Chanel Black Pearl...Ho Hum

I swatched the mighty lemming last night at Nordstroms and left it there after comparing it to real black pearls in the jewelry department.  I love black pearls and so I was excited to see if it was worth the hype.

I have to say, for me, it isn't. But then I really wanted it to look like a black pearl on my nails. In my opinion, this color is too green. That would be ok, but there should be some brown duochrome in there to make it work like a real pearl.

I realize that the black pearl comes in many tones, from gray to brown to green and even almost silver, but they all have a duochrome that is, sadly lacking in this polish.

So today, while trying to cram all the new polish in with my existing stash, I rooted through the stash to find comparable shades that might make my fussy ass happy!  I found it in Misa's "It's You!"  It's got the right balance of green/brown duochrome with just a little too much sparkle to completely pull it off but, I can keep my 25 bucks and have the color I want don my nails anytime I want it to. :)

That makes me happy!

Here are a few comparison shots: Thumb is always Chanel Black Pearl. (I realize my cuticles look like hell, just look at the pretty colors!) But first, let's begin with a few pictures of some ACTUAL Black Pearls:

Source

With Gosh Purple Heart (too much like Nubar Peacock Feathers and Borghese Stellar Notte ie: too much purple)

With Nubar Moon Shadow (thought the brown might work, but nope, it shows up very purple too.)

Sally Hansen Prisms Emerald Amethyst is actually very close, just reversed, but I can live with that.

And with Misa "It's You!"  is an almost perfect dupe only better! It shows the duochrome better in the shade, the sunlight brings out the shimmer and it's a bit more sparkly than the Chanel and/or a real Black Pearl. This one actually has the green in the middle with the purple around the edges. It's gorgeous!

I also compared it to the new Estee Lauder Wild Storm, very similar, but WS is more silver...still, I think I see a trend here. :)

And since I swapped my untried Lippmann Hit Me With Your Best Shot, I had to swatch that (I'll replace it with my Apothica gift cert won from Evil Angel) Love this color so much!

This is what my hands looked like after all the swatching. :) And again, please ignore the horrible condition of my cuticles. I've been doing a bunch of house cleaning and it's time for a deep moisture treatment. That week in Las Vegas was hard on my skin!

Why yes, that IS Lippmann Marquee Moon...which shall be mine one day. I love it, it's so different! The sparkles is me comparing Lippmann Happy Birthday with Milani Gems. I know they're not exact, but they're similar enough I can live without HB.

All in All, this Lizard gives Chanel Black Pearl a rating of Chilly. I'd say Tepid, but for the price...it's definitely chilly!

Which color do you like best or do you have an even better "Black Pearl" color? Tell me about it please!

EDIT Gosh Nubar! Metallic Blue Absolute Prism

Yes, it IS Monday and my son's first day at his new, exciting job! I can't wait to hear how it went. My son is a very talented artist, maybe I'll share some of his art here one day. I know I'm his biggest fan, but he really does some awesome work. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to afford to send him to school to persue a degree, but  now he's landed a job working for a graphics company and he'll get to travel and use his art in cool ways. I'm excited for him and think he may just have found the path to his dream. Of course, I reserve some of my excitement for after I hear from him tonight. I'm truly thrilled for him and hope he enjoys what he's doing. Perseverance trumps talent, but when you have both, LOOK OUT!

Ahem, please excuse the proud mother gushing above...on to the polish:

Ok let me explain the title: I give you Gosh Metallic Blue with Nubar Absolute for a funky french.
This is evening fogged out sun with phone flash

Evening shade with phone flash...

And here I finally got some of the Holo to show up:

I've been reluctant to post lately because, since my SD card died I have no macro photo option. All I have is my phone and while it does a decent job, I cannot capture photos I'd like to capture. I'm posting these because I'd rather post something than nothing at all and they aren't bad. (I hope!)

I finally ordered some SD cards for my camera...jeez there are so many TYPES now for faster cameras, slow cameras, average cameras...a girl has to do a TON of research before ordering one little card, (I ordered 2!) So in a week or so, I'll be back to better photos. In the meantime, I do hope these will be useful.

As for the Polishes: Gosh Metallic Blue is a beautiful chrome metallic in the same family as Nubar Absolute (from the Prisms collection) and I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I started the mani, I was trying for a chevron but it's a bit sloppy. The application of Metallic Blue was easy, second coat didn't drag or rumple the first, and it dried super fast. 1 coat was truly sufficient (as is normal with these kinds of nail polish) but I did 2 because some of my lines weren't as clean as I like them. I suppose a ridge filling base coat would have looked nicer, but I haven't found one I like yet.

Nubar Absolute is a gorgeous prismatic blue that I will have to wear on it's own sometime soon to view it in all it's prism-y glory. 2 coats on the tips dried quickly with the help of quick drying top coat.

Both polishes applied nicely, I find it hard to complain about Nubar. The Gosh was a bit runny and took some getting used to, but I got the hang of it!

I used Nubar Foundation Base Coat and Nubar Diamont Top Coat as I'm enjoying that combination and trying it out to see if it helps some of the peeling issues I have with the nails I have some problems with. Seems my right thumb wants to be a shorty most of the time and so far, the only thing that has helped is to coat the free edge with Orly Nail Rescue. I want to find something healthier and nourishing, suggestions welcome!

I do still have the comparisons...just need to find my notebook! They're next!