The one that started it all: Chanel Paradoxal

And by “started it all”, I mean it’s the one that confirmed that I officially had a problem hobby.

Chanel Paradoxal is already a Chanel classic in its own right, right up there with Particulière, Black Satin, and Blue Satin. This is the first polish release for which I waited with bated breath. And then actively sought after. I even tried to get my brother to buy this for me in France (he couldn’t find it. Still don’t really understand how French Chanel beauty stores drop the ball on new releases, but whatevs). After weeks of lusting after it, I finally found it in the form of two bottles of Paradoxal I accidentally received for my birthday (one from my mom, one from my aunt). Well, we overshot the goal a bit but at least I got there!

Holy effing crap do I ever love Paradoxal. Am I hyping this up too much? I hope not! This polish is definitely not as flashy as the bottle suggests—the smoky dark purple-y gray creme base dominates, making the polish appear as a creme from further away. Almost none of that intense bright violet shimmer would appear on the nail.

But it’s still so freaking pretty. You don’t always crazy in-your-face shimmer for a polish release to do its job. Elegant, yet edgy. Conservative, yet has a hidden bit of excitement in the shimmer. The bright violet shimmer keeps Paradoxal from being a boring flat taupe-y purple gray that’s been reimagined hundreds of times. Especially if you look at your nails under sunlight or incandescent light, the shimmer jumps out at you from the centre of the nail.

Formula? Great. Applies like buttah. Two coats and you’re golden. Brush – like it a lot! It’s a traditional brush (which I usually find just average), but strangely, I found I could control this one very easily. Although that could be due to its exceptional consistency.

Now, my point of contention…Chanel polishes are not cheap, obviously. Can’t remember the exact price but it’s gotta be at least $20CAD a pop. That’s not even the problem (after all, I didn’t pay for it, hahaha). Chanel polishes are just not ideal in the longevity department. I haven’t actually had this chip on me, but it’s because I don’t wear the same colour for extended periods of time. But on the second day of wear, you can already notice very noticeable tipwear, and it really gets on my nerves. Feh.

Sigh. I guess nothing truly is perfect. For the sophistication of the colour alone, though, it instantly made it onto my all-time favourites list!

Joe Fresh – Peacock

Hey everyone! I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s sad because Reading Break is over, and let me tell you…I did absolutely nothing. Honestly. I’m kind of ashamed of myself. And also extremely proud – I certainly can’t enjoy any more of this couch potato bull crap starting today :( Midterms and papers! Sigh.

But what better than to cheer yourself up with an inexpensive nail polish? Those of you who live in Canada may be familiar with Joe Fresh, which sells affordable clothing, accessories and beauty products at Loblaws, Superstore, and various free-standing stores across the nation. This is the first nail polish I’ve tried from the brand and I have to say, I quite like it!

Joe Fresh Peacock is a deep teal (leaning on the blue side) with intense teal shimmer – in the bottle you can see a bit of a teal and purple/blue duochrome shimmer but it’s barely visible on the nail, except in low light. To me, it’s the teal version of the polish featured in my last post, Essie Sexy Divide. It has that same glowy quality (perhaps with somewhat more visible brush strokes, but they’re not at all obvious) – dark round the edges and light in the centre. So pretty!

The bottle is a bit clumsy though – the lid is really short and wide, making it a bit awkward to get a good grip on it when applying. However, I like the brush a lot. It’s very similar to the OPI ProWide brushes which I find very effective for neat application. Formula was good as well, as I only needed 2 coats to achieve opacity.

After checking out the colour range, I can say that Joe Fresh polishes are very on-trend (I can’t wait to try out some of the super pretty pastels). For $4 a pop, or $10 for three, it’s a great way to try out some new colours without making a huge commitment. Fair warning though: on a per-ml basis it’s not the cheapest polish around (it’s a bit more expensive than OPI), but I’m still going to pick up some more colours the next time I’m at Superstore! :)

Essie – Sexy Divide

If pressed to answer, I think I would say that my favourite colour is purple. It’s such a moody colour, and can look sophisticated and funky at the same time. Needless to say, I LOVE purple nail polish. Essie’s Sexy Divide just brings that love to a whole new level.

Okay, the name? I never understand nail polish names. But the colour! Sexy Divide is a deep purple packed with purple shimmer (or could it be a mix of blue and red?). The result is another one of the polishes that looks sort of like a creme from far away, but positively glows when the light hits it. There are no brush strokes to be seen, and no discernible bits of glitter either. It’s just an absolutely flawless, radiant purple polish.

Formula on this is divine – so smooth and perfect consistency. I got it at Shoppers Drug Mart – wait for the Essie’s to go on sale when you go there. I think they retail for~$11.99CAD but I’ve often found them on sale for $8.99CAD. Unfortunately they don’t sell the new collections, only a dozen or so classic Essie colours, but I’ve already racked up a few! Love.

OPI – Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not

Hope you’re having an awesome Wednesday! And not sick like me :( Ended up skipping two classes and went home instead. Sigh.

This polish though, is exquisite.

OPI’s Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not from their Fall 2008 France collection, has quickly made its way into my favourite purple polishes, if not my favourite of all time. Right now as I’m looking down at my nails, it looks like quite a dark neutral purple. But under more bright lights, the polish looks more like a mid-toned very red-tinged purple with tiny blue (or purple?) and pink shimmers. I love these kinds of polishes the most – they’re not so shimmery that they border on frosty and leave behind brush strokes. In low light they almost look like cremes, but in sunlight KA-POW, the shimmer really jumps out. The best way I can describe the look is “glowy” – like the shimmers are lit within. A bit hard to see in the above photo, but trust me on this one! :)

Two coats were needed – application was easy-peasy. And of course, topped off with a top coat.

Ah! I just love this so much! I’ve used Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not so much that you can actually see what level the polish is at – I know that sounds trivial but it’s super rare for me to use up a coloured polish that fast. It’s my go-to purple polish and I always get so many compliments on it. I think it’s because it’s very noticeably purple (not like the inky near-black purples), but muted at the same time. A perfect combination!

Successful Skittle Shatter!

Whoa, I finally got OPI Black Shatter to look, well, like advertised.

I’ve been itching to try this mani ever since I’ve gotten Black Shatter, if only to see if I can pull off the cool-looking, if slightly juvenile “skittles” manicure. Skittles meaning using different (usually bright) colours on each finger. I’ve tried variations on it before (my favourite being the gradation manicure – shall post one of those another day), but have been too scared to actually rock the look. The hope with Black Shatter was to make the look more edgy and “disguise” some of the bright colour while keeping visual interest. Well, we’ll see about that…

First, skittles! Cute, right? Should have probably used a more pastel yellow but alas, I do not own one (can’t help but think American Apparel Butter would be a perfect substitute!). Let’s go through the colours:

• Thumb: OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender
• Index: American Apparel Manila
• Middle: Revlon Top Speed Jaded
• Ring: Orly Gumdrop
• Pinky: Revlon Gum Drop (yes, I used two polishes named gum drop. It was a coincidence, I swear! Also the pinky one happens to be scented. Sickly sweet…don’t think I could do a full mani with it, barf)

Time to shatter it up!

Looks like the juvenile skittles got introduced to some recreational drugs and are now looking significantly more edgy! Definitely something that I could wear without feeling self-conscious. Though I got plenty of weird looks from people today anyway (one girl especially who stared at my nails the whole time I was washing my hands in the restroom). Regardless, Shatter takes out the saccharine quality from the bright pastel colours and makes the whole look more wearable. Awesome!

Oh also, compare this to how the shatter looked over the GOSH Holographic polish I wrote about a few days ago. See how the shatters actually look fully formed rather than…weird tree branches? I don’t know if before I used layers that were too thin, didn’t let Holographic dry enough, or just the weird nature of holographic polishes in general. Just know that if you own OPI Black Shatter, here are some helpful tips:

• Let the base colour dry completely.
• If you want the shatters to be far apart, apply a thicker layer.
• Be sure to apply a shiny top coat to protect the shatter layer, as well as smooth out the wonky brush strokes.

:) Have fun!