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.

Zoya Nidhi

My manicure today is Zoya Nidhi from the Sparkle Collection. It's a bright, apple-y red with gold and pink/blue iridescent sparkling flecks. A number of people noticed and complimented me on this color, so it's bright and sparkly enough to catch some attention.

Application is quick and easy. It needs just two coats for opacity, and each coat went on perfectly and dried rapidly. I know sometimes people have trouble with Zoya polishes drying super slowly, but I don't think this is one that will give anyone problems. Even though this came out as part of a summer collection, I think it's a very festive and Holiday appropriate red. In fact, I may try combining it with Zoya Ivanka (the sparkling green from the same collection) a little later in the season.

OPI Red is actually pretty great!

You could say OPI is notorious for making too many reds. Sometimes it seems like half their seasonal collection is variations on the shade. (Although very recently they have been laying off the excess reds.) I understand why they make red, it's THE classic shade for nail polish and I'm sure it sells better than any other color besides sheer pink. I think OPI considers red to be somewhat of a brand signature, and I have to give them credit for doing a very good job with their extravagant array of red polishes. And if red is their signature color, OPI Red must be their signature red. It looks boring in the bottle, but once it was on my nails it really started to win me over.

I started to warm to this color when I was applying the first coat. This polish really almost applies itself. It flows easily and absolutely refuses to be anything but perfect and streak-free. It's not quite opaque enough in one coat, otherwise you would not need to apply a second one at all. In addition, it dried quickly. It has a hidden shimmer that you can just see when it catches the sunlight. This shade is well balanced between warm and cool tones. Given how easily it applies and how quickly it dries, OPI Red is the most convenient red I've ever tried. It also looks pretty classy, too!

Zoya Sarah

In my opinion, Zoya makes the best shimmer/sparkle finish nail polishes available. I normally prefer creme finish to the average shimmer, but Zoya's shimmer is special. All the little flecks give the finish an extra depth and complexity that most shimmer doesn't have. Zoya Sarah has this type of fantastic shimmer:

This red seems to simultaneously lean warm and cool, although more cool. The formula was easy to apply and totally opaque in two coats. Sarah is available for $8 at Zoya's website. You can get free shipping with the code SHIP2ME through 10/26!