Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in 657 Azure Review, Photos and Swatches

I bought my very first Chanel nail polish, you guys! I always thought my first Chanel nail polish purchase would be Vamp, but it wasn't. Maybe Vamp will be my second purchase!

I found Chanel's Azure polish at Winners recently, and while the Winners price wasn't lower than what I'd pay at Holt Renfrew (despite what the sticker said).

Azure is limited edition, and these may be some of the last bottles available to buy. I'd admired it before and was feeling in the mood to spend, so I grabbed it. It came out in late Spring 2013 in Chanel's L'Eté Papillion Summer collection along with Bel-Argus and Lilis.

Azure is a metallic blue-green. It's a duochrome which means that in different light it can look like two different colours. Azure looks green most of the time but shifts to blue in certain light. A friend once wondered why I was wearing a different shade of polish on one hand than on the other while I was wearing Azure recently. 

I love green polishes and I love blue polishes, so this was obviously my kind of colour!

Pictures!

Ingredients

In this photo you can it's duochrome qualities - it looks green at the front of the bottle, but blue on the side. 

Here it is freshly painted on my nails (you can tell by the mess around the nailbeds - I just scrub it off in the shower). It was challenging to capture the duochrome quality with my camera. I don't have much natural light in my apartment so I use my camera flash and that blankets most things with flat, bright light. However, you can kind of see a bit of the blue, particularly on my thumb. Temptalia has some great photos of it that show its duochrome effect a bit better here. 

As you should expect from a high-end brand, Azure goes on beautifully and if you're good at applying polish on yourself you could probably get away with one coat. I use two because I'm not great at it, even after all these years!

It wears quite well on me, not showing any wear at the tips or anywhere else for about four days. 

Since Azure is metallic, it does show brush strokes more than a non-metallic polish. I kind of like the effect though. Like brushed metal. 

I love the colour and often pause to admire the shifting colours when I'm wearing it. It definitely reads summer though - the green-blue metallic is pretty bright. Still, I won't hesitate to wear this year round whenever I feel like it. It'd be very pretty on tanned skin and worn on the toes. 

Chanel polishes are $28 CDN at The Bay and thebay.ca, and that's about what I paid for it at Winners. If you like metallic blue and green polishes, and duochrome polishes and track down some Azure at Winners or somewhere else, it's worth a look.

Grade: A

MAC Floral Fantasy Mineralize Blushes Azalea in the Afternoon and Petal Power Review and Swatches

It's been much too long since I've posted, so today I have something new, pretty, and springy for review. MAC's spring collection Floral Fantasy just hit counters yesterday and I have the two new LE Mineralize blushes for review, Azalea in the Afternoon and Petal Power ($29.50 CA/$25.00 US.) 

All photos in natural light, swatches on NC 35 skin - please excuse the dramatic shadows as I took them in the late afternoon.

MAC Mineralize Blush: Azalea in the Afternoon and Petal Power

Azalea in the Afternoon

Azalea in the Afternoon - A light, slightly cool pink that has a strongly frosted finish. On my NC 30/35 skin this will act more as a tinted highlighter than a cheek colour. Although it looks more yellow toned in the pot, it applies cooler on my yellow toned skin due to the high level of white toned frost. Very similar to MAC Mineralize Blush in Dainty although I think Dainty is less frosty. I think this could work as a blush for paler skins though it's never going to be highly pigmented.

Petal Power

Petal Power - A medium rose with gold shimmer and a strong duochrome finish on the skin when the light catches the gold shimmer. SO PRETTY! I predict this is going to be one of the first sell out products from this launch. It's highly pigmented but blendable and smooth. If you love coral blushes like Nars' Orgasm or Tom Ford's Love Lust you NEED this. Trust me.

Azalea in the Afternoon and Petal Power

Like other Mineralize Blushes these have a powdery texture, but they apply relatively well. Petal Power has to be one of the prettiest blushes MAC has put out in a while regardless of finish. If you even think you might want it - run, don't walk to your nearest counter! Azalea in the Afternoon is pretty but ultimately dupeable, not as pigmented and a tad too frosty for my liking.

Grades: Azalea in the Afternoon, B-

                Petal Power, A

Chanel L’été Papillon de Chanel Azuré Le Vernis Nail Colour

Chanel's 2013 summer collection L’été Papillon is inspired by butterfly wings and draws upon the popular summer colours of teal, coral and blue. I recently purchased one of the three LE nail polishes, Azuré.

 Azuré is a metallic teal polish that at certain angles leans sky blue and others leans teal. It is opaque in two coats and flows smoothly on the nail with virtually no visible brush strokes.

Chanel Azuré Nail Colour

Though not the most original colour, it's a pretty, subtle duochrome that would look great with a summer dress and slight tan. Like most Chanel polishes it wears well, with 2-3 days without chipping. Readers should note that almost all nail polish regardless of brand, chips on me within days due to the heavy amount of art making//climbing/hand washing I do.

Grade: B+

J

Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish Review, Swatches and Photos

I  don't know if I've ever mentioned it on the blog before, but Illamasqua is one of my all time favourite brands for nail polish. Highly pigmented, perfectly textured and long wearing, you probably cannot go wrong choosing any of their shades. Even better yet, is their polish (but somehow not their makeup?) is now available in Canadian Sephora stores.

I recently ordered Hemlock, one of their new shades for spring, which is described  as "pale opal green iridescent"....pretty apt description as Hemlock is an iridescent duochrome green shimmer suspended in a sheer beigey grey base. For the most part Hemlock flashes green, but if you catch it at the right angle it flashes orange too. Photos taken in natural light, three coats of polish with no top coat.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Hemlock

This is a very pretty polish that is soft enough to wear to work, but kicky enough to still feel fun. The one thing that may be a drawback is the opacity of the polish - it is very sheer. The above photos are taken with three coats and my nails are still clearly visible through the polish, although the base has significantly lightened my nail bed . For some this may be a deal breaker. It's sheerness doesn't bother me too much, as I like it's ethereal fairy dust quality, but I do wish I could reach the effect of three coats in the standard two. Wear time and application are excellent as with other Illamasqua polishes. This polish is limited edition ($18.00 CA/$14.00 US).

Grade: B