Browsing Tag

Nail Polish

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Chanel Forbidden, Diabolic, Vamp, Rouge Noir and Some Other Burgundy Shades . .

October 8, 2009
Quite a few fall collections have jumped on the dark-vampy-trend bandwagon and while I’m usually very excited to find new dark colors for nails, I have mixed feelings about the new polishes from the Chanel Noirs Obscurs collection after seeing them in person.

Chanel just released two new colors, Forbidden and Diabolic and repromoted Vendetta from last holiday. I ordered the two new ones sight unseen and at first glance was less than impressed. However when I swatched them on my nails, my feelings changed.

Both Forbidden 437 and Diabolic 427 are deep chocolatey-burgundy-vampy shades and are extremely similar. When swatched, the colors aren’t as dull as I expected – they have just the right amount of brown and red. You definitely don’t need both, but they are different enough from Chanel’s Vamp and Rouge Noir to justify maybe buying one.

Difference between the two: Forbidden is slightly lighter and more chocolatey, Diabolic is deeper and darker.

Here are more photos with my comparisons to similar shades:

Swatches:
Thumb = Cosmic Violine 497
Index = Forbidden 437
Middle = Diabolic 427
Ring = Rouge Noir 18
Pinkie = Vamp 18

With high flash:

In natural sunlight:

Another view:

Compared to a couple other brands: MAC All Night Long and Sephora by OPI I’m With Brad:



Overall thoughts: Even though I’m a huge Chanel fan and obsessed with collecting almost every single nail color they release, Forbidden and Diabolic were just ok for me. I didn’t gasp with awe when I took them out of the box. I was hoping for something different with those complex shimmer particles that they are known for creating.

That being said, I tend to like shimmery nail polishes, perhaps I need to get more used to those creamy non-shimmery shades. As a fellow Chanel fan and I were discussing a few days ago, they seem to be more for the Chanel collector, and while they are nice to have, we wouldn’t have died if we didn’t get our hands on them.

Bottom line: They look great on the nails, but there’s no need to have both. They are different enough from Vamp/Rouge Noir to justify trying out. If you don’t mind shimmer and want a cheaper alternative, Sephora by OPI I’m With Brad is pretty close, however do note that the Chanel formulas are superior by far. With the Sephora by OPI – you can get good results, but it will require a lot more thin coats.

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I *HEART* MAC Baby Goth Girl

September 27, 2009

Purple seems to be popular this fall and there are quite a few vampy purples that have been released (or repromoted) this season. I did a feature back in July, Color Focus: Dark Vampy Polish with some of the vampy shades I have and a swatch/review on Nars Tokaido Express as well.

I just added MAC’s Baby Goth Girl from the Style Black release to my own personal collection and love it! Although it looks similar to my other vampy shades in natural light, I found it different enough in the undertone and sparkle to make my heart skip a beat when I put it on. Here are some comparisons to other purple shades.

Left to right: Nars Tokaido Express, Chanel Vendetta, Chanel Feu de Russie, MAC Baby Goth Girl, OPI Black Cherry Chutney

Three coats each shade:

Thumb = OPI Black Cherry Chutney
Index Finger = MAC Baby Goth Girl
Middle Finger = Chanel Feu de Russie
Ring Finger = Chanel Vendetta
Pinkie = Nars Tokaido Express

Same order as above, different view:

Close up swatches of Chanel Vendetta, Chanel Feu de Russie, MAC Baby Goth Girl

Swatches in natural light, same order as above:

Thumb = OPI Black Cherry Chutney
Index Finger = MAC Baby Goth Girl
Middle Finger = Chanel Feu de Russie
Ring Finger = Chanel Vendetta
Pinkie = Nars Tokaido Express

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First Look at the Chanel Holiday 2009 Gift Sets: Trio Exclusif de Vernis

September 25, 2009

I was surprised to see three different holiday sets out at my local Chanel counter at Nordstrom yesterday when the Noirs Obscurs collection hadn’t even arrived yet.

I saw three different sets, although I am not sure if these are the only sets coming out:
* Mini Brush Set $125 for 6 brushes, large face, small blush, eyeshadow, angled brow and a few others
* Lips Set $50 with Praline & Spark Glossimers and a mini Nude Lipliner
* Nail Colour Trio $65 with Allegoria, Tulip Noire (repromote) and Trapeze

I immediately snagged the Nail Set which contains my holy grail plummy-gold nail polish Tulip Noire and the new Trapeze nail polish that is coming out this holiday individually.

Antilope (from Spring 2008) versus Trapeze (holiday 2009): they are very similar, the only difference is Antilope is more frosty and has a slight gold base where Trapeze is a bit darker and more pewter/taupe/silver-cool

Golden Sand, Antilope, Trapeze:

Trapeze Nail Polish, as seen in the October 2009 Issue of Elle, page 275 “Face Time by April Long” – Philips says of Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Trapeze “it’s an accessory you can wear with everything.”

For some more tidbits of information on the upcoming holiday collections from Chanel, check out these awesome resources:

Makeup4All – Golden Cage Makeup Collection by Chanel, Holiday 2009
TalkingMakeup.com – Chanel Holiday Beauty Guide 2009
A Blogger that falls in love with Makeup – Holiday ’09 – ’10, Chanel Birds of Paradise

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Chanel Tokyo Happening Nail Colors Spotted!

September 20, 2009

I was at South Coast Plaza today and stopped by the Bloomingdales Chanel Studio and was excited to see that they had all of the Tokyo Happening Nail Polishes in stock!

Other Limited Edition/Online & Boutique Exclusives they had include:
* Tokyo Glossimers in Lune (white), Wish (blue) and Galactic (white-gold)
* Jade Rose nail polish (see pics a few posts down here), but did not yet have Jade
* Symphonie White Whisper Quad, Blanc Petale Nail Polish and a few of the Highlighter Powder (see pics of the highlighter here and nail polish/quad here)
* Candy & Tea Rose Euro/Asia JCs

Being the avid Chanel collector, I picked up one of each, even though on the nails it’s pretty much a clear base with micro-sparkles.

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Chanel Jade Rose Nail Polish

September 17, 2009
You’ve seen the hype about these two new nail polishes from Chanel and some wonderful pictures and swatches on those fabulous nail blogs such as All Lacquered Up and Steph’s Closet. I have to admit that I have been stunned by the gorgeousness of that aqua green shade, but did not order it as I feel that 28 is too old to be sporting a color that trendy.

Jade Rose is a creamy light natural-looking pink. There is a slight iridescence in the bottle but it barely shows up on the nails. Those who have followed my blog since I started it know I am a huge Chanel-junkie (see my Chanel Nail Polish collection here + a few other additions since then here) and collect almost every single polish they release.

As much as I love Chanel, I can’t say I am totally in love with this shade mainly because I wish it either had more shimmer or some depth to it. It comes out a flat ordinary pink shade on my nails. I definitely see myself getting a lot of use from this color and will be wearing it on more than one occasions. I was just hoping for something more unique or dazzling. That being said, if I had been able to see or test it out in person first, I would have still bought a few bottles.

Those who have received your Jade or Jade Rose Nail Polishes – what are your thoughts? I have a swatch and several comparison pictures to other light pinky-neutral shades.

Swatch with 2 thick coats:


Photographed compared to Chanel Jasmine, Chanel Lily Beige, Chanel Pink Satin, Dior Porcelain and Chanel Ballerina:

Close ups:


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Chanel White Whisper Quadra Eyeshadow & Blanc Petale Nail Colour

August 25, 2009

I just received two of the items from the Symphonie Blanche de Chanel Collection, White Whisper Quadra Eyeshadow & Blanc Petale Nail Colour from Chanel.com. I have the Fleurs face highlighting powder coming in the mail at the end of this week, but couldn’t wait to upload pics of these two items.

Check just a couple posts down for the promotional info about the collection or click Chanel Symphonie Blanche de Chanel Collection for more details. It looks like the palette is out of stock on the Chanel website, but check Neimanmarcus.com, select Chanel Boutiques like the ones in NY, Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, and Chanel Beauty Studios like the ones at South Coast Plaza Bloomingdales.

Blanc Petale is described as a crisp white which I feel is accurate. It has a slight pearl finish but still shows up a pure white. I’ve swatched it next to White Satin which was limited edition Spring 2008. I’m a bit undecided about this since it’s such a bright white – I’m not sure whether it will be more for a mani or pedi.

Two views, this one shows the difference better in the nail swatch:

This one shows the difference in color in the actual bottles:

White Whisper Quadra Eyeshadow is described as having silver pink, pearly white, light gold, dark silver shades. I agree with all the shade descriptions, except the “dark silver” is more like a satin charcoal shade. It’s more on the matte side, but not fully matte.

I really like the pigmentation and the colors in this quad are stunning. Please pardon the blurry swatches, it was hard to photograph the swatches without all the shades looking exactly the same.






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Chanel Rouge Allure Laque Hits the US with a Full Lips and Nail Polish Collection

August 21, 2009

The Rouge Allure Laques have finally arrived in the US and I am so glad they have! Featured in the collection are 8 Rouge Allure Lipsticks (I think most are new), 8 Rouge Allure Laques (a luminous satin lip lacquer), 4 (maybe 5) repromoted lipliners, and 4 new nail polishes.

I received a mini flyer in the mail with a special offer of a mini sized sample of Dragon Rouge Allure Laque #75, an intense classic vibrant red shade. This one happens to be from Saks. I believe there is also a promotion going on online with any order to get a mini sample as well.

I’m usually not a fan of satin-finish lip cremes because I find them too thick and matte looking giving my already-full lips a heavy flat look (such as YSL Rouge Voluptes, Laura Mercier Lip Velvets, MAC Matte Lipsticks, Chanel Rouge Doubles). The new Rouge Allure Laques have won my heart with their subtle shine and slight multi-color shimmer giving them some depth which results in a full finish that isn’t too heavy looking or flat on the lips.

Left to right: Mythic Rouge Allure #69, Ming Nail Polish #471, Dragon Nail Polish #475

Close up & swatches of Ming & Dragon Nail Polishes:

Close up of Mythic Rouge Allure Lipstick:

Chanel Mythic Rouge Allure Comparisons to other nude/beige lip colors:

1) Laura Mercier Passion Fruit (mini), 2) Bobbi Brown Metallic Beige Gold (mini), 3) Bobbi Brown Candlelight Shimmer (discontinued), 4) Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous #38, 5) Chanel Rouge Allure Mythic #69, 6) Dolce & Gabbana Perfection, 7) MAC High Tea, 8) MAC Creme d’Nude

Also slipped my mind but another nude shade in Armani is Shine #47 which you can see HERE. They had quite a few pretty pinks, bolder reds, oranges that I didn’t get. FYI – the testers at the counter have a clear glass base for the glosses so you can actually see the color without opening the tube.

Sample Rouge Allure Laque Box, Full Sized vs Sample Size

Left to right: Ming #76 and Santal #77

Rouge Allure Laque Swatches (on bare skin)