Chanel Les Pop-Up de Chanel - Chanel Nouvelle Vague, Chanel Mistral & Chanel Riviera

Chanel Le Vernis Mistral, Riviera and Nouvelle Vague

Les Pop-Up de Chanel was released back in Summer 2010 and was a seaside vista inspired collection that was meant to capture the free spirited nature of Coco Chanel herself. The three Chanel nail polishes released as part of this collection were Mistral, Riviera and Nouvelle Vague. This one came hot on the heels of the nail polish that launched the revitalised interest in Chanel nail polish - Chanel Jade - which was launched in Fall 2009. As far as I can remember the Chanel releases between Jade and this collection were Trapeze (Chanel Holiday 2009) a silvery neutral and Inattendu, Tendresse and Particuliere (Chanel Spring 2010 Les Impressions de Chanel) nude, pale pink and infamous mushroom polishes. As such I always think that Nouvelle Vague was the first chance for those who missed out on Jade to get their hands on a must have Chanel bright polish. It was justifiably popular and it's a definite favourite of mine. Swatches and review after the jump.



Chanel Mistral



Chanel Mistral is a milky, warm coral shade that dries a bit more vividly on the nail. This was two coats but with pretty careful application. It's possible you might need a third coat to cover any bald spots but you shouldn't. The formula on this one is a little thick so you need to watch out for bubbling if you don't wait for your first coat to dry. Mistral is unique in this trio because it has a little secret...

Chanel Mistral Bottle Close up

It has a load of teeny microglitter in gold and opalescent blue. I think Michelle over at AllLaqueredUp described these a being like sugar crystals and that's the perfect way to describe them. They are just like the effect you get as you dissolve sugar in water, translucent and crystalline from certain angles, shining gold or blue from others. Unfortunately the glitter isn't particularly visible on the nail. In the swatch picture I've managed to capture a few on my middle finger and ring finger but you would need to be in full direct sunlight to see any real effect from this.

Chanel Riviera

Chanel Riviera is a medium cerise pink. This was two coats and again was a bit thick so you need to watch for bubbling. It's a great colour and I have worn it a fair bit but it's not particularly unique so I don' think you need to start scouring eBay for this one. 

Chanel Nouvelle Vague

This is probably the one you've been waiting for, Nouvelle Vague is a perfect minty turquoise à la Tiffany jewellery box colour. It has that secret Chanel shimmer running through it, in this case a slight silver sheen. You can see it on the bottom right corner of the bottle. It's lovely and if you can find it you won't regret picking up a bottle. This was two coats like Riviera and again had the thicker formula so needs a little care with application.

Picture from Fashionbombdaily

As I said above, everyone went a bit mad for this off the back of the Chanel Jade furore. Beyonce fanned the flames by wearing it in her video for "Why don't you love me?" (as shown above) which came out just in time to whip up the blaze into an inferno.

Of the three, Nouvelle Vague is definitely the polish from this collection that's a must have, you don't really need Riviera or Mistral unless you have a mad lemming. There's no doubt Nouvelle Vague is a great nail polish, I won't be parting with my bottle any time soon, but there are several alleged dupes out there most notably China Glaze For Audrey. If you're a fellow Chanel fanatic I'd say keep an eye out for a reasonably priced bottle and pick it up if you can.