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Chanel Rouge Allure Collection Picks: Troublante, Singulière, Rose Exhubérant, Expressive and Bright Rose

October 22, 2015

There are two new collections out for Chanel right now. The Rouge Allure Collection features five Rouge Allure Lipsticks (some regular, some velvet), three Le Vernis Nail Polishes, three Rouge Allure Glosses, three Rouge Double Intensités, and several lip liners. All the colors featured listed here on one page from Chanel.com. The second set of releases is for holiday from the Vamp Attitude Collection. This has already arrived at retailers such as Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. Today I have a feature on my picks from the Rouge Allure Collection. I hope to check out the Vamp Attitude items this weekend.

Here’s a quick look at the Rouge Allure Collection display from Saks Fifth Avenue South Coast Plaza. For quick reference I’ll list all the colors featured in this collection. Note that some items are repromotes:

Rouge Allure Lipstick Éblouissante 165
Rouge Allure Lipstick Inspirée 164
Rouge Allure Lipstick Pensive 162 (swatched here)
Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick L’Indomptable 54
Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick La Mystérieuse 53
Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick La Fascinante 38
Rouge Allure Gloss Idéale 22
Rouge Allure Gloss Suprême 17
Rouge Allure Gloss Expressive 24
Rouge Double Intensité Shocking Pink 59
Rouge Double Intensité Plum Desire 68
Rouge Double Intensité Bright Rose 41
Aqua Crayon Pink Melody 22
Aqua Crayon Cinnamon 24
Le Crayon Lèvres Fuschia 55
Le Crayon Lèvres Natural 34
Le Vernis Nail Color Troublante 675
Le Vernis Nail Color Singulière 673
Le Vernis Nail Color Rose Exhubérant 519

The collection has several repromoted shades mixed in with new color releases. I picked out four items since I was primarily waiting for the holiday collection to launch (the counter didn’t have holiday yet when I stopped by a week and a half ago). Rose Exhubérant is repromoted but I thought I’d show it again alongside the two new nail colors.

Below, left to right: Rose Exhubérant, Singulière, Troublante, Expressive and Bright Rose

The two new nail polishes are absolutely gorgeous. Singulière is similar to a lot of other plum wine creams but this one has a slightly deeper red color while still showing a lot of bright undertone. It applied smoothly with two coats. Troublante is the most impressive Chanel Nail Polish I’ve seen in a while. It’s a complex shimmer that’s almost duo-chrome. It’s so hard to describe, it’s like a bronze, red, gold with flashes of olive. I couldn’t think of anything similar to compare it to. It’s metallic but the brush strokes aren’t too streaky. Rose Exhuberant is a classic bright rose pink cream. It never fails to cheer me up.

I did a few swatch comparisons on the fingers. My nail wheels have gone missing. I just did a reorganization of my beauty areas and of course now I can’t remember where I put them. I’ll do more swatches once I get more.

 Rose Exhubérant with two coats, no top coat. You can see more swatch comparisons here.

Compared next to Dior Wonderland (reviewed here)

 Singulière swatched with two coats, no top coat:

Compared below to:
Chanel April (review here) 
Chanel Fantastic (discontinued)

Chanel Troublante with two coats, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the beautiful complex shimmers in this one:

If you have any comparison requests, I’ll do them in the next round once I get more nail wheels:
Chanel Peridot (discontinued)
Burberry Antique Gold (c/o, reviewed here)
Chanel Terrana (swatches here)

For the lips I picked out one Rouge Allure Gloss which is among my favorite lip gloss formulas along with one Rouge Double Intensité which is a long-wear liquid lipstick with a clear gloss finisher. 

Bright Rose isn’t really a bright color to me. It’s more of a neutral bronzey pink rose. It’s quite metallic but the clear gloss helps soften the color. These are long wear lip colors and by long wear, they really mean it. They stay put on the lips all day. In my experience the colors are intense in pigment so you only need a little bit dabbed and blended on the lips. Let it set for a little bit then top with the clear gloss.

Expressive is a pretty soft plum. It has a hint of mauve and red to it so it’s not too dark. As usual with darker plums, they pull more reddish on me. This one swatched on my hand appeared more mauve in tone. 

Some swatch comparisons to other shades:

Marc Jacobs Hi-Shine Enamored Lip Gloss in Boom (c/o reviewed here)
Tom Ford Lip Color in So Vain (swatches here)
Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Troublant (discontinued)
Chanel Rouge Allure Gloss Distinction (review here)
NARS Lip Gloss in Babydoll (c/o, review + swatches here)
Surratt Lip Lustre in Soigne (reviewed here)
Tom Ford Lip Color Sheer Rose Soleil (review here)
Dior Addict Lip Gloss Cygne Noir (new for holiday, review soon)

Overall I’m really pleased with the color options in the Chanel Rouge Allure Collection. I skipped a lot of the colors but I’m happy with the ones I came home with. Troublante Nail Color is to die for and I’m smitten with the Expressive Rouge Allure Gloss – it’s a softer plum mauve that’s easy to wear for those who like color but don’t want something too dramatic.

Have you checked out the Rouge Allure Collection yet? You can find it in stores now and online at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Chanel.com and all other Chanel retailers.
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Rescue Beauty Lounge Fan Collection 3.0

October 9, 2015
I’m thrilled to share swatches of the latest collection from Rescue Beauty Lounge called The Fan Collection 3.0. This is a launch includes seven new nail polish colors inspired by fans of the Rescue Beauty Lounge line. Ji has mixed up seven dream nail colors and as always, they are absolutely stunning colors. In a world full of hundreds of nail polish colors, Ji never ceases to impress me – each time I open a box, I’m in total awe of her. She is a genius mix master.
There are seven new shades. These will be available for pre-sale starting October 13th for 48 hours so be sure you’re signed up for her newsletter via www.rescuebeauty.com to receive the link to shop. It will be available for sale to everyone else shortly after.

Ethereal is a gorgeous pearly seashell ivory shimmer. It has a lovely glow to it. It’s semi-sheer but you can layer it for full coverage, I have it shown with three coats.

The inspiration, “It is reflected in a fleeting sunrise, the lining of a seashell, the bubbles of pink champagne in a gold-rimmed flute, the shimmering silk of a sari, the glow of a candle through a gossamer white curtain. Ethereal is elegant and infinitely wearable, but has the merest hint of flash. It’s a versatile polish that can be worn by anyone, for any occasion.” —Nancy’s Fantasy.

Sanguine is a deep rich burgundy wine red shimmer. It’s packed with loads of sparkles but applies very smoothly on the nail with a glossy finish.

The inspiration, “The color I crave is a juicy jelly a la Starfish Patrick with a bright, burgundy base. It is luminous, like Poco a Poco, illuminated by the soft, peached pink glow and subtle flashes of orange. The color is vibrant, bold, and spirited. At once bright and sparkling, mysterious and dark.” – Lygie’s craving.

Electro Glacier is a baby blue with electric sparkles. This one took Ji a lot of mixing to get the right mix of bright, light and blue undertone to get the perfect color.
The inspiration, “This dream color would be an icy pastel blue/green with magical iridescent sparkles. It would be light and bright, never described as muted or dusty. More blue than Aqua Lily, and much lighter than Faraway, it is closer to the color of Bikini Bottom, but striking and opaque. I imagine the sparkle effect to be along the lines of Scrangie and NailsandNoms. Tiny, yet highly effective.” — Ashley’s #want

Galaxsea is a stunning complex iridescent purple with blue, silver, magenta, and purple sparkles inside. It’s almost duo-chrome with the way it’s complex, but it’s a very smooth sparkle. This one brightens up my mood, it’s such a fun color to wear. It’s almost like a glitter polish but very smooth and the base makes it easy to remove.

The inspiration, “Things that excite (and somewhat terrify) me are outer space and the sea. My inspiration for a new shade are those two extremes, as well as my favorite colors — multi-faceted shades of purple, blue, magenta– think fish scales. I love glitter in my polishes or sometimes a well-done shimmer makes an even bigger impact — think stars.” –Danielle’s Yearning…

Golden Horn is possibly my favorite out of the collection. It’s a gorgeous iridescent soft shimmering white that isn’t too white with suspended gold flecks. It’s an off white shade in color but not a pure white so it’s wearable on my hands (while true whites always look like white-out). There is a beautiful soft shimmer in the base which makes it glow. I had to add a closeup of the bottle – the gold is really subtle from a distance but up close you can see how gorgeous it is.

The inspiration, “This is a beautiful place in Istanbul where the Bosphorus makes an inlet. The idea is to have an off-white base (nothing too strong) with gold particles in it, similar to Naked Without Polish (which had a pink base). I love Naked Without Polish and I believe this can be a unique addition to your line. The particles should show through, so probably the base will not be 100% opaque. I love white and gold, I think it can be worn all year round, it is classy and chic.” – Sara’s Marvel…. 

Vixen by Sassy Shelly is such a surprise. It’s a medium-deep gorgeous berry magenta in the bottle but the shimmers are so bright the mix creates a unique bright but deep color on the nails. There are so many beautiful colors in the shimmer it’s a really complex color. Of course as always, I love RBL shimmers because even the complex ones apply smoothly on the fingers.

The inspiration, “I’m dreaming of a shade that (as of yet?) has been missing from the RBL spectrum. It’s rich and decadent and just dripping with luxury. A vivid magenta! A semi-translucent jelly, but one that is so drenched in color that it can become fully opaque in just a few coats. Its depth is filled with shimmer, a shimmer like (the first) Scrangie so deep you feel as though you could dive right in and swim around for hours. A magenta that almost glows from within with stunning teal and gold, sparkling, shining through its layers…”— Shelly’s Dream… 

Last but not least, Many Splendors is the most unique color in the collection. It’s a deep black and gold glitter that dries to a matte texture. Ji calls this lava-like and I completely agree. I love the look of this with a glossy top coat added, but I’ve swatched it here as is alone with 2 coats. Being a glitter matte, it is challenging to remove, so I recommend using a base coat to create a barrier for your nails.

The inspiration, “…a night-sky black polish that, like Uluru, responds to its environment revealing fiery flashes of red orange from within. “Many Splendours” could be thought of as a darker sister to my beloved bottle of Piu Mosso, however, like the island that inspired her, she will be truly one of a kind.”— Angela’s envisage 

A few swatch comparisons:

Rescue Beauty Lounge Bubblegum Punk (swatches)
Rescue Beauty Lounge Morning Light (swatches)
Rescue Beauty Lounge Better Than Boyfriend Jeans (swatches)
Rescue Beauty Lounge Peachypolish.com (swatches)
Dior Galaxie 992 (discontinued, review here)
Chanel Tulip Noire 457 (discontinued)
Rescue Beauty Lounge Pretty Gritty (swatches)
Dior Czarina Gold (discontinued)
Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie 2.0

Be sure to check out more swatches, details and close ups on these amazing nail and beauty bloggers. There photos are amazing and nails impeccable. More details on the RBL Blog too:

Rescue Beauty Lounge Blog: Introducing The Fan Collection 3.0
These polishes will retail at $20 each. Pre-orders will start on October 13th for 48 hours. Be sure to sign up for the Rescue Beauty Lounge newsletter on their website to receive the pre-sale link. Also follow RBL on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with the latest from them.

Many thanks to Rescue Beauty Lounge for sending me samples for a preview.
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Chanel Collection Automnales La Base Coat, Le Top Coat and new Le Vernis in Châtaigne, Écorce Sanguine and Vert Obscur

August 25, 2015

This fall Chanel has released a host of new products and colors for nails. There are three new limited-edition Le Vernis Nail Colours in Châtaigne, Écorce Sanguine and Vert Obscur ($27 each for 13 ml / 0.4 fl oz). In addition there is a new La Base Coat, Le Top Coat and a Le Top Coat Velvet (all $27 each). I’ve been playing with these for several weeks – each year it seems as though fall collections arrive earlier and earlier. I’m still in summer mode so I’ve been loving brighter colors but the new shades for fall do not disappoint.

I have a preliminary review on the new base and top coat after testing it with Chanel, Dior and Tom Ford nail polishes (I did skip the velvet version). I tried the original base coat and was never a fan. I found it didn’t go on the nails smoothly and it made nail polishes of all brands drag unevenly along the nail. The new La Base Coat has improved tremendously in terms of how it glides onto the nails. It’s supposed to be a protective and smoothing base with a soft pink tint to even out the nail tone. I find the pink tone does give the nails a very soft even look, but if you wear opaque polishes it doesn’t make a difference. The Chanel Base + Chanel Color combination = pure love. I found that it didn’t perform so well with Dior or Tom Ford – the color drags and you need a slightly thicker coat of color to get an even application. I prefer base the Formula X Base Coat and CND Sticky Base Coat by far in terms of how it performs with a variety of brands.

The new Le Top Coat is a quick dry high shine top coat. I’m a huge fan of the original Laque Brilliance Extreme Top Coat and after testing the new one, I have to say I still prefer the original version by far. I really hope it’s here to stay and that Chanel did not create a new one to replace it, however the original one is now gone from Chanel.com so I will have to stock up. The new Le Top Coat has a thinner more liquidy finish compared to the original. There was a slight learning curve for me to figure out exactly how much to load up on the brush. Too much resulted in it pooling in the cuticles. Too little caused streaking. That being said – once I got the hang of it, I found it was really nice how quickly it dried. It left the nails with a glossy finish, but the original had a more cushiony glossy shine. It works well with multiple brands and there is no shrinkage around the edges if I use it with Dior or Tom Ford. It did help my manicure last without tip wear for 5 days. I found the original version better with manicures lasting up to 7 days without chipping or tip wear.

Onto the colors for fall: Châtaigne is a brown plum vamp cream, Écorce Sanguine is a stunning deep red with the almost-invisible gold shimmer and Vert Obscur is a jelly forest green. I love a good vamp, Châtaigne goes on smoothly without any issues. Two coats will cover the nail entirely. There is a brownish base that prevents it from looking pure black on the hands. It’s still very dark.

Écorce Sanguine is a very special red. In my mind Chanel can do no wrong with reds. Last holiday they released too many similar reds, but this one for fall is deep and bright at the same time. It’s a classic color that doesn’t age the hands or darken. I own way too many reds already but this one has phenomenal coverage. One coat is enough to cover the nail entirely. I always prefer at least 2 coats though. Be sure to check out the swatches on Café Makeup – she captures the shimmer perfectly!

Vert Obscur is the color I was most excited about but ended up being slightly disappointed with it. It’s a gorgeous dark forest green in the bottle. The formula is a bit blotchy with the first coat. It will leave the nail looking streaky. Two to three coats fixes it and it looks better with extra coats, but on the nails it’s so dark it almost looks black. I would have liked it to be a bit brighter or have the green more visible.

Comparisons:

Dior Nuit 1947 (reviewed here)
Louboutin Sevillana
Tom Ford Bitter Bitch
Tom Ford Black Cherry (review here)
Chanel Vamp (swatched here)
Chanel Forbidden (discontinued), Rouge Fatal (discontinued)
Chanel Cinema (swatched here)
Marc Jacobs Jezebel
Tom Ford Black Jade (swatches here)
Louboutin Lady Twist (swatched here)
Burberry Dark Bottle Green (reviewed here)
Rescue Beauty Lounge Small Dim Summer Stars (swatches here)

Overall thoughts on the new Base and Top coat are that I’m undecided. I like they way they perform with Chanel nail polishes, but I was so in love with the original top coat. I think I just need to test them out more. For the new fall colors, I think all three are really gorgeous – I think the red Écorce Sanguine is absolutely stunning but you can get something very similar although most won’t have that gorgeous gold shimmer. I can’t say the other two are must-haves – there are just so many similar colors to Châtaigne and Vert Obscur is so dark it looks black on my hands. Perhaps once the actual fall season rolls around I’ll be more into these colors. I do think they are nice to have – as a die hard Chanel collector, I had to add them to my collection, but I can’t call them must-haves. Right now I have my eye on the Rouge Noir collections coming out, preliminary details and sneak peeks via Specktra.net. The colors look amazing for late fall/holiday collections.

All three Le Vernis colors for fall are limited-edition. The new La Base and Le Top Coats are here to stay. You can find them at all Chanel counters now. Online at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Chanel.com.

Did you try any of the new fall colors? What did you think?

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Peachy Makeup Loves

July 26, 2015
Right now I’m obsessed with peachy makeup for lips and nails. All variations from peachy nudes, lush peachy apricots and bright coral peaches. Anything with peach is actually a staple for me – the color is almost a neutral to me because I find it goes with everything, almost every occasion or any color outfit. I’ve pulled a few of my favorites that I have had in rotation this summer.

Lips: Clarins, NARS, Tom Ford, Smith & Cult, Marc Jacobs Beauty, YSL and Fresh

  • Clarins Instant Light Lip Balm Perfector Sticks (c/o) have been in regular rotation. I’ll have a review of all six shades hopefully this next week. All the colors have the perfect amount of color and shine for a tinted lipbalm. 02 Coral is a sheer light peach.
  • NARS Chelsea Girls Lip Gloss (c/o) is a new shade for fall, it was previously in pot form. It’s now in tube form and seems a bit deeper in color compared to the original making it more wearable.
  • Tom Ford Skinnydip Lip Color Sheer is my favorite peachy nude gold shimmer, it makes the lips look shiny and naturally full.
  • Smith & Cult Her Name is Bubbles is something I’ve been testing out. I ordered 3 glosses, so far the gloss in Her Name is Bubbles is my favorite, it’s a bright coral in the tube but goes on the lips a sheer lush peach. It smells like soft vanilla.
  • Marc Jacobs Uproar (c/o) is the prettiest sheer peach sparkle. It has an ultra luxe cushiony texture that feels super moisturizing on the lips. Review and swatches of all Enamored Hi Shine Lip Lacquers in this post here.
  • Tom Ford Lips & Boys in William is a high shimmer warm gold peach nude. The frost factor is high but I like it. If you can’t do high shimmer frosts, try Skinnydip instead.
  • YSL Pop Water Glossy Stain in Wet Nude is the best sheer nude peach gloss ever. (Swatches and review of more colors here.)
  • Fresh Sugar Lip Shines now come in more shades, Sugar Nude is a sheer peachy nude shimmer with a high shine finish.

Lip swatches of a few of the colors:

Nails: Dior, Smith & Cult, Chanel and Essie

  • Dior Sunkissed is the prettiest peach nude I’ve ever tried. It’s super flattering and brightening on the hands without looking too pale, too pastel, or too peach.
  • Dior Majesty was released in the US as a Nordstrom Anniversary Beauty Exclusive. It’s a brighter peach but still a soft color. Against a tan it makes the hands look darker but it’s a fun bright peach without being too bright.
  • Smith & Cult Ghost Edit is a super sheer glossy nude peach. It took three coats for me to get the color to show. It’s a nice glossy neutral that lets the whites of your nails show through. The look is polished and natural.
  • Essie Sunday Funday is such a pretty coral peach with a tiny hint of shimmer. For the price, the pigment and color is really good. I have yet to find a good base/top coat combination that makes an Essie nail polish last more than 3 days on me (I am still getting major tip wear by day 2). But the colors are fun to wear and affordable.
  • Chanel Mirabella is my favorite orange peach. I’m glad it hasn’t been discontinued even though it was released last year. It’s a pretty bright orange.

What’s your favorite peachy lipstick, lipgloss or nail polish?
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Rescue Beauty Lounge Bloggers’ 3.0 Collection

July 20, 2015

Rescue Beauty Lounge has teamed up with five amazing nail bloggers Makeup Withdrawal, Manicurator, Peachy Polish, Refined and Polished and Warmvanillasugar0823 to create a new collection of nail polishes. I received news that these launched while I was away last month and was thrilled to come home to a lovely package from Rescue Beauty Lounge. As usual – the colors Ji mixed up are stunning and unique with flawless application.

The five colors are designed by:

Morning Light from Yukie Loves

Morning Light from Yukie of Warmvanillasugar0823 is a light baby blue with a finely milled shimmer infused throughout. It has full smooth coverage with two coats. I like that it’s a baby blue but has a lot of color in it so it doesn’t look too pastel on the nails. The inspiration behind her creation:

“Periwinkle/Forget-me-not blue was one of my dad’s favorite colors. He used that tone a lot in his paintings before he passed away. I love it paired with a soft, golden shimmer or micro glitter. This painting, called Morning Light, inspired the polish. A light, cool blue, with a bit of pale gold light coming through.”

Peachypolish.com from Peachy Polish is an amazing metallic plum. It’s metallic in finish but has an ultra smooth application free of visible brush strokes. The creation of this color went through several variations. According to Ji:

“Valesha gave me very specific color directions and yes, you read this right, she sent me numerous submissions because some of them were technically impossible. Nevertheless, I’m just thrilled that we went in this direction, a new one for the RBL family; we have nothing like this color AT ALL. If you took a combination of raspberries, strawberries and blackberries, mushed and mixed them together and topped this mixture with gold, pink, blue and orange shimmering powders, what you would get is this elegant color. It’s not too dark, not too light, but an elusive medium tone that speaks to everyone. With a streak-less satin finish that’s a dream to apply, this one is definitely a new RBL classic.”

Manicurator is one of the best teal nail colors I’ve tried. It’s a mix of teal, aqua green and baby blue which makes it more wearable for me compared to other bright teals but that being said I do think Rescue Beauty Lounge makes the best blues out there. Manicurator reminds me of a summer vacation. I adore this one. It has a tiny bit of iridescent shimmer flecks inside. Application is smooth and flawless. The inspiration from Victoria came from a moodboard she created:

“All the Turks & Caicos photos are my own! I included the RBL shimmers I adore. I’d like it to be a light, dusty aqua base with a mix of your famous fantastic shimmer :D”

According to Ji:

“Who can argue with the color of lovely, tantalizing island water all-year round? A wee bit darker then our beloved Bikini Bottom, this color has a hint of a green overtone in this fantastical crème-jelly hybrid formula. And of course, like the waters by Turks & Caicos which brilliantly shimmer in the sultry sunlight, this polish is jammed-packed with micro-blue, purple, and green shimmers that will mesmerize.”

Refined and Polished is a stunning peachy orange cream that has blue and silver glitters inside. I’ve never seen a mix as interesting as this one. The blue glitters are visible on the nail (swatched in this post holding the Anya Hindmarch case here). Per Lakeisha from Refined and Polished:

“My dream polish would be coral (more peach or orange-leaning, but not red) with turquoise and gold glass flecks or shimmer. This is a timeless combo that works so well for clothing, accessories, and makeup.”

Makeupwithdrawal is a deep indigo violet jelly cream with multi-colored shimmers mixed in. With two coats the color is almost 100% opaque but the jelly texture makes it semi-transparent. It’s very smooth and applies easily on the nail without streaks. Even though it’s stunning in the bottle, it looks even more incredible on the fingers. Per Mimi from Makeup Withdrawal:
“My perfect shade would be almost if Piu Mosso and IKB 2012 had a child. Not quite as inky as Piu Mosso or as creme-like in its finish, but with some of IKB’s vibrant jelly-like properties (but more purple). I picture it containing large gold particles instead of Piu Mosso’s fine, coppery shimmer. In fact, perhaps even bigger than the gold flakes in Naked Without Polish, but sparse enough to not overwhelm the base color. I am imaging a color that is regal, guilty of hubris (that is, if a color could even be accused of such a thing), something simply exquisite like a lapis lazuli gold filigree necklace.”

One last roundup:

Bottom line all shades are winners. I’m not a fan of glitter polishes but even Refined and Polished is amazing. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite because they are all amazing. Manicurator is the prettiest teal sea green blue, Peachypolish.com is the perfect metallic soft plum wine, Morning Light is an amazing baby blue, Makeupwithdrawl is deep plum jelly perfection.

For other swatches be sure to check out Fashion Polish, Refined and Polished, Kellie Gonzo, Polish Police (along with comparison swatches), Yukie Loves, Makeup Withdrawal, Peachy Polish, and Manicurator. Each color retails for $20 available exclusively at Rescue Beauty Lounge.

These polishes were provided courtesy of Rescue Beauty Lounge.

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Dior Vernis in Sundown 464

July 17, 2015

Above: Flip flops by Tory Burch, Sunglasses L Rayban, Sunglasses R Marc by Marc Jacobs, Pouch Fauré Le Page

I spotted a new nail summer polish in Paris at Sephora from Dior called Sundown #464. It’s a shade we didn’t get in the US but was released in other countries. It’s a bright summer pink with a hint of coral (no shimmer). I had this applied on the last week of our vacation – the manicurists used Deborah Lippmann for the base and top coat and my manicure lasted a full week after before tip wear started to occur. (For more swatches you may want to check out Color Me Loud.)

I took it with me to the beach in Mykonos to take photos. Below it’s swatched with two coats:

As soon as I got back home to California, I pulled some other shades to see if I could dupe it. My first instinct was to compare it to other Dior colors. I looked at all my Chanel Le Vernis nail colors as well to see what would be the closest. Dior Sundown is almost an exact dupe for Pasteque from many years ago (now discontinued). I ran out of fingers to swatch them on so I don’t have it shown below.

Dior Aventure (reviewed here)
Dior Wonderland (swatched here)
Dior Glory (discontinued, review here)
Chanel Le Top Coat (new for fall, review soon)

Swatch-wise, Dior Sundown is a 99% dupe for Chanel Tutti Frutti. The Dior is just the tiniest bit brighter in color, but the base and overall look from arms length is almost identical. Dior Wonderland is the next closest color but several shades lighter and more pink. Dior Aventure has a lot more orange and warmth making Sundown look almost pink next to it. Dior Glory by comparison looks red.

I’m a huge fan of Dior nail polishes. The application is flawless and smooth – once you try one you’ll be impressed with the brush shape and fluid texture. It’s really quite amazing. Lasting power is usually around 5-7 days without tip wear when I use either the regular Chanel Laque Brilliance Extreme, Rescue Beauty Lounge or Dior Gel Top Coat.

Have you seen Dior Sundown? What did you think?
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Chanel Les Beiges Le Vernis: Beige Rose, Beige Pur, Precious Beige and Lovely Beige

July 13, 2015

There are four new Le Vernis Nail Colours ($27 each) in this year’s Les Beiges Collection. The four beiges remind me of some of the classic sheer pink and beige colors Chanel had back in the 90’s – but in modern form and with better coverage (I remember the older ones being super sheer!). I picked up all four shades at the counter over a month ago – I know many of you have been asking for swatches, apologies for the delay! All are sheer in coverage with a super smooth streak-free finish. There is enough pigment that it will cover the nail entirely with two coats. Here’s a quick peek at the Chanel Les Beiges display:

Beige Rose is a sheer glossy baby pink, it has a bright quality to it so on my hands it actually looks pink even though it’s light in undertone. With this one two coats gives pretty good coverage but has a slight jelly finish.

Beige Pur is a sheer neutral beige. Out of the four this one is the sheerest on me. I think nude beiges can be hard to pull off sometimes with my skintone. If a nude nail polish color is an exact match or has too much warmth the color can make my hands look corpse-like or skin look sallow. I think your mileage may vary depending on your skintone with Beige Pur – I personally really like it on the hands. It gives them a neutral polished look.

Precious Beige is a warmer dark beige on my Chanel Beige 30 skintone (I was a Chanel Beige 30 when I swatched these last month, right now I have a tan and am more along the lines of Beige 40/50). It has a tiny bit of shimmer mixed in throughout but on the nail it looks more like a cream. The shimmer is still visible if you look at the nails up close.

Lovely Beige is the darkest of the four colors. This is a medium warm beige tan on me. I like that it’s warm but not too warm (like Intention was on me). There is the slightest hint of a terracotta pink undertone in Lovely Beige.

 

Swatch comparisons below (left nail wheel is from the Dior Summer Vernis post):

Based on the swatch comparisons, I couldn’t find a dupe for Beige Rose. It’s a few shades darker compared to other pale pinks that I own. Beige Pur resembles a more beige version of Chanel Jade Rose (discontinued). It’s also similar to Chanel Secret but the Beige Pur has more brown/beige undertone. For Precious Beige I think Tom Ford Toasted Sugar is the closest option (the Chanel is a bit warmer in undertone). Precious Beige is the closest dupe I’ve found to the long discontinued Sahara Beige Nail Polish. Chanel Lovely Beige is a warmer tan version of Dior Incognito.

Overall I find the four Les Beiges Le Vernis shades to be lovely polished classics. They offer good coverage with a slightly sheer finish making them easy to wear and apply. Texture is smooth and streak free which is a huge plus for pale nail colors (although Chanel almost always makes colors with good pigment and coverage). Being neutrals I do think there are other less expensive brands that have similar colors. My personal experience is that nudes and beiges need to have the right mix of white, cream, tan and beige to work on my olive skin. If it’s too warm it makes the hands look yellow. If it has too much grey or white it ends up looking like a pale white pink. Chanel, Dior and Louboutin do nudes and beiges the best in my experience – although depending on your skintone you may find other brands work just as well.

I give Beige Rose and Precious Beige a huge thumbs up for color. I could have skipped Beige Pur and Lovely Beige – they are lovely colors, I just prefer the other two. Bottom line is that they are definitely worth a look.

Several have asked about how to make Chanel polish last. I do believe the base and top coat make a huge difference in extending the wear. On several occasions when I have professional manicures and forget to bring my own base/top coat, I find tip wear and chipping occur by Day 2. For me the Chanel Nail Polish + OPI or Seche Vite combination just doesn’t work. OPI Top Coats doesn’t make the polish last and Seche Vite causes major shrinkage around the edges of both the cuticle and tips which makes tip wear occur much faster. Both are good brands but they work better with other polish brands.

Out of all the base and top coats I’ve tested, my top two favorite base coats are the Deborah Lippmann Rehydrating Base Coat which seems to be discontinued (or maybe being repackaged?) and the Formula X Base Coat. For top coats Chanel Laque Brilliance Extreme and Rescue Beauty Lounge are my holy grails. With Chanel Fall there is a new base coat called La Base and a new top coat called Le Top Coat which is supposed to be a quick dry product. I just purchase both and will be testing in the next couple of weeks.

You can find the Les Beiges nail colors at all Chanel counters and boutiques now. Online at Chanel.com, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales.

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