Back in early March, I excited grabbed Chanel Les Jeans nail polish collection the second it hit the floor. I think it's the only time that I bought an entire nail collection, even if it was just three shades -- it's Chanel after all and worth some debate in consideration of our beleaguered wallets. However, I am a sucker for good blues and so all three shades came home with me.
Later I thought of returning or selling them, but instead hoarded them with hopes of better days to come. Well, there's no season like summer to break out the stunner that is Coco Blue!
While I love the shade in the bottle, I wasn't expecting to love it on my fingers. But I did! I really think that Chanel does something marvelous with their precision of shades despite the lackluster formula at times, which is especially prone to their paler colours. As Denise noted, the formula for Coco Blue is pretty crap. It took three shades to reach opacity, and as you can see by my picture below, it looks rather thick and lumpy by that point. Normally that would be considered a deal breaker but...
...it turns out I have no other blue like it! I'm keeping this baby, for now.
Left to right: Essie Borrowed & Blue, Chanel Riva, Chanel Coco Blue, Butter London Lady Muck, Zoya Skylar.
The bright sky blue with a touch of shimmer does something delightful to my soul. It just screams summer at me!
For a simple summer day, sport your favourite blue nail polish, spritz on some beachy scent and dust some bronzer on and dash out the door!
I think this is my plan for the day. Hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend! What's your favourite sky blue polish? Know of any that's similar to Coco Blue?
Later I thought of returning or selling them, but instead hoarded them with hopes of better days to come. Well, there's no season like summer to break out the stunner that is Coco Blue!
While I love the shade in the bottle, I wasn't expecting to love it on my fingers. But I did! I really think that Chanel does something marvelous with their precision of shades despite the lackluster formula at times, which is especially prone to their paler colours. As Denise noted, the formula for Coco Blue is pretty crap. It took three shades to reach opacity, and as you can see by my picture below, it looks rather thick and lumpy by that point. Normally that would be considered a deal breaker but...
...it turns out I have no other blue like it! I'm keeping this baby, for now.
Left to right: Essie Borrowed & Blue, Chanel Riva, Chanel Coco Blue, Butter London Lady Muck, Zoya Skylar.
The bright sky blue with a touch of shimmer does something delightful to my soul. It just screams summer at me!
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| Dish from Anthropologie (CAD$10); seashell from ??? |
For a simple summer day, sport your favourite blue nail polish, spritz on some beachy scent and dust some bronzer on and dash out the door!
I think this is my plan for the day. Hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend! What's your favourite sky blue polish? Know of any that's similar to Coco Blue?
Sky blues are very Liz :) They do make me happy to see them too!
ReplyDeleteThank you and I'm glad! :)
DeleteYou know, just realized that I have some sky blues that I forgot about, doh. lol
Wow that is a simply gorgeous shade. So glad you shared this!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed! :)
DeleteOoh Coco Blue is so pretty! And I WANT Bobbi Brown's Beach scent so badly! I recently smelled it for the first time and I'm in love!
ReplyDeleteI hope you can get a bottle soon then. There's also a body scrub and body oil version of it as well. :)
DeletePerfect! It is a shame about the formula. I only have one Chanel, thanks to Tracy, so I have no idea what the norm is for Chanel polish. I don't think I could pull off this shade of blue, but then...maybe!
ReplyDeleteI find their formula in general to be satisfactory though not outstanding. I wish their brushes were either slightly wider or would splay better. I think the only bad formula from my Chanels are Riva and Coco Blue. The others are fine!
DeleteI too, always gravitate towards blues & aquas as soon as the temperatures start to rise! I read that some people had issues with the formula like you mentioned, but I have to say that I didn't have any issues with mine at all. I have found that the trick with applying pastel shades, or paler ones in general, is to make sure the room you're in isn't too hot and/or humid - you might see if a cooler environment helps at all. Love that plate ad looking at the shell just makes me long for the beach even more; I'm usually long gone and already at a beach by this time, but had 10 zillion social obligations this year that have kept me landlocked :(
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you decided to keep this one because not only does it look great on you, but it makes you happy & that's never a bad thing!
PS: I have to confess that in my over 20 years of collection CHANEL nail polishes, I have yet to come across ANY with a bad formula, so I don't really get why so many people have issues...which makes me wonder if it's actually the polish that's at fault? Je ne comprends pas....
Well, there's no air conditioning in my house so you can imagine my distress, Eugenia. I'll have to take it to a mall or something and hope the other patrons don't complain, LOL. Do you have Riva as well? I found that to be pretty tricky to apply well - but other than those two, I haven't had problems with Chanel polishes.
DeleteI actually do have Riva (I've even reviewed it) and that was another one everyone complained about, but which I had absolutely no issues with. I can't be the only getting "good" bottles, right?!
DeleteHonestly, I think it's your super application skills at work more than good luck! I do my nails as fast as possible and never slow down to perfect application with goopier formula (it shows up in pics but no one notices in person). I actually swatched a few other Chanel polishes to see if they're problematic in the heat but they're fine while the blues remain rather messy.
DeleteI still haven't found a good dupe for this one, Liz. Which means, despite the crappy formula, it's still worth the splurge!!! :D
ReplyDelete(At least, that's how I justify it in my head.)
Thanks for that - we can both rest easy. ;D
DeleteWonderful shade and it looks very good on you
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteI'm sorry to hear the formula is crappy, but the color is really gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteGlad you agree! :)
DeleteI like this shade too - in bottle and on the finger.
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
DeleteNot only is this a gorgeous shade, but it looks stunning on your perfectly shaped lovely nails! I hope that you are having a good weekend! xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, lola! Hope you had a good weekend, too. :)
DeleteI just wish that it was still the weekend!! xx
DeleteOh gosh, me too. Hang in there!
DeletePardon me swearing but Coco Blue is BLOODY BEAUTIFUL on your fingers!!! Love, love, love it. That is all.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! I love passionate swearing Vita! :D
DeletePretty! It looks really good on you! Why is that these pale blues are such crappy formulas though?
ReplyDeleteThanks! And who the heck knows. As I recall, NARS Koliary was crap, too!
DeleteI can understand why you gravitate toward blue tones Liz, because you wear them insanely well - damn! This shade looks lovely on you - it's too bad about the formula! I don't really have anything like this since these shades are scary for me LOL
ReplyDeleteWell, I wear them about as well as anyone - including YOU! I just have a particular fondness for them. It might go way back to my childhood when my mom used to dress me in greens/blues and my sister pinks/reds. (We're only one year apart and everyone thought we were twins as kids - or hell, even now.) It's hilarious that you're scared of these when you're wild enough to wear bright yellow shadows and glow-in-the-dark makeup!
DeleteI've never loved Chanel's polishes, sorry Eugenia. I mean the colors are fantastic, but I have no faith in the formula. I think I have some sort of mental block when it comes to their nail products. I have no idea why.
ReplyDeleteEugenia... or Liz??? LOL
DeleteI totally understand the gripes about formula and pricing. But to me they're just way ahead of the colour trends (usually) and it's enough for me to make the splurge. :]
Ahhh, so beautiful. You always seem to find the Chanel colors that are really worth it. Plus this actually makes me have happy feelings toward summer, which is novel :P I know Nubar did a dupe collection of the Chanel denim-inspired blues. NJC1 is probably the closest color I know of.
ReplyDeleteThank you, my wigeon! Yes, blues make me happy and friendly - maybe that's weird. I would have bought the Nubar version of the Les Jeans if they were sold anywhere around here... but nope!
DeleteIsn't Anthropologie the best place to find kitschy ceramic containers? I always head to the sale section first and they usually have a great selection of decently priced stuff.
ReplyDeleteThat shade looks wonderful on your skin tone. Really a shame about the formula, but then again I hardly ever come across a pale/pastel shade with great formula from any brand. :(
Thanks, Mary!
DeleteAnthropologie is also the best place for $300 homespun dresses made for romantic bike rides and hippie jewellery that I'm never sure is trendy or old lady. lol They also carry some interesting perfumes that I never see anywhere else!