Do You Need Chanel Beige?

As one of those people with pasty bleached-flour-white skin, it's difficult to find a "nude" shade that looks good with my skin tone. I've tried literally dozens and most of them give me "dirty hands" or "lobster hands" at best and "zombie hands" at worst.

I was so happy to find Dior Camel (for swatches and review on Dior Camel, click here or here) and while it was way too dark to be considered "mannequin hands" on me, it did work well and I love it as a great neutral.

I was pretty sure Chanel Beige was just going to be another failed attempt, but I had to find out for myself. Turns out, it's not as bad as zombie hands, but it certainly gives me lobster hands. *sigh* I think it will look great on someone with warm undertones though. It also has a hidden pink shimmer that's not visible on the nail except in extreme lighting conditions.

Warm neutrals are never going to look as good on me as cool-toned colors, but I refuse to give them up completely.

The application/formula wasn't fabulous, but it was okay. Thin, careful coats are the key with this one as it tends to want to be a bit gloppy if you're not careful. I used 3 coats for the photos below to achieve opacity, but another 4th coat wouldn't have hurt anything. Shown with no top coat.

Chanel Beige

Chanel Beige

Chanel Beige

Chanel Beige

Below is a quick nail wheel swatch against the closest two "nudes" I still have left in my stash. And as you can see, they're not close at all. While it may not be best for pasty white cool-toned people, it certainly appears to be more unique than I expected.

Chanel Beige, Dior Camel and Milani Creme Brulee

Chanel Beige, Dior Camel and Milani Creme Brulee

What do you think? Are neutrals your thing? Will you be getting Chanel Beige?

Chanel Beige is currently available on Chanel.com and at select Chanel counters in the US and retails for $26 for a .4 ounce bottle.


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Zoya Kennedy - Swatches and Review

Mannequin Hands Alert!

Zoya Kennedy is part of Zoya's Feel Collection for Winter 2011. It's a pink/peach toned nude beige creme that will make those searching for the perfect shade for their mannequin hands jump for joy. I'm extremely pale and have found mine in Zoya Shay, but I think the pink/peach in this polish will compliment a LOT of skin tones. Actually, the longer I wore this one the more I liked how it looked on me.

Zoya Kennedy

Zoya Kennedy

Zoya Kennedy

Zoya Kennedy

Application is something I always worry a bit about in nudes because I just can't seem to shake those memories of the nudes of the 80s that were so sheer and difficult to apply. Kennedy is definitely NOT your 80s nude. It's creamy and smooth with full opacity in two coats.

Available at Zoya.com and select Ulta store locations / Retail Price $8.00

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Disclosure: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration. 

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Zoya Shay Swatches and Review

Mannequin Hands!!!

After several years of searching for polishes to wear for manne hands, I was finally able to find a couple that were sufficient. I like Cult Nails Cruisin' Nude and RBL Grunge isn't bad. Also Clarins 225 works okay, though the application is a PITA.

Red hair and pale skin make it difficult to find ones that don't give me "lobster hands."

I've been having such great luck with Zoya lately, I decided to try Shay finally. I am not sure how long I've had this one, but I can't believe I waited so long. I think I just figured it wouldn't be opaque enough and the application would be a PITA, too.

But it's perfectly opaque in two coats! (Actually, one careful coat would probably do it.) And applies as easily as the other Zoyas I've tried. Whoop! I also have Pandora, another nude, which I'll be trying soon.

Shay is a nude with a great shimmer. It *almost* reminds me of a frost, but there are no streaks or application issues that are common with frosts. I hesitate to try to describe the color in any more detail - nudes are so difficult because they look totally different on different skin tones.

You judge. I've tried to capture it in different lighting to show all the nuances of the finish. But as you all know by now, I'm still learning with the camera. =) The first photo is the most color accurate on my monitor. Two coats of color, no top coat. No clean up.

Zoya Shay

Zoya Shay

Zoya Shay

Zoya Shay

It almost feels like I'm "cleansing my palette" from the darker colors. =)

Available at Ulta or Zoya.com for $8.00.