Chanel in #524 Turban, #526 Cavalière, #532 Canotier, #534 Espadrilles, and #536 Émeraude Swatches + Comparisons | Summer 2016 "Dans La Lumière de l'Été" Collection

So, my computer and camera died at different times. It's been a thing. Moving on! 

Have Chanel's beauty releases seemed a bit confused to you ever since Peter Philips's departure? The Holiday collection was a bit mixed up, and with this summer collection there has been different information filtered through various press releases. The Chanel website lists this collection as "Dans La Lumière de l'Été" ("In the Light of Summer"), but other sites have it named "Les Souffles du Desert" ("Desert Breezes"). And, I believe #524 Turban was added to the collection after it had already been released on Chanel.com and Nordstrom.com. It took forever to appear on Neiman's (online and in-store). Some press materials have #526 Cavalier listed as limited-edition, but as far as I can tell from the Chanel website, it's not. I will be interested to see what's to come in Fall/Holiday, as that's when the new global creative makeup and color designer, Lucia Pica, will begin to make her mark.

In any case, there are five polishes in this collection. Let's get in to swatches and comparisons.

Direct sunlight

Indirect natural light

#524 Turban is a bright coral creme. It's a true coral - it falls just in the middle of pink and orange. I did two thin coats. I think most people would find this formula good, but I prefer my polishes less thick than is average, so I ended up adding a bit of nail polish thinner to the bottle - otherwise it was hard for me to get so close to my cuticles without forming ridges in the polish. I really liked this one, though I'm sure there are dupes.

It's a bit hard to tell because of how bright the sunlight is, but Rescue Beauty Lounge in Coral and Misa in Bop Til You Drop are lighter (and the Misa has subtle shimmer). In the bottle, I thought Turban and Chanel in #621 Tutti Frutti were dupes except for the shimmer factor, but Tutti Frutti is a bit deeper and more pink (and has subtle gold shimmer). I don't think you need both, though!

Direct sunlight

Indirect natural light

Shade

#526 Cavalière (which means horsewoman) is a brown creme with gold shimmer. It's deeper than a mid-tone brown, but not deep enough to look black in low light. It leans a bit warm but is pretty neutral. The shimmer isn't the classic Chanel subtle shimmer, but it's not in-your-face either. Nothing too exciting to me, but I didn't have a dupe in my collection. I did 3 thin coats. You could definitely do 2 medium coats, but with 2 thin coats, there was a bit of unevenness near my cuticle on some nails.

Chanel in #247 Haute Chocolat is a bit cooler with more apparent gold shimmer. Barielle in Make It a Latte has slightly more yellow and has a copper/gold pearl. Revlon in Autumn Spice is a much more shimmery version of Cavalière (and it's also scented).

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Indirect natural light

Blurred to show the shimmer

#532 Canotier (which means boater hat)  is a cool-toned gold metallic. It has green, red, silver, and gold subtle shimmer. It doesn't show egregious brushstrokes (you can see them below on my swatch stick), but I sponged my final coat on the nails. I did 2 thin coats, plus the sponged on coat - for opacity you only need 2 coats. This kind of gold is flattering on my skin tone, so I'm happy to have it.

As an aside, I originally thought Canotier was a re-release of the gold polish they launched the new Le Vernis line with, but that's actually #518 Chaîne Or, which is a yellow gold. For those of you that were interested in Chaîne Or, as far as I can tell, it has been pulled from the permanent line - the only place I was able to locate it was on Saks Fifth Avenue's site (by the way, this is one of the only sites I've found that still has some of the previous line here).

Orly in Luxe is a silvery gold foil. Chanel in Diwali is quite similar to Canotier, except that it appears slightly warmer due to the foil finish. SpaRitual in Sharp is cooler (and much more sheer).

Direct sunlight

Indirect natural light

It is in no way groundbreaking, but the absolute standout of this collection for me is #534 Espadrilles. It is a punchy red orange creme - the furthest you can take orange before it becomes an orange red. I love it. The formula on this one was impeccable - 2 thin coats. I'm sure there are plenty of dupes but with a color this good that's okay.

My camera did not want to distinguish between these colors, by the way. Deborah Lippmann in Don't Stop Believin' is a bit more subdued, less vibrant, and lighter. Chanel in #617 Holiday has less red and is a smidge lighter. Just for reference, I included Chanel in #717 Coquelicot, which is an orange red; it's deeper and has more red.

Direct sunlight

Indirect natural light

Shade

#536 Émeraude is a forest green creme with gold shimmer. It has green, gold, and red subtle shimmer. This is the same type of polish as Cavalière, not a super shimmery polish, but not a hidden shimmer. I did 2 thin coats, and the formula was good. My brush was weird though - it wouldn't splay out when I put pressure on it unless the tip of the bristles were parallel with my nail, so it was a bit harder to apply than the formula would merit. I think the color family I own the most polishes of is green, so I was sure I would have something close in my stash. Nope. However, this one doesn't blow me away: it's nice.

The only polish I have that's close is Barielle in Date Night, but it's lighter, warmer, and a straight-up green shimmer polish.

Sabrina at The Beauty Look Book swatched Espadrilles here. Eugenia of Ommorphia Beauty Bar has Canter, Espadrilles, and Émeraude here.

Overall, this is a nice collection that helps round out the permanent Le Vernis line. Surprisingly, the two boring old cremes are my favorites. What do you think?

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