YSL Beige Gallery & Gris Underground La Laque Coutures

For Fall 2013, YSL introduced 2 new nail lacquers – Beige Gallery and Gris Underground.

I was in my “need-for-something-metallic” phase last month when these came out, so I skipped them and lived to regret after they were all soldout locally.  Sigh, the story of my life…  In fact, I was still undecided when I traipsed into a YSL store in Hong Kong on a mission to pick up Beige Gallerie for a friend.  Just for the heck of it, and because I couldn’t figure out how to decline politely in my pathetic Cantonese, I tried it out, and I WAS SOLD!

YSL Beige Gallery La Laque Couture is described as a “concrete beige”.  On me, it appears a light-medium taupe with a tinge of gray.  It has a lovely creamy finish that is streak-free, and looks super classy.  I tend to shy away from pink nudes for my nails because they just make me look devoid of life, and mostly I found nudes to be really difficult to apply for some mysterious reason.  I did find Beige Gallery to be slightly on the thinner side, and could probably do with 3 coats if I was being light-handed.

YSL Gris Underground is described as a “cloud of grey”.  Somehow on me, it looks like a cool-toned, blue-grey… quite happy to my complex mind!  It leaves a creamy and streak-free finish.  This is another very sophisticated shade that is not-nude-yet-day-appropriate.  Unlike Beige Gallerie, I found Gris Underground to be somewhat thicker in consistency, which required a bit more care during application.  So instead of going through all 10 fingers in a go, I cap it up and give the bottle a good shake in between.

Both Beige Gallerie and Gris Underground come with YSL’s signature flat, extra-wide brush, that makes application a breeze, and the formula was mostly opaque in 2 coats.  I can’t remember exactly how previous La Laque Coutures performed, but I found both Beige Gallerie and Gris Underground to take a tad longer than usual to dry.  Or perhaps I was just unusually tired.  But I did experience some “dragging” when I tried to apply a top coat over before they were completely dry.  So, that is something to watch out for.

On the positive side, both lacquars (as with other YSL La Laque Coutures that I’ve tried) lasted me a whole 3 days without chipping or peeling.  By the 3^rd day, there was some noticeable wearing off at the tips but nothing unsalvageable.

I do apologize for I seem to be introducing you to lots of items lately that are soldout locally, but I strongly believe in the power of the global marketplace a.k.a. online shopping!  If you developed a strong lemming for one of these beauties, and need help getting your hands on either one or both, feel free to give me a shout below.

xoxo