Chanel in #657 Azuré

Indirect natural light

I have too many pictures of this polish to share with you! It is Chanel in #657 Azuré. Azuré is part of the Summer 2013 "L'Été Papillon de Chanel" collection. "Papillon" is French for butterfly, and Azuré and the other colors in this collection encapsulate that theme in gorgeous fashion. It is still available, but is limited-edition, so grab it while you can. 

Chanel describes Azuré as "metallic blue green," which is accurate, but not very descriptive. It is a foil metallic duochrome with a light-medium teal green base. It shifts to sky blue, indigo, and at times at the very edges, violet. In contrast to holographic polishes, the duochrome of Azuré is really at its fullest when out of full sunlight. The shift in this is not as strong as say, the Sally Hansen Nail Prisms, but it is a strong shift - it is stronger than China Glaze in Deviantly Daring (which is close, but not a dupe - I will have a comparison post up later this week). 

The formula is great - flows nicely, goes where placed, and spreads easily. I used 3 thin coats to build up depth. It does show some brushstrokes, but I don't really mind that with these foil metallic polishes, whereas I don't like it with pearly or frosty polishes. My mani doesn't have brushstrokes, because I used the sponge technique on my last coat to see if it would intensify the duochrome (I don't think it did). I also tried Azuré layered over 4 thin coats of Nars in Zulu (an almost-black forest green jelly) to see if that would make the shift more prominent; it did make the polish a little deeper and possibly gave it slightly more indigo shift, but I don't think it was very noticeable. So, in conclusion to that experimentation, I would say that you really don't need to fuss with Azuré at all to get the full effect of the duochrome - apply as is, and you should be good to go! You really don't have to play around to see the shift, but it is hard to capture fully in pictures, which is why some pictures are at weird angles. I did distance pictures with my dog Henry to give you a good indication of how the shift presents in real life. Also check out my comparison post (linked above) for additional pictures of the impressive shift.

Worn May 11 - 16, 2012.

Also! An update on my leg: I tore the gastrocnemius (calf) muscle. :( I am on crutches but walking supporting about 90% of my weight on that leg, and I'm starting physical therapy next week. It already feels significantly better, and my physician says that I should be recovered in three to four weeks. Although this is a pain, it's seriously way better than I imagined - I was hearing all kinds of horror stories from people. I will also say that I found people cannot stop themselves from commenting thoughtlessly when you have an injury! It made me relate to all the pregnant women horror stories you hear, with the endless opinions and touching. I had to go in to work (my second job is at a fast-casual restaurant), and one of my co-workers kept telling me I was lucky that I got to sit in a chair at the cash register (which was very uncomfortable, as my calf and quad where unsupported, so gravity was pulling down on the tear). I had about five people tell me that I must have overstretched (two of these people are extremely obese, and I'm sorry to jump to conclusions, but I doubt their expert knowledge in regards to exercise). One of our regular customers, who comes to the counter to get refills at least three times-a-day (and who really likes me), told me I needed to sack up and get on my feet. People just had to tell me to take ibuprofen and ice it, and that I should wrap it or get a brace or just push through it. Dudes, thank you for your concern, but please believe I am doing what I can to make this feel better. Trust. But, no more shooting pains, so I am truly grateful!

Direct sunlight

Indirect natural light

Direct sunlight

Here are pictures with my nails underwater, which helps show off the shift:

Direct sunlight

Indirect natural light

Many more pictures out of the water:

Indirect natural light

Indirect natural light - indoors

Indirect natural light - indoors

Here are pictures with my bemused dog, Henry. I think they show that your nails don't need to be at any special angles to display the duochrome shift.

Indirect natural light

Indirect natural light - indoors

You can see from the photo above that I have chipping on my right index finger, but this is from having to work the cash register and constantly dig into the coins. None of my other nails have any chipping, so I'm assuming wear is normal for this polish (I usually get 5-14 days from Chanel polishes). UPDATE, May 15: Actually, although the angle is deceptive, what looks to be a chip above was actually just tipwear. I have had absolutely no chipping, only outgrowth in my wear, which is in line with my usual wear.

Here are other pictures of Azuré that capture some of the duochrome: So Marvellous swatches, The Beauty Look Book swatches and comparisons, My Lucite Dreams swatches, The RAEviewer swatches and comparisons 1 and 2, and Temptalia swatches.

So how do you feel about Azuré? Does the shift impress you? How do you feel about duochromes? I have to be in the right mood for them, but they're so magical!