Chanel Riva from the Côte d’Azur Makeup Collection

Chanel fans have been eagerly waiting to get their hands on the new Riva Le Vernis ($27) from the Côte d’Azur Makeup Collection. I'm sure you all know by now the color has been released online at Chanel.com and also at select Chanel Boutiques. Mine finally arrived today from Chanel.com in a cute black drawstring pouch.

Here it is with 3 coats:

It's a creamy baby blue with the slightest hint of shimmer. The finish is much like Jade, Jade Rose and Paradoxal in the sense that you see shimmer in the bottle but it applies more like a cream. Unfortunately, the wonderful high quality Chanel finish seems to be a bit lacking in the new Riva. You can get a beautiful smooth finish with 3 coats, but it definitely takes more care and steadiness to get a non-streaky finish. As my dear friend L.R. (a Chanel fanatic like me) says, "One coat is sad, two is much better, three fits the bill." I couldn't have described it better.

Below you can see how pastel and milky Chanel Riva is compared to the blue from Louis Vuitton's Damier Azur Canvas material.

I don't have very many blues cosmetics-wise, but here are is my small collection. All Chanel. Left to right: Blue Wish (from the Tokyo Happening Collection), Riva, Azur (from Spring 2008), Nouvelle Vague (from Summer 2010)

All swatched with 3 coats, you can see Riva is lighter and softer than Nouvelle Vague. Swatched next to each other, Nouvelle Vague almost looks blue-green.

One more view of Chanel Riva:

Overall thoughts: The color is beautiful but not entirely unique. If it had more iridescence like Azur I would have fallen in love. For me, Riva is like, but not love. Perhaps it's just too early to think about powder blues when Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. The formula isn't the best, but it isn't the worst either. It's still very workable with 2+ coats. If you have the slightest inkling that you want this, I'd recommend getting Riva now while you can. We all know that Chanel regret can be expensive (cries for not getting Haute Chocolat). Also, Chanel.com has complimentary shipping through 12/16/2010.

I'll probably put this aside until Thanksgiving is over. Even though it's not bright or in-your-face, it's not one of those typical classic nail colors. I'm not so sure I can brave this at the office during this time of year. Maybe you ladies can convince me otherwise.


If any of you have bought this, how are you liking it? And where/when will you be wearing this blue shade?