[unpaid/sample] What’s surprising about this season’s six strong nail collection from CHANEL is how milky all the shades are. It’s based around the notion of The Sun, The Sky and The Sea – think lights that shine on and reflect from the water and their combination of luminosity and softness.

The three I have to show you are Cap Corail, Sea Sea Green and Pastel Sand. Predictably, I made a bee-line for Cap Corail for my quick holiday at the end of the week (no post on Monday but I’m hoping to get Thursday/Friday done ahead) because I find it hard to resist a coral orange shade.

Sea Sea Green is the ghost of Jade – it’s got hints of green in a strong white base giving a pastel effect that is sometimes pale eau de nil and sometimes apple white but never insipid. For a pale shade it’s rather powerful. For this, I’d definitely use a white undercoat to ensure that it is as brilliant as it’s supposed to be.

Pastel Sand is the perfect inbetweener – neither too pastel nor too bright. It’s a kind of apricot milkshake shade – sweet and milky with a dash of fruit. If you like lilac, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a beautiful pastel lilac called Moon Shell. Of course there is a pink – Rose Coquillage with just a touch of coral and the final shade is Blanc Ecume, a transparent white. I would not even begin on the latter – I can’t see how my amateur skill set with nails could bring that to anything other than done-in-the-dark.

So there we are – I wish the nails on my hands were better but gardening has really ruined them. Toes are in tip top condition though and that’s exactly where these will go, one by one. Isn’t it funny that polish on toes lasts so much longer than on hands. They’re £25 each HERE.