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Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer Review, Photos, Swatches

Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer
Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer

Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer ($30.00 for 0.40 fl. oz.) is described as a “mix of pale gold and luminous silver.” Which would be pewter, really, except it’s more of a muted champagne gold chocked full of shimmer. The finish is metallic foil. Chanel Delight has a comparable finish but it’s very bronzy in comparison. OCC Cruising is very gold. Urban Decay Superfreak is similar but a little lighter–less golden. Dior Timeless Gold is more pewter, so it has less gold and more silver in it. China Glaze Midnight Kiss is much more golden. Illamasqua recently came out with Swinger, which I do have to review but haven’t photographed or swatched it (still in its box so no fingerprints get on it!), that may be similar as well.

It’s pretty much opaque in one coat, and I only used one coat in the swatches because it was so, so opaque, I wanted to be sure to capture and convey it to you.  There are visible brush strokes, but they’re more minimized than they usually are in this type of a finish. It’s impressive, only because it’s hard to achieve, but they’re still there–I did feel like they were easier to control and get to look straight.  It dries down to a semi-matte finish, though it still reflects because of how shimmer-loaded it is.  The consistency wasn’t thick, but it wasn’t thin; it could have been a smidgen thinner I think. I’d have preferred to have more control with a thinner formula and need two coats. I typically get a week of wear with Chanel’s formula; no chipping but minimal tip wear.

Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer
Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer

Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer
Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer

Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer
Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer

Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer
Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer

Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer
Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer

Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer
Chanel Diwali Le Vernis / Nail Lacquer

28 Comments

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ledz Avatar

I’m a bit disappointed with Diwali (and Delight too, truthfully) as they both don’t have the same multi-dimension that Graphite had. So at USD30 this is definitely a pass for me.

Kiss and Makeup Avatar

I don’t know if I like this or not… I think this is a color that either suits your perfectly or looks completely wrong, depending on your skin tone.
But hey, it’s Chanel, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt 😉

gilded_lady Avatar

Up to $30 now?!! Do they just up the price with each new release? Sigh. They’ve officially priced themselves off my buy list. I will admit that I sometimes prefer buying original to dupes, but at that price I’ll wait for a dupe.

Kafka Avatar

I was trying to decide between Illamasqua’s Swinger and Illamasqua’s Spartan, so I Googled each. From what I’ve seen on some blogs, Swinger (which I ended up ordering) is almost an exact dupe for Diwali. In some blog photos, Swinger is perhaps a touch darker than Diwali, in others a touch more silver in the undertones, but basically, I’m peering intently trying to find a difference.  The blog, Polish Wasteland, even had a swatch comparison photo of 4 similar nail varnishes on the fingers. I’m not sure if it’s okay to link here to another blog so, bottom line, she compared Illamasqua Swinger, Chanel Diwali, OPI Glitzerland, and Orly Luxe. Conclusion: “Two coats for Swinger and Luxe and they also had the best formula.” Swinger is also supposed to be more opaque in texture than Diwali.  Personally, I could barely tell the difference between any of the 4 diff. nail varnishes in the photos but the lighting wasn’t great. Bottom line, anyone who wants to avoid the Chanel price may want to look into Swinger or Orly Luxe. I ordered Swinger because I’ve had iffy experiences with Chanel nail varnishes. They chip on me a *lot* more than other brands  (YSL or NARS, for example). 

Kafka Avatar

 was trying to decide between Illamasqua’s Swinger and Illamasqua’s Spartan, so I Googled each. From what I’ve seen on some blogs, Swinger (which I ended up ordering) is almost an exact dupe for Diwali. In some blog photos, Swinger is perhaps a touch darker than Diwali, in others a touch more silver in the undertones, but basically, I’m peering intently trying to find a difference.  The blog, Polish Wasteland, even had a swatch comparison photo of 4 similar nail varnishes on the fingers. I’m not sure if it’s okay to link here to another blog so, basic gist, she compared Illamasqua Swinger, Chanel Diwali, OPI Glitzerland, and Orly Luxe. Conclusion: “Two coats  for Swinger and Luxe and they also had the best formula.” Swinger is also supposed to be more opaque in texture than Diwali.  Personally, I could barely tell the difference between any of the 4 diff. nail varnishes in the photos but the lighting wasn’t great. Bottom line, anyone who wants to avoid the Chanel price may want to look into Swinger or Orly Luxe. I ordered Swinger because I’ve had iffy experiences with Chanel nail varnishes. They chip on me a *lot* more than other brands  (YSL or NARS, for example).

Kafka Avatar

I was trying to decide between Illamasqua’s Swinger and Illamasqua’s Spartan last week, so I Googled each. From what I’ve seen on some blogs, Swinger (which I ended up ordering) is almost an exact dupe for Diwali. In some blog photos, Swinger is perhaps a touch darker than Diwali, in others a touch more silver in the undertones, but basically, I’m peering intently trying to find a difference.  The blog, Polish Wasteland, even had a swatch comparison photo of 4 similar nail varnishes on the fingers. I’m not sure if it’s okay to link here to another blog so, basic gist, she compared Illamasqua Swinger, Chanel Diwali, OPI Glitzerland, and Orly Luxe. Conclusion: “Two coats  for Swinger and Luxe and they also had the best formula.” Swinger is also supposed to be more opaque in texture than Diwali.  Personally, I could barely tell the difference between any of the 4 diff. nail varnishes in the photos but the lighting wasn’t great. Bottom line, anyone who wants to avoid the Chanel price may want to look into Swinger or Orly Luxe. I ordered Swinger because I’ve had iffy experiences with Chanel nail varnishes. They chip on me a *lot* more than other brands  (YSL or NARS, for example).

Dominique33 Avatar

I’ve passed on the entire Chanel Summer collection. I found a very pretty matte Metallic polish from Essie, and of course I can’t wait to see the 3 Hitchcockian Chanel polishes Frenzy-Suspicious-Vertigo next fall !

Hannah Avatar

This looks quite similar to OPI Glitzerland, which is a 2-3 coater, but I think I will skip the Chanel. I keep hoping for the new Chanel foils to be as dimensional as Graphite… but they keep falling flat.

mariejo Avatar

Another dupe for this nail polish is Revlon gold coin.  It is so similar not to say identical.  Last a long time without chipping and very affordable!

fieran100 Avatar

@pinchypeach I like the name because “Diwali” is the festival of lights that I celebrate every year 🙂 But I don’t need another gold polish.

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