Swatch Alert: Chanel Longwear Le Vernis 522 Monochrome & 506 Camelia

This is the first Swatch Alert that I'm doing. What's that? If a company does something completely different with a line or there's an anticipated item that I get my hands on with few reviews, I'll post some swatches here and review at a later date.

For those not in the know, Chanel discontinued their entire Le Vernis line recently. It's being replaced by Longwear Le Vernis, which is gel based and free of more bad stuff (I don't have a press release or anything to look at). This collection went live two days ago at Chanel.com and I literally just received my first 2 selections. These retail for $1 more than the original Le Vernis, making the new price point for Chanel nail $28. I'll actually review the new formula and post comparison nail wheels, but I want to get the new Le Gel Coat before I do so. It wouldn't be fair to Chanel otherwise. Consider this a pictorial shopping assistant.

Here's initial swatches of two of the sixteen shades in the revamped lineup.

First up, Chanel Longwear Le Vernis #522: Monochrome.

I couldn't tell if this was grey or silver online. It's a light grey creme. I know I have quite a few colors similar to this in my stash. Formula was good on application- not streaky and easy to work with. This is three coats, no top coat (some early reviewers had bubble issues but they used non-gel top coats- a huge no-no in formula mixing). It's plenty glossy without a top coat.


Next, Chanel Longwear Le Vernis #506 Camelia

This is such a classic Chanel pink that I couldn't resist. I know I have dupes, but I don't care. Three coats, no top coat in these photos. I was having a tough time photographing this one.


One quick warning: it may just have been that I was super anxious to post swatches, but multi-coat dry time seems longer than average.

I'll be purchasing more, but wanted to get these up ASAP. I chose them because they were so different. Monochrome caught my eye and looked different, and it satisfied my need to test out a pastel creme. Camelia is just an awesome hot pink- the type of color Chanel was known for in its previous formula.