There's No Place Like Home. You can't go home again. But go anyway.

Alternate title: China Glaze Good Witch? meets Chanel Ming

Last weekend I was working in Boston at a conference. I wasn't feeling so hot the Thursday night before I left. Friday I felt much better but knew that when I got to my hotel in Cambridge that I would need a) a nap, and b) a shower. Yikes! I ran out of time and it looked like I was going to have to go out with naked nails!! Ugly naked nails. Well, things got adjusted, with friends picking me up (instead of my meeting them in Boston and then traveling back to the same area as my hotel to eat dinner. Phew!)

I still had limited time. I planned to wear China Glaze "Good Witch?" but had noted its sheerness when trying it on one nail after I got it recently. Still was seeing some VNL (visible nail line) after three coats. What to do, what to do, I wanted it opaque but time threatened to run out...

Well, I had Chanel Ming with me as well. These polishes do not match by any means, but they are in the same general color family, a pink with a bit of salmon going on. Ming actually has much more of the salmon-y orange tone. I know that Ming goes on just fine. I would use it as an undercoat!!

What followed was a big chemical mix that fortunately didn't explode on my nails---just one bubble gurgling up on my right index finger that I managed to smooth out okay. The strategy did work, as I had two thin coats of Ming, which looked nice enough to stop there if I got the call that my friends would arrive soon. I was able to keep going with three more coats of the China Glaze topped by Seche Vite. The basecoat was the clear Seche.



Now, I know that the fans of the original China Glaze Wizard of Ooh-Ahz collection might be a little disappointed. Well, you can't go home again. It's different, apparently, and I actually like it a lot!! Yes, it's a metallic frosty pink with the glitter, and not the gel with glitter that Dorothy Who? is. I knew I had to get it when I saw the pink sparkles peeking at me. Pink on pink, it's just a lovely combination!

I found myself gazing at my fingertips during the evening when I had the chance. The glitter was subtle and very sparkly, and I just loved checking it out by turning my fingers in the light to try to see as much of the sparkle as possible. It's a winner!!


You can't go home again. It's not the same "Good Witch?" But go anyway. It's still a very fun and pretty polish to wear, and I thank China Glaze for at least trying.

Chanel Jade in Geneva, Oct. 2009!

I was saddened to hear last fall that Chanel Jade nail polish would not be available in Europe. Poor European nail polish/Chanel fans! Sure enough, when browsing the Chanel selections at Sephora in Barcelona in October (2009), Jade and Jade Rose were not there.

A few days later I was walking through Geneva after an overnight train and prior to my evening train to Zermatt. Very nice city!


I was enjoying a little window shopping, like so:


Geneva seemed to be one large Swiss watch and designer boutique! Suddenly I came across the Chanel window and this:

Do you see what I see? I immediately noticed the mannequin was wearing a weird shade of green nail polish!! But wait, Chanel Jade was not available in Europe, wth?! But wait again, that green didn't look the way I remembered it, exactly.


But wait yet again, maybe Jade was available in Geneva, in which case I would need to spread the word amongst bereft Europeans with whom I am acquainted....

Without hesitating further, I marched into the Chanel boutique to find out. A very nice and courteous sales woman glided forward to wait on me, and I asked her about the polish. She explained it was a special edition polish. I asked: "Chanel Jade? But I thought that was not available in Europe." She smiled upon realizing that I was in the know about Chanel Jade---no tiresome explanations needed for this weird American tourist lady. She responded that, sadly, it was not available there but it could be had in London. I determined that the green on the mannequin was a different polish. Ha ha! Chanel making with the fake Chanel jade!

And yes, when I was passing through the huge duty free, conveniently in the path to my gate at Heathrow, I did notice Chanel Jade and Chanel Jade Rose. I purchased my Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche and maybe a lipstick or three and was on my way.

Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche

Wow! Look at how much of my new Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche I have used since buying it in October!

I usually choose from my collection of Guerlain Aqua Allegoria, focusing on a current favorite. When I received my Chanel Jade polishes, I started using the enclosed Chanel Chance sample and decided I love it. When in Barcelona in October, I tried on the Eau Fraiche version and was equally smitten!

Fast forward to a few days later: I was in Heathrow changing planes after suddenly aborting my vacation. The duty free was simply amazing. I tend to pick up my Aqua Allegorias in duty free shops in Europe because I can't find them as easily in department stores in the States (try Saks Fifth Avenue in San Francisco, where I picked up two of these fragrances last New Years). Well, I made the duty free moguls even richer with quite a spectacular haul of two Guerlain Acqu Alegorias, some Chanel lipstick and nail polish, and BOTH Chanel Chance and Chance Eau Fraiche. You basically have to pass through the giant duty free store to get to your gate, and I was able to do this kind of damage very quickly and efficiently so as not to miss my flight.

I opened up the Eau Fraiche when I arrived home, and I have been wearing it every day since then. It is so yummy! I could bathe in this stuff! Mmmm.

According to Fragantica, this fragrance, introduced in 2007, is a "chypre floral" with top notes of citruses and cedar, middle notes of pink pepper, water hyacinth and jasmine, and base notes of teak wood, iris, amber, patchouli, vetiver, and white musk. Mmmm. Yummy!

Chanel Jade and Jade Rose Swatches

On Monday and Tuesday I wore Chanel Jade Rose nail polish. When a small chip began developing on the tip of my pinky nail, I took that opportunity to switch for Wednesday, but not before I played a bit with my Jade polish. I applied Jade over the Jade Rose already on my index and ring fingernails and snapped a few pictures of the two colors together. I rather liked the Jade over the other polish, since it was opaque and not as streaky. Pretty!

NOTD: Chanel Jade is Jading Me

(The two bottle pictures taken Sunday night in indoor overhead lighting)

Is that title grammatical? I'm jaded by the Chanel Jade polishes, in other words. Last week I was excited to receive both the Chanel Jade (light green) and Chanel Jade Rose (light pink nude). I had planned a few weeks ago to buy them and finally determined the time was right and clicked the button, as it were.

A couple of hours later, I wondered: why did I do that? Do I really want these? They are $25 a pop! Why are these colors being presented for fall?? Am I just following the crowd? Well, better to have buyer's remorse for polish than for a house!!

I do think these colors are very pretty, and if I had followed the fall shows at the time they were originally presented, I might have been dying for Chanel to produce these runway shades. I like to wait until mid-to-late summer before I start poring over the fall fashion shows first, and then the magazines. It's more fun that way. You know: live in the moment.

Anyway, one major theme on this blog is that I am a major nail polish novice, aka "nail noob," so the question is whether the $25 price tag would result in the most ultimate, easy-to-apply polish ever???!! I've already experienced how awesome Wet n Wild Craze polishes are at $1.99.

The answer is...


...Meh! I don't find these easy to apply, but I think perhaps with some practice I'll figure out how to make them work for me. The Jade color goes on kinda streaky. Even when I got on two coats with a smooth surface, I noticed the color was streaky beneath the surface. I am not aware it's supposed to be that way, so I would prefer the color to be even across the nail. You know?

Jade Rose was similar, but for some reason it worked better for me than the Jade. Sunday night I decided to take it for a spin. I was able to apply three coats to be mostly opaque. It looks okay---not professional, but not so bad I was shamed into removing this morning when I awoke (I am a novice. It happens!)


The bottle has a subtle iridescence that I was not able to see when outside....maybe if I do it sheerer next time. At the end of the work day Monday, all the polish was still on (pictures taken at that time, in my office with lots of natural light). That is more than I can say for the China Glaze Dreamsicle I wore on Friday (but that is another story for another day! Still recovering.) Midway through Tuesday, still all there!

Interestingly, I find I really like the Jade Rose a lot. It was kind of an afterthought when I ordered it. "What the heck," I thought, "it's pretty! I'll just get it. I've come this far..." Of course, the Jade is pretty, too; I guess for me the Jade Rose is kind of the sleeper of the two, once you are finished marveling at the light green color of Jade you realize how nice the Rose is.


I definitely think Jade Rose will work well, once I feel I can apply it better, for nude nails this fall but also in the spring. The big project is to get the Jade itself to go on and look half-decent. I don't mind spending $25 for something special, but I also want the experience of application to be exalted or something. When I received my Barielles, which are $8 (buy two get one free on Barielle site), I was super-amazed both at the colors that Michelle of All Lacquered Up had created with celebrity manicurist Elle, but also at how wonderfully it went on my nails. Because of this experience, I know it's possible: if I spend the big bucks, I certainly want that same exalted experience as with the lower priced polish!!

Action shot! Because I always wear Chanel to do my cleaning:


Yesterday (Monday) Rachel Zoe tweeted that she was obsessed with Chanel Jade, and the Purseblog posted about jade-colored handbags. I'm excited about having these hot-buzz polishes, and again, I do think they are pretty. Just not perfect.

My Rating: Jade Rose = Euridice 4 out of 5 points (not quite "yay!") Jade = Euridice "meh! to okay!" 2.5 (until I can get the applications issues resolved).

Any tips on application??? Please advise!!!