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Chanel Délicatesse Le Vernis

September 14, 2012

Chanel Délicatesse is one of the three nail polishes from the limited-edition Les Twin Sets de Chanel for Fashion’s Night Out this year. It’s an opaque beige-peach-brown cream (non-shimmer). On me there’s the slightest hint of warm rose that prevents it from looking too brown or orangey. The finish is smooth and flawless like most Chanel nail colors. It’s very rich in color, although I would say the color of Délicatesse is similar to many other shades from other brands. I expected this to be the case since it’s a basic neutral. Still I am very happy with this color. Depending on the light sometimes this appears to be a lighter peach. Other times it looks like a darker brown-rose. If you’re still debating whether to order, I recommend these blogs with swatches and reviews: Front Row Beauty, Weekend Ramblings, AudreyEleven, and The Polish Jinx (she compares it to Khaki Rose).

Here it is swatched with two coats, two different views:

Here’s a closer look at the nail wheel from earlier this week. I found Délicatesse more peachy than Rose Confidentiel. It’s also more brown than OPI’s Gouda Gouda Two Shoes (this one is more pink and has some shimmer). Dior Sienna is several shades lighter and more nude. Rescue Beauty Lounge Om looks quite peachy compared to Délicatesse.

I swatched a few of the closest ones on my fingers to compare:

While I didn’t find Chanel Délicatesse super-unique, I did find it was different from most of my other neutral peach-browns. I love this color for fall and find it suitable for year round. Being the Chanel nail polish fan that I am I knew I had to have it. I do prefer the other two options though, so if I had to only pick two, it would be Provocation and Infidèle.
Chanel Délicatesse retails for $26 in the US and is currently available at Chanel.com and select boutiques. I purchased mine online at Chanel.com.
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Chanel Fashion’s Night Out Le Vernis in Délicatesse, Provocation and Infidèle

September 13, 2012

Chanel Délicatesse, Provocation and Infidèle ($26 each, limited-edition for Fashion’s Night Out 2012) just arrived last night from Chanel.com. I’m still playing with each of the shades but so far, I’m extremely impressed. I think each shade is gorgeous and perfect for fall. More swatches to come soon, but for now some comparisons. I thought Khaki Rose might be similar but as you can see above it’s quite different (so it didn’t make the swatch wheel).

Comparisons swatched below (same set, just two different views): Chanel June, Rescue Beauty Lounge Om, Chanel Rose Confidentiel, Dior Sienna, Chanel Rose Paradise, OPI Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, NARS Ratin Jot, Rescue Beauty Lounge Bruised, Chanel April, Chanel Fantastic, Chanel Vendetta, Dior Shadow, Dior Orchid, Chanel Vamp and Chanel Diabolic.

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Chanel Skyline Le Vernis

September 10, 2012

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?

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Tom Ford Fall 2012 Nail Lacquers: Minx and Dominatrix

August 30, 2012

This fall, Tom Ford has released two new shimmery metallic for nails: Minx, a complex metallic warm wine-brown, and Dominatrix, a medium-deep but bright metallic purple ($30 each, both limited-edition). My experiences with Tom Ford’s nail lacquers have been mixed. I have a few of the creams and some of the metallic from last spring (see review/swatches here) and felt the formula was just ok. Still, I decided to give the new shades from fall a try since the promotional photos looked stunning. I’m glad I did. The new polishes for fall are exquisite with excellent smooth coverage. The colors are edgy and dramatic but still wearable for every day. They are perfect for fall and unique compared to other releases we’ve seen this season.
Both shades are highly metallic and shimmery, but in a refined way. The texture is rather sheer and transparent with one coat, but the color goes on with full coverage when you add the second. I like that the colors are visibly shimmery but don’t show brush strokes or streak (like Chanel Attraction). I was particularly impressed by the high-shine finish that both of these polishes have (without a top coat).

Minx is a deep burgundy-wine-brown metallic. It’s quite unique in my collection. It has more brown and less wine compared to other vampy shades.

Dominatrix is an intense medium bright purple. Out of the purples I have it is most similar to Dolce and Gabbana’s Midnight, but the Tom Ford is deeper and more intense while the DG is a bit lighter and flashes blue shimmers. More photos and swatches below. Swatches are done with two coats.

Minx swatched with two coats, a gorgeous metallic wine/brown:

Dominatrix swatched with two coats, it’s a medium-purple with some brightness:

In terms of duplicates, I couldn’t find any in my collection. I don’t have Tom Ford’s Burnished Rouge to compare, but from seeing swatches elsewhere, I suspect that Minx is less red.
Comparisons swatched below, same set, two views: Tom Ford Minx, Tom Ford Dominatrix, Dior Silver Purple, Chanel Vendetta, Dior Shadow, OPI Dutch’Ya Just Love OPI?, Dolce and Gabbana Amethyst, Dolce and Gabbana Midnight, Dolce and Gabbana Royal, Dior Icone, OPI Holiday Glow, Dior Aztec Chocolate, Dior Apparat, Dolce and Gabbana Dahlia, Chanel Strong, Chanel Rouge Noir, Chanel Cosmic Violine, Tom Ford Burnt Topaz (most of these have been reviewed/swatched in the past, sorry I didn’t have time to link each color, but try the google search function on the sidebar)

I personally am really pleased with both shades. I do think they are must-haves for the season, even with the high price tag (which I wasn’t too keen about). I purchased both from Saks NY. The collection should be arriving in stores soon at select counters. As far as I know, both are limited-edition.

Have you checked out Tom Ford fall? Thoughts? (The fall blush review to follow soon.)

Given my new loves for these, I must go re-try my older shades. Perhaps it was the application method that I need to work on.
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Color Focus: Pink Nudes for Nails

August 20, 2012

I have an obsession with neutral pink nudes for nails. I love the clean polished natural look of colors that have a mix of pink with nude/beige/mauve/rose. My current favorites range from semi-sheer to full coverage shades, most are creams but there are a few that have subtle shimmer. The shades I’m loving this season are listed below. All photos are my own.

Row 1: YSL Beige Leger 22, Chanel Jade Rose 493, Deborah Lippmann Naked, Dolce & Gabbana Rose Petal 102

Row 2: Dior Incognito 257, Deborah Lippmann Fashion, Dior Beige Lotus, Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge

Row 3: Dolce and Gabbana Petal, Chanel Rose Cache 521, Deborah Lippmann Modern Love and Dior Sienna

On the nail wheel, with a few true beiges and pinks added to compare, two views:

I believe all these shades are still available for sale with the exception of Chanel Mistral which is no longer for sale (I think). Currently, Chanel Jade Rose is listed as limited-edition on Chanel.com. What neutral pinks are you loving?

Kindly note that all photos and content are my own and copyrighted. Please do not copy, reprint, edit, republish or hotlink images.
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Deborah Lippmann Modern Love

August 19, 2012

Deborah Lippmann’s latest release for fall is a mauve shade called Modern Love ($16 for 0.5 oz). This comes in a full-coverage crème with a hint of nude. I found mine at Nordstrom in store. For those wondering whether this is more mauve, nude or taupe, I feel Modern Love has strong mauve tones. I found the stock photos online at Nordstrom.com extremely accurate.

This color applied smoothly with full coverage in two coats. I would say the pigment/finish/intensity is similar to that of Waking Up in Vegas (for comparison). Here it is with two coats and CND’s top coat. It makes my skin look darker and more tan. A few different views below. It appears to be a dusty mauve nude. I think it’s perfectly suited for fall … perhaps in September though. The color is lovely and polished, but I feel it would look better on either fairer skintones or more tanned skintones.

A few other Deborah Lippmann comparisons: Naked is the most beige/nude, Fashion is more brown, Waking Up In Vegas is clearly more grey. For the swatches, Naked/Fashion are swatched with 3 coats. Modern Love/Waking Up in Vegas only needed 2.

I’m still out of nail wheels so I pulled what I could fit on one hand. Other comparisons to a few other purples and taupes: Dolce & Gabbana Drama, OPI Tickle My Francey, Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge and Chanel Particuliere.

I found Deborah Lippman’s Modern Love to be quite unique in my collection. I thought it would be similar to a number of shades, but it has the right mix of mauve and nude to make it different from other mauvey shades I own. If you felt Chanel’s Frenzy was too subtle for your taste and are looking for something with more punch but still natural/demure, I highly recommend you check out Deborah Lippman Modern Love.
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Dior Vernis Bengale #615

August 5, 2012

Dior’s Golden Jungle collection for fall has been out on counters in the US for about a month now with the exception of one nail color called Bengale #615 ($23 for 10 ml/0.33 fl oz). This shade is a medium brown cream and currently exclusive to Neiman Marcus and Dior.com in the US. It just arrived last week in stores at the Neimans counter near me. The coverage is smooth with a naturally glossy finish. If you look closely at the bottle under the light you will see tiny bits of silver shimmers suspended. Most of my non-shimmer Dior shades have the tiniest bit of micro shimmer infused in the colors. Unfortunately these aren’t visible on the nail but it does help give the colors a bit more depth. I had hoped Bengale would be a warm soft brown with pink tones like the promotional photos. In real life it’s a darker brown with the slightest hint of green undertones on my skin. It’s still lovely for fall, just not quite what I had expected. 

Here you can see the sparkle:

Here it is with two coats (no base or top coat):

Many have been wondering how this compares to other browns such as Chanel Khaki Rose and Dior Underground. I’ve pulled out a few colors to swatch side by side: Chanel Particuliere, Chanel Khaki Rose, Chanel Khaki Brun and Dior Underground.

Although Dior Bengale wasn’t quite what I expected, I still find it very unique in the sense that it’s a true medium brown on me, something I was lacking in my collection. It gives a nicely polished look that can be easily incorporated into my work wardrobe for fall. It’s conservative, polished and neutral. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea but for me, I give it a thumbs up (although I can’t say I think it’s a must-have).
Did you check out anything from Dior Fall? Thoughts?
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