is just exquisite. At the price it’s definitely a splurge. If I could only have 1 palette this season, I think it would still be Dior Grège 734 (reviewed here), although a few photos of summer collections have been surfacing and I’m kinda dying over the NARS trio coming out for summer (see it on Specktra.net here).

Have you seen/tried this yet? What are your thoughts?

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Chanel Gold Fingers Le Vernis

March 3, 2012
The Las Vegas de Chanel collection was released a month ago exclusively to the Bellagio Chanel Boutique in Las Vegas. It has recently been launched online at Chanel.com and select stores (I know Nordstrom Seattle has received the whole collection). I decided to wait for photos and reviews to surface before jumping to order. I was going to pass on the entire collection but once I saw it online I caved and ordered the Gold Fingers Nail Polish ($28, limited edition).
Chanel Gold Fingers is a sparkley liquid gold shimmer. It has a similar finish to Graphite with a slightly clearish base loaded with multi-colored sparkles. Although initial photos made me think that Gold Fingers would be too yellow for my skin I decided to try. It is indeed very yellow, much like pure 24K gold. I don’t know that I love it but I don’t exactly hate it. 

Here you can see it’s very sheer with 1 coat. Unfortunately although it’s sheer on a naked nail, it’s not quite sheer enough to be a layering color over other shades (like Illusion D’Or was). It still has enough color to cover the nail if you try it over, say a red or orange.

I did pull a few other golden shades. I prefer Golden Sand and Gold Lame from seasons past compared to the new Gold Fingers. L to R: Dior Or Divin, Chanel Gold Fingers, Gold Lame, Golden Sand and Peridot.

I passed on everything else from the Vegas collection and don’t intend on ordering anything else, did you purchase anything? Thoughts?
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Chanel Tentation 541 Le Vernis

February 19, 2012

Chanel Tentation 541 Le Vernis is a striking deep fuschia-red shimmer. It’s the pinker sister to last holiday’s Rouge Carat 587 (reviewed here). I thought I would have something similar but I don’t. It has enough dark red shimmer to prevent it from looking too neon or cheap. I think it’s appropriate for year round. The texture is smooth and pigment rich with just 2 thin coats. If Chanel had made Attraction in the same finish I would have loved it as well. In the sunlight it glows. I love that the shimmer is visible on the nail, not just in the bottle.

In looking through my collection I found that I don’t have very many dark pink shimmers. This one is a nice addition to fill in the gap. Comparisons below to a few other Chanel shades like Rouge Carat, Pulsion and Rose Exhuberant.

Swatches of a few more, including Laura Mercier’s Luscious and Flamingo:

Overall: love.

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Chanel Distraction 549 Le Vernis

February 18, 2012

This season seems to be the season of beautiful corals and Chanel Distraction 549 is no exception. Distraction is a stunning coral infused with a subtle hint of fuschia shimmer that makes it glow in direct sunlight. On the nails it’s a vibrant coral with a slight hint of pink to prevent it from looking like a straight orange. The finish is slightly jelly-like with a semi-transparent texture but it has rich and smooth coverage with 2 coats. Depending on the angle you hold the bottle or the nails, sometimes it looks more orange, others more coral.

Swatched, here you can see it glow:

It’s very similar to other oranges and corals but I love it. I know many of you wonder how it compares to Laura Mercier’s Cabana – almost identical. LM’s is a bit softer, while Chanel’s is a tad bit more vibrant. Here are a few comparisons swatched.

How do I feel about Chanel Distraction even though it’s practically identical to other corals?

I *heart* it.

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Chanel Frisson 543 Le Vernis

February 18, 2012
Chanel Frisson 543 Le Vernis is soft super-sheer baby pink infused with gold flecks and tiny multi-colored micro sparkles. From the promotional photos this one looked the most stunning out of the four newest shades, primarily because I found the gold shimmers to be breathtakingly gorgeous. I ordered mine online sight unseen but once the reviews started to surface, my heart sank when I saw how sheer it was. These sources were extremely helpful: Specktra.net, The Purse Forum and Best Things in Beauty’s blog. While all have posted great accurate photos, I was let down when I saw that it didn’t appear to be all that special. Frisson is indeed gorgeous in the bottle and although I know it was designed to be a sheer jelly-like color, I am disappointed. It requires 3 thick coats to show up on my fingers which I feel is too much for this particular shade (it ends up looking goopy). Those who love to layer might like this one. For me, I prefer 2 coats max (of the actual nail color) so I feel this as a topper won’t be good for me. Here are a few more photos.

Here it is swatched, your standard soft pale pink shimmer:

In direct sunlight you can see the gold shimmer:

It’s very similar to previously released soft pink shimmers from Chanel. I understand that repeats are bound to happen. After all there are only so many colors that one can create that are new, fresh and unique. Frisson is definitely among the most complex out of all the paler pinks that I own from Chanel. Not quite as epic as Pink Satin (which I adore for the silver glitter and opalescent sheen), but pretty close.

The good news is that if you missed out on Pink Satin, Mica Rose or Flamingo, the newest Frisson will fill the gap in your collection if you want something similar. Also, good news, if you own any of those shades, you can safely skip Frisson and save for something else. To me I could barely tell the difference.
  • Pink Satin has more of an opalescent sheen and has silver glitter.
  • Frisson is the most complex with bigger more visible gold shimmers.
  • Mica Rose flashes green/blue in the shimmers slightly.
  • Flamingo has the most smooth shimmer (rather than sparkle) with more white/silver veining.

I should be in love with this shade. It’s soft, natural, pink, shimmery, complex and Chanel. Right now I feel lukewarm. Perhaps it is all the other knock-out killer brights that have my attention right now? It is a stunning shade in the bottle and lovely on the fingers. I know this is something that will grow on me. Part of it is that I was expecting something as epic and unique as prior seasons like Steel, Black Pearl, Quartz, Graphite etc. As of late I feel that Chanel has been repeating themes that are a bit too similar (how many bright pink creams and reds can one possibly want?). This might just be me. When will I learn to wait before jumping to order?
Did you check out the new shades yet? What did you come home with? Or has something else caught your eye for this spring season?
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Chanel Attraction 545 Le Vernis

February 17, 2012

Chanel Attraction 545 Le Vernis ($26 for 13 ml/0.4 fl oz) is a limited-edition cool-toned pearly white frost that has been released as part of the Roses Ultimes de Chanel collection. We saw the first sneak peek of this color on the Spring 2012 Runway Show last October on Café Makeup and La Chanelphile. Pearly whites can be challenging to wear and this one is no exception. The pigment is rich and color striking against my skintone, however the metallic formula is extremely streaky and difficult to wear. Even with very slow and careful application, streaks cannot be avoided. I am not a fan but am undecided whether to keep and try to make it work or regift/return. For the price I would prefer a non-high-maintenance nail color. Nevertheless here are swatches, comparisons and close ups.

Pearly whites aren’t new to Chanel’s Le Vernis releases. I wish they would bring back their classic Le Perle (currently I’m hoarding this using very sparingly so it has not been swatched/photographed). Here are some prior releases, I believe all of these were Limited Edition and no longer available (maybe Intermezzo or Pearl Drop can be found at some counters).

Blanc Petale, Attraction, Intermezzo and Pearl Drop

I’ve added one more shot with a different angle so you can see the hint of shimmers/undertone of each shade, while they are all pearly whites, there is a subtle difference with the pigments.

I ordered my Chanel Le Vernis shades from this collection online at Chanel.com but all counters should have it in store now. Did you buy or try Attraction? What were your thoughts?
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