Chanel Azuré

I got very excited about the summer Chanel nail lacquers when I heard a vibrant teal duochrome and electric blue shimmer would be part of the collection. The L'Ete Papillon de Chanel collection includes three nail colors: Azure, Bel-Argus and Lilis. I skipped Lilis, the coral, but picked up the other two.

 I'm wearing Azure as a full manicure right now, and to just get this out of the way: Yes, it's beautiful; no, it's not 100% unique. That should be all it takes for the Chanel haters to feel justified in sitting this one out.

But really...there are few polishes that are 100% unique these days, which is why small indie producers are having such a field day at the moment. Nail polish hoarders like myself are always interested in something they haven't seen before, and I'm not sure Azure qualifies.

That said. It is gorgeous. The duochrome blue-to-purple shift isn't as strong as the color shift in, say, Chanel Peridot, but it does show up in certain lights; and regardless of the duochrome the color is super vibrant. In the sun, the color really dazzles. It's a beautiful, summery, oceanic blue. It would be a very fun summer pedicure color.

I used two coats for opacity. The formula is excellent and wore well with Palladio Fuse base coat (RIP) and Seche Vite fast-dry top coat.

Whether it's worth $27 or not is entirely up to you. This is among the more unusual colors Chanel has produced, particularly of late, so people who collect Chanel will definitely want to get this one.