For today's post I'm going show you three Sherer Chameleon polishes that I've had in my collection for a while now, having been seduced into bidding for them on ebay by some clever photos of the bottles, holographic labeling and claims to duochrome-dom. I actually swatched one of them on its own last summer with terrible results including epic bubbling and it so put me off the brand that I'm ready to donate all three, but I'm going to give them one last chance to win me over.
First up is Scherer Chameleon C36 Fandango. Fandango looks to have a grey tinted translucent base packed with green/aqua blue duochrome shimmer. On the nail the predominant color is a shimmery mallard green. At certain angles, a shy shift to a greenish aqua blue can be seen.
I applied this over my Orly Shockwave manicure from yesterday. The consistency is fluid, oily and dense and other than showing brushmarks and a little running when I swiped a cuticle I had no problems with application. Fandango dries naturally in good time to a shiny finish that needs a topcoat to protect it as it is very susceptible to scratches even when dry.
Photos show two coat of Fandango over Orly Shockwave (at three coats over treatment and basecoat plus topcoat) with a topcoat of HK Girl.
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| Sherer Chameleon Fandango over Orly Shockwave |
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| Sherer Chameleon Fandango over Orly Shockwave |
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| Sherer Chameleon Fandango over Orly Shockwave |
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| Sherer Chameleon Fandango over Orly Shockwave |
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| Sherer Chameleon Fandango over Orly Shockwave |
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| Sherer Chameleon Fandango over Orly Shockwave |
Next up is Sherer Chameleon C38 Nucleus. I decided to swatch Nucleus over American Apparel Berry, a deep mulberry/claret creme with a hint of brown to it. Berry applied beautifully, the consistency was fluid but dense and went on in a smooth, even, self-leveling manner. I just love these American Apparel cremes, they are so easy to get along with! Berry has very good pigmentation with complete opacity in two coats and dries naturally in good time to a glossy finish.
Photos show two coats of Berry over treatment and basecoat with no topcoat.
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| American Apparel Berry |
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| American Apparel Berry |
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| American Apparel Berry |
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| American Apparel Berry |
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| American Apparel Berry |
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| American Apparel Berry |
Scherer Chameleon Nucleus has a sheer brownish-tinted base packed with shimmery duochromatic pigments. The color shifts between a dark reddish purple and turquoise and it is very pronounced on the nail. In fact, both colors are present pretty much all of the time, which is cool. As with Fandango, the consistency of Nucleus was fluid, oily and dense. Brushstrokes were very apparent. HK Girl topcoat helped a lot to soften the look of the brushstrokes but didn't diminish them entirely.
Photos show two coats of Nucleus over the Berry Manicure above with a topcoat of HK Girl.
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| Scherer Chameleon Nucleus over American Apparel Berry |
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| Scherer Chameleon Nucleus over American Apparel Berry |
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| Scherer Chameleon Nucleus over American Apparel Berry |
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| Scherer Chameleon Nucleus over American Apparel Berry |
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| Scherer Chameleon Nucleus over American Apparel Berry |
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| Scherer Chameleon Nucleus over American Apparel Berry |
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| Scherer Chameleon Nucleus over American Apparel Berry |
Last up is Scherer Chameleon C22 Blue Sky. I decided to swatch Blue Sky over American Apparel Mount Royal, a dark sapphire blue creme with a slightly muted quality to it. Mount Royal was consistent with Berry in application ease, consistency and pigmentation. I was a little all over the place applying it, though, and ended up with some uneven places and used a topcoat with this one to help level them out. Mount Royal dries naturally in good time to a finish that is a touch flatter than Berry but still shiny and smooth.
Photos show two coats of Mount Royal over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of HK Girl.
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| American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| American Apparel Mount Royal |
Scherer Chameleon Sky Blue is a shimmery violet/aqua blue duochrome with strong color shifts that are very visible on the nail, like Nucleus. I think this is my favorite of the three for its coloring, but it's the fussiest of the three in application. The consistency was fluid, oily and dense and it had a very dry feeling going on. It does dry incredibly fast, and I felt I had to overload the slender Scherer brush to have enough polish to cover the nail without it beginning to dry and pull. Again, brushstrokes were very apparent and topcoat helped a lot to diminish the effect. Sky Blue dries naturally very quickly to a comparatively unusual satin finish.
Photos show two coats of Sky Blue over the Mount Royal manicure above with a topcoat of HK Girl.
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| Sherer Chameleon Sky Blue over American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| Sherer Chameleon Sky Blue over American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| Sherer Chameleon Sky Blue over American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| Sherer Chameleon Sky Blue over American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| Sherer Chameleon Sky Blue over American Apparel Mount Royal |
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| Sherer Chameleon Sky Blue over American Apparel Mount Royal |
Well I have to say that these Sherer Chameleons go on with much less trouble in cold weather than they do when its hot. No bubbling, hooray! The color shifts are strong in Nucleus and Sky Blue while Fandango lags a bit in this respect. All three show brushstrokes. To recap, I've swatched all three on a palette, two coats each, on their own with no undies.
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| l to r: Fandango, Nucleus, Blue Sky, two coats each |
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| l to r: Fandango, Nucleus, Blue Sky, two coats each |
After my experience last summer I didn't even contemplate trying these alone without a base polish underneath, but you can see from the swatch palette that they could probably be worn that way provided you have smoother, more regular nail plates than I do. But there are so many polishes out there that I like way better than these frosty duochrome shimmers that don't need a base to look presentable. You know what I mean? These feel kind of dated to me. I mean, we have spectacular stand alone multichromes from our beloved indie polish makers now!
Anyway, perhaps this will be helpful to someone contemplating a Sherer Chameleon purchase. It's tempting because these are inexpensive polishes. My opinion: unless the color and finish really really REALLY speak to you, you can do better.
love,
Liz
PS I just found this post on NouveauCheap.com from last July bearing the news that Sherer Cosmetics is no more. Apparently they made two other polish brands, CQ and Petites, in addition to Chameleon. I guess that means these are beauty culture collector's items now.
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