Chanel Nuit Magique

I can't remember when I first heard about Chanel Nuit Magique, this year's (kind of?) Fashion Night Out or rather, "Vogue Fashion Night"—or maybe neither of those things—special edition polishes. In the past I've looked forward to these special editions and this was no exception.

And then the trouble began.

In years past I'd ordered the Fashion Night Out polishes directly from Chanel's website, but then Fashion Night Out was cancelled and no one was sure what would become of the polishes. Would they be released in the US? Would they be a boutique exclusive or available online? No one knew for sure.

Around this time my fiance went to Las Vegas for his brother's bachelor weekend and I asked him if he would please please find his way to the Chanel boutique in the Bellagio and order the polishes for me. I wrote the names of the collection down and sent it off with him.

The sales associate at Chanel did let him place the order but told him they couldn't guarantee if they'd ever get them or not. She said it might be as late as November when they showed up (he was there at the end of August). All of September came and went without hearing anything.

But then! My well-connected nail friend Janice told me the polishes would be available after all! And sure enough my fiance received a text from Chanel in Las Vegas, saying they'd be sending them along.

Hooray!

Chanel Cosmic is very beautiful. It's a dark smoky charcoal, not a true black, with silver and blue microglitter. The effect is kind of stars-in-the-night-sky, with the little bits of glitter winking from within the polish. It's subtle, as Chanel shimmers (though this is truly a glitter, not a shimmer) tend to be, but very interesting and a really nice surprise from Chanel. The formula's good and easy to control. I should note this finishes smooth, not gritty like some glitters.

Chanel Cosmic—Nuit Magique collection

 Chanel Magic is a medium blue creme, and it's very reminiscent of Chanel Blue Rebel, a polish I owned and loved but passed along as part of a complete set with Blue Boy and Coco Blue (also FNO polishes). It's a beautiful, work appropriate (in all but very conservative environments) polish though probably quite easily duped. I'm happy to have it, though, because I somewhat regret having got rid of Blue Rebel and Blue Boy.

Chanel Magic—Nuit Magique collection

I'm not sure where to tell you to get these polishes if you're interested in paying retail ($27) for them. It might be worth a try to call a Chanel boutique to see if they've got any and will ship them to you. They don't seem to be available online, although—curiouser and curiouser—they do turn up on the website if you search for them on Google and click through that way. Going through Chanel.com I could not get to them. So who knows. My guess is that they may have planned to offer them online and then didn't.

Because these are spendy and somewhat of a hassle to get, I know people will want to know if they are worth the trouble/cash. If you're choosy, skip Magic (particularly if you already own Blue Rebel) but Cosmic I must recommend. It's not a glitter bomb by any means but pretty special for Chanel and very beautiful in any case!

Some oldies-but-goodies

I had some extra time this weekend and gave myself a much more careful manicure than I usually do.

I need to remember what a difference it makes to do this every now and again...for my cuticles, primarily. Even with the warmer weather my cuticles have been pretty bedraggled lately.

This manicure was pre-cuticle cleanup: Orly Cashmere Cardigan.

You can see the dry bits here but let's talk about the polish. I bought it at the very beginning of my nail polish collecting obsession, in early 2009-ish. Cashmere Cardigan was part of the Prepster collection along with Country Club Khaki, Tennis Anyone and Polo Princess to name a few.

Here is the kind-of psycho thing about nail polish collecting: I've owned this polish for more than four years and this is the first time I've worn it. That's kind of crazy, no? This is before I knew better than to just buy stuff willy nilly. I actually have a lot of polishes that I bought early on and wasn't really crazy about...most of them I've sold and passed along, but some are still sitting in my Helmers.

ANYWAY. The polish is a dusty, muted purple. I think it would be considered work appropriate in all but the most conservative offices anymore. Orly's formula is great, no complaints. It wore very well with my usual base and top coats.

For Memorial Day weekend I gave myself the aforementioned full manicure and then pulled out one of my long-time favorites, OPI Dutch Tulips (old formula!).

I've worn this one so often and so far as I know haven't shown a picture here. It's a vibrant deep pink creme. The formula is nice if a bit on the thin side, and of course, this old formula version is full of those lovely bad chemicals that make the polish so easy to control. Old formula means old brush, unfortch, but I manage.

What are you wearing on your nails for the long weekend (if you're in the US)? If you're outside the US, what are you wearing for the regular-size weekend? :)

OPI Did It On 'Em

I pulled this out a few weeks ago when the weather started to get more determinedly summery (of course at the moment it's about 40 degrees outside but at the time it seemed like a good move).

I can wear pretty much any polish I want at work, which is fortunate because this is a pretty shocking color. A couple of people remarked upon it...remarks along the lines of "Boy that's...really green." I don't exactly think that was a compliment, but you know, whatever.

This picture is a little misleading, because the polish isn't neon in the truest sense of the word. It is greener than it appears here, but it is very vivid.

Colors like these are very polarizing, and it didn't do much for me as a manicure. I think it would look great as a summer pedicure, though.