Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Côte d'Azur Coat

I haven't been making as many nail polish posts as I used to, mainly because I find it easier just to snap a quick picture of whatever's on my nails with my phone and put it on Instagram. But I thought it was worth dedicating an entire post to possibly the most perfect baby blue polish I've encountered. I first laid eyes on L'Oréal Color Riche Le Vernis in French Riviera (601) paired with Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air on A Vain Woman. The combination was absolutely to die for. It wasn't until many months later I decided to try L'Oréal nail polishes for myself, so I purchased French Riviera, You Are Worth It (617) and Soft Chinchilla (622) — the latter very much enabled by Emma.








French Riviera is the blue that I've been looking for. Basically, a dupe of what I think Chanel Riva looks like. I have bought and tried so many similar hued light blue polishes, from Revlon Blue Lagoon to Essence Sleepy, and been largely underwhelmed or disappointed with them all. They all applied way too flat and dull on the nail, and always much darker than how the colour appeared in the bottle. I wanted something distinctly pale and airy, even a little desaturated, but definitely not a straightforward sky blue.

French Riviera has a very delicate, almost undetectable turquoise glass fleck that I can only see under large camera magnification. While there's a kind of purplish-blue gleam reflected in the bottle, it doesn't translate when applied to the nails. It really is more of a crème than anything else. The formula is superb, though this particular shade is very sheer. Opaque coverage requires at least 4 coats. The polish however is a breeze to apply, goes on very smoothly and evenly, and has an almost gel-like finish. The brush is much larger than I expected for such a small bottle. It's very long, wide and flat, with a rounded tip, which coats each nail with minimum strokes. The only downside is that you only get 5ml per bottle, which is why this the first nail polish since my beloved Sally Hansen Insta-Dri that I've actually repurchased because I ran out. Because the shade is sheer, a single bottle only lasts several applications before it becomes gloopy and difficult to use. Still, at $6.95 a pop, and not infrequently on sale, if you purchase 2 or 3 to make up your standard 10-15ml bottle of polish, it still works out to be around the same price or cheaper than full price Essie or OPI.

52 comments:

  1. This colour is gorgeous!!!!!

    xoxo

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  2. Oh my! I'm not really into light colors but this one is just so so pretty! Need this

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  3. This is such a pretty colour! Adding it to my shopping list x

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  4. The prettiest mint I've ever seen! I don't like shimmer, but I can barely see it here!

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  5. This is such a pretty colour! I've been meaning to try these L'oreal polishes so now you've convinced me to get this shade. I'm not on instagram but I just had a look at yours and all the gorgeous nail shots! Love all the different ways you wear your nails!

    Emma x

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  6. This colour is beautiul, I love the subtle shimmer running through it :) ♥

    http://abeautyromancee.blogspot.co.uk/
    http://abeautyromancee.blogspot.co.uk/

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  7. Oh my gosh, this polish is to die for. Absolutely love the shade!

    http://jemaroons.blogspot.com

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  8. Such a gorgeous shade! xx

    belle-amiebeauty.blogspot.co.uk

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  9. This looks beautiful! xx
    http://xtouchofbeautyx.blogspot.co.uk/

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  10. This is a gorgeous colour! I've recently tried some of the Colour Riche polishes for the first time and now I'm really tempted to pick this one up!

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  11. oh my, I love the color..thanks for sharing I'm definitely going to try it! :)

    jilliansmetime.blogspot.co.uk

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  12. This may be a strange compliment but you have such amazing shaped nails ! Also love that polish colour.

    itsamadsmadsworld.blogspot.ca

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  13. This is gorgeous! It looks lovely against your skin tone.
    xx

    http://thecelution.blogspot.ca/

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  14. The colour is beautiful! I'll be picking this up soon for sure!
    merelysuggesting.blogspot.com

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  15. Oooh that's just lovely and dreamy! I hope I can find that color here. :)

    ~ Yun

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  16. I have this one too, but it goes by a different name the US and I love it!

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  17. I looked for it instore but no luck! The display only had lavender and orange. It looks gorgeous though- and you clearly adore it enough to have bought two bottles!

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  18. This colour is so pretty! It looks so nice on your nails. xx Meagan
    withasideofbeauty.blogspot.com.au

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  19. omg this is a dream! the color is beautiful!! I will def hunt it down with full dedication :D
    thanks for the review, I hope I'll find this color soon!

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  20. oh wow, that's such a stunning colour! definitely an eye-candy and it's the most perfect blue tone i've ever seen! :)

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  21. Couldn't agree more about the dull and flatness of other blue polishes. This one looks gorgeous! Not sure if I'd purchase 2 or 3 bottles - this will depend on how much I like it. $6.95 is still a bit more than I would expect from L'oreal with less product because I have easier access to OPI and Essie that only costs me about ~$5-6 for OPI (wholesale price) and Essie for ~$7-8 (online). I'll be on the look out for this one though :P

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  22. I had this colour too, love it! But you're right, the bottle has such little product, it gets gloopy or finishes way too quickly!

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  23. I just finished up a bottle of this, it is an amazing colour :)

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  24. Ooooh that's such a gorgeous mint color!!!

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  25. This is such a beautiful colour!

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  26. This is so pretty! I don't have many light blue shades in my collection, I'll keep my eyes out for this one!

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  27. I'm so envious that you can actually finish a nail polish! That's a really pretty shade :)

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  28. Wow, this is stunning against your skin tone! It's a beautiful shade on its own, but it really suits you as well. I say pick up 10 of those bottles the next time on sale. YES.

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  29. Gorgeous colour! And your nails are perfect xx

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  30. Flawless application! What a gorgeous polish xx

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  31. Oh man, this is such a pretty colour... I have to agree with you, most turquoise polishes I come across end up looking either too green or blue. Thanks for the heads up!

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  32. Not only is the colour gorgeous, it goes on like gel nails!

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  33. This is indeed the perfect baby blue nail polish, very pretty ^^ Adding to wishlist...

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  34. Good golly, Miss Molly, I do declare that I NEED that polish! I've never seen this on the L'Oreal stand - I can't recognize the bottle, but I need it in my collection of blues. It's truly that perfect airy blue, and the shimmers really give it that depth! Love this, so glad you decided to share :)

    - Jess
    The Mod Mermaid

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  35. Now that's a shade of blue I simply adore. Love how sophisticated it is, and straight up pretty! x

    Evelyn @ We Were Raised By Wolves

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  36. It is a shame that it goes gloopy after a short period of time, however, it is a simply beautiful shade that I think I could overlook that.

    Amy xx
    A Little Boat Sailing

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  37. So pretty! I just recently bought a mint Sally Hansen polish. Hope it looks as lovely as this :)

    life-etcblog.blogspot.com.au

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  38. Such a pretty colour, it looks quite similar to Essie Borowed & Blue :)
    http://wwwclairabelle.blogspot.co.uk/

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  39. Woaaaaaaah! I love the color! So gorgeous! :)

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  40. This is sooo beautiful, I can see the turquoise flecks if I look veerrry closely! Such a pretty colour with your skin tone xx

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  41. Doing a little catch up reading on your blog as I've been bogged down with exams for the last fortnight or so! Your nail polish application is impeccable, it looks absolutely perfect. This colour is gorgeous and I love the creme finish, which is strange considering the slight gleam in its bottle! I have Revlon's Blue Lagoon and detest it greatly- the formulation is horrid and equivalent to that of cheap and nasty nail polishes- streaky, takes a century to dry and even when it is dry, it still somehow budges!

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    Replies
    1. Awww no, exams are awful :( Hope they're over & done with now and you finally have your long-awaited freedom! I agree about Blue Lagoon ... such a disappointment given how promising it looked in the bottle D:

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  42. This polish is so pretty - it looks just like Riva! I have Riva and while I love the colour, I cannot get onboard with any polish that requires 3+ coats, it's just too hard!

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  43. Gorg, I've been loving the look of pastels but because I can't wear colors on my nails but only my toes I haven't been buying any new shades! I love how fruity some of the summery colors are! That's a lovely shade too, I'd put a geometric glitter coat on top!

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  44. This is such a gorgeous shade! I love it :)

    Ria
    NatuRiaBeauty

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