Chanel Le Vernis for Summer 2011: Mimosa, Morning Rose and Beige Petale

Chanel Summer 2011 Les Fleurs D’ete de Chanel includes three shades of the Le Vernis Nail Colour ($25 each).  Mimosa (#577) is the bright, highly-anticipated “must have” shimmery yellow.  Beige Petale (#567) is a light sheer high-shine beige.  Morning Rose (#557) is a semi-sheer pink with gold glitter sparkle.  Like flowers in a bouquet, these three shades could not be more different from each other.  My assumption is that together this extreme range is intended to be a complete summer wardrobe, to be worn for entirely different occasions.  It is true that, during the summer months, I feel pulled in so many different occasions and events that a variety is welcome.

Mimosa is a fitting for a runway (or, for most of us, beach and poolside).  This color is probably best captured on a cell phone, at a distance.  It is distinctive, daring and says “Yes, I have this year’s Chanel.”  Like a wink across a room, I imagine that women across the world will be flashing this color as the not-so-secret sign of summer chic.  Learning from beauty bloggers who tried this color before me, including the British Beauty Blogger’s helpful instructions, I realized that this formula worked best on a slick base coat.  By this writing, I’ve applied Mimosa six separate times, and I want to pass along what I’ve learned.

Mimosa Application Tip #1:  Although I usually use CND Stickey, that would be an very, very unfortunate choice for Mimosa.  Because Mimosa’s formula is notoriously unforgiving, the most ridge-filling, smoothest base is the best.  I chose Chanel’s own Protective Base Coat ($25), reasoning that if any base worked well with a Chanel polish, it should be the Chanel base coat.  Chanel’s Protective Base Coat is a milky color, and it dries to a very even, non-sticky surface, and even seems to slightly fill ridges and imperfections along the way.  The British Beauty Blogger actually used a topcoat under Mimosa, to get a perfectly even surface.

Mimosa Application Tip #2: Let the brush “float” over the nail, keeping a layer of the polish between your brush and the nail surface.  Like many opaques, Mimosa’s brush can “scrape” off the color that you’ve already applied, leaving a bare patch.  Do not allow the brush to touch the nail.  Instead, load up the brush with enough for a full swipe, and deposit it with virtually no pressure as you go.

Mimosa Application Tip #3: Allow plenty of dry time between coats.  Although this formula is opaque, I need three coats to get good coverage.  Unlike some Chanel formulas that seem to dry in less than a minute, Mimosa needs a good full 5-10 minutes to fully dry to avoid dents.

Although I (and other bloggers) found Mimosa challenging to apply, once deposited it seems to dry to a nice shiny finish.  Still, I’d use a topcoat because a color this vibrant does tend to show wear easily.  Unfortunately, I do not believe my application is perfect and bright yellows are not the best color for my warm skin tone (which are still a bit trashed from traveling), but I’ll post my results nonetheless:

Morning Rose is a sheer pink with a touch of gold glitter.  It’s an easy color for brush-and-go, a polite pink that gives a pretty wash of color and allows the natural nail to show through.  The glitter dries to a bit of a bumpy surface, which is easily remedied with a topcoat.  I chose Chanel Extreme Shine Nail Lacquer ($25), although certainly others will do.

Here, I applied two coats of Morning Rose.  I do not believe that this polish is intended to be worn fully opaque, it feels more like a glossimer than a lipstick.  And we all know that a soft stain of shiny color in the summer can look very fresh.

Beige Petale is a very sheer, shiny beige.  The Beauty Look Book has accurate, clear pictures of the color worn alone together with some comparisons.  It gives the nail a very healthy, even appearance.  It’s one of those shades that I find myself using up because it can be applied without thinking, dries quickly, and takes you anywhere.  It softens the nail line but looks very natural, like a good finishing powder.  Are there dupes? Probably, but I’ll still use Beige Petale down to the bottom of this gorgeous, classic bottle rather than spend the same amount (or more) trying to hunt down a duplicate in another brand.

To alleviate the boredom from seeing one more swatch of sheer Beige Petale here, I decided to play with my Beige Petale by dressing it up with some colors from Creative Nail Design.  As many of you know, Creative Nail Design makes a line of Colors, plus a line of Effects that add different textures and tones to a standard nail polish.

Here, I applied Beige Petale on my Chanel topcoat, then topped it with the Creative Nail Design Effect in Gold Pearl. I then topped it with a sheer coat of Creative Nail Design sheer color in Rosewater, which is genius for knocking down the slight green cast of Gold Pearl.  As an aside, if you are looking for something similar to Beige Petale but in pink, Rosewater is a good choice.  The result using all three of these color layered has a milky irridescence:

Overall, Chanel’s summer nail offerings offer a pleasant variety of colors.  Generally, I’m pleased that I have them in my collection.  Chanel seems to have perfected the modern classic, with a touch of edge and trend that we look for every summer.