NOTD: China Glaze – Channelesque
Today I’d like to show you a nail polish I have been lusting about for months. I adore muted creme nail polishes like taupes and when I saw swatches of China Glaze’s Channelesque I knew that I had to have it.
When I read that its a discontinued color I was a bit sad but then I looked on ebay and found it. However when I read that Channelesque is a nail polish with the old non-3free formula I hesitated.
In the end the lemming won and after weeks of hesitating I bought it. 
China Glaze – Channelesque, two coats
The formula of Channelesque is superb. Its not a one coater but it applies so well and is opaque with two coats.
I do use Seche Vite so I am ok with using 3free nail polishes as well but I want to try to avoid anything non-3free whenever I can. I have purchased the Poshe fast drying top coat and I hope it can replace Seche Vite as my go to top coat when I am running out of Seche Vite.
Now regarding Channelesque I wish China Glaze would bring it back with their 3free formula. It is such a stunning color and now that taupes and muted colors in general are so huge China Glaze is missing such a color in their range.
Dear China Glaze,
if you are reading this please bring Channelesque back!
How do you feel about non-3free nail polishes? I haven’t used my modelsown nail polishes yet because I am bummed that they contain Toluene. Toluene is not prohibited in the EU but why adding it to a formula nowadays when it is possible to make a great 3free formula?
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Wow, this is a very beautiful colour! Looks a lot better than I thought.
But I am not ok with polishes containing the Big-3. So there is me hoping they bring this back soon
bis: Its a beauty isn’t it?
How are you feeling about your modelsown nail polishes now?
Hi Sorry for the question, but what does 3free means?
I LOVE Channelesque! <3 It's one of my favourite polishes. So ofcourse I voted yes on your poll.
JustMe: 3free means that the formula is free of toluene, formaldehyde and DBP (phthalates).
Michelle: Thank you!
♥
Gorgeous shade! I wonder how it compares to Sephora by OPI’s “Call your Mother” or MAC’s “Cool Reserve”.
i have channelesque on my nails right now and i am inlove with this color! its so unique and stunning… btw it looks great on your nails =)
Blusherine: I don’t have Sephora by OPI’s Call Your Mother but I have read that Metro Chic is close. Cool Reserve is cooler toned (less mauve) than Channelesque. Unfortunately I can’t compare them on my nails because the one Cool Reserve I have here is for a dear friend but I hope I can get my hands on Cool Reserve one day.
mancina: Yay for more Channelesque love and thank you!
I have old polishes bought in the past so they are loaded with chemicals. Of course. I have old discontinued Essie that still contain Toluene. It’s ok. I understand why you finally bought this one. Since muddy tones are so big now, they should bring it back, I think. Plus it looks great on you.
For polishes I buy now, I say no to the big three and don’t buy polishes that are still made the old way. We have a brand in France (Rouge Baiser) that makes lovely colors (nothing unseen but they had a cute Barbie pink) but I didn’t buy them because they were still loaded with the big 3. I mean, we are in 2010 aren’t we and chemistry has improved, right? It amazes me how brands can still make polishes the old way when now 3 free formulas are so good. For that reason, ModelsOwn can keep their stuff for them. I’ll buy when they make an effort and be cleaner.
Every now and then, I email brands to know about their ingredients before buying. Yeah, I’m a true pain in the neck. 2 brands (StarGazer and Scandal) never bothered responding me. There is no place on the internet or anywhere you can find the ingredients of StarGazer polishes. Good for them, I suppose. I don’t deal with not transparent people.
To end, everyone is praising Seche Vite but I hate it. I gave a try, like a curious idiot I am. What a bummer – if I knew it was containing toluene, I wouldn’t have bought it. Also I’m having hard time with its rather thick formula, then it get even thicker in the bottle before you ever get a chance to use the first quarter of the bottle and when you apply after the polish get fully dry, it get away like in fine chips. Frankly, I was totally unimpressed. My big3free Arcancil top coat that costed me only 3,5€ on sale is working really better!
(He he, as you can see, I love to ramble on my fav blogs)
I just bought this on eBay and I LOVE IT. It chipped badly after two days, though. Qtica base, 2 coats Channelesque and SV.
The chemicals don’t really bother me because I’m not currently pregnant or nursing, but I suppose I would stay away from them if I were. Channelesque was buttery smooth, and I suspect that’s because of the toluene.
You too with that tempting Channelesque! That has been on my lemming like forever, and impossible to get hold of. *envious* (but in a good way … )
I did a big haul on the Models Own sale, and was soooo disappointed when it arrived, only to reveal to me that is was not 3 Free. They have so nice shades, but I’m reluctand to use them. I really don’t know what to think, for now I just stay away from them.
jellynat: Thank you so much for your great comment!
I don’t get it too why modelsown still adds Toluene to their formula. The more I think about the more it bothers me.
I bought 11 nail polishes from the 50% off sale and I am not sure if I even want to use them. At some point I surely will I guess.. hello nail polish addict-me but for now I am hesitating.
I do love how Seche Vite works but mine does get very thick when the bottle is about half empty as well.
Hopefully Poshe will work for me.
emmajoy: After wearing Channelesque for three days it started chipping too.
laquermanic: Sorry for the tempting!
I am so disappointed as well about ModelsOwn. I really want to play with them but..
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that China Glaze will release Channelesque again.
Looks great on you! Though it’s not exactly my type of colour, I would certainly wear it, it has that extra something to it:)
KONADomania: Thank you!
Just a little drop-in about fast drying top coat. I have a new favourite: CND Air Dry. It dries SUPER fast and glossy, and it doesn’t shrink your polish. *woooooot* With the spray on top, you’re good to go in minutes!
I’m doing a wear test for CND at the moment, I’ll publish it at the end of the week, then we’ll see if it’s durable.
I am looking forward to your wear test post, laquermanic!
As much as I love how Seche Vite works and looks.. I want to go big3 free with my top coat too.
That’s a really nice shade! Anyone know if there is a similar in pink? Old fashioned pink you know
You´ve got wonderfull nails and this polish is amazing too!
I have this and I love it.
Big3free is great but surely wearing a polish for a couple of days can’t harm that much?
@ swatchaholic – It’s hard to find 3Free topcoats. I’m not with my stash right now, I’ll check out the CND and come back to you!
@ Nails By Me – I don’t know if we have the same thinking, but I’ve swatched Polished Princess by Barielle, and that’s what I thought whwn I swatched it: Old fashioned pink. Take a peak, if you want: http://laquermanic.com/2010/02/14/opi-i-pink-i-love-you-barielle-polished-princess/
For top coats, I have been using Barielle Speed Dry Manicure Extender forever. It’s great, dries super fast and is 3 Free. I won’t use SV.
It looks great on you! =)
Hi! I use the Poshe topcoat because I wanted to have a Big3free topcoat – I’m very happy with it but of course I never tried Seche Vite. But I have serious troubles with INM Out the Door (as you can read in my blog). I’m not sure how often I’ll give it a try anymore …
This is such a lovely color and it fits your skin tone so well !
I just finished my Poshe bottle and I like it a lot
About the 3free – I try to use polishes that are 3free,that’s why I order most of my polishes from the USA, but many of the brands here have polishes that contain Toluene and I use them inspite that fact. I wish they were making 3free polishes too, I don’t know why it’s so hard to change the formula to healthier one…
Oh I need to dig this out and use it again!
Nails By Me: Thank you! Unfortunately I don’t know a similar more muted pink shade but the polish in laquermanics link looks great.
sonidlo: Thank you! *blushes*
Jenni: I hope so!
laquermanic: I have used Poshe for the first time yesterday and I love it!
Echo7: I haven’t heard about this top coat before. I guess I need to check it out but so far I am happy with my first Poshe trial.
nihrida: Thank you Sasha! It looks gorgeous on you as well!
PolishedSheep: I haven’t tried INM Out the Door yet and if Poshe works great with my other nail polishes too I think I will have a new go-to top coat.
Tuli: Thank you so much!
).
Yes this is what I love about the US brands too. No need for Toluene to create a fantastic formula (plus I love the bigger bottles haha
Shortandsweetnails: Yes!
That is just lovely.
I prefer a 3 free myself but I do have some that are not. I don’t use them as often and I think using them sparingly is okay. Frankly, they have yet to match up against some of the superb 3 free formulas of a lot of brands.
Sephora By OPI Metro Chic looks exactly the same as Channelesque.
MightyLambchop: I guess I will use my modelsown nail polishes only sparingly which should be okay.
In an older formula of a discontinued nail polish I expect Toluene but I was shocked to see that the modelsown nail polishes contain Toluene.
ChimoKitty: I have heard that Metro Chic is a very close color. It still would be great if China Glaze would bring back Channelesque because Sephora by OPI nail polishes are more expensive and not as widely spread as China Glaze.
I own this color too =) I got it when Head2Toe had the last 6 bottles left!
Channelesque is a tad lighter than Metro Chic:
http://nailgal.com/displayimage.php?pid=11947&fullsize=1
Yay I am glad that you could get Channelesque too, Deniz!
I hope I can get Metro Chic soon to make a comparison but I still hope China Glaze will release Channelesque again with their 3free formula. *dreams*
Gorgeous shade! Looks great on you.
Thank you Tiff!
pretty!!! thanks for sharing. this kinda reminds me of p2 gracious
That is seriously the most amazing China Glaze shade I’ve ever seen. And it suits you so much!
xoxo
Per BeatyWest it’s available for $2.99
http://www.beautywests.com/chinaglazenailpolish-channelesque197.aspx
and $5.99 @Beauty Clutch
http://www.thebeautyclutch.com/chglchc1.html
that looks almost exactly like rimmel’s steel gray
Yes the swatches I have seen of Rimmel’s Steel Gray remind me of Channelesque, Melissa.
Unfortunately only one store near me sells Rimmel and I haven’t seen Steel Gray there yet. 