I couldn't help myself- after playing with my first two Chanel Le Vernis Longwears, I was itching to find Le Gel Coat so that I could start a true test. So, I called around to different counters and found that my local Saks and Neiman Marcus both had the polishes. Off I went.
I turned my hands into living nail wheels. These are not the best swatches, as I was trying to rapidly paint my nails at the counter. However, this should give you a good idea- as well as my initial impressions. Warning: there's 0 clean-up and I think you'll see that I'm clearly right handed!
Shantung: This is the deepest fuchsia color in the range and is the next one I'll be buying. Think along the lines of Suspicious.
Gitane: This is an orange-based red creme. Think Coromandel's cousin, only lighter.
Garconne: This is a darker concrete grey with some green undertones. This bubbled in my swatch, but that could easily have been due to the inopportune conditions and improperly prepped nail. Think along the lines of Dior Gris Montangue.
Rouge Essentiel: Blue-based perfect red creme that's drop-dead gorgeous. Classic red. Think Christian Louboutin Rouge Louboutin's cousin. More on this shade to come, since I couldn't leave without it. It's about half a shade darker in real life than it appears in the photo taken in the sun.
Organdi: Muted pink along the lines of Rose Cache. Rose Beige has too white of a a base. This looks awful against my NW15 skin. This also took a beating on my thumb.Sunlight warmed this up dramatically.
Roubachka: Buildable dark purple. I know I've seen similar shades, but I can't think of any right now.
Chaine Or: Metallic gold that dried poorly and showed brush strokes. This one will take a steady hand and patience, qualities not found at a counter. This is screaming LE Gold Finger to me.
Mythique: This is totally Accessoire's cousin. Gorgeous deep berry, less brown than Accessoire (I had them side-by-side at the counter)
Vamp: Just wanted to swatch this since we've seen so many versions. This is the shimmer one.
I purchased Rouge Essentiel and Roubachka at the store, along with Le Gel Coat. Look for comparison nail wheels for Camelia and Monochrome tomorrow since I was able to nab some photos this afternoon.
I also got to play with 2 brand-new testers of the Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo lipstick. It's very balmy and the formula is way too soft, in my opinion. I question how durable these will be. Lettre didn't even show up on my pigmented lips, so I didn't try to get any photos. I did grab this phone shot of Message, which I wore out of the store:
This is the same shade that's featured in the promo photos. Message is a lovely berry pink which lost its gloss at first contact with any food or drink and faded quickly. It plays nicely with and feels good on my sensitive lips but has little staying power on me. I'm interested in playing with this release, but it'll be a "Reapply every chance you get" type of lipstick. Message is beautiful though.
I plan to spend the next couple of weeks testing the Le Vernis Longwear and Le Gel Coat and will wrap up my feelings on this collection with a true post- but it's important to get the swatches, even those of dubious quality, out ASAP.
Truth time: I have about 15 polishes to swatch (hopefully in the next 24 hours) before I can give up my hands for a couple of weeks for a formula test. Here goes nothing, right?
