Chanel May — Swatch & Review

Wow, all of February escaped without a single blog post! I wish I'd posted more, but my new circumstances have prevented me. I'll tell you all about it at the end of this post!

So I've noticed that I don't really have all that many pinks in my stash, which is part of why I decided to get Chanel Le Vernis in May #535. This is of course one of the trio of nail polishes from the Harmonie de Printemps Spring 2012 makeup collection. Another reason I decided to get May is because I love the whole collection and I wanted to have the complete set. Although this pink is not too out of the ordinary, I don't have anything to compare it to since I have relatively few pinks.

May is a very neutral shade. Sometimes it seems to lean warm, and other times it seems more on the cool end of the spectrum. I think it's a shade that would suit most skin tones. I used two coats for this swatch. The formula is smooth and easy to apply, with a slightly squishy quality although I wouldn't call it a jelly. Even if May is a fairly ordinary pink, I'm quite pleased to own it as it's a well made polish.

I took a picture with all three polish colors from the Spring collection. I just love how April, May and June all look together.

Ok I promised to explain my long absence, so I shall! About a month ago I started working full time in a nail salon. Yes, I'm in fact a licensed nail tech! I've had my license for a little over a year, but this is my first job in that capacity, so I didn't think it was worth mentioning until I really "earned" the title by working as a nail tech. Painting your own nails, friends' nails, or even the nails of the other ladies in my nail tech class is entirely different from giving full manicures and pedicures to paying customers in the busy salon. It's a tough job which makes me very tired at the end of the day, but I also love it and I'm very lucky that I have genuinely wonderful coworkers.

Since I always get home after the sun has already gone down, I haven't been able to make any swatches. So, it's time for me to get some of those super bright daylight lamps and a light box so I can take some photos in the evening. I'm slowly getting used to the busy work day, and building up stamina so I'm not quite so enormously exhausted when I get home. I hope I'll be able to get back to posting at least once or twice a week! =)

Chanel April — Swatches, Review & Comparison

After a few days of wearing Chanel June, I had to go back to SoHo to pick up April. Something about the color wouldn't let me stop thinking about it. (Sounds insane, but I know my fellow polish fanatics understand!) So back to the boutique I went. As soon as I painted my nails with this lovely polish, I was very glad I went back for it.

April is a soft burgundy or garnet. It has a hint of brown and is slightly muted, but still a very rich color. I think it's quite sophisticated!

This shot under artificial light shows off the slightly muted tones of the color.

I don't have a lot of colors in this family in my stash. I had nothing that looked like it would be close at all, but I made a comparison anyway in case anyone finds it helpful. On my index finger is OPI Manicurist of Seville, and on my ring finger is Zoya Sofia.

Application for this polish is so smooth and dreamy. It's seriously flawless and easy. Two coats are all I needed for saturated color and a glossy finish. I've been wearing it for four days and it's holding up beautifully with only very minimal tipwear (normal for any polish). I have a feeling this polish is going to be one of my all-time favorites.

Like May and June, April is available on Chanel's website for $25.

Chanel June — Swatches, Review & Comparison

I'm finally back from New York City! I am not yet skilled enough at blogging to have things scheduled to post when I go away. I hope someday soon I'll get it together for that so there won't be such long pauses.

Whenever I go to New York I can't resist making a trip to the Chanel boutique in SoHo.  This time I even went twice, and the first time I came back with June (#539). June is one of the three nail colors from Chanel's Spring 2012 Harmonie de Printemps collection. In French this means Harmony of Spring, or Springtime Harmony. The three nail colors in this collection really do look harmonious together. (On my second visit to the SoHo boutique I came back with April (#533) which I will post about tomorrow.)

June is a pastel tangerine/peach/apricot color. The formula is what really makes this color so nice. It's a cross between a jelly and a creme. I used three coats for total opacity. The first time I applied this color I did a full manicure on rather long nails. It wasn't overly difficult to control the polish, but I found it easier on shorter nails. This polish has a very nice consistency and isn't streaky at all. I think Chanel did a great job on the formula for this one. It has a very nice, glossy finish.

I took a picture after just one coat to show how nicely this polish applies. You can also see the jelly-ness of it. You can also see that the color becomes more intense after two more coats.

I compared June to two polishes in my collection: China Glaze Peachy Keen and Essie Tart Deco. Obviously Peachy Keen is a much closer match than Tart Deco. Peachy Keen is definitely quite similar, but it lacks the lovely jelly texture of June. It's also streakier and chalkier, and leans a tiny bit more pink. Tart Deco of course is much pinker.

I think this shot under artificial light shows the difference between Peachy Keen and June more obviously.

I wore June as a full manicure for about four days and experienced no chipping at all. It still looked glossy and perfect.

June, along with April and May, is currently up on the Chanel website for $25. I love the convenience of shopping online, but for me half the fun is making a purchase in the boutique where you get to experience the perfect, smooth customer service.