Chanel in #583 Taboo

Direct sunlight

My most recent mani was Chanel in #583 Taboo, which is the brand's most recent polish release. Taboo was released with the Spring 2013 "Collection Révélation" collection and is currently permanent in the line. It is this polish and Malice that have really restored my excitement in the Le Vernis range. Can you believe their last true purple was released in 2009? (By the way, sorry about the fingerprints on the bottle in these pictures.)

Taboo is in keeping with Chanel's best formulas; I used 2 thin coats, but you could get away with 1 thicker coat.

Direct sunlight

You can see that Taboo looks different on the nail compared with the bottle color. Chanel describes it as "violine with red iridescence." It is a blackened vampy purple with red shimmer and larger, more interspersed blue shimmer. The formula is a blue-indigo jelly base packed with fine red shimmer. The red shimmer and blue base combine to give the polish its purple color. The bottle shows gold fleck shimmers, but I never noticed those on the nail. The larger fleck shimmers appear to be blue, but I think they're actually silver and are tinted by the jelly base.

I will say that although this polish is unique, and I love it as part of my Chanel collection, it doesn't quite reach the same wow-factor as #637 Malice for me. I want Malice in green, in blue, in orange, in brown - in all the colors! The shimmer in Taboo is most visible in sunlight, but it is blackened, so if you're expecting it to be as bright as the bottle color you'll be disappointed. The shimmer is still visible indoors and in indirect light, but only from about arms-length or closer. In shade it would be easy to confuse with black, even though you can still tell it's a shimmer polish.

Below the cut are pictures that also show Taboo in indirect light, shade, and with flash. I also have pictures from a bit more distance to give an indication of how the polish will look when not up close. Plus, pictures and a tip for how to bring out more of the shimmer. Be sure to come back on Wednesday for my comparisons post!

Worn April 2 - 7, 2013.

Direct sunlight

Direct flash
 

Indirect natural light - indoors

Indirect natural light - shade

Indirect natural light - indoors, shade

Direct flash

Direct sunlight - detail

So, I got all my sunlight pictures in a rush to take advantage of the rare hour when the sun peeked out, and I wanted to see if I could get the shimmer in Taboo to stand out more. I rubbed the top layer with a piece of felt soaked lightly with Zoya Remove (a mild acetone remover) and then added a layer of top coat. I didn't clean up, so it looks a bit messy, but you get the idea.

Direct sunlight - detail after removal of the top layer + top coat

Find more pictures of Taboo here: The Beauty Look Book swatches and comparisons, Gotham Polish swatches and comparisons, Vampy Varnish swatches, Temptalia swatches, Makeup and Beauty Blog swatches, and Purpleyellow's Flickr.

Is Taboo special enough for you? Do you like colorful vamps? Or do they all just look black to you?