Chanel Taboo Swatch & Review

Hi there! Today I want to show you a luxe shade of polish that I bought a little while ago, Chanel Taboo. This is definitely a "treat 'yo self" purchase, as Chanel is a little pricey. I have been seeing swatches of it since it came out in Spring 2013, but I finally decided I needed to have it just recently. Lucky for me it was still available!

Taboo is a total stunner. A galaxy on your nails. At first stroke this goes on as an inky deep indigo but with dry time, the eggplanty red-grapey purple pops out and you see all the red and blue shimmer and slight flashes of sliver glitz. *sigh* Seriously so gorgeous. This is opaque on one coat but two really intensifies the complexity of the shade.

It's dark but not too dark that you'd mistake it for black in lower lights. I'm head over heels for it, and even though Chanel polishes don't usually wear very well on me, I am so glad I took the plunge and purchased it. You can get it from Chanel's website for $27. Do you have this shade? Do you like to "treat 'yo self" with high end polishes like these or are you more of a frugalista?

See ya soon!

❤ Kellie

My 2012 Holiday Manicure

I hope all of you have enjoyed your winter holidays! Here's a peek at my holiday manicure. If you follow my Instagram account you might've seen this already. I used Chanel Diwali for the base color. Diwali is a gorgeous metallic pale gold shimmer. The glitter is Rainbow Honey Glittering Rapture, a blend of red and golds and shimmers in a clear base.

You can buy Chanel lacquers at your local beauty counter or online at www.chanel.com for $30, although I got to try mine from the new rental service Lacquerous.com. (I will most likely be doing a post regarding my experience with them soon in case you are interested.) You can purchase Rainbow Honey lacquers at www.rainbowhoney.com for $10 for a full size bottle or $5 for a mini. What did you wear on your nails for the holidays this year? Are you planning on a fancy mani for New Year's?

Some of these products were provided for review.

Guest Post by Gilded Nails: Chanel - Peridot

Please enjoy this guest post from my friend Carina from Gilded Nails!

Hey everyone! I’m super honoured to be doing a guest post on Kellie’s blog today! I am a self-confessed Also Known As groupie and have been since before I started blogging, so to be posting on here is a huuuuge deal for me! Sadly, I fail epically at nail art, and there is no way I could do anything that could trump Cristina’s watermarble (seriously girl, how do you do it!!), so I’ll be playing it safe and sticking to good ol’ nail swatches! The polish I have chosen to show you today is Chanel Peridot, from the Fall 2011 Illusions d’Ombres collection. Peridot is a gorgeous antique gold metallic with a wonderful green duochrome effect. In the bottle, this polish is just UH-MAZING!

On the nails, the duochrome effect is a little more subtle, but you can definitely see the flashes of green along the edges of the nail. As you can see from the third pic, Peridot completely changes in colour depending on the angle and the lighting. This is two coats, no topcoat.

I’ll admit, Chanel polishes are a little on the pricey side, but for something as unique as this, I’m willing to fork out the cash! I honestly don’t have anything like Peridot in my collection and after my disappointment with Mimosa, I’m glad to see that Chanel is back to making spectacular, one of a kind polishes again! I definitely don’t have any buyers remorse about this purchase! It’s love!

Thank you so much Kellie for allowing me to do a guest post on your blog! <3
 

I adore Carina, her nails are gorgeous and she always puts out really sharp beautiful photographs. Plus I love that she's from Australia, how lucky! Thanks for posting darling ♥

Chanel Mimosa

Chanel Mimosa has been one of the most anticipated lacquers of the year. It's the season's "IT" color, yellow, and it's a Chanel so of course it's going to get some buzz. The collection it's from is called "Les Fleurs D’Ete" which means Summer Flowers which is just darling. Mimosa is my favorite cocktail too, so how could I resist picking up this baby?

I missed out on some of the cult favorites from Chanel, Jade etc. so I had to pick this guy up before I missed my chance...just in case, even though I had heard some less than stellar reviews from reputable sources. I have to say while it's not the best yellow polish I've ever used, it's not the worst either. It covers pretty well in three coats. Sure, there was some initial streaking but that's to be expected in a light shade. You can also see on my ring finger, application isn't completely level, bah. But for a nice warm sunny yellow with delicious golden shimmer, it does its job well.

I could really go either way on this when it comes right down to it. It is never going to look good on someone who can't pull off a yellow, but it is really beautiful on the right skin tone. It's not the greatest formula but if that doesn't bother you and you have a little patience, then you might love it. It really makes me want to sip a drink on a beach and soak up some rays. *sigh*

taupe comparison

i thought i should do a comparison of some of the taupes i've used lately, to show y'all the difference :)  i find comparison posts really helpful on other blogs, so i think i should do some more on mine, it's only right yeah?

nubar's newest collection has two taupes so now is as good a time as ever to show some similar ones so you can see if you want or need them.  marabout is very similar to opi's you don't know jacques and chiffon is similar to chanel's paticuliere.

you don't know jacques is the most brown, paticuliere is the lightest and most tan.  chiffon and marabout are more grey, with marabout being the darker and richer color.  i personally like them all but i think ydkj looks the best on me.  what is your favorite taupe?

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

some of these products were sent to me. please see disclosure statement for more information.

chanel paradoxal

*sigh* chanel. need i say more? well, not much more :) this polish is the first chanel MUST-HAVE-IT-BUY-IT-IMMEDIATELY $23 polish i have ever bought. and i do not regret it for one second.

chanel paradoxal is a grey violet polish with a hint of purple shimmer buried in it. hells bells, i seriously could not live without this baby, from the second i saw the fall promo pictures for this, i knew i had to have it. inside it seems dark and mysterious but has a hint of something different, while outside it shimmers and glows. and the chanel formula has become like crack to me, ever since i got chanel paticuliere in a contest, i cannot get over how creamy dreamy their polishes are! sincerely amazing. this is two coats with a coat of seche over it.

flash

lamp light

sunlight

have you snatched up this gorgeous beauty yet?  whatcha waiting for??

chanel particulière

i have to say that i feel pretty lucky. pretty lucky to have such a fun hobby that has led me to find some of the coolest, hippest, hottest, and most amazing women on earth. i don't want to get all sappy *tear* but honestly y'all have made my life so much more whole. i adore painting my nails and never dreamed that it would become such an outlet for serenity and stress-relief and friendship. i truly consider myself lucky to have found my little niche in this blogging community and wanted to thank you all for reading what i have to say here, looking at my pictures, and laughing along with me on twitter and in the comments etc.

aaaaannnnndddd i'm also pretty lucky for another reason...because i recently won a really fantastic awesome sweet contest! i got my very first chanel nail polish, the highly coveted and mostly sold out particulière. it's the muddy taupe color that chanel came out with this past January and it's been turning heads ever since. i won this gorgeous polish from Lacroix the Beauty Blog. what a great giveaway gift! thanks so much again, i'm treasuring my little piece of icon-hood :)

the taupe mushroomy color is pretty standard, not much different than we've seen from opi, color club, eyeko, essie, etc. However, the formula and application was where i was in for a real treat. the chanel brushes are slightly odd as the brush hairs are waaay longer than i'm used to.  check out this link to see pics of the brush.  and the polish was simply butter. honestly my jaw dropped and my mouth was open the entire time i was applying this baby. flies probably got in.

flash

lamp light

sun light, 3 days wear

 sick, gorgeous, amazing. LOVE IT! and you might say i'm now a die hard chanel fan because i was quick to order their new lacquer paradoxal :D can't wait til it arrives!

chanel delice

hola blog readers of the world! my notd yesterday was chanel delice, which i'm sorry to say i do not particularly love. it's ok but just that, ok. and it was a pain in my butt. like i've said before, i'm trying to grow my nails out a bit and therefore do not have much of a free edge right now. well this color is super sheer so unless i wanted a ton of ugly uneven short VNL (visible nail line) i had to layer the crap out of it. and so i did. so i give you 6 coats. and that, my dear friends, is dedication. the in-bottle color is so effing pretty though so i just kept layering and layering and layering. and the end result is just ho-hum. the edges of my cuticles are a bit discolored from my last polish, sapphire blue so please pay no mind to that. it's an alright polish and i'm glad i tried it, but it's not one i'll probably be reaching for again anytime soon. (and i borrowed it so that's good too!)

on another note, i've been slowly converting my friend & co-worker mickelle into a fellow polish-junkie and i convinced her to buy some seche vite top coat the other day. she likes how fast it dries but has experienced more tip shrinkage than i do. maybe because her nails are rounder at the top and she doesn't use their base coat? idk but i've heard poshe top coat is better for the tip pull issue. i personally don't mind a little shrinking at the edges, plus i would outweigh that "con" with all the "pro's" that come with seche. what do you guys think, is there a top coat that you prefer?