Chanel in #495 Mica Rose + Comparisons

Sunlight

I was looking for a mani that was tidy and dainty, so I pulled out Chanel in #495 Mica Rose. Mica Rose was released with the Spring 2009 "Celestial Lights" collection. The swatch pictures I've seen are misleading; they all show Mica Rose as a pale pink, when it looks just verging on mid-tone pink on my nails. This is a very odd polish, because it looks pale in the bottle, but when I apply it it looks darker, even though it still matches up exactly with bottle color. It reminds me of the pink that most plastic baby doll toys come in. This is the pink Barbie would wear if she had jury duty. It is so not my type of color. This is a Chanel shimmer that shows no matter the lighting, but is still subtle - like a veil of white. There is also some of that pink and green Chanel subtle-shimmer that can only be seen very close up. For full opacity I needed 4 thin coats, but streaking wasn't bad. Worn July 6-7, 2012.

Indirect natural light

Indirect natural light

Indirect natural light

Sunlight

I don't really have many pale pinks, since it's not my aesthetic, but here are comparisons with some Chanel's:

Left to right: #507 Tendresse, #543 Frisson, #495 Mica Rose, #517 Mistral, #557 Morning Rose

Left to right: #507 Tendresse, #543 Frisson, #495 Mica Rose

Left to right: #543 Frisson, #495 Mica Rose

Top to bottom: #507 Tendresse, #543 Frisson, #495 Mica Rose, #517 Mistral, #557 Morning Rose

Top to bottom: #507 Tendresse, #543 Frisson, #495 Mica Rose, #517 Mistral, #557 Morning Rose

Left to right: #557 Morning Rose, #517 Mistral, #495 Mica Rose, #543 Frisson, #507 Tendresse

Left to right: #557 Morning Rose, #517 Mistral, #495 Mica Rose, #543 Frisson, #507 Tendresse

The only color that is similar tonally is #543 Frisson, which is warmer. #507 Tendresse is a peach nude jelly with no shimmer. Frisson, #517 Mistral, and #557 Morning Rose all have the same type of glass-fleck-like shimmer, whereas Mica Rose has the more traditional type of shimmer. Mica Rose has predominantly white shimmer, whereas the other three pinks have predominantly gold shimmer. Mica Rose is a buildable sheer, whereas Frisson is a buildable jelly (Mistral and Morning Rose are what I would classify as crellies - creme/jelly hybrids). You can click on the pictures to enlarge them and better see the shimmer.

Left to right: #557 Morning Rose, #517 Mistral, #495 Mica Rose, #543 Frisson

Left to right: #557 Morning Rose, #517 Mistral, #495 Mica Rose, #543 Frisson

As I mentioned earlier, most swatches I've seen of Mica Rose aren't color-accurate - they make the polish look lighter than it is. The closest is All Lacquered Up, although her lighting is rather yellow. Another swatch can be found on Café Makeup, but it looks much lighter than it pulls on my skin. Similar comparisons are at The Beauty Look Book and Polish Police.

Are you a pink person? Does this polish look too Barbie to you?