I’ve had Chanel’s Riva on my mind lately because Dior released a new summery blue called Saint-Tropez.  Riva came out in January, and was used in Chanel’s resort show in Saint-Tropez before that, so it’s definitely part of the same summery blue polish space.

Riva is a lot lighter than Dior’s Saint-Tropez, though.  It’s a a bit finicky.  It’s a sheer light blue that can be streaky and takes some care in application.  I used three coats for these pictures, and it does need to dry a bit longer than usual between coats to come out even.  But once it’s dry, it’s a beautiful light blue with grey undertones, light and clean feeling.  It’s refreshing and soft.  In bright sunlight like the first picture, it looks very light, not very blue.

 

In the shade you can see a bit more of the light blue color.  It has a blue shimmer in the bottle that doesn’t come out on the nail at all.  But it’s such a pretty color.  It’s softer and more yellow than any other light blue I have, and it doesn’t have that weird, white starkness like so many colors this light.

I’ve also had Deborah Lippmann’s Happy Birthday on my mind lately, since it was released as part of a set of three glitters for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.  The set includes Happy Birthday and two variants with the same glitter and different color bases-one pink and one black.  Since I already have Happy Birthday I couldn’t see buying the set, but I’m interested in the pink one.  Usually the Anniversary Sale polishes become available as single polishes at some time later, so I decided to just keep an eye out for that.  But in the meantime, I tried Happy Birthday over Riva and really liked the combination.  Riva is light enough to provide a contrast for all of the different glitter colors in Happy Birthday, and I like the way it’s slightly sheer -it keeps the combination from looking too gunky or sweet.  It’s nice for a hot summer day.  These pictures show two coats of Happy Birthday over the three coats of Riva.

In the shade the greyish blue comes out more.  It really picks up the various colors in Happy Birthday, and the little darker blue glitters coordinate nicely.

 

Riva was a limited edition color and is no longer available, but Happy Birthday is in stock and easy to find at various etailers, including on the Deborah Lippmann website.