With nail polishes from Chanel and Estee Lauder
The question begs to be asked; are women over 40 to old to wear the dark nail polish trend? While I personally won’t take the beauty to the deep black route – too harsh for my skin tone, I do like dark greys, dark taupes, deep dark plums and the like. I find it as a way to feel a little bold and daring without looking like I’m trying to be too youthful and age inappropriate. What do you think? Dark nail polishes too “What are you thinking?” or “She looks like a modern woman.”
That being said – grey nail polishes are everywhere again this season. Just like I told you yesterday that bright coral and pink lips are the hottest thing, to balance the bright shade most beauty lines are softening it with shades of grey in eye shadows and nails. Dior has a few shades of grey polishes along with , Chanel, Estee Lauder, Zoya, and since the spring season is just starting to show up, I’m sure more lines will have grey as a shade of choice.
I’m going to show you the difference between the Chanel Black Pearl and Estee Lauder Wild Storm, both from their respective spring lines.
From this shot the shades look very similar. Both have a slight pearly shimmer and the similarities pretty much end there.
As you can see from this angle, the Estee Lauder one is more grey and the Chanel one has some deep blue/green in with the black. My first thought when I saw the Chanel shade was that gorgeous dress that Marion Cotillard wore to the Golden Globes last year.
This dress has black in the deep, deep bluish green, and the shimmer of the silk reminds me of the pearl in the nail polish and how it glistens.
The Estee Lauder shade, Wild Storm is also a gorgeous shade, but it is more true medium deep grey. The shimmer in the reflection on the bottom photo makes it appear more silvery than it is in person. It’s more of a steel grey shade. If you’re looking for a true medium to dark grey shade, this would be the perfect pick.
I found the Estee Lauder applicator brush to be more narrow than the Chanel brush and I found the Chanel polish to be a bit richer and thicker in texture.
I do think that the grey shades in any of the lines are a nice balance with the vibrant other shades in the spring lines. If everything were as bright as the lips, we’d be crossing over into the gaudy ’80’s territory. Been there, done that, and don’t need to go there again!
So tell me – if you’re over 40 do these shades appeal to you?
Morning:
For the first time in a long time, the Chanel polishes for Spring simply don’t appeal to me…I did fall for the look of grey polish when the “look” first rolled out over a year ago…but honestly, they don’t suit my skintone and I refuse to wear them just to look trendy ya know. I’m not against a darker polish, in fact I love OPI LPAD & Chanel Particuliere…not to mention the reds…love my red. BTW, I’ll be 40 this Spring :)))
Best, Lisa
“Been there, done that, and don’t need to go there again!”
From your lips to God’s ears! The only thing I can add to that statement is.. And we all thought we were cute doing it!
Grey polish. I like the look. I like the colors, but I really am not a nail girl. I am all about the toes, and could see me wearing them on them.
I’m not over 40, but I do think that these are a bit harsh, especially for spring. Another question – I’m a new reader to your blog and I’m wondering your thoughts (if any) on Renee Rouleau skincare? I’m 29 w/ adult hormonal acne. I’ve been using her glycolic 20% serum for about a week and there’s been a good improvement in texture (but I’m still waiting for the leftover red marks to disappear).
I’m 63, take good care of my feet, and I’ve been wearing Black Pearl on my toes. Yes, here in Southern California, in the dead of winter, we still have days when peep toes and sandals can be worn. On the toes, I think it’s particularly pretty. Because direct sunlight hits it, you can really see the blue and green shimmer peeking through the silvered gray. I’m definitely old enough to have seen gray come and go a number of times, but this color is an unusual iteration.
As an older woman who considers herself to be fashionable, I find the key to wearing some of the so-called younger colors is actually a question of placement. Would I wear Black Pearl on my fingers? No. Would I wear it on my toes? Yes.
I like the Estee Lauder one better.
Yes, I always would wear these dark shades on toes. Fingers – it depends on the depth of the shade. Isn’t that so pretty how the Black Pearl glistens!
Hi Yvette, I should mention that Chanel does have some lighter shades of polish in their spring collection. I just chose to highlight these at the moment. I have never tried Renee Rouleau, but have heard wonderful things about it. I’d keep on using the serum if you have started to see a change – especially in such a short time. Skincare can take several weeks before you actually start to see significant changes. I will ask Renee what she suggests for you as well.
JoElla, so true! We all thought we were cute doing it!!!
I love dark polishes on both fingers and toes for all ages. For me, the keys are:
1. Use only cream finish polish (no frost, sparkle, glitter)
2. Nails must be short and perfectly manicured
3. Remove polish at the very first tiny chip
I’ve started to wear darker fingernail shades but I’m not sure these tones would suit my coloring. And I can’t afford the prices of these. I find wonderful colors in drugstore brands – at those prices I can try a lot more!
I don’t think dark colors are necesarily too young for over forty ladies. I do think neon colors are, but that could just be my own taste!
I am indeed over 40 and I ADORE both of these! WANT! I have Chanel Steel (which I need to review but my nails suffered over the holidays doing all those d*** dishes!) which is a darker grey but there is something lighter about these! The EL is a dusty grey and the green tone in the Chanel is drop dead gorgeous! I have wanted to wear green but that is a tough colour to pull off over 20 lol. Chanel makes it elegant and very do-able! I always say immaturity is the key to staying young 😉
I am way over 40 and love dark polishes such as these on fingers as long as nails are short and well manicured.
I have Chanel Black Pearl (and am turning 40 this year!). I was bitterly disappointed in it. However, I wasn’t as disappointed in it as I was with Riva.
Black Pearl really lacks the wow factor I kept looking for after I saw (and purchased) Paradoxal.