Chanel Peridot

Hello.  I have something special to share with you this lazy rainy Sunday.  Peridot, part of Chanel's Fall 2011 precious metals collection, is a complex sophisticated antique gold/olive green duochrome.  Duochromes, polishes that have two distinct colors depending on how the light hits them, can sometimes be very juvenile, but Chanel has created a very sophisticated take on this with Peridot.  And for the hefty price of $25, they darn well should!

In the light this polish is a beautiful antique gold with lots of sparkle flecks.  In the shade it takes on an olive green sheen.  The less direct light it receives, the darker the olive green effect.  I used two coats of Peridot with no top coat.

Chanel Peridot, two coats

Chanel Peridot, two coats

Peridot is fairly easy to apply and dries very quickly.  So quickly in fact that I had to keep extra polish on the brush so that it would stay wet while I painted.  20 minutes after manicure time and Peridot is ready to take on the world.

Image of Peridot gem, photo courtesy of JTPeters.net

I like the way Chanel has played on the way light hits an actual peridot gem, picking up the range of colors between dark olive green to gold.  Peridot is the birthstone for August, so those of you late summer babies might want to pick up this polish for that alone.  What do you think?  Does this color have you pining?

Leaf the Space Cadet at the Altar

My manicure mojo has indeed been down as of late, that is until today's creation rejuvenated my spirits!  Here is SEPHORA by OPI Leaf Him At The Altar...

SEPHORA by OPI Leaf Him At The Altar, two coats

 ...or is it?!

Woah, betcha you didn't see that one coming!  Isn't that amazing?!  Orly Space Cadet is on my ring fingers and at the correct angle, the two are indistinguishable!  I've been getting into accent fingers recently, seeing them an extra way to express the creativity that's just bursting out.  And with so many polishes available, who can ever settle on using just one? Now I can't take complete credit for this design though, it was a collaboration with a very good friend who wanted something a little out of the ordinary. I brought Orly Space Cadet for her and she supplied Leaf Him at the Altar.  The one variation on the manicure I gave her is that in addition to the accent finger, she also has a racing stripe of Space Cadet down her thumbs.  Awesome!

SEPHORA by OPI Leaf Him At The Altar with three coats Orly Space Cadet on ring finger

Not only do I love the completed look, but Leaf Him At The Altar is amazing unto itself.  A brilliant frosty springy green, beautiful application, terrific hue.  Major kudos to my friend for letting me borrow it, and for her adventurous manicure spirit!  It has indeed reaffirmed my love of polish.

Orly Space Cadet

Space Cadet is the only color from the ORLY FX collection that captured my attention, so when I finally saw it available in the display I had to snatch it up.  It's a purple/green/yellow triochrome (?) with an intense coppery glitter in the sunlight.  It looks very different depending on the lighting you're in, which is one of the really fun things about wearing it.  I tried to capture it's different personalities in the pictures below.

The polish applies well though it is a little transparent.  I needed three coats for full effect.  This first picture is with flash, it captures both the coppery glitter effect and the green duochrome.

Orly Space Cadet, two coats with flash 

This picture is in direct sunlight.  Here Space Cadet looks very purple with a copper flash and green undertone.

Orly Space Cadet, two coats, direct sunlight

Here I tried to capture the most of the duochrome effect that I could.  You can see the purple towards the tip, then the green in the middle and yellow towards the base.  Meanwhile, the bottle looks very purple.

Orly Space Cadet, two coats direct sunlight

Here's more of the duochrome effect in indirect sunlight.

Orly Space Cadet, two coats indirect sunlight

None of these pictures really capture how your nails look at any given moment while wearing this color, however they do demonstrate the many facets of this polish.  I think this would be a really fun summer pedicure.