Chanel’s Fashion Night Out 2012: Delicatesse

 Oh wow, two posts in one week!  I promise it’s not a sign of the apocalypse, haha.  I just was going through my computer and realized I have so many manicures that I photographed and never wrote about! 

Today I have for you the second polish from Chanel for last September’s Fashion Night Out, Chanel Delicatesse.  Delicatesse is a beautiful blend of rose, mauve, and brown and is a perfect neutral that didn’t fade into the background when I wore it.  The formula was great and buttery, as to be expected from Chanel.  This is two coats of Delicatesse.

This first photo may not be the best angle of Delicatesse, but I loved how it looked in front of the burnt red wall.

Here is Delicatesse in sunlight.

And another close-up of the color.  See what I mean about complementing my skin tone without fading into the background, a la mannequin hands?

Similar to Chanel Infidele, I found Delicatesse to not be the most unique color but a welcome addition to my collection.  I’ve worn manicure a few times and I find it to be a great neutral option for the work week.  Delicatesse was a limited edition release for Fashion’s Night Out, but is still available online at Chanel.com (it was also sold at Chanel boutiques, but I think it’s sold out in stores for the most part now).  Chanel Delicatesse retails for $27/bottle (thanks for the price increase, Chanel!  Sheesh!).

What do you think?  Do you own Chanel Delicatesse, or any of the polishes released for Fashion Night Out 2012?  I would love to hear your thoughts – sound off in the comments!

Chanel Diwali

It’s a new year, and one change I’ve made lately when it comes to beauty is to focus on quality over quantity.  After spending some major $$ over the past few years exploring every brand under the sun, I finally have an idea of which products from which brands work well with my skin, so I’m focusing now on sticking with those favorites and taking it easy on the exploration of random brands/products.  Yea, $40K tuition will take the wind out of makeup hauls.  On the nail front, I’ve significantly cut down my collection and this year am pretty much limiting new purchases to my favorite brands only – Chanel and Dior.

Chanel Diwali is a limited edition release from the Bombay Express de Chanel which I think was released last fall.  It’s a pale champagne gold with an incredibly smooth texture.  Last December I was looking for a great gold for the holidays, and after searching swatches and swatches I went for the pale gold of Diwali instead of the intense yellow gold of Chanel Gold Fingers.  These swatches are 3 very thin coats of Diwali; I certainly could have left it at 2 coats, but wanted to get full coverage on the nail.  The polish was amazing applied, and gave me such a glamorous feel on my nails.

Here’s Diwali on a bright, sunny morning (apologies for my nails, they’ve been breaking like crazy this winter):

I don’t know which I loved more on this day – the polish or the great weather! Days like this are why I endure the craziness of life in Los Angeles.

The next photo was taken in the shade, and best shows off the texture of Diwali on the nail:

 
 
I simply adore Chanel Diwali.  I haven’t had a polish get me this excited in awhile.  It was great for the holidays, and I know I’ll be bringing it out in the spring and summer, just as soon as flip flop and summer dress season is upon us.  Diwali is a limited edition release and is only available at Chanel boutiques and Chanel.com.  It is slightly more pricey than regular Chanel polish (I think this was $28 or $29) but completely worth it in my opinion. 

Do you have Chanel Diwali?  Let me know what you think in the comments!

Chanel's Fashion Night Out 2012: Infidele

Hi Everyone!  Yes, I'm still alive!  Grad school is kicking my butt!  It's been a crazy first quarter, with meeting so many people and learning to juggle work with two classes.  How I'm going to survive this for three more years, I'm not sure!  Ha.  But I'm having a lot of fun figuring it out.  The quarter is winding down, with finals next week, so hopefully I can do more blogging over the winter break.

Because even if I haven't been blogging, I've certainly been polishing!  And doing more hauling! Ha.

Today I want to share with you a lovely polish I picked up in September for Fashion Night Out.  I've come to look forward to this event so much, and primarily for the limited edition polishes Chanel releases for the occasion.  In 2010 it was Les Khakis de Chanel, with the much loved Khaki Brun, Khaki Rose, and everyone's favorite Khaki Vert.  Last year gave us Les Jeans de Chanel, with three stunning takes on blue in Coco Blue, Blue Boy, and Blue Rebel.  What did Chanel have in store for us for 2012?  A slightly different take - three exclusive polishes, but three matching lipsticks as well - Les Twin-Sets de Chanel.  I passed on all three lipsticks (and am sorely regretting not picking up L'Provocante now), but did snatch up all three polishes,  the first of which I have to show you today - Infidele.

Chanel describes Infidele as an 'intense pink with a burst of energy', and that it most definitely is!  And while it's certainly bright, it has a slight dusty quality that made it perfect for the sunny fall day when I wore it.  This is two coats of Infidele, and the formula was buttery perfection.  Normally I don't notice formula -as in, I don't really have problems with most - but when a formula is exceptional, I notice.  And Infidele is definitely exceptional.

 Infidele was certainly ready for its close-up:

... and here is a super warmed-up version of Infidele, in bright direct sunlight - it shows the hint of rosy dusk in the color:

Is Infidele the most unique color I've ever seen?  Probably not.  Did I have anything like it in my collection?  Nope.  Am I happy it came home with me with the other two beauties, Delicatesse and Provocation?  Absolutely!  (Reviews on both coming  soon!)


If you missed it in September, you can still purchase Infidele from Chanel.com.  Each polish retails for $26 - a steep price tag, so only take the plunge if you love Infidele or you're a Chanel addict like yours truly.  :)

Chanel Rose Cache

Hey nail fanatics!  How’s your Thursday going?  It’s another overcast day here in LA – June Gloom is in full effect – which means crappy weather for photographing.  So instead I went through my photos to find a mani I haven’t shown you yet!

Today I have for you Chanel Rose Cache.  This is a sheer, nude colored polish with a pretty light pink shimmer.  Normally I don’t go for these nude colors at all, but this past winter I was in a nail polish exchange on one of my favorite forums and saw this polish; at the same time I was getting ready for grad school interviews and new I didn’t have anything conservative in my collection, so I grabbed this one up.  I’m so happy I did!  It’s a great neutral-but-not-boring polish.  This is 3 coats of Rose Cache. 

 Here’s a shot in direct sunlight….
 

…and another in indirect sunlight (it was a glorious day in LA!)…

I really like Rose Cache, but I also really dis-like visible nail line, which still shows through after 3 coats.  I’d heard that Dior Incognito, released in the Spring 2012 Color Block collection, had a similar base color as Rose Cache without the shimmer, so I picked up a bottle.  I’ll photograph a comparison of the two soon for you!  Either way, I’m holding on to Rose Cache for now; it’s not an instant love, but it’s a strong like, and maybe I’ll give it another chance…

Rose Cache was released in December 2011 and is currently available online at Chanel and at my favorite department store, Nordstrom.  Each polish retails for $26 for a 0.5 fl oz bottle. 

Make it a great day!

Chanel Distraction

 Happy Tuesday, everyone!  I just finished an awesome morning jog – the weather is gorgeous right now in LA, and I love how I have my early sunrises again – it makes waking up for morning workouts so much easier when the sun is already out!

Today I have for you one of my instant new favorite polishes, Chanel Distraction.  Chanel recently released 4 new polishes in the Roses Ultime de Chanel collection, and 3 of the 4 are permanent additions to the collection, including Distraction.  I am on the orange/coral polish train this spring, and Distraction is a much loved stop on the route!  Distraction is a orange-leaning coral with a fuchsia shimmer that is just stunning in sunlight!  The formula was a dream to work with, barely requiring 2 coats for full opacity.  Take a look!

Can you see that fuchsia shimmer? Love.

I haven’t been this excited about a polish in a long time!  Chanel Distraction is my dream coral, and if it wasn’t permanent, I’d run out immediately and buy a backup so I’d never know life without it again.  That’s how much I love it!


Chanel Distraction is currently available at Chanel boutiques and your regular Chanel counters.  Each polish retails for $26 each.  If the price tag has you gasping, you may want to check out Sabrina’s post at The Beauty Look Book, which has some really good comparisons.  If the shimmer isn’t a must-have for you, take a look at Laura Mercier’s new release Cabana, which Sabrina says is really close to the base color of Distraction and comes with the bargain price tag of $18 (ha!).


What do you think?  Is Chanel Distraction as unique as I think it is?  What are you favorite coral polishes?  And are you enjoying the coral train that’s moving at full throttle this spring, or are you over it already?  Sound off in the comments!

Chanel Khaki Vert: Mine. Finally!!

 Howdy, strangers!  What’s everyone up to this weekend?  Anything fun, or are people going to the mall to throw elbows and squeeze in last minute shopping?  Folks at the mall are CRA-ZY.  I did all of my shopping online, and anything I thought I might need to go to the mall and buy… well, that person just got re-gifted something from my own stash LOL.  I don’t do malls between Thanksgiving and Christmas, fer sure. 

I’m spending my day studying for the GMAT – less than 2 weeks to test day! – but took a break to give my tips and toes a much-needed polish change.  I decided to put on a longtime lemming, Chanel Khaki Vert.  If you hadn’t heard, Chanel released an extremely limited edition trio of nail polishes for Fashion Night Out 2010 (similar to the Le Jeans collection from this past FNO 2011) called Les Khakis de Chanel.  Google it, ya’ll – the collection was hot and sold out like crazy.  Sadly, I was not collection nail polish at the time, but as soon as I saw swatches of these, I had to have them.  A few weeks ago I found a lovely lady who was selling her collection, and while I paid a little more than retail for these babies, it was totally worth it!

Khaki Vert is a green creme with very strong warm tones.  Seriously, it’s like, the most perfect army green ever.  Especially when you pair it with the other 2 colors from the collection (which I will sometime in the future), it seriously looks like army fatigue camouflage exploded on your fingers.  I may need to remember this next time I go drinking near an army base and want to snag a man in uniform… LOL!  Here’s a look!

I’m totally loving this mani!  Sadly, Khaki Vert is no longer available, nor would I recommend anyone pay the ridiculous prices on eBay.  However, now that I have a bottle of my own, I’ll keep my eye out for similar polishes so that I can recommend polishes at reasonable prices that may help cure this lemming for you!

Fall ‘11 Watch: Chanel Peridot

Good Morning!  I know, I know, I’ve been M-I-A this week.  I really wish I had a good excuse for you.  But I don’t.  I painted my nails Saturday for the first time with a new brand, Illamasqua, just to play around with it, so I didn’t bother taking photos.  Obviously I also didn’t expect to still be wearing it 5 days later, yet here I am.  It’s wearing like iron and blowing my mind, but I promise to do some swatching this weekend!

Today I have for you another polish from the Chanel fall 2011 Illusions d’Ombres collection, Peridot.  Peridot is a gold polish with hints of green, depending on the angle you look at it.  I wouldn’t call it a true duochrome, but it’s definitely trying.  It ends up looking most of the time like a gold polish with a green cast to it.  I did 3 coats for this mani, but I could have gotten away with 2 – I think the 3rd coat just helped the polish to pop more for the photos.  Take a look!
  

 
You can kinda see the green/teal duochrome peeking out the sides, but it never really makes a full on appearance on the nail.  While I don’t normally go for these warm-toned gold polishes – actually, this may be the only gold polish I own! – I’m still cuckoo for Peridot.  Somehow, some way, I just think it works for me... or maybe I’m just in a very special place of denial.


Chanel Peridot is limited, so grab a bottle while you can!  I also previously reviewed another polish from this collection, Graphite, and apparently it’s already sold out on the Chanel website.  Pick up Peridot while you still can.  It retails for $25 per polish, and is also available at Nordstom and Macy’s.

What do you think?  Would you call Peridot a duochrome, or just another gold polish?  Do you have any polishes similar in color?  And what fall collections do you have your eye on?

Les Jeans de Chanel: Coco Blue

Happy Friday!  I hope you're all getting ready for your weekend!  I am not at all looking forward to my WW weigh-in tomorrow - this has not been a good week.  But, it's a new day, I'm shaking off the mistakes of the past few days, and looking to getting it right today!

Today I have for you the third and final polish from the Les Jeans de Chanel collection released for FNO, Coco Blue.  Coco Blue is a light blue polish with a sparkling blue shimmer.  I could not catch the shimmer well on camera on all - my apologies.  It's a pretty color, but it reminds me more of summer than fall.  To me, Coco Blue was the weakest polish and least fave in this collection.  It is pretty, though, so maybe I will love it more next spring/summer!

 

  

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I dug around in my own personal collection to see if I had any polishes similar to Coco Blue.  To be honest, I don’t wear light blues like this often, and I only came up with one that was even close – OPI What’s With the Cattitude?, a limited edition light blue crème released last year as a part of the OPI Shrek Collection.  Coco Blue is noticeably darker than WWtC, and also has a shimmer (which is more apparent in the swatch below) that is missing from WWtC. 

L-to-R: Chanel Coco Blue, OPI What's With the Cattitude?

 
I prefer Coco Blue because it’s darker and works better with WWtC, but I’m also a fan of WWtC because it was my mani for my 30th birthday last year!

 
Lesson learned: Friends Don’t Let Friends Do Jager Bombs. Let’s just say I’m not sure how much I remember of the night after this drink, but my friends tell me I was epic.

The Kindness of Strangers

I have a nail swatch to share with you later today, but first I wanted to take a moment and talk about something special that happened to me earlier this week.  I personally think I hang out at the best nail forum on the entire interwebz, and the women I meet with over there to discuss all things nail polish are fun, hilarious, and extremely kind.  We aren't allowed to swap or sell polish to each other there, just share in enjoying our addiction. 

When I first started hanging out over there I heard of these things called RAOKs - Random Acts Of Kindness.  Think of RAOKs as care packages from one nail polish lover to another.  I have sent a few RAOKs to some folks who helped me out at one point or another (like when I was planning for my London trip, and needed help figuring out what to bring back) or just because someone was really desiring a polish I had but knew I would never use.  Well, I’m sure you can see where this is going – last week a member contacted me to let me know she had an extra polish on my wishlist and wanted to send it to me as a RAOK.  She sent me that polish – and a lot more! – and the RAOK has floored me. I swear, I even cried a little as I opened the package.  I can’t even say this was like Christmas in September, because my family doesn’t really celebrate Christmas anymore, so this was even better! 

Here’s my RAOK package:

L-to-R: Le Metier de Beaute Silk Road Collection, Rock 'N Romance Collection

L-to-R: OPI Creme de Menthe, Mad As A Hatter, Damone Roberts 1968, Julep Whitney

Clockwise from top: Rococo Gold Leaf, Illamasqua Hectic, RBL Black Russian, Poco a Poco, Chanel Quartz

I am so grateful to the amazing angel who sent these to me!  I’m cherishing them all, and expect to see swatches soon!

Les Jeans de Chanel: Blue Rebel

Happy Sunday!  Today I have for you another polish from the Les Jeans de Chanel collection for FNO, Blue Rebel.  I reviewed Blue Boy last week, and Blue Rebel is definitely the darker, sexier jean to Blue Boy’s well-worn denim feel.  If Blue Boy is my favorite comfy pair of jeans, Blue Rebel is the slightly uncomfortable, slimming dark jean I whip out for nights out on the town. 

Blue Rebel is a dark navy creme with smoky tones.  It is highly pigmented and has a squishy formula – like Blue Boy, it feels like a jelly, and has a high gloss finish like a jelly, but is still a creme with full opacity in just 2 coats.

Blue Rebel is a little lighter in the photo than IRL; the deep color on the pointer finger is probably most accurate.  It’s dark, but not too dark that one would mistake it for black – it’s definitely blue.  This is another winner from Chanel!

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I went through my collection to see if I had any polishes similar to Blue Rebel.  The best I could come up with is a polish I picked up in my Euro haul this past summer, Mavala Smoky Blue.  Mavala is a Swiss brand I don’t think is available here in the states.  As you can see in the photo below, Smoky Blue is very close, but it’s slightly more gray and has a light blue shimmer, while Blue Rebel is a true crème. On the right I also swatched another navy blue crème, China Glaze First Mate, to show you the gray undertones in Blue Rebel.

L-to-R: Chanel Blue Rebel, Mavala Smoky Blue, CG First Mate

If you haven’t grabbed them yet, Les Jeans de Chanel is still available online at Chanel.  The collection retails for $29/polish.  They’re supposed to be available until the end of September, so be sure to pick up a polish or two while you can!

Les Jeans de Chanel: Blue Boy

Happy Friday!  What will you be up to this weekend?  The insane heat wave has finally broken here in LA, which should mean some quality time at the pool for me!  I'm also hoping to catch a few movies as well, so it should be a fun weekend all around.

What better way to kick-off a fun weekend than to celebrate Fashion's Night Out 2011 last night in West Hollywood?  LA had big parties at Century City, Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive, and West Hollywood/Robertson.  I went over to Robertson, home of my new favorite Chanel boutique.  Finally - I have an awesome SA for Chanel!  The SAs at Macy's and Nordstrom were not great at all, so now I'm happy to have someone I want to go to for all my future Chanel needs.  As a part of FNO, Chanel released a special limited edition collection of blue polishes named Les Jeans De Chanel.  These Chanel FNO collections are always hot items - just head over to eBay and look at the prices for last year's Les Khakis de Chanel collection!  I picked up each of the polishes in the collection: Coco Blue, Blue Boy, and Blue Rebel.  I instantly fell in love with all 3!

Today I am wearing Blue Boy.  Blue Boy is a medium blue polish with strong gray tones.  It is a thin formula, and was very squishy, feeling almost like a jelly when I applied it.  It's definitely not a jelly, though, and built nicely to full opacity in 2 coats.  My recommendation is to start with a thin coat, and let it dry, as you will get drag if you try to paint over a wet nail.  Then, I applied a thicker second coat to get the perfect mani.  Take a look!

Chanel Blue Boy, outdoors, natural lighting

 

Chanel Blue Boy, indoors, artificial lighting

 You didn't doubt for a minute that I was in love with Blue Boy, did you?  If I could marry Blue Boy, I probably would.  Or at least offer up myself to him to be his baby mama - wedding ring be damned.  Kinda like how I feel about Kevin Alejandro on True Blood.  You know.

I also dug around my stash to try to see if I had any polishes similar to Blue Boy.  The closest I could find was Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gray By Gray.  They're close, but definitely not identical.  Where Blue Boy leans blue, Gray By Gray is most definitely a gray.  To also show how gray-influenced Blue Boy is, I also swatched OPI Dating A Royal, a true blue creme, to show you the difference in the colors.

L-to-R: OPI Dating A Royal, Chanel Blue Boy, Sally Hansen CSM Gray By Gray

Les Jeans de Chanel is currently available online at Chanel.  They retail for $29/polish, which is a steep price tag, even for Chanel (regular polishes retail for $25 each).  I believe there was a limited quantity of the collection available in Chanel Boutiques and in Neiman Marcus.  If you're going to try to pick up Blue Boy or any polishes in the collection in person, do it soon and definitely check ahead - many locations sold out last night, and my particular Chanel said that while they didn't sell out, they were instructed to pull them off the shelves after the FNO events concluded.  They should be available online through the end of September, or until they sell out, whichever happens first.  Don't miss out on these!

Pink Wednesdays: Chanel Morning Rose

Happy Hump Day! I have a quick lunchtime post for you!

For Pink Wednesday I have for your today Chanel Morning Rose. Morning Rose is a pale warm pink with gold flecks throughout. Normally I am not one for warm-toned pinks, but the more swatches I saw online, the more the gold flecks captivated me. I thought it would be a sheer polish, because it looks so delicate, but Morning Rose can stand on her own - just 3 coats for full opacity.




The gold flecks were difficult to capture on film, so here's a shot of the bottle where it's much more pronounced:



It's a little tricky for me to describe how I feel about Morning Rose. It's not delicate or sheer enough to be a classic look on me - it's a wee bit more bold than that - but it's also not a bold bright with an edge. It's safe for work on me, but it definitely stands out, and I caught myself eying it a few times through the day. I can't tell you exactly when I'll do a mani with Morning Rose again, but I'll know the moment when I see it - when it will be a perfect accompaniment to a fantastic outfit - so it's going to stick around in my stash until that moment comes!

Morning Rose was a limited edition polish released this summer as a part of the Chanel Les Fleurs d'Ete Collection. It is currently sold out online at Chanel and Nordstrom - boo! - but call around to your local Nordstrom and Macy's Chanel counters. I still see it at several stores while I'm out and about, so pick one up while you still can!


What do you think? Are the gold flecks amazing to you, too? Do you like warm-toned pinks like Morning Rose? And did you pick up any other polishes from Chanel's summer collection, like the much more hyped Mimosa?

Last Night's Nails: Chanel Graphite

Last Night's Drink: London Pride
Last Night's Mani: Chanel Graphite

Hi Everyone! I had another post planned for today, but late last night a friend called and we decided to hit up my local bar for an hour or so before closing. I had a polish on my tips that I wasn't feeling, so I quickly acetoned it and reached for a new, sexy fall color - Chanel Graphite. Graphite is a metallic foil polish with hints of silver and gold. It really reminds me of pewter in color. This is my first Chanel polish (actually, my first polish ever over $20!) and I was curious about how the color would look on me. Graphite applied easily; I could have gotten away with 2 medium coats, but in order to get rid of all VNL, I applied 3 thin coats. Check it out!

(Chanel Graphite; direct sunlight; no flash)

(Chanel Graphite; in shade; no flash)

(Chanel Graphite; closeup; direct sunlight; no flash)

Chanel Graphite is all kinds of WINNING! I absolutely adore this polish. It's a beautifully cool-toned metallic, but as you can see in shade, it flashes green/gold. Graphite was perfect for going out - I wore it with jeans and a cute black top, and dark/smokey makeup, and pewter/metallic flats. Kind of wish I had a photo of the full ensemble for you! The only problem I have is trying to figure out what polish to pair with Graphite on my toes - I was wearing a summer bright that obviously clashed, but I feel another metallic on the toes - like Chanel Peridot - would be too much metallic. Maybe a vampy dark?? I'm not sure. Going to have to play around with it.

Graphite was released as a part of the Chanel Illusions d'Ombres Fall 2011 Collection and is currently available at Macy's, Nordstrom's, and other Chanel counters, as well as chanel.com. Graphite is only available for a limited time, so if you like it, be sure to grab one up soon!


What do you think? Are you loving this mani? If you have Graphite, what pedicure color have you paired with it? Do you have any polishes from Chanel? And are you still in the mood for summer, or anxious to start wearing the fall colors, too?