Swatches: Chameleon duochrome nail polishes in Nucleus and Corona

It's become a bit of a tradition for me on Saturdays to show you my "weekend manicures". So I thought I'd show you two of the new duochromes/multichromes from Chameleon today!

NOTE: Chamelon nail polishes are sold at Walmart and Rite Aid, but they're also available with everyday free shipping (no minimum order) on the CQ website. They cost a little bit more when you order them directly from CQ, but if you can't find them in your area and you really want them, it might be worth it since shipping is free.

NOTE 2: The newer Chameleon shades all have space-related names on the CQ site, in case you're not sure which are old and which are new. I purchased these two polishes at my local Rite Aid for $3.99 each and even though all of the new shades were gorgeous, these are the two that really stood out to me.

Chameleon Nucleus (left) and Corona (right)

(retail: $3.99 at Rite Aid, 0.4 oz each)

As with all duochromes/multichromes, when you view the polishes at different angles, the colors shift:

Chameleon Nucleus (left) and Corona (right)

Let's start with Nucleus:

This polish is a true "chameleon" and I'm sure it's a dupe for something, but I'm not well-versed in  non-drugstore duochromes so, if you know, please enlighten us! It's not, however, a dupe for Maybelline Downtown Brown (more on that a little bit later in this post). I'm going to show you a series of  photos taken in different forms of lighting and at different angles, so that you can get a true feeling for how much this polish shifts colors. In real life, the shifts are even more dramatic than what you see in these photos. It's kind of amazing, actually.

In all of these photos, I used three coats of polish on all fingers except for my ring finger. On my ring finger, I layered one coat of Nucleus over a black creme polish from Wet n Wild.

Next up, Corona:

In photos, the colors of Corona don't shift as dramatically. This probably has to do with the fact that Corona is a lighter color than Nucleus, but it's just as gorgeous in my opinion. The colors of Corona shift from light pink to salmon to icy baby blue to rose gold. 

In all of these photos, I used three coats of polish on all fingers except for my ring finger. On my ring finger, I layered one coat of Corona over a black creme polish from Wet n Wild.

 

Now I'd like to show you a comparison of the limited edition Maybelline Color Show polish Downtown Brown and Chameleon Nucleus:

Three coats of each polish:

As you can see, Downtown Brown isn't really a duochrome at all. It's a chocolate brown creme with teal shimmer. Nucleus is a true multichrome and shifts to several different colors depending on the light and angle. (PS: I believe that one of you asked for this comparison--if that was you, I hope this helps!)

Some thoughts:

I love both of these new Chameleon colors and I can't believe they're just $3.99 each at the drugstore. The formula of both polishes was good (not perfect--they were both a tiny bit thick but definitely workable even without adding polish thinner). Dry time was very good, and the brush strokes you see in my photos aren't nearly as pronounced in real life (yay!). As I mentioned before, I used three coats of polish for all of these photos, but you could definitely get away with two if you're not planning on taking extreme close-ups of your nails. I was expecting these polishes to be extremely sheer (like some of the older Chameleons) but they're not at all. Definitely a pleasant surprise. I wish I could have captured the multichrome effect of Corona a bit more in photos, but you'll just have to trust me that it's more apparent in real life. 

Once again, if you can't find the newer Chameleon shades at your local Walmart or Rite Aid, you can order them all here, with everyday free shipping (no minimum order required).

Do you own any Chameleon polishes (new or old)? What are some of your favorites?

PS: I wish I could remember who first told me that Chameleon released new shades--it was a few weeks ago and I tried to find the comment but I couldn't locate it. If it was you, please let me know so I can thank you!