Ok – I’ll be the first to admit I can’t afford to frequent the “Chanel Nail Polish” catalog too often. I think I tried one a few years ago that a friend had lent me [already opened and partially used of course], but for the life of me I can’t recall what color it was, or anything super remarkable about it other than the nail polish bottles were shaped differently.
So why do women pay anywhere from $20 up to $75+ a bottle for this nail polish? Does it really result in more beautiful nails than my personal favorite OPI Polish (have you seen the OPI Fall 2011 Collection for example)? Can you do more awesome nail designs with Chanel versus OPI or Essie Polish brands?
Reviews of Chanel Nail Polish
Partly for my own information, and more so I feel like I’m providing some value to my nail polish blog readers [that's you BTW], I spent a few hours scouring the internet to see what people have written about Chanel Nail Polish and whether these nail polish reviews were helpful…the circles I hang out in don’t really lend value to me personally interviewing people that use Chanel on a regular basis.
I found comments scattered all over that, well, sound like reviews of any other nail polish used for nail designs – things like:
- I had to apply 2 coats of polish as the first coat was too thin for my nails
- The colors are really good, but similar too lower priced department store brands such as Sally Hanson or Essie
- “This isn’t a very forgiving polish” – the women who wrote this indicated the importance of an excellent top coat of polish to prevent against chips and cracks…really, even with a $20 bottle of polish?
- The Chanel polish doesn’t last any longer than my department store brand
- Seems to be a LOT of comments about chipping – as in within 2 days of application. This seems to me a bit ridiculous and possibly worse than experiences you read about relative to OPI Brand Nail Polishes…
- Multiple reviews about how it takes longer to dry than most other polishes
- A few comments on some of the colors bubbling up as it dries [slowly]
I did find some positive comments, and as expected a few women completely contradicted what seems to be a theme and said the Chanel polish is very durable and doesn’t chip…go figure. I think the true answer of whether Chanel polish results in awesomely beautiful nails is, well, variable depending on colors, top coats, base coats, and how much abuse your nails get.
Many women indicated that Chanel leads the market with innovative nail polish colors. I tend to believe this, as Chanel does have some pretty nice polish colors.
A common [positive] theme is that this polish lasts forever in the bottle – some women report after 5 or 10 years they can go back to a previously used bottle and it seems as if it was just first opened – goes on easily, dries to a high gloss coat, and has same performance as when they first bought it. I guess that is a positive, as if you’re going to spend this amount of money to buy Chanel Nail polish it is good you don’t have to throw it out after a couple of years
[not as good as investing in gold, but I guess not bad overall 
]
My personal opinion? I know that’s why everyone comes to my site – really…I think buying Chanel is like a lot of things I buy along with other women – it’s about how it makes you feel. The packaging is world class, the name itself evokes images of luxury and high class, the names of the colors are classy and in French most of the time…I can see myself occasionally splurging on Chanel and feeling really good about wearing it for a week or two, knowing that even if I can’t afford a $5000 Chanel dress, or a $500 Chanel perfume…I can in fact wear Chanel every day for a few weeks for $20 and feel classy.
Does Chanel satisfy my black nail polish design fetish – I can’t answer that at this time but will let you know soon
Does Chanel give me beautiful nails – of course. I feel they are beautiful, which is what matters along with the quality of the polish and colors used in my nail design. Is treating myself to Chanel any worse than spending money on a manicure that only lasts 2 weeks [unless it is my way favorite gel / shellac nail manicure] – probably not.
SO if you nail design tastes and budget allow Chanel occasionally, you may want to try it and see not only how the quality is, but most importantly, do you get a beautiful nail attitude boost knowing you’re walking around with Chanel on? (kind of like me and how I feel when I’m wearing a business suit with a really sexy Victoria Secret bra underneath)