Chanel in #667 Bel-Argus + Comparisons

Direct sunlight

Sorry for the unexplained absence. I've been in a bit of a post-graduation funk. I've spent most of my life in school, and now that I'm free from it I feel a bit at sea. Anyway, I have Chanel's Fall 2013 collection coming to me, so I wanted to get up some more Chanel posts before then. Chanel in #667 Bel-Argus is part of the Summer 2013 "L'Été Papillon de Chanel" collection. It is still available but limited-edition.

Chanel describes Bel-Argus as a "metallic blue." It is a foil metallic duochrome with a bright mid-tone blue base. It shifts mainly turquoise and indigo. As with many duochrome polishes, the shift is stronger out of direct sunlight. Although Bel-Argus does not have quite as strong a shift as Chanel in #657 Azuré, I prefer Bel-Argus because it is so bright and vibrant. It is the favorite blue metallic in my collection.

From what I can find through Google, in French Argus is a rather convoluted taxa of butterfly (known as Polyommatinae in English). Bel-Argus seems to mimic the colors found in the Argus bleu or Common Blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus).

Source: http://www.sustainableguernsey.info/blog/2011/07/a-pictorial-guide-to-some-guernsey-butterflies/

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Common_Blue_(Polyommatus_icarus).jpg

I would describe Bel-Argus's formula as perfect. It was the perfect consistency and just flowed out exactly where I wanted it to go. I was polishing while watching Hannibal, and it was the way polishing is meant to be - a source of relaxation and joy. I used 3 thin coats to build up depth. Bel-Argus shows slight brushstrokes (less than Azuré), but because I was on such a roll, I used the sponge technique for my 3rd coat. Of course, I topped with a layer of Seche Vite.

Worn May 29 - June 5, 2013.

Indirect natural light

Indirect natural light - indoors

Artificial light

The 3 pictures below were taken right after Hannibal was over - no clean-up except for using an orange stick to go around my fingers because I always go over the nail with my Seche Vite to prevent shrinkage. I did no clean-up with acetone at all for this mani and the only place I can kind of pick at that isn't perfect is along the cuticle line of my ring finger. Just to reiterate, watching TV (there were alive coma-ed mushroom people guys!) + at night + no clean-up = perfect formula.

Artificial light

In sunlight, Bel-Argus mostly looks like the first 2 pictures. In very bright light it takes on a more sparkly, foil finish look and can shift to a range of tones, including those similar to OPI in Swimsuit...Nailed It! and China Glaze in Want My Bawdy/OPI in Into the Night/Color Club in Personal Stylist.

Direct sunlight

These first two pictures were when the sun was momentarily hiding behind the clouds, so it was still quite light out. You can see how bright the polish is against my skin. So gorgeous! Indirect light is where the shift is most pronounced.

Indirect natural light

I also wanted to include some photos that are less macro to show off the overall effect and impact Bel-Argus has. The first picture with the different colors in the bottle and on the nail show off the two extremes of this polish's shift.

Indirect natural light

Direct sunlight

Indirect natural light

Direct sunlight

Indirect natural light

I have comparisons with Sally Hansen HD in #16 Laser, China Glaze in Want My Bawdy (which is a dupe for OPI in Into the Night and Color Club in Personal Stylist), and Orly in Lunar Eclipse. I don't own OPI in Swimsuit...Nailed It!, but it looks like in most lights it would be too green. Christine from Temptalia mentions that China Glaze in Blue Bells is "surprisingly similar," but, even though I don't know for sure since I don't own Blue Bells, none of the pictures I've found make them look very similar. I would have to assume that Christine makes her comparisons by comparing her pictures rather than the actual products (which is a pet peeve of mine), and as her lighting is often off in the case of nail polish swatches, I would be pretty hesitant to trust her assessment (I still do think Temptalia is a great resource, just not for consistently accurate polish pictures or comparisons). 

None of the polishes I'm comparing are really super close matches to Bel-Argus, but they are the most similar in my collection. Laser and Lunar Eclipse are very similar to each other, but Lunar Eclipse is deeper and more opaque. Both have a violet shift but lack the turquoise one Bel-Argus has; they are also a bit cooler than Bel-Argus. Want My Bawdy is darker, more purple, and although my pictures didn't capture it, much more dusty looking (not bright and vibrant).

A lot of the pictures I've seen of Bel-Argus don't seem to truly capture it. I've found these bloggers' posts helpful: Ommorphia Beauty Bar swatches and comparison, The Beauty Look Book swatch and comparisons, Color Me Loud swatches, Nail_Ru comparisons (run through Google Translate), Manicurator swatches, and Temptalia swatches (funny, I know, but they're not too bad).

Long post! Have you picked up Bel-Argus? What's your favorite summer collection this year? I think mine is Chanel's. I was surprisingly enamored with Essie's and picked up all but one of the colors, but after swatching, I'm not as into it. I still have to buy some from China Glaze, a couple Zoya PixieDusts, and I might cave on one or two from Deborah Lippmann's "Mermaid" collection, but overall I haven't been too excited this summer - which is all right because I have way too many untrieds to get through.