This mani/pedi was from the weekend – right after Thanksgiving when I was dreaming of warm sandy beaches. Living in Southern California, I shouldn’t complain, but I spent part of the extended weekend watching Chanel’s Saint-Tropez Cruise 2010/2011 Fashion Show (yes, a few months late) and couldn’t help but feel envious of the beautiful warm-looking weather. I immediately was inspired to make myself feel resort-like the only way I could by doing a Chanel cruise-inspired mani/pedi.
The inspiration from the fashion show, nude pink nails on the hands and blue on the toes. I know most breakdowns list Jade Rose on the fingers, but I decided to go with Inattendu instead for the hands. I stuck with the new Riva on the toes to mimic the models.
Chanel fans have been eagerly waiting to get their hands on the new Riva Le Vernis ($27) from the Côte d’Azur Makeup Collection. I’m sure you all know by now the color has been released online at Chanel.com and also at select Chanel Boutiques. Mine finally arrived today from Chanel.com in a cute black drawstring pouch.
Here it is with 3 coats:
It’s a creamy baby blue with the slightest hint of shimmer. The finish is much like Jade, Jade Rose and Paradoxal in the sense that you see shimmer in the bottle but it applies more like a cream. Unfortunately, the wonderful high quality Chanel finish seems to be a bit lacking in the new Riva. You can get a beautiful smooth finish with 3 coats, but it definitely takes more care and steadiness to get a non-streaky finish. As my dear friend L.R. (a Chanel fanatic like me) says, “One coat is sad, two is much better, three fits the bill.” I couldn’t have described it better.
Below you can see how pastel and milky Chanel Riva is compared to the blue from Louis Vuitton’s Damier Azur Canvas material.
I don’t have very many blues cosmetics-wise, but here are is my small collection. All Chanel. Left to right: Blue Wish (from the Tokyo Happening Collection), Riva, Azur (from Spring 2008), Nouvelle Vague (from Summer 2010)
All swatched with 3 coats, you can see Riva is lighter and softer than Nouvelle Vague. Swatched next to each other, Nouvelle Vague almost looks blue-green.
One more view of Chanel Riva:
Overall thoughts: The color is beautiful but not entirely unique. If it had more iridescence like Azur I would have fallen in love. For me, Riva is like, but not love. Perhaps it’s just too early to think about powder blues when Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. The formula isn’t the best, but it isn’t the worst either. It’s still very workable with 2+ coats. If you have the slightest inkling that you want this, I’d recommend getting Riva now while you can. We all know that Chanel regret can be expensive (cries for not getting Haute Chocolat). Also, Chanel.com has complimentary shipping through 12/16/2010.
I’ll probably put this aside until Thanksgiving is over. Even though it’s not bright or in-your-face, it’s not one of those typical classic nail colors. I’m not so sure I can brave this at the office during this time of year. Maybe you ladies can convince me otherwise.
If any of you have bought this, how are you liking it? And where/when will you be wearing this blue shade?
Where has the time gone? In August, I featured a Chanel Rouge Noir 18 manicure with the intention of writing a dupe post shortly after. It seems I have lost track of time. Chanel Rouge Noir is one of those shades that has reached cult status as one of the most highly sought after shades. Is it simply because it’s hard to find? I’m not entirely sure. It is indeed a gorgeous dark chocolate cherry vampy kind of shade. I love how it will look reddish with one coat and get darker and more vampy with each progressive coat.
What makes Chanel Rouge Noir unique is the reddish base which prevents it from appearing like a straight black. It has a flawless glossy finish with 2 coats. It’s pure love. It’s currently available in the US in one of the Holiday Trio Nail Sets (with Rouge Noir, Gold Lamé reviewed here and Coromandel reviewed here). For those who don’t like Chanel, can’t find this shade or don’t want to splurge on a trio for 1 color . . .
The question is: Can you dupe it?
I pulled shades I thought would be similar. Some turned out to be very close, others not so much so. Here is Rouge Noir compared to colors from OPI, NARS, Rescue Beauty Lounge, Rococo Nail Apparel and Dolce & Gabbana.
I’ve swatched these with 1 coat and then 2 coats so you can see the reddish base in virtually all of these. What I find intriguing is Chanel Rouge Noir vs. Chanel Forbidden. In the bottles above, Rouge Noir looks darker. However when swatched the results are different. (See more vampy swatches here in different lighting.)
With a high flash you can see the reddish base colors come out:
One Coat Swatched:
Two Coats Swatched (Thick):
The verdict: Yes, it can be duped! My take: the closest colors I found are Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat and Dolce & Gabbana Dahlia (with 2-3 coats applied).
If you cannot find Chanel Rouge Noir #18 individually, no need to fret. There are quite a few colors that are similar. Even if the colors aren’t an exact dupe, the effect of each are similar enough that you can barely tell the difference from arm’s length. Hope this helps many of you!
A Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat manicure will be featured shortly. Enjoy the last bits of your weekend 🙂
L to R: Le Metier de Beaute Whisper & Armani Holiday 2010 Shimmer Powder (to be reviewed soon)
Top to bottom: Chanel Star Glossimer, Laura Mercier Pink Diamond, Trish Irresistible Nude, MAC Oyster Girl Lipglass, MAC Gel Lipstick (on tube #3), D&G Perfection Lipstick
L to R: Paul & Joe Pearl Powder #01, MAC Naked Pigment, NARS All About Eve Eyeshadow Duo
OPI Hollywood Blonde Nail Polish, MAC Bare Study Paint Pot
MAC Bare Study Paint Pot, Paul & Joe Pearl Powder #01, MAC Naked Pigment, OPI Hollywood Blonde Nail Polish, Le Metier de Beaute Whisper Highlighter, D&G Perfection Lipstick, MAC Oyster Girl Lipglass, NARS All About Eve Duo, Chanel Star Glossimer, Laura Mercier Pink Diamond Lip Glace, Trish Irresistible Nude, MAC Gel Lipstick
YSL has a beautiful holiday collection this year filled with lovely metallic golds, champagne pinks and shimmery colors. I’m going to split up my reviews into two parts. First up are the Holiday La Laques ($20 each) in 139 Gold, 140 Pink Gold, 141 White Gold and two of the Holiday Golden Glosses ($30 each) in 38 Golden Champagne and 39 Golden Chestnut.
The Golden Glosses are typical YSL style and loaded with sparkle. They are on the sheer side and have the signature YSL gloss scent – sweet and like candy. These are non-gritty and smooth in texture. If you bought any of the Golden Glosses from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (#31, 32 or 33) then I’d say you don’t need either of these new holiday shades. The effect is similar.
Golden Champagne #38 is a soft pink with gold sparkle
Golden Chestnut #39 is a warm beigey-tan with gold sparkle
Comparisons to some other Golden Glosses. For many of these I can barely tell the difference in the tube unless I look at them closely in direct sunlight. Some have a different sparkle than others. There are some with a straight gold sparkle. Others have a multi-colored sparkled infused in the gloss. There are differences in the base color as well. Some have a more transparent finish while others have a more opaque creamy finish. All are still on the sheer side. Those wondering how these compare to MAC – the YSL Golden Glosses are like Dazzleglass Cremes without the grittiness. In my opinion the YSL are much better than MAC.
This is the first time I have tried YSL’s nail polishes so I won’t be able to compare these to previous shades. All I know is their number system drives me nuts to no end. Magazines will often list the products by name while the testers at counters are all labeled by number. Many times I’ve just given up trying to match the name and numbers. The holiday nail colors are frost-finished colors with rich pigment. The finish can be streaky if you’re not careful but the coverage is just incredible. The result is a high-shine metallic, almost foil-like finish.
Gold #139 is a pale gold frost
Pink Gold #140 is a copper pink-gold
White Gold #141 is like a sterling silver color (this is sheerer than the others)
The metallic nature of these polishes made it difficult to photograph. Here is one taken at an angle so you can see the color without the shine washing out all the color from the flash:
Photographed with a high flash:
Comparisons to other shades:
YSL #139 Gold Comparison Swatches:
YSL #140 Pink Gold & #141 White Gold Comparison Swatches:
Overall thoughts: I’ve been exploring YSL more and more lately. After buying several Golden Glosses I’ve found that most of them are pretty similar on the lips, so in the future I’ll probably stick to the regular non-shimmer shades. I found the Holiday Collection at Bloomingdales which only carries currently sold product, like most department stores. The other shades shown for comparison purposes have been discontinued meaning they were no where in any store to be pulled for comparison purposes.
I like the nail polishes for their excellent quality and rich pigment. I do find them a bit too metallic-y for my taste. I would have liked a more sophisticated shimmer rather than something that looks like chrome. Still I am impressed. The colors are unique and even in my extensive nail polish stash I don’t have anything quite like these holiday colors. I have Pink Gold #140 on my toes right now and I have to say it looks a lot better on the toes than the fingers.
Coming up soon: the Holiday highlighter and Gold Touche d’Or.
A few of you have asked what nail color I was wearing last Sunday. It’s Rescue Beauty Lounge in Bruised ($18), a beautiful cream mauve plum. Unfortunately it’s currently sold out online, most likely due to the recent holiday 5-hour sale. I don’t believe it’s a limited edition color so it should be available for purchase. I’ve been in love with this color ever since I first got it back a few months ago. Rich color, opaque finish, smooth texture. You do need 2 coats to get full coverage but I find most of the Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes to be similar in quality as Chanel’s recent colors (Rouge Fatale, Riviera, Khakis etc.) which I love.
I thought I would have more creamy non-shimmer plums but it appears that most of my plums are more on the vampy side (versus mauve-plum). Here it is compared to a few other shades. I’m sure there’s a dupe from OPI or Zoya, I just haven’t found one with quite the same undertone.
L to R: OPI Yankee Pankee Plum, OPI Queen of West Web-erly, RBL Bruised, RBL Moulin Rouge
