Chanel Longwear Le Vernis Part III: The Others

And we have arrived at the final of the three posts detailing my reviews of Chanel's entire Le Vernis Longwear launch for Spring 2016. If you missed the other two, check out the pinks and the reds. That leaves us with "the others". In terms of a mixed bag, this is by far the most chic grab bag I've ever seen.

"The Others" consist of Roubachka, a inky eggplant vamp, Chaine Or, a most metallic true gold, Particuliere, a mushroomy brown, Monochrome, an icy grey, and Garconne, a green-tinged mid-tone grey. They round out the collection nicely and serve as a grounding counterpart to all of the romantic pinks and reds.

A quick note-the final post in this series will be the review of Le Gel Coat and my extended wear tests.

We've already made our way through 2/3 of the collection, so this last 1/3 should be a breeze.

Roubachka:

Let's talk about the name for a moment- turns out, it's Russian (of course) for a certain style of adorned blouse that peasants used to wear. I love it as a nod to Coco Chanel's Russian influences.

When I first saw this color, my initial instinct was "run away" following Sunrise Trip. I'm happy to report back that it's not an epic disaster or a staining monster like the former. It removed like a dream after multiple days without any staining.

Now that I've assured you about the formula, let's talk about the color. It's darker even than Rouge Noir and is the closest thing to black in the current collection (Speaking of, I'm devastated that Black Satin wasn't remade in this formula.). Three full coats are required for full opacity. And.. cleanup is a bear. I took these photos after 15 min of cleanup. It took another 15 and a shower before they were really ready for prime time.

I happen to love colors like this, so I pulled a few out to compare:

I was quite surprised at what I discovered. Tom Ford Black Cherry is close to Roubachka- although I'll give the formula nod to Tom Ford (2 coats) over the Chanel (3 coats). Vendetta is close, but a part of a shade lighter. Chanel hasn't released anything like this in awhile.

Chaine Or:

Let's also talk names here, too. Although I don't have a PR sheet to look at, I can't help but wonder if "Gold Chain" isn't taking its inspiration from the iconic gold chains on Chanel bags?

Chaine Or is what I would call a true metallic gold. In other words, it's beautiful but a true PITA to work with because of streaks. I It's almost molten in the bottle.

Gorgeous, right? It looks like liquid gold. (But of course every nail lover is cringing with what the formula is likely to bring)

I'll speak more to the wear issues I ran into with Chaine Or in my next post.

I knew I didn't own anything quite like Chaine Or because I tend to shy away from pure yellow gold. This is a standout in the collection simply because Chanel hasn't done that many golds before.

A quick note on the block- it should show you that a) I'm not photoshopping b) I'm a real person- I had to double up on nail wheels. It's also why I show less than perfect manis- I want you to see what a polish is really like to work with.

Bottom Line: This is pretty and (spoiler alert) caused some wear issues for me that I'd associate with it being a pure metallic shade.

Particuliere:

At first, I was a little surprised that Chanel selected this shade to make a comeback in the new line over other popular shades. After playing with it, I'm glad it's back. Turns out, it's better.

Particuliere first entered the Chanel lineup in Spring 2010 with Tendresse and Inattendu- a somewhat surprising lineup for spring centered around neutrals. This taupe sold out again, and again, and again. It pushed the needle 6 years ago; today it's just an accepted neutral. Well done, Chanel.

How is the reboot different than the original? Well, I am in lust with the reboot, which is very close to being a one-coat. It's much thicker and sturdier. I also find it much easier to work with. And look- a different mani angle!

I pulled a few neutrals for comparison, as well as the OG Particuliere:

Bottom Line: If you loved the original, run to get the reboot. Chanel reinvented a classic here.

Monochrome:

I previously featured this icy grey (which I couldn't tell if it was silver or grey in promo photos) on the blog as one of my two initial selections from the line. I can't wait to play with it this late winter/early spring- it just seems right about this time of year.

Rather than re-swatch, I'm going to cheat a bit and repost the initial mani that I did:

This really isn't the green grey of the two (no, that's Garconne), but my prominent pink undertones are playing tricks with the color and your eyes.

I have a bit of a surprise- I'm going to repost the nail wheel I photographed earlier for Monochrome, but look for it to show up again when I discuss the other grey. I also am posting this since it's been awhile since I've seen the sun.

Bottom line: I find this to be clean and fresh- and palette cleansing out of the entire line. It's a must-have in my book.

Garconne:

Every line does a mid-toned grey; Chanel was honestly missing one from their lineup. Dior used to have one prior to their reboot (I was going to swatch mine in comparison but discovered it has dried out), Christian Louboutin does it to perfection.

Garconne (or, waiter) has some serious green undertones. And somewhat of a thick formula, as the above picture demonstrated. I was initially hesitant due to my strong pink undertones but my collector's tendencies took over. Look for more on this shade later.

As it turned out, I was somewhat right about my undertones pulling this color way green:

Hmmm.. still not sure what I think of this one on me.

Although I already posted a wheel (previously seen on the blog) for Monochrome, I went ahead and put it on this wheel too. A word on the 2 different Chanel Frenzys- I bought one when it was initially released, lost it, then repurchased a few months ago. It looks like 2 different colors!

Bottom Line: It's a nice, somewhat edgy addition to balance all of the sweetness in the collection. It was one of the last ones I purchased because I had reservations about how it would play with my undertones.

I'm surprised to say that we've now reached the end of my detailed overview of all of Chanel's new Longwear Vernis. I'll post my thoughts on Le Gel Coat and my wear tests probably tomorrow- I want to enjoy the Daytona 500 today with some friends instead of writing blog posts. Likewise, I'm burnt out from cranking out these 3 posts in less than 24 hours so I'll skip Sunday Dreaming (otherwise the best part of my week).