Today for Makeup Wars we’re sharing some of our favorite nail polish brands. I admit that initially I was going to share Smith and Cult as I’m obsessed with Fauntleroy, Regret the Moon and have been really wanting Gay Ponies Dancing in Snow. But, I was too lazy to swap out my manicure this am for pictures (true story).
In fact, over the last few years without even realizing it, I’ve somehow amassed a collection of Chanel nail polishes, and they’ve become my go-to polish brand. I was wearing my basic light pink manicure, Chanel Ballerina, this morning. It was leftover from an event on Friday, and despite being about 5 days out you can see that the manicure itself looks pretty good. My cuticles not so much now, but that’s a whole different story, mostly involving dish washing, lots of time with young children and no time for self care.
If you had told me about 4 or 5 years ago that my favorite polish brand would be Chanel, I would have laughed in your face. True, they have great colors, amazing shimmers and creams, but I couldn’t get the polish to last more than about 24 hours without a chip. Compared to my OPI and Essie (5-7 days chip free), Chanel polishes were very high maintenance and not generally worth the hassle.
But, you guys, the Chanel Le Gel Coat is a total game changer! I had tried all possible combinations of base coats and top coats previously, without much success. But the combination of ORLY Bonder Basecoat with the Le Gel Coat on top gets me about 5 days of great looking nails, without chips. Note, this only seems to work with Chanel polish, I haven’t noticed it making a difference for other brands. So, I still use Seche Vite for other brands of polish.
Since I’ve been collecting these polishes for years, I do have some favorites that are discontinued. Here’s a quick peek at some of my favorites! From left to right:
167 Ballerina
504 Organdi
505 Particuliere
Pink Ribbons
506 Camelia
457 Tulipe Noire
499 Gondola
Steel
Not Pictured (because I just finished the bottle) is Vamp
What’s your favorite nail polish brand? I’d love to know what works great for you!
I’m a doctor, a mommy and a bit of a beauty addict. If you let me, I can take 2 hours to get ready in the morning. Really. I'm on a quest for faster beauty that works!
I don’t think I kept most of my Chanel when I was cleaning for the move and the reason was the wear time. Now that I know this top coat exists I’ll find what I saved so I can get use out of it. I’m glad to know this exists.
This is a drool worthy lineup of polishes. Chanel is a brand I want to try, one day. As for faves, I love China Glaze, OPI, K B Shimmer, Orly…
There aren’t many formulas out there that top Chanel for me! I haven’t tried that Gel Coat yet. I’m putting it in my cart right now so I remember to buy on my next haul!
I used my Chanel polishes without the gel coat before, but it really makes a HUGE difference in chipping for me.
I love their gel top coat and base coat! Unfortunately, the actual polish always tends to be really thick and streaky for me, even though I love the colors — have you found any ways to make them less streaky?
If yours are thick it’s best to add a little thinner. I don’t have the streakiness/thick problem, but I tend to only order directly from Chanel.
These Chanel nail polishes looks so pretty
Candice | Beauty Candy Loves
Ballerina is perfection! My Chanel polishes have always been among my very favorites!
These are damn pretty. I will buy few shades. I love O.P.I