New Nail Polishes feat. Chanel, Estee Lauder, MAC and RMK

I had hoped to post a first try FOTD featuring Chantecaille's 15th Anniversary trio eye palette, but one of my dogs continuously threw up for nearly an hour yesterday, and we were in that nerve wrecking observation period where we have to wait and see if he gets better or worse. (He got worse then better, so we’ll continue to observe)

In lieu, here's a flash review of some of the more recent additions to my nail polish stash. For the life of me I can't find my base coat, and I know I have a newly opened bottle somewhere so I don't want to buy another one. As I don't want to have my nails turn yellow, I've been quickly testing out these polishes with one or two days of wear, so can't exactly attest to the longevity of these polishes, but I've always felt that comes down largely to your top coat anyway.

All NOTDs have Chanel’s Extreme Shine top coat layered on (I’m soooo close to finishing this, can’t wait to try the Dior gel one next). Also, sorry for my yuck cuticles, I’m just too lazy.

First up is Estee Lauder’s Pure Color Nail Lacquer PC Nail Matte in Negligee (03), a beige grey shade in a matte, almost latex finish.

EL polishes aren't my most favorite from the luxe brands, but every once in a while they come out with shades or finishes that really intrigue me. This is one such instance, and I simply couldn't resist a matte latex grey. It's much more matte and less squishy than Illamasqua's rubber finish, also dries to a thinner and harder surface on the nails than the Illas. You definitely want to apply thick coats to avoid blotchiness and brush strokes. I like it, but it's not love and probably won't be looking into the other 4 shades available (a magenta wine, a deep plum, a navy, and a stormy green grey)

Next is Chanel’s Le Vernis in Atmosphere (629), an iridescent duo-chrome pearl that gets ‘fiery’ in certain lighting.

I had envisioned using this over a nude shade, but I saw this on a Chanel SA who said she applied just 2 coats of Atmosphere and then a top coat. On her, Atmosphere looked like a semi-sheer oil-slick foil, and it was gorgeous. My attempt was with two thick coats and it turned out to be way more pearlescent and opaque than I saw on the SA, so I'm going to guess she applied two thin coats (something I'll be trying soon).

Next is MAC's Nail Lacquer (Cream) in Before Dawn. This was a mixed bag for me. In the bottle it looks like this mystical stormy off-green with heavy hints of grey, and a good dose of mint green shimmer. However, on the nails its a much darker green (even at one coat) and the shimmer is almost undetectable. While the resulting faded grey military green is a shade that speaks to my off-colour loving heart, I felt the shade in the bottle mislead me big time.

Also, I had a little difficulty with the formula, you really need thick coats and a second application to get it smooth. At the same-ish price level, I much prefer Illamasqua and Butter London.

Lastly is my favourite of the bunch, RMK’s Nail Color EX in EX-18 Shiny Pink, part of their Power of Love collection for fall/winter 2014. Where do I begin to describe this beauty of a gem? It's a milky grey lilac with silver, gold and pink glitter. Not quite sure I would have named this Shiny Pink, but certainly in some lighting, it is a very nice pale pink. Also under various lighting, the different glitters pulls through shifting it a metallic silver or gold or rose gold.

I love the base colour in itself and would gladly have brought it if it was an actual shade. However, I do think the glitter really takes this polish to another level. The glitter is not as sparkly as it is in the bottle, and I personally really like the muted, almost matte metallic sparkle, that is subdued enough to bring bling without tackiness. Opacity is excellent, I could get full coverage with 1 thick coat, but out of habit I applied 2. Once dried, the nail is smooth without any grit, even though it looks as if its one of those textured finishes. The brush, while at first glance looks average in size, fans out at the bottom during application, allowing for a wide glide, thought its not as wide as YSL's, perhaps similar to Dior's.

I've never been all that drawn to RMK polishes before, as they tended to be those sheer gel finishes, and I would have completely overlooked the polishes in the fall collection completely if the SA hadn't been wearing it. Ugh. Marketing worked! The fall collection has 4 other nail polishes, 2 in similar glittery finish and 2 mattes. I think I’ll be revisiting the counter this weekend and snag up the other two glitters (and perhaps even a backup of this beauty.)

To finish here’s a peek of hopefully the next post…

What are some of your recent top nail polish picks?

xx

Noodles :)