Lacquered Memories: Chanel 535 May

With a collection as extensive as mine, many nail polishes do come with a story. Today I’m starting a new series on my blog: Lacquered Memories. In this series, I’m revisiting old nail polishes (or nail arts) that I hold dear due to personal reasons. Today Chanel’s 535 “May”.

As a teenager and young adult, I have always been into fashion a lot. And I mean an awful lot; I would stay awake to watch some of the SS or FW shows live, and religiously followed fashion blogs for the shows I had to miss. Especially Dolce & Gabbana and Chanel (under Lagerfeld) were my favourites, as both made a true spectacle of their shows. It was also at this time that I started with the idea to buy designer accessoiries, although as a student I did not have the funds for it.

However, luxury beauty products were a lot more available to student me. When it was my birthday, I received a coupon for IciParisXL, a €5 one at that, and I decided to take the plunge.

A couple of months of thorough research started. If I were to buy a designer nail polish, which one would I want to buy? What brand? What colour? And what finish? As this was around 2012 (damn, I’m getting old!), special finishes weren’t as easily available as today, nor did I truly have any knowledge about them. So I opted for a nail polish by Chanel (because, well, Chanel…), and in a colour that I did love at that time. That the nail polish was named after my birth month, was an added bonus.

So I went to the store, and bought it for €22. Minus the €5, of course; I’m Dutch after all. Extremely elated, I went home, and put the bottle on my desk to gasp at. The box was stored securily as well, and eventually even survived my emigration. It took some time for me to finally start using the polish, however, as I was afraid of emptying it too quickly. The polish became some sort of status symbol, put on a pedestal by sheer consumerism.

And to be honest: when I started to use it, I was kind of disappointed by the formula. Weirdly enough, as it’s one of my favourites nowadays. Back then, however, the thin formula and thin brush were hard to work with, being accustomed to Essence’s formula and broad brush. But after a couple of wears, it became one of my favourites very quickly, as it’s a colour that is stunning on my nails.

“May” is a creamy pink with slightly cool undertone in certain light. Shown are two coats without topcoat applied. It was released in the spring collection of 2012, and not available anymore.