Chanel Pearl Drop #511 Le Vernis for Spring 2011

I had a girls'-day-out with my mother and sister the other day and we all treated ourselves to a mani/pedi together. My sister texted me earlier in the day, "can you bring a light red for mom?" so I brought 3 different shades of Chanel red for her to pick from. She ended up picking Dragon (one of my favorites). I decided to go light and give Chanel's Pearl Drop #511 Le Vernis a try even though it is my least favorite color out of all the spring shades (see review and comparisons here). After trying it out on a full manicure with 2 professionally applied coats, my heart softened a little for this color - but only in the slightest bit.

Chanel Pearl Drop #511 is a frost-finish white gold shimmer. The base is mostly white with a bit of pink and the shimmer is golden. It's not the easiest shade to apply - the frost in this makes it easy to streak if not applied with a steady hand. Also, the gold shimmer makes this yellow, much like NARS Albatross Highlighting Powder. I already have yellow undertones being Asian so I feel like yellowy-golds aren't the most flattering for my skintone. (If you're wondering why I have Albatross even though I don't like it, the compact was received as a gift.)

Now that I've ranted enough about it, you might wonder: is there anything good about this color? The answer is yes. I actually like this color in brighter lighting or natural light because it appears less yellow and more pearly. The coverage is decent, but you definitely need 2 coats with this color. It's definitely a brightening color because it's on the lighter side. Compared to actual pearls, Chanel's Pearl Drop flashes more yellow-gold than most pearls do.

With flash:

Outdoors without flash:

My mom and sister were wowed by this color. Their comments were, "it matches your outfit perfectly!" So don't write this off just because I'm not so wowed by it. Overall I think I am just picky when it comes to lighter colors. If you try this on at the counter, definitely try and apply 2 coats, not just one. My heart still belongs to Black Pearl (reviewed here).

I think it's pretty but I don't think it's a must-have. You can probably get a similar effect with other colors but most will be more gold or more white. The streaks aren't too visible at arm's length. At this time I do not know if this is limited edition or not. I found mine at Nordstrom. By this time, most counters in the US should have the spring collection available for sale.