Chanel Particulière, Inattendu & Tendresse Swatches & Review
 The palette for the Spring 2010 Chanel collection, Les Impressions de Chanel, is all about chic, wearable neutrals. Creative Director Peter Philips wanted to honor Coco Chanel’s legacy of creating classic, timeless pieces with a wardrobe of color that never goes out of style.
Included in the collection are three new Le Vernis nail lacquers including Particulière, Tendresse and Inattendu. You may recall the frenzy that erupted when Particulière was spotted on the Chanel Spring 2010 runway. We all wondered, is it a khaki, grey, mushroom, dusty purple, mauve? Would it just end up being a You Don’t Know Jacques knockoff? See for yourself after the jump! |
Turns out, Particulière is a grayed taupe creme much lighter than YDKJ and cooler than other taupes like OPI Over The Taupe or Orly Prince Charming. It’s not quite what I was expecting but still unique. I must admit when I first saw the color on the runway I expected it to be part of an edgier makeup collection. To think that this type of hue is considered a timeless classic says a lot about where we’ve come in terms of acceptable nail colors.
Application of Particulière was pretty much perfection. It applied smooth and even in two coats drying to a high gloss shine. I went looking for a low cost alternative and I’m sad to say Particulière has no dupes. The closest I came was Essie Mink Muffs which is more brown and dries darker even though the bottle colors are similar.
When I first saw Inattendu I thought perhaps I had found my “mannequin hands” shade but it’s way too peach. The peachy nude is actually much more flattering than I expected but the formula left me disappointed. When you’re paying for Chanel quality, it shouldn’t take three coats to go opaque. I can deal with three coats for a unique, special shade but for a neutral, not so much. Not when there is undoubtedly a dupe somewhere on the market.
Tendresse is a baby pink sheer. It’s meant to be worn sheer but I wanted to see if it was buildable. What you see below is three coats and we’re still not anywhere near opaque’s neighborhood. Though for you sheer fans, Tendresse is streak-free so one coat adds a healthy pink glow to your tips. It’s got that lipgloss effect.
Les Impressions de Chanel is on sale now at your local Chanel counter and online at Chanel.com. Polishes retail for $23/ea.
What are your thoughts on these polishes? Did Particulière live up to your expectations or is it a letdown? What about the other colors? Are they staples you’ll be adding to your collection?
Disclosure: A product sample was furnished to me by Chanel. For further information view my Disclosure Policy.
I really like Particulière, but I am a lover of anything brown.
Very pretty but too expensive!!!!
Your nails are amazing as always! But to comment the polishes; I don’t think any one of these will make it into my Helmer, too expensive for not so special colors. Particuliere are beautiful, but not worth that much money, not to me at least.
I loooove mine
had it on the nails since I got it Monday, it didn’t disappoint me that’s for sure 
my first brownish color actually so it was a big surprise that I liked it so much 
I’m glad I picked up Particuliere!
I have Particulière but still have not tried it yet, as I think my Spa Ritual Sage is really, really close. I may have to return it…then again, I may have to just break down and wear it. I do think it’s a great color.
Is it possible to see it swatched next to Over the Taupe? I’m hoping that OTT will be a cheaper alternative!
Particulière, I must have you.
p.s. still working on my mannequin hands…
Tendresse seems like a gorgeous color, but I’m so annoyed I can’t find a decent opaque pink. The others are ehh for me.
Your nails look pretty in all the colors. NOT worth the $23, imo.
I have Particuliere on its way to me but not soon enough (it’s backordered!). I rarely purchase Chanel shades because of their cost but I had to have it! My only other Chanel is Haute Chocolate and its my absolute favorite!
I have Butter London’s Fash Pack (don’t have Particuliere though) however it seems to me that it is very close – not having both of them I cant compare…
for inattendu, i think american apparel’s nail polish line has a similar colour called palm springs. thanks for the swatches!
I just bought Particuliere today and I love love love it. The application is smooth and pigmented and even; however, it is the texture is a little thicker than what I am used to. Now that I have seen your swatches, Inattendu and Tendresse are quite cute but they are not as unique as Particuliere.
I love both Particuliére and Inattendu, Tendresse not so much as I try to avoid sheer polishes. As these are regular polishes, the may be mine in opposite to Jade. That was just impossible to get. Impossible to get = want it more, so I went to Evil Bay. The auctions for Jade are crazy: current bidding is up to 179 $!!! I tip-toed out from there …
OMG…These are TOO gorgeous!!!
Oh no! These pictures formats are not compatible with my iPhone! I have been able to see the pics in your other entries – are these a different format? I have particuliere and love it!!!
At a first glance I liked them (I love Chanel and I bought Blue Satin after reading your wonderful rewiew) but I’m not fond of sheer and “fleshy” colours. Particulière seems nice, would it be possible to see it near YDKJ? I recently discovered OPI (even if here in Italy they are pretty difficult to find) and love their shades.
Thank you for your reviews
If you do a swatch comparison, I’d like to see Particuliere up against OPI YDKJ, Zoya Pasha, and Butter Fash Pack. It seems like it might be more tonally like Pasha (which I have), but without the grey shimmer.
have you heard about the american apparel nail polishes? because i think Mouse is a close dupe of Particulere… its a lovely color though! great swatches!
I agree with Gina, very pretty but expensive!
I think i’ll try Inattendu this summer. Not too sure about the peachiness but it might be a good fit for my dark complexion. I actually like the fact that I have to build to get it to an opaque level. I have a choice going sheer or opaque instead of buying two different types of polish.
has anyone compared Particulière to OPI for sephora Metro Chic or Under My Trench Coat?
Any dupes for Tendresse? I don’t have any polishes that give that lipgloss effect, but I’d love to try it for less than $23.
Lindsay – I heard that Zoya’s Jessika might be a good dupe for Tendresse.
Now does anyone know a good dupe for Inattendu? I tried it at the Chanel counter and I think it’s my mannequin hands color.
Along the lines of some previous comments, I am really curious to see how Particulière matches up against Butter’s Fash Pack. I might have to make my next shade Fash Pack and wander down to Nordstrom to see.
I really want Particulière, but too rich for my blood!
I bought Rimmel’s New polish in Steel Grey (which is NOT grey). I thought that it was a dupe for Particuliere, but comparing my nails to your pics, they are not alike at all.
Steel Grey is more of a grey-purple. Man!! I was hoping I wouldn’t have to cough up $23 for a Chanel nail polish. But I might just have to cuz I <3 brown.
[...] classic with enough of a twist that there’s just nothing else out there to match it. Over at All Lacquered Up there’s another great review with swatches and comparisons and Michelle seemed to like it [...]
Inattendu reminds me of a ChG I saw, one of the ones with roman numeral names … I don’t have it, so I can’t say for sure. I LOVE the look of Tendresse, but no way no how am I paying $23 for a polish (well, not yet)! I’ll have to search for a dupe. I looked up Zoya Jessika on NG, and it doesn’t look close …
Oh dear… am seriously lemming Particulière and that photo has *not* helped matters lol.
(Long time reader but I think this might be my first comment. Love your blog!)
I was holding out against buying Particulière, as I thought it was a bit too similar to OPI You Don’t know Jacques…. but my lovely friend has just bought it for me as an early birthday present! It’s such a classy colour
I’m off to Paris next weekend to celebrate my birthday… guess what’s going to be on my nails
Loving Chanel s new polish particuliere just bought it!!!!
I see quite a few people have asked you to do some other comparison swatches for Particulière and I’d like to ask for that as well! It seems so much darker in person than in photos. It leans much more towards brown than gray in person. I had YDKJ on my nails when I tested it on paper and it didn’t seem much darker. Would like to see it next to Fash Pack too.
Please , please suggest a dupe for inattendu. I LOVE the shade…
best dupe for particuliere is a ’sparkle and fade’ shade. not sure of the name but found in urban outfitters. i cant tell the difference between the two!xx
What about Nails Inc Jermyn Street as a good replacement for Particulière? I’m wearing it now and it’s pretty close!
I’ve had fash pack from butter london for a while and last week got particuliere – i can categorically state they are exactly the same shade! i was a bit annoyed at first but now think i’ll just sell the particuliere on ebay for a nice profit!
What makes Over the Taupe different from Particulière?
Over the Taupe has a more reddish undertone while Particulière is a more neutral taupe. Metro Chic on the other hand has a more purplish undertone. They are definately not dupes of eachother, although Over the Taupe and Particulière come close.
In the process of uploading a photo, if I have one ‘ll post it here.
How does Particuliere compare to American Apparel “Mouse”?