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Dior Vernis Gris City Collection Review Part 2: Details & Comparisons

January 6, 2011

Here is Part 2 featuring a more detailed review of the Dior Gris City Collection. Up first is Gris Montaigne. As mentioned in my Dior Spring feature, I don’t have many cream finish grey colors. The formula is on par with RBL in the sense that you get full smooth application with 2 coats. The color is similar to RBL Stormy, only the Dior is slightly darker and more neutral (RBL’s stormy is cooler in undertone). The NARS and Butter London have sheerer formulas and require three coats for full coverage for me.

L to R: Rescue Beauty Lounge Stormy, Dior Gris Montaigne, Dior Silver Pearl, Butter London Chimney Sweep and NARS Full Metal Jacket

Bond Street is a beautiful deep blue. Compared to the other shades below you can see that it does seem to have a unique undertone that prevents it from being a straight navy or pure teal. I love it. I find that it’s closest to Rescue Beauty Lounge Teal in depth/darkness, but the color is different since Bond Street is not really teal. Note how interesting it is that the MAC Blue India looks darker in the bottle but on the nails is significantly lighter than the other blues. All shades here featured with 2 coats.

L to R: Chanel Blue Satin, Dior Bond Street, MAC Blue India, Rescue Beauty Lounge Teal, Rescue Beauty Lounge Under the Stars

Finally, below you will see why I described Dior NY57th as a true gunmetal. Compared to other steely blacks and greys, Dior NY57th is one of those deeper silvery gunmetals that really shows up as a “gunmetal” on the nails. It’s nice to add to your collection if you want a dark shade but don’t want something too dark. You can see the contrast to the bottle photos to what you get on the nails. NY57th is lighter than Chanel Steel but darker than NARS Full Metal Jacket. If you think Essie Over the Top is a dupe, the Essie required 5 coats for the same coverage that Dior got with only 2. Also the Essie has more visible silver shimmers in real life.

L to R: NARS Full Metal Jacket, Dior NY57th, Dior Black Sequins, Chanel Steel, Essie Over the Top

Overall I’m very pleased with these colors. Looking at other web photos and blogs were extremely helpful but I still wasn’t sure that these were must-haves. As I discussed with a few blogger friends, I wasn’t convinced that spending $68 (included tax) on three colors I might have dupes for would be justified. But my curiosity got the better of me. If you’re a Chanel or Dior collector, definitely get these while they are available. They are listed as Limited Edition but I am not sure how limited they really are. If you already have a lot of similar shades you definitely won’t find these to be must-haves. However, do note the undertones may be different than your current stash. I really like the formula and hope Dior continues to release more!

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Dior Vernis Gris City Collection: Gris Montaigne, Bond Street & NY57th

January 6, 2011

The Dior Vernis Gris City Collection has finally been released on Dior.com. Each shade was inspired by the three greatest fashion capitals in the world, Paris, London and New York. As far as I know the Gris City Collection has been released in very limited supply. In the US, the Dior Gris City colors are exclusive to the NY boutique and Dior.com. They were released in NY for the Dior Boutique re-opening, but I did have several women tell me they were unable to place phone orders. They were told the colors were reserved for sale only for those who attended the event. However, one told me she was persistent and was able to find a sales associate who did a phone-order. I haven’t tried myself. Check out this link here on Chic Profile for additional availability information.

The limited edition collection contains the following shades (L to R in photo directly above and below):

Gris Montaigne – inspired by the color theme of the Dior Boutique on Avenue Montaigne in Paris (also part of the Spring 2011 collection, reviewed here)
Bond Street – inspired by the chic & urban style of London
NY57th – designed for the grand re-opening of the New York Dior Boutique on 57th Street

The nail colors by Dior have been revamped in a strengthening formula. I haven’t tried them long enough to notice a difference in the hardness of my nails, but I am impressed with the formulas of these shades. They do require two coats, but the application is flawless, smooth and fast drying. I’m not usually a fan of revamps, but I like the direction Dior is going with their product innovations and newer formulas.

Many have asked me what I think about the new tapered brush. Two different manicurists I go to did not like the brush. They applied it with the skinny side on the nail, instead of flat and wide. I’ve tried application on my own now about 6 times and I am slowly getting used to it, however, I find the pointy tip makes it a bit challenging to get the color even along the cuticles. It’s perfect for my pinky because it just happens to be the same size as my little finger. For the others it definitely takes practice.

I’m going to split my review up into two parts. Part 1 will feature the Dior Gris City Nail Polishes. Part 2 will feature comparisons. I felt like putting everything into one single post would be overwhelming for you.

I featured Gris Montaigne a few days ago (here) but here are a few more photos. I really love this color, it’s a perfect straight neutral gray.

Bond Street is a deep blue with the slightest hint of teal. It’s not so dark that it looks navy, but it’s close to navy. It’s cream-finish perfection. You’ll see it compared to RBL Teal, Chanel Blue Satin and a few others in Part 2 (coming soon).

NY57th is a steel gunmetal frost with silver pearl. Even though it’s a frost, the brush strokes aren’t too visible which is definitely a plus. Not quite silver and not quite black. This is a true gunmetal color.

Each color retails for $21 each and are listed as limited edition. I bought mine on Dior.com in the US. Gris Montaigne is part of the Spring 2011 collection and I found that color at Nordstrom instore. Are these must haves? Are there dupes? Wait for my Part 2 to see, it will be up very soon so check back around 10:00 am PST.

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Dior Gris-Gris 034 Quint & Gris Montaigne 707 Nail Lacquer for Spring 2011

January 2, 2011

I spotted Dior’s Spring 2011 collection at Nordstrom but the tester unit seemed to be missing a few things from the previews we’ve been seeing (see magazine scan here). I wasn’t sure if they simply filled in the slots with pre-existing items temporarily or if the US really wasn’t getting all the items we’ve been seeing. The usual Dior rep was off at the time I was there, so I couldn’t verify with her. Some of the items may be Sephora exclusives. I ended up with Gris-Gris 034 Couture Colour Eyeshadow Palette and Gris Montaigne 707 Nail Lacquer – which also happens to be one of the shades from the Gris City nail polish trio.

Gris-Gris 034 is a palette of cool grey, silver, charcoal and sky blue. Using all 5 shades on the eye at one time is not practical for me – the colors are too cool-toned for my skin. I find that the best way to use this is to use 3 shades at the most from this palette and applying the paler shades with a light hand, using a dark grey or black liner smudged, then applying the middle dark charcoal shade on top blending for a smokey eye.

The colors on the outer corners have a high-frost finish when applied with a heavy hand, but blend out to a pretty soft frosty glow. Applied with a softer hand you get a nice dusting of sparkle. The middle shade is a matte dark greyish-black with the prettiest multi-colored micro sparkles. It twinkles when the slightest bit of light hits it. It’s borderline too cool for my skin, it needs a bit of tweaking with something warm like a light dusting of bronzer to make it work better for me.

Gris-Gris unique in the sense that the formula and finish of Dior Quints are hard to match from any other brand. I don’t know of a similar palette that has all 5 shades in one compact. However, the silvery shades have definitely been done before – but in separate palettes, brands and singles. For your reference, here is Dior Gris-Gris compared to other Dior Quints such as Moonlight, Smoky Crystal and Sky Glow. Below it is also compared to Chanel single eyeshadows in Platine, Silvery and Black Star. While the Gris-Gris shades aren’t identical to any of the other colors, you can see quite a few similarities in other eyeshadows.

For the nails, there was a cream pink and a cream grey shade in the tester unit. I picked Gris Montaigne 707. This comes with the same new chiseled/tapered brush that came with the Holiday Nail Lacquers (see here). I find the metallic Dior nail polishes to be a hit or miss, but this non-shimmer formula has me really impressed! You do need 2 thin coats, but the result is a smooth and glossy and the formula is non-goopy. It also seems to dry faster than most nail polishes I’ve tried. A big thumbs up for me.

Two coats, no base or top coat:

I went through my nail polish stash and didn’t find many non-shimmery greys. The only one I have is RBL Stormy (which you can see is lighter than Gris Montaigne). Here is the Dior compared to other silvery greyish colors.

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Getting Ready for New Year’s Eve with Metallic Glitzy Nails

December 29, 2010

New Year’s Eve is only a few nights away! I’m keeping it low-key this year with family but it’s still fun to get dressed up in the spirit. This year I’m in the mood for those high metallic, chrome-like/foil-like colors on the nails which is out of the ordinary for me as I’m not the biggest fan of those high-shine metallics. I end up feeling like an ornament or metal statue, but for NYE I think it’s fun. My picks (which I am still trying to decide on) include:

Dior Timeless Gold (Holiday 2010) reviewed here
Dior Silver Pearl (Last Spring 2010) reviewed here
YSL Pink Gold #140 (Holiday 2010) reviewed here
YSL Gold #139 (Holiday 2010) reviewed here
MAC Soirée (Holiday 2010)
OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous (Swiss Collection, Fall 2010)
Rococo Nail Apparel R2T2 (can be found in the US at Space NK) reviewed here
Rococo Nail Apparel Metal Jacket (can be found in the US at Space NK reviewed here

The fun part about metallic nails is how the colors change depending on the light and how you move your fingers. I love how these have rich pigment and the metallic finish pearl particles make these dry really fast and last long. The formulas of these have a semi-matte finish, not quite like the OPI suede colors, but not like a shiny varnish either. I always love the colors in the bottles, but what goes on the nails is sometimes too intense for my personal taste.

Close ups and on the nails, Dior Timeless Gold, Dior Silver Pearl, YSL #140, YSL #139:

Close ups and on the nails, MAC Soiree, OPI lucerne-tainly look marvelous, Rococo R2T2, Rococo Metal Jacket:

I have too many options and can’t decide! Maybe you can help me pick 🙂 Of course it will depend on what I’m wearing. I have a few outfits picked out which are versatile and will go with any of these nail colors.

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Spring 2011 Previews from Maquia February 2011 Issue

December 26, 2010

I scanned these from Maquia’s February 2011 issue. A few sneak peeks of what’s to come. Note, I cannot translate this so I won’t be able to answer questions about the products, your guess is as good as mine is. However, there are number indicators on some of the products which help me try to figure out the coordinating product number to name. Also note Maquia is a Japanese publication so I don’t know if the US will get all the items featured, I know in years past we haven’t, but I’m not sure about this year.

For more previews, check out Rouge Deluxe for her preview scans/photos from Biteki’s February 2011 publication. She’s great at finding out new information and has a number of sneak peek and links to previews of stuff coming out this spring.

At the moment I have no information about what else is coming out or when items will be released except for Chanel, MAC and Bobbi Brown: I do know the Bobbi Brown Pretty Powerful palettes have been released, I saw them at Nordstrom this morning but passed since they combine creams and powders in the same level for the palette – a BIG NO-NO for me.

Please do not republish these on message boards, blogs, websites or anywhere else as it took me some time to scan each in and format them to fit this blog. Thank you.

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Dior Aztec Chocolate Vernis: Chocolate or Plum?

December 12, 2010

I’ve been eyeing Dior’s Aztec Chocolate #886 Nail Polish on Sephora.com for a while and was hoping it would arrive instore. Unfortunately, it’s labeled as “online only” and I couldn’t find it anywhere else. When the VIB $20 off promo came up, I couldn’t resist.

I had seen Aztec Chocolate featured on Vampy Varnish and The Nail Phile and both blogs showed the complex nature of the product. I wondered if it was more plum or chocolate. The product that arrived proved to be both, but it’s definitely more plum on me. Depending on the angle and lighting you’ll see one color dominate over the other. Also, there’s pretty gold veining throughout that you can see in the sunlight. This doesn’t really show up on the nails but it makes for a pretty bottle.

It comes with the new chiseled-style brush (similar to the brushes on Timeless Gold & Czarina Gold reviewed back in October). The color is beautiful with three coats, but the formula is a bit sheer and hard to work with. The first coat is pretty sad, but if you have time and don’t mind waiting for each coat to dry, you can get full coverage with three.

The same polish, Dior Aztec Chocolate, with and without flash:

In direct sunlight, definitely plum:

So how plum or taupe or chocolatey is it? Well, it depends on how you look at it.

By itself it looks like a plummy brown in the bottle
Next to other shades, it looks brownish
On the nails, it’s more plum with a slight brownish base
It’s just very hard to describe since it looks so different in the bottle v on the nails

I pulled out what I thought might be similar which includes NARS Tokaïdo Express, OPI YDKJ Suede, OPI Holiday Glow, Dior Lemon Balm and Dior Bronze Libertine.

Conclusion: When compared to others (as seen below) it definitely looks brown in the bottle, however when it’s applied on the fingers it’s clearly plum.

A closer detail. While Aztec Chocolate is definitely more plum on me, it looks brownish in the bottle compared to some of the other shades. You can see Lemon Balm is similar, just slightly more purples in the swatch.

L to R: Aztec Chocolate, Lemon Balm, OPI Holiday Glow

Overall, like the color, but not the formula. Have any of you been able to see/test this in person? As far as I know, it appears to be a Sephora exclusive, but I could be wrong.

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Dior Minaudière in Grey Golds 001 (Saks)

October 28, 2010

I couldn’t resist. Pretty packaging, sparkly black gold + shimmery cool taupe and I was sold on the Minaudière in Grey Golds 001 from Saks. You saw my feature of the Dior Minaudière in Pink Golds 002 last week. Here are photos of the Grey Golds version – my favorite of the two options and as far as I know, exclusive to Saks in the U.S.

On the nails, Chanel Cosmic Violine, top from Banana Republic

The Grey Golds version has a black with gold sparkles, cool shimmery taupe, and a lovely warm white-gold sparkle. The eyeshadows apply true to what you see in the pan. They are softer in texture than the quints making them easier to blend. All shades are very shimmery.

The lip colors are a bit more deceiving. In the compact you see a dark vampy plum and a white-gold sparkle. When you swatch them, the plum actually applies more red and the white gold applies even more sparkly than what you see in the compact.