Chanel Haute Chocolat: Meh.

This is a polish that I was pretty excited about, despite my vow to not spend any more money on Chanel nail polish.

It's brown! It's sparkly! Ooh, aah! How perfect!

At least, that is, until I put it on.


Chanel Haute Chocolat.

It looks so sparkly and delicious in the bottle, but on my nails it falls flat. It doesn't look like it does in the bottle. It just looks like weird brown with dust on it.

The formula is consistent with the other Chanel polishes I have (besides the Robertson ones which were a nightmare)- a little on the thick side, but otherwise decent. It applied well, dried quickly, all that good stuff. Chanel polishes usually chip the same day for me, but I didn't leave this on long enough to find out.

I may even be the only one who isn't impressed by this color, as I've heard nothing but rave reviews of it. Call me crazy- I don't think this is anything special.

As much as I wanted to love it, and as much as I hoped it would look like it did in the bottle, I just can't convince myself that I'm happy with it. I'm disappointed, that's all. Which brings me to this thought- this is another $20 (or was this one $25? I can't remember) nail polish that I don't love. I can't afford to keep buying $20 nail polishes that I'll probably never wear. There are a few Chanel polishes that I *love*- Kaleidoscope, Azure, Gold Fiction, the ever-elusive Cobra which I don't own but have lusted after ever since I first saw it- but how many more Chanel polishes have I purchased that have been a total disappointment?

So, my opinion on this? Chanel Haute Chocolat- sure, it's a nice color, whatever, ho-hum. You would be better off buying China Glaze Prize Winning Mare. While the two colors aren't matches, Prize Winning Mare definitely satisfies my craving for a sparkly, dimensional earth-toned polish, while Haute Chocolat leaves me wanting more.

A few pinks for October

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and besides wearing a little pink ribbon to show your support, you can do a pink manicure as well!

I rarely, if ever, wear pinks, but what better time to wear them than now? Here are a few of the pinks in my collection.


Chanel Rose Tourbillon


Chanel Melrose


China Glaze 100 Proof Pink



China Glaze Mom's Chiffon


China Glaze Pink-Rox-E


China Glaze Pink Underground


China Glaze Rosita



China Glaze Sexy Lady


China Glaze Sprinkles



China Glaze Verano



Essie Short Shorts


Essie Surfer Dude


Lippmann Collection Shut Up And Drive


Lippmann Collection Makin' Whoopee



OPI Love Me Tender


Misa Camellia Destiny


Misa Candy Girl


Misa Hot People Like You



Nubar Pink Flame



Nubar Sugar


OPI Designer Series Chiffon


OPI Designer Series Sensation


OPI Elephantastic Pink


OPI Kinky In Helsinki


OPI I Pink You're Adorable



OPI Make Love...


OPI Mod About You


OPI That's Hot! Pink


OPI Passion For NY Fashion


OPI Pink Ulta-Matum



Zoya Erika


Zoya Whitney


Zoya Kiki


Zoya Lindsay


Zoya Sweet



Enough pinks for now?

Some requests and some nail art.

I don't have a whole lot of time to post this morning, but I'm really behind on my requests and I wanted to make sure I got these posted!

Here are a couple reader requests:

(As always, click the images to view full size. These puppies are huge!)


Index to pinkie: OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?, China Glaze Who's Wearing What, China Glaze Channelesque, Pure Ice Taupe Drawer.

They all look really similar in the bottle, but they're much different than I expected when you apply them! And, in all my infinite wisdom (*snort*), I forgot to include OPI You Don't Know Jacques and Sephora By OPI Call Your Mother and Metro Chic in the comparison! D'oh.


Thumb: (left) OPI Tickle My France-y (right) Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge
Index and middle: OPI Tickle My France-y
Ring and pinkie: Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge

Another great request for a comparison I wouldn't have thought of myself! These look nearly identical in the bottles, but as you can see, they're quite different on the nail. Both are gorgeous, do I don't know if I'd ever be able to pick between the two!




Urban Decay Book Of Shadows.

The eyeshadows are excellent. Absinthe is the standout color, a very bright golden green with shimmer. No complaints there. The packaging, however, is really crappy. The eyeshadows are in a pull-out drawer that fits so tightly it's a struggle to open. You have to open it by a tiny little ribbon, and since you have to pull so hard to get the drawer open, I can imagine that delicate little ribbon getting torn off pretty easily.

The brushes are floppy and useless. Bah. And, my major irritation with this is the stupid "pop-up" top flap.... WTF are you supposed to do with that?? It doesn't stay open so you can't use it as a mirror.... It's just.... useless! They should have put the shadows up there instead of in the stupid drawer!

So, final verdict: Awesome shadows, crappy packaging.


Chanel Rouge Noir.

I tried taking the picture in a different part of the house, but I think the lighting turned out weird. Hm.


Chanel Tulipe Noire.

That's it as far as requests go- I'm working on a really big project right now, but I think it will help me respond to requests a lot quicker! I know a lot of you are still waiting on requests, but I didn't forget about you, I promise!


And, for fun, here's a little nail art.





China Glaze Gypsy Girl, China Glaze Fairy Dust, Art Club Black Hologram. This was a touch darker in real life, and it looked awesome. Sparkly and eye-catching!

For some reason I can never photograph reds. They always come out looking weird and too bright and glowy. Reds, oranges and neons. I don't know what it is! Argh.



China Glaze Blue Sparrow, China Glaze Emerald Sparkle and Art Club Black Hologram.

I really like this shape- it's not quite a french but it's not quite half-and-half either. I love the way this looks when the light catches it too- tons of sparkle.

Comparison: Chanel Black Satin and Zoya Raven

I mentioned in my post comparing blacks that Zoya Raven was the same color as Chanel Black Satin. Here's a comparison image:


Thumb to pinkie: (left) Raven (right) Black Satin, Raven, Raven, Black Satin, Black Satin.


Now, if I didn't say that they were different polishes, would you have been able to tell the difference? I wouldn't!

I ended up buying Black Satin a while back because someone had convinced me that it was the be-all end-all black polish of the gods. Sure, it's nice, but Zoya Raven is nicer.

I'm sure you all know this by now, but I'm not a fan of Chanel. I think their customer service is some of the worst I've ever experienced, and I don't think their polish is anything special. It's certainly not worth the price tag- it chips quicker than any polish I own (although, I hear buying Chanel's base coat will prevent this), the brushes are sometimes messed up and they don't apply as smoothly as a $20 polish should. I will buy the polish if the color is really special (Kaleidoscope!) but, still. I'd rather spend my money on Lippmann or Rescue Beauty Lounge.

Zoya, on the other hand, has rarely disappointed me. The formula of the polish is always smooth and manageable (with the exception of two colors- Bekka and Juicy), the price point is just right ($6, not $20!), and they really have a lot of great colors. I have only had to contact customer service once, so I can't really comment on the quality of customer service, but I have never had a problem with any of my orders- just a couple backordered polishes.

So, personally, when faced with the choice of two identical black shimmer polishes, of course I'm going to choose the less expensive one!

Random Black Polish Swatches and Comparisons!

I've been working really hard on my swatching project lately and I feel like I'm finally making progress on the giant mountain of polishes I wanted to photograph. Yay!!!

I've actually been working on photographing my entire stash for quite some time, but the problem is my collection keeps growing. That, and I get distracted very easily lately... But wow! Progress feels awesome!

Anyway, here are a few swatches I wanted to share with you:


Zoya Suvi compared to China Glaze Gussied Up Green. Index and middle finger are Suvi, ring and pinkie are Gussied Up Green, thumb is (left) Suvi and (right) Gussied Up Green. You can see that while they're quite similar, they're definitely different enough to justify owning both. Love 'em!



Red glitters! Thumb to pinkie: China Glaze Ruby Pumps, New York Summer Fire Red Glitter, Hot Topic Red Glitter, Zoya Delilah, Zoya Jade.
All quite different! And all very pretty. I still haven't quite figured out the text thing yet, but I'll figure something out!

And there's recently been a lot of interest in black nail polish, so I've swatched a few.



Wet N Wild Fantasy Makers Black Pearl. No, it's not pearly, it's creme.... Weird name lol.


Black Rose. It doesn't have a label so I don't know the actual name or brand, but I found this on the Fantasy Makers halloween display at Walgreens!


Wet N Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic (over Black Pearl)


Orly Goth. My favorite black with silver glitter. The glitter shapes are somewhat random and it reminds me of snowflakes.


Petites Black Star. Gorgeous black and gold glitter!



Hot Topic Black Glitter. No label so I don't know what the actual name or shade number is, sorry!


Hot Topic Black Iridescent. This is one of the coolest polishes ever. It's full of little flecks of multicolored glitter- they change to all the colors of the rainbow depending on the light! It's unbelievable. If you like black polish, you MUST get this one- it's only $2.99!


Chanel Black Satin. If you're thinking of getting this, don't. Get Zoya Raven instead! It's identical and costs $6. Zoya's formula is better, too!



ManGlaze Black. I adore this.


Misa Wishing On A Star.


Misa I Will Survive.


These are just a few of the black polishes in my collection. If there's a specific black that I haven't posted and you'd like to see it, let me know and I'll be happy to post it for you!

I also took another taupe and dusty purple comparison picture with some new colors I got, but I think I somehow deleted it! I can't find it anyhwere in my photo library or my nail photo folder! :( Oh well... Guess I'll take it again. *sigh*