A million years ago (or thereabouts) my mum and I were in Selfridges and I painted one of her nails with a tester of Chanel Paradoxal. I was 'eh' about it but my mum downright hated it. She took it off as soon as we got home! Still, considering how cheap the Barry M version is, it would've been a crime not to buy it. XD
When I went to London a couple of weeks ago I picked up two very special polishes, and I'm showing you one of them today. I can't justify spending too much money on one nail polish so the high-end brands have always been denied to me, but I realised in London that I had almost £40 worth of points on my Boots card! (I'm really trying not to think about the amount of make-up/nail polish/whatever I must have bought that led to this sum...) So I popped into Boots to see if there was anything I fancied, and lo and behold, there was a Chanel stand.
So basically, what my rambling is leading to is that I bought Chanel Blue Boy from the Les Jeans collection! It's my first Chanel polish, and it's even more special because it was technically free. I ummed and ahhed over which one to get, but it probably comes as no surprise that I ended up with a blue. I chose Blue Boy because it's the medium shade of the three Les Jeans polishes, and probably the most wearable as it's neither too bright nor too dark; too summery nor too autumnal.
Anyway. Photos, yes?
Gawd, I loooove this colour! But the formula was, erm, okay. Only okay. The polish was a good consistency and didn't pool at my cuticles, but it took a very...long...time...to...dry. I had to wait ages between each coat (I did two), which was a bit of a pain. It's not one to paint your nails with as you're heading out the door. Given how much the polish costs - £17.50!!! - I would have expected better.
Regardless of the fact I could have run a marathon in the time it took for Chanel Blue Boy to dry, I'm still really glad it's entered my collection. It's a lovely colour that works all year round. Tomorrow I'll be showing you the other high-end polish I got. :)
Do you have any high-end nail polishes? Can you justify spending so much more on a polish for the brand name alone when the formula might not make it worth the price?
You'll probably have heard of the Nubar Jeans collection, which was released last year and is a cheaper alternative to the Chanel Les Jeans collection. It consists of three blue polishes - considering my love of blue nail polishes, it is pretty much my dream collection! Faded Jeans is the lightest shade of the three. It's a pale blue with a very nice shimmer that shows itself best in the sun. The formula was good; I used two thickish coats.
Isn't it pretty? I love that it's pale but somehow bright at the same time, if that makes sense! I decided to use a recent indie polish purchase, 365 Days of Color Old Time Movie, over the top. It's a black and white glitter polish, but instead of hex glitter or the like, they're shards. They mostly lie flat on the nail, but a couple stuck up so I just pulled them off with a pair of tweezers while the polish was still wet. I used one generous coat, plus a topcoat, for the photos below.
I really like this combination - it reminded me a bit of a speckled robin's egg. I was rather sad to see it destroyed by my brass-polishing frenzy!
If you want a better idea of what black and white glitter polishes are available, Sarah at Chalkboard Nails has a comprehensive guide to them here. Are you a fan of them?
Aqua Violet. A blue/purple duochrome. The colour shift was stronger in real life than it appears in my photos. I didn't like the formula at all, it was quite runny and pooled on my cuticles, but it only needed two thickish coats for full opacity. I adore the colour - I'm a sucker for blues and purples! Wear time was rubbish. I took these photos the day after I put it on, and it's chipped already!
Emerald Black. This was the least duochrome of all of them. Despite the name, I wouldn't say there is actually any emerald apparent in it. It's more a blackened base with teal shimmer. However, I rather like it regardless as I think it's a great twist on the standard black polish. I had no trouble with the formula of this one, and it was opaque in two coats.
Golden Green. I'm going to admit something a little controversial here: I am not a fan of green nail polish. Or green in general, actually. I have brown hair and blue eyes; green is not a shade that suits me. I hated this polish when I first put it on, and I was tempted to remove it immediately. I'm glad I resisted, though, as it definitely grew on me. It's a green/yellow duochrome that some have likened to Chanel Peridot. It's actually really pretty. Formula wise, unfortunately it was identical to Aqua Violet and was rather runny...and lasted equally badly. It also showed the brushstrokes when it dried. Sad face.
Pinky Brown. This a pink/copper duochrome with itty bitty glitter in it. It was thicker than Aqua Violet and Golden Green, so I liked the formula much more as a result. It only needed two coats, and it lasted about three days before it chipped. I really like this one. Doesn't it look like autumn in a bottle?
Purple Blue. A pink/blue/purple multichrome. It has the same glitter and formula as Pinky Brown, which was good. This is hands down my favourite of the collection. The colour shift on this one is incredible, particularly in sunlight. I wore this polish at the Museum of London recently, and I spent almost as much time looking at my nails as I did the exhibits!
Overall, I'm really impressed with the Models Own Beetlejuice Collection. Despite the rubbish formula on a couple of these polishes, the colours are beautiful, interesting and - dare I say? - quite unique. I will definitely wear them all again (even Golden Green!).
I bought these polishes on the Models Own website. They retail for £5 each, or £20 for the set of five plus a 3-in-1 top coat. Very good value, oui?
This is two coats of OPI Glitzerland from Autumn 2010's Swiss collection. It's a champagne-coloured gold with very fine gold glitter in it. It's almost a foil, but not quite. It's gorgeous indoors, but when the sunlight hits it all its sparkliness comes out (my photo doesn't do it justice):
For those of you who have toured the Buckingham Palace state rooms you'll know that there is gold EVERYWHERE - tables, chairs, walls, ceilings... I thought my nail varnish matched this perfectly, and I'm really pleased with how this manicure came out. The formula is impeccable, and I've only had it on for a couple of days but it hasn't chipped yet.
No trip to London is complete without visiting a department store, so my mum and I trekked down Oxford Street in the blazing heat (in October!) to Selfridges. I painted her nail (yes, only one - my mum rarely wears any polish that isn't a pale pink) using a tester of Chanel Paradoxal. I can see why this nail varnish has received such mixed reviews. In the bottle it's a dark, greyish mauve with a lovely purple shimmer when the light hits it; on the nail it just looks muddy, with the shimmer basically nonexistent. Disappointing.
