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.

Essie Splash of Grenadine for Pink Wednesday

Hello everyone! If you just found my blog through Vampy Varnish, welcome! I hope you'll stop by again soon. =)

For Pink Wednesday here's Essie Splash of Grenadine. It's a pink creme with a dash of lavender to it, so it leans very cool.

The formula is a teeny bit tricky, but not too bad. It does require three coats for even coverage. I didn't experience any trouble with cuticle drag. This is a very girly pink in my opinion, although most pinks are I suppose!

Ready for fall: Essie Sew Psyched and Smokin' Hot

Hello everyone!

Today I swatched two Essie polishes from last year.

Sew Psyched is a muted khaki green with very subtle shimmer that's pretty much only visible in direct sunlight. It's easy to apply and only required two coats for even coverage.

Smokin' Hot is a sophisticated greyish plum/purple. It's dark but not exactly vampy. This one was a little more difficult to apply evenly and needed three coats.

Even though these polishes came out last year, they fit right in with all the colors coming out in the new fall collections from Zoya, OPI, China Glaze and others.