Revlon Bewitching VS Chanel April

Hello everyone! My January class is all finished, and I hope to get back to more blogging finally.

I have swatches of a new Revlon polish called Bewitching, which is not to be confused with the classic Revlon shade Bewitching Bordeaux. Bewitching is a lovely rose red creme that was released for this spring. The formula is just right, and applies smoothly. I used two coats for total opacity.

The moment I spotted Bewitching in the display it reminded me of Chanel April (full review here) and I wondered if I'd found the latest drugstore dupe. However, once I had the bottles side by side it was obvious they were different shades. You can see April is a much more muted rose, with more brown in it.

I think Bewitching is a perfect springtime version of red. It really reminds me of flowers.

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.

Nubar 2010 VS Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

Here's a comparison of two very similar flaky topcoats: Nubar 2010 and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I chose purple and red as the base polishes because I think each one brings out different colors from the iridescent flakes.

Purple: Orly Charged Up; Red: Sally Hansen Cerise Noir.

I also compared the two flakies over another pair of purple and red polishes which are slightly lighter. To be honest, I'm not really sure what my logic was at the time. How is this more helpful than the last picture? Who knows! But I might as well show you all the pictures I took in case it might be useful somehow! =)

Purple: OPI Funky Donkey; Red: OPI Manicurist of Seville.

One of my first observations is that Nubar 2010 is not quite as dense as Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. It's a very subtle difference, but still there. I'm not sure if this is because HT has more flakes packed into the formula, or if it's due to the overwhelming mop-like brush that the Complete Salon Manicure has. I definitely prefer Nubar's brush to Sally Hansen's. Aside from that, I think the two polishes are basically identical. They both seem to have the same spectrum of iridescence and react to the light in the same ways.

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure was a limited edition release a couple years ago, but Nubar 2010 is available on their website for $7.50. The ease of obtaining 2010 is another point in its favor, I think!

Nubar Dark Wash Jeans VS Chanel Blue Rebel

Hello! I got my Nubar Jeans in the mail yesterday and I couldn't wait to get a comparison shot for you all. I only purchased one of the Les Jeans De Chanel polishes. Here is Chanel Blue Rebel in comparison to Nubar Dark Wash Jeans. Blue Rebel is on the index and ring fingers, and Dark Wash is on the middle and pinky fingers.

As you can see, they are incredibly similar. You might not even be able to tell the difference from the picture. Chanel Blue Rebel is just a hair lighter, but that is the only discernible difference. The texture and application of the Nubar polish is almost identical to the Chanel. They both need two easy coats to be opaque, and have a hint of gooey viscosity to their texture that makes them easy to control and apply.

Here's Nubar Dark Wash Jeans on its own:

Please try to ignore my hot pink sweater being reflected in these pictures! I should have worn a more neutral piece of clothing while I was swatching. =p