oh holy night, the stars are brightly shiiiiiiiiiiiining.

When I was in junior high, Seventeen held a contest for its readers to come up with a new nail color for Chanel. The winner was Ciel de Nuit (french for Starry Night), a deep navy with tiny flecks of silver. Unlike so many sparkly nail polishes, the glitter in this polish was extremely fine. It was both edgy and sophisticated, and it looked fantastic on short nails (big points in my book). I don't remember who submitted the winning idea or how long it was on shelves, but I remember thinking it was the loveliest nail polish I'd ever seen. So lovely that I happily forked over my hard-earned baby-sitting cash for a bottle of my very own.

I've long searched for a worthy successor to Ciel de Nuit, but to no avail. (Essie came close with Starry Starry Night, but that was discontinued. What the eff?) When the dark polish trend blew up a few years ago and Chanel released their limited-edition Black Satin varnish, I hoped its popularity would inspire a reboot of Ciel de Nuit. Chanel's Blue Satin (released not long after Black Satin) was a lovely deep navy, but it just didn't have the same caliber sparkle as Ciel de Nuit. It doesn't look like my favorite star-specked polish will be re-released anytime soon, but it does seem that Chanel has come a bit closer with the release of Chanel Nuit de Russie. The Chanel Paris-Moscou Collection features three jewel tone shades, and this shimmery navy varnish immediately reminded me of Ciel de Nuit. It doesn't have the same silver sparkles, but the polish does have a gorgeous luminescent sheen. My only disappointment is the price tag. $30? It's an amazing color and it's definitely playing on my Ciel de Nuit nostalgia, but for $30, I expect Karl Lagerfeld to come to my house and give me a pedicure while we watch Mean Girls. This is why I so rarely buy Chanel nail polish. But still, so so pretty.

And by the way, I'm home in Nebraska for the holiday weekend. So far, my days have consisted of lighting luminaries, feeding my neighbor's cats, setting the table, and falling asleep during the Christmas Day Sci Fi Channel marathon of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I kind of feel like Holly Hunter in Home for the Holidays. Only without the awesome magenta coat.