So when I said I kind of bought into the Chanel hype, I meant... it got me big time. The morning of the Khaki collection release, I called five or six Chanel boutiques in several states... because it wasn't online yet. On an NBer's tip, I ended up calling the Chanel counter in the Bellevue, WA Nordstrom's and gave my order to the friendliest-sounding sales associate ever while walking from a bus stop to my new psychiatrist. (And I love the new psychiatrist. I've had seven of them in the last nine years and I only really liked one out of them before this one. So I feel really lucky.) I figured it was safe crossing a bridge with no people around but with cars zooming by to say my credit card number aloud in public. (I said it quietly.)
This ended up being a LOT of money... and it's not like it's super sold out or anything yet. But I don't particularly regret getting them even if they aren't the most special colors in the world.
This one was an unexpected favorite. It's kind of a muddy green brown creme, kind of in a similar line as Obsessive Compulsive Swamp Thing and MAC Dry Martini. Except this is more brown than either of those (I think). It also has a bit of orange lurking in it. I seriously love this sort of color. And it applied so beautifully well. If I had used a thick coat, it could have been a one coater but as it was, only two thin coats were needed.
Chanel Khaki Vert
This reminds me of the green in a camouflage print that has been washed a couple of times. I love it. It's not as green as I thought it would be but I love how greyed out it is. Unlike Essie Sew Psyched (which is often mentioned in the following context: "I have Essie Sew Psyched and I like it better anyway"), it is a straightforward creme: no shimmer like Sew Psyched. This photo was taken on the third day of wear. No chips, only the slightest bit of tipwear but no shrinkage. I don't really attribute this to Chanel as much as I attribute it to my Gelous/Diamont combo which seems to make all polishes wear like iron. Two coats.
This color is so good at giving me lobster hands. I don't know what to call this color... Russet? I didn't dislike it but I didn't like it either. Still, it applied very well in two coats. Some people on NB asked about whether one of the brown Barielles could be a dupe. Since I have the Barielles (reviewing coming tomorrow or the day after!), I decided to do a quick comp:
Barielle Cowl of the Wild & Chanel Khaki Rose
They're pretty similar looking in the bottle. Cowl of the Wild is a bit darker and more brown. But the difference is more obvious on the nail...
Barielle Cowl of the Wild on the leftmost finger; Chanel Khaki Rose on the rest.
If you added a bit of a cream or slightly pink colored polish to the Barielle, you could probably get a good approximation of Chanel Khaki Rose. But what you won't get is the great application of the Chanel. As with other recent darker-colored Chanel Releases (Paradoxal, Strong), I found the formula for all three Khakis to be wonderful two-coaters: thick, pigmented, easy to control, and they were 80% dried before I finished. The Barielle was harder to control, more sheer and took three coats before it was opaque. Whether it is worth it to pay $20 more for great application vs decent application is up to the individual, obviously. :)
September 18th (15m cardio), September 19th (50m cardio).
