Full disclosure: I don't buy Chanel polishes. They chip on me within hours. At Chanel's price point, they're not something I would buy often anyway. But if they lasted on me, I could save here and there and budget for one occasionally. But I'm not even gonna do that if they're just gonna chip off. So given that, I try really hard to ignore most Chanels. But occasionally, one will worm its way into my brain and just not let go. That happened to me with Paradoxal, and it happened with Riva.
This polish has been haunting me for months now. It's different than your typical pale blue. It has this squishy, milky quality to it that just called to me. But still, I flatly refused to buy it. I just knew it would chip on me, plus I kept hearing stories about how the formula wasn't very good. I knew that if I caved, I would just be disappointed because it wouldn't really be what I wanted it to be.
Then a few weeks ago, I caught wind somewhere in the blogosphere that Barry M had duped Riva. My ears immediately perked up because the Barry M dupe of Paradoxal was what killed that particular Chanel lemming for me. I hemmed and hawed for a couple of days, then went ahead and ordered it. It's a little pricy to order from the Barry M site, but eh... I still paid less for two Barry Ms than I would have for one Chanel, so I was okay with that. While I was waiting for them to arrive, my friend KarenD posted this comparison of Riva and Blue Moon. I was hopping up and down, I was so excited! Mine arrived yesterday, and here it is.
It's completely perfect. It has that same milky, squishy finish as Riva. I didn't find it very streaky at all, especially for such a light color. This is three coats.
It even has the same hidden shimmer as Riva. You can't really see it indoors, but you can catch a glimpse of it when you're out in the sun.
I'm not joking when I say it's perfect. I felt my Riva lemming shrivel up and fade away as soon as I put it on. Sometimes dupes aren't good enough for me, and I'm not happy until I have the real thing. But when it comes to Chanel, I feel like dupes are my only hope. I had to wait a while for this dupe to appear, but it was totally worth it. No regrets. ♥
If we wait long enough there is always a dupe to find. It's very pretty :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful blue!
ReplyDelete@rmcandlelight This is true, my patience paid off!
ReplyDelete@Stef It's just dreamy. =)
I have Riva and I really, really love it (despite the application issues). I tried Hard Candy sky, and it is not the same at all to me. I think this polish a lot closer to Riva than the HC one. Barry M made an EXACT dupe of Paradoxal so I wouldn't be surprised if Blue Moon were as all. I plan on ordering as a Riva backup ;)
ReplyDelete@tasha~ Oh yes, Sky is really nowhere near this polish in person. Sky is a chalky train wreck compared to this. Based on my experience with the Barry M Paradoxal dupe, I really think this is as close as I can get to the real deal. =) It's just lovely.
ReplyDelete