If there were such a thing as an eyebrow genie that would grant three eyebrow-related wishes, first of all, that would be AWESOME, and second, I’d wish for the following…
1. For the super-skinny brow trend of the ‘90s to have never happened, even if it risked messing with the space-time continuum, because it would save literally millions of brow hairs from being plucked away into oblivion… I’d be like the John Connor of eyebrows.
2. To just wake up one morning and have my brows look exactly like Kiera Knightly’s in this Chanel ad, without having to do any of the, you know, actual work.
Sooo much brow envy right at this moment. You don’t even know. These are pretty much my dream brows, le sigh…
3) A stack of banana pancakes and a large vanilla shake, because I can’t think of a third brow-related wish, and I am SO HUNGRY RIGHT MEOW.
New Chanel Le Vernis
Now, can we take a moment to redirect our eyes away from Kiera’s amazing brows to focus on these nail polishes for a second? — because they deserve some sweet, sweet, lovin’.
These cuties are five of the 15 recently relaunched Chanel Le Vernis nail polishes ($28 each)?
All I have to say is wow!
Chanel completely revamped the formula, which is now billed as long-wearing and 5-free (no dibutyl phthalate, toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin or camphor), and the new brilliantly shiny, glossy, gel-like finish reminds me of Seche Vite top coat.
The new line of 15 shades includes old favorites like Vamp and Particuliere, alongside some new colors.
Here’s a quick swatchy-poo of the five shades I have…
I asked Tabs for his professional opinion on which one I should wear for a mani, and he picked creamy reddish hot pink Camelia, a decision he relayed to me telepathically, sending his kitty thoughts into my mind.
Yes, we’ve reached that point in our relationship. Cat ladies, I know that you know what I’m talking about (at least I think you do…or I’ve lost my damn mind, which is also a strong possibility).
The new formula’s been a breeze to work with. From the moment the brush touches the base of a nail up through the ends of my tippy-tip-tips, I get smooth, consistent, even color. The cosmetic chemists who worked on this must’ve spent more than a few lunch hours shooting the sh*t over how to get the viscosity just right, because it’s totally on point.
I feel like a single coat is enough for four of the five here (Pirate, Camelia, Garconne and Organdi), while Ballerina is one of those purposefully sheer shades that probably needs more layers, depending on how you want to wear it.
It hasn’t been long enough to tell for sure, but my guess is that these are going to last at least as long as other high-end gel-like polishes (Deborah Lippmann comes to mind). After two full days and much typing, some dish washing and some middle-of-the-night cooking (!), the mani I did with two coats of Camelia, along with a base and top coat, still looks new and fresh.
Really liking these so far…
Branching out
Here’s Camelia, by the way, with my new favorite necklace, the Branch Necklace by Misa Jewelry, which I’ve been wearing every day since Valentine’s. 🙂
Waffles in the wee hours
So, yeah, about that middle-of-the-night cooking… I was down in my kitchen last night at 3:30 a.m. making waffles, and I don’t know if that’s an early sign of labor, or if it’s just regular hunger, but I’ve been waking up lately in the wee hours ravenous with a loud and extremely rumbly tummy.
The first night it happened, I just let my stomach growl. Second night, I tried to fall back to sleep, but I just couldn’t. The rumbling was SO LOUD, like that sudden screech in scary movies, so I got up, waddled downstairs to the kitchen, toasted two frozen waffles and slathered them with peanut butter and raisins (don’t knock it ’til you try it). Then, I washed everything down with a tall glass of warm milk and went back to bed.
Maybe this is BG’s way of carbo-loading before she makes the trip out of Chez Mama?
Only time will tell…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. TGIF! 🙂
El Hub is such a great hint-taker! I’m glad you got your pretty branch for V-Day! 🙂
I only have to give you one guess about which polish is my fave, don’t I? HAHA!
BG is on the right track with the carb loading. A gal after my own heart!
Hey Kim,
He did so well on Valentine’s Day! lol I think he had some help from Tabs. 🙂
I’m hoping that keeping BG well fed and rested will prepare her for her big race day! Or maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to stuff my face at 3:30, haha!
Well, Tabs does have exquisite taste! 🙂
Fingers crossed that she crosses the finish line in record time. HAHA! And sometimes you just need a little snack at 3:30 – even Winnie the Pooh was driven by a rumbly tumbly! 😉
Every time of the day should be waffle time, I don’t see anything wrong with that 😉 Cute necklace, I like it a lot!
Waffles all day errr day!
Wow! Down to the wire! I am thinking you could have your daughter on March 2nd and our kids could share birthdays. My baby will be 15 on Wednesday! Where did the time go! I love the Camelia shade, but $28 is too steep for me for nail enamel. However, I just snagged my Bobbi Brown Nude on Nude Eye Palette. I loved it when it cam out years ago. I think it was 2009 or so. The shades seem richer, and there is no Bone shadow. I probably have some floating around in my cabinets. As always, rest up my friend!
What, a Bobbi palette without Bone Eyeshadow?! I thought I’d never see the day. That palette sounds like a workhorse though!
So, BG’s apparently asking for a late check out. lol! Here’s to hoping she shows up this weekend, and during a time when there’s no traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. 🙂
Happy Friday, btw! What are your plans for the weekend?
Oh joy! Chanel nail polishes have ALWAYS chipped and peeled on me almost instantly. Maybe the new formula will be better. One can hope!
Hi Georgia!
From what I’ve seen so far from Camelia, so far, so good. I hope these work for ya (and I hope to see more colors in this formula).
Happy Friday!
I am so with you on the brow wishes! I’m glad there aren’t a lot of pics of me back in the day with my skinny brows. Unfortunately, I inherited my Dad’s unibrow so I think I overcompensated for that. Luckily I think I’ve found a good balance now!
Camelia is so pretty! It a perfect color for spring.
TGIF! Have a great weekend. 🙂
Hi Ruchita,
Ahhh, to wake up in the morning to purr-fect brows… I wish!
What are you and the kitteh crew up to this weekend?
Speaking of brows – have you seen @samhaseyebrows on Instagram? He’s got white fur and black brows. It’s the cutest!
We are up to a whole lotta nothing this weekend! The work week has been busy, so I’m looking forward to relaxing. And I’ll probably watch the Oscars on Sunday.
Hope it’s a good weekend for you! It must be difficult being in the home stretch with Baby Girl. Paws crossed everything goes smoothly when the time comes. 🙂
Aww, that Sam is adorable! Talk about purr-fect brows, LOL!
Please tell me you follow @foster_kittens. If you don’t, you gotta do it ASAP.
Honestly a whole lotta nothing sounds wonderful. I love having long stretches of time when you have the option of doing absolutely nothing. Enjoy!
And yeah, the end has been challening, mostly because of dealing with constant discomfort. It’s relentless and doesn’t seem let up. I now feel like I’m carrying a watermelon around 24/7. But soon, soon…
I love @foster_kittens! I refresh the feed multiple times a day to see the little Olives. 🙂
I would love to be a foster mama to kitties, but I worry about stressing out the resident divas of the house. I am thinking about volunteering at a shelter. I’m just scared I’ll get sad seeing all the kitties that need homes.
Yes, hoping for as soon as possible for you an BG!
I’m obsessed with the Olives and kindasorta wish I could adopt Olivia. I was also sad to see Prince Henry and Eloise go. ? I hope they can get the help they need.
Speaking of cat-related things, have you heard of a game called Neko Atsume?!
I know, I was so sad about Prince Henry and Eloise. They seemed like such sweet kitties. I’m so glad they were rescued and I hope there are updates on them in the future.
I have not heard about Neko Atsume, but I’m going to download it. It looks like fun. Thanks for the recommendation!
P.S. I haven’t had frozen waffles in years, but now I’m totally craving them. I’m going to get some on my grocery run this weekend. 🙂
I’m super into trying this new formula. Especially Vamp.
BG is putting on the finishing touches so she needs extra energy for the big day. CARBO LOADING!
Vamp looks great! Excited about that shade, too.
TGIF!
If I don’t eat before bed, I wake up hungry, but I’m not pregnant! BG is just letting you know how it’s going to be.
The polish and Tabs both look great!
Happy Friday, Chelsea!
I’m usually starving first thing in the morning too! But this is the first time I’ve ever had to get up before 6 to actually eat. lol
TGIF! What are you up to this weekend?
I don’t understand people who don’t eat breakfast (eg, my husband). I’ll wake up hungry!
Lots of homework, a few exercise classes (hand balance and contortion), and I’m being a “kitten” at a friend’s burlesque show – I pick up the discarded clothing and props. Good excuse to wear fun makeup! You just waiting for BG’as arrival?
I don’t get those people, either. My in-laws are like that. They wake up, drink coffee for a few hours, and eat tiny bowls of cereal at like 10:30. My friend Cindy is almost the same; she drinks coffee and skips breakfast entirely. It boggles my mind! Whe first thing I have to do is eat, otherwise the beast comes out!
Have fun at your exercise class and at the performance. Hand balance sounds hard, btw. Is it for handstands and the like?
And yes, the weekend will be devoted to resting and to hopefully getting the BG show on the road!
Yup, basically an hour of headstands and variations, but we do some headstands, forearm balancing, and some other moves (crow, firefly, some breakdance looking moves) It’s a ton of fun, but you’re always sore after, even using spotters to help.
I don’t want anything except tea for several hours after I wake up. I can easily go without food. Tea, notsomuch.
Yum to the early-morning waffles!
I bought (and tested. And swatched. And LOVED) ALL 15 of the new Chanels. I found that 2-3 coats were perfection, and Ballerina took 4. I usually tear my nails up within 24 hours and Ballerina was still rockin’ at 7 days.
Just be careful with the extra-long, hot showers. They tend to soften up the formula. But with BG coming soon I doubt that will be your problem!
Actually, I feel like these might be perfect for a busy Mom. ‘Cuz you’re going to be that stylish Mom rocking Chanel nails.
Ahh, lovely! What’s your favorite shade from the collection so far?
I absolutely love Rouge Essentiel. It’s one of those classic Chanel reds that they do to perfection. But I can’t help but have a soft spot for Ballerina since it made my life so much easier.
I can’t wait for the blue to drop from the collection. Chanel seems to always have one straggler in each collection as of late.
I’m lucky (and not) that my brow hair grow back super fast. It’s annoying because I spend my life plucking, and when I did threading I had to go every 10 days or so, but then even if I did a major boo-boo with the shape, it would be back to normal within 2-3 weeks.
I think it’s very normal that you get super hungry at night at this stage. BG is a full grown baby in there and she sucks a lot of calories out of you to keep maturing. If you stay in bed for 8 hours that’s a long time to fast!
It’s like a crazy hunger, though! I never knew my stomach could get so loud at that hour. lol. Ahh, hopefully soon she’ll decide to show up!
Thank you, btw, for the Jetoy rec in Japantown. I can’t wait to go.
What are you and Ernesto up to this weekend, by the way?
I love peanut butter and blueberries on my frozen waffles. We could be midnight snacking twins almost.
The old Chanel polishes have usually lasted about 12 to 24 hours on my nails before the wear and chipping started. So I cautiously bought one color and the top coat to try. I quickly slapped on two coats of Organdi and the top coat before spending the day in The City with Dear Husband. It was three days before I saw tip wear and it didn’t chip until day 4. At day 6 I had to take it off. For my experience it was a huge improvement over the previous formula. I’m thinking I will replace my old Rouge Noir (available on Chanel’s website and in the SF boutique) or Vamp or Particulaire next.
Hi Tatiana!
Good ol’ Particulaire. It’s an oldie but a goodie.
Do you think the top coat is worth the $$? Or should I just stick to my regular OPI?
Oh, and re: peanut butter on waffles. Sometimes when I’m feeling fancy, I drizzle a tiny bit of maple syrup on top of the peanut butter and sprinkle on a little bit of sea salt. Sounds weird, but it’s really good.
Peanut butter, maple syrup and sea salt sounds really yummy. Going to give it a try soon.
If you get a good wear time with the OPI top coat I would just stick to that. Nail polish just does not last on my nails, so I’m always looking for something that helps it last beyond one day. OPI has sever top coats, which one do you use?
Any signals from baby girl that she’d like to introduce herself? We’re all looking forward to her arrival.
When is your actual due date? I thought it was March for some reason. But I know like a zillion pregnant chicks right now so maybe I’m confusing B.G. with another bambino.
She’s making sure you have plenty of energy for when she decides to make her grand entrance. I’ll always remember the joy of eating while pregnant. I got so excited about every meal and every snack. Except when I was nauseous. But as soon as the nausea passed, I was ready to dig in again 🙂
LEAP YEAR BABY!!!!!
I love your necklace, and keep feeding that BG!! The longer she’s in there, the healthier she’ll be!! <3
Waffles are good any time of day. BG is still growing and getting ready for her big debut. You both need to store up some energy. Labor will be exhausting for both of you.
When my son was younger, there was another kid on the spec ed bus who kept trying to harass him. One day he started in on Brandon (my younger son), who just turned to the bully and said, “Waffles.”
The bully looked confused for a second, then said, “I like waffles.” They spent the rest of the bus ride talking about waffles and never had another issue. The power of waffles.
Oh, and your branch necklace is gorgeous! I’m so glad El Hubs got it for you. (Sorry, I was distracted by waffles. lol)
1. Kiera Knightly brows. Yup, that’s what I’m going for. I’m growing mine out, since forever, and that + the help of my MAC brow pencil helps me to achieve the look- with the help of Rogaine (yes, THAT Rogaine. Works like a charm).
2. Love Tab’s pose with the polishes. Can’t believe he sat still for it. All of those are his colors.
3. Waffles & peanut butter go together like Lucy & Desi. Match made in heaven. Might even be better than pb&j. Just maybe….
One more thing- that necklace. It’s really very pretty. I’m totally into layering necklaces ATM. Gonna check out the link to see if this one should move in with the other two I have. Plus, I owe myself because this week I started weight training. #heavenHelpme
GO GIRL!!
Haha “the John Connor of eyebrows” I love it! And those are my dreams brows too!
Raisin is good with everything! I love raisins.
I like Chanel nail polishes, and would get more if the price isn’t so steep. The old formula works well on me. But good to heard it’s even improved. But I notice the bottle don’t have the name printed on in the front. Is it anywhere on the bottle itself?
You have wonderful taste in nail polish shades and late night snacks! Also, I adore that branch necklace. It’s so elegant.
This waiting is suspenseful!
I can only empathize.
Tabs is the perfect advice-giver!!
You think you lost your sanity now, hahaha BG will surely take the rest.
xoxo
I only recently learned that the polishes were reformulated, so I am relieved to here that they seem to be great still.
I was on a carb hype as well before I gave birth, but for more than a week, just stuffing my face with pasta and similar things. So far nothing similar has happened around here, so maybe Peanut will take some more time (which I am not overly happy with).
I’ve been buying Chanel polishes for decades even though they always chip on me within 24 hours. I made the switch to Tom Ford and Guerlain polishes and won’t look back unless Chanel comes out with a unique color.
Maybe BG will come on March 4. Then she can march forth through life. 🙂 Wait, don’t get the hook, don’t carry me off, ahhhhh.
I actually really hate the huge gap in the front of the bottle. It’s just so… empty.