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Chanel Rose Caché 521 Le Vernis

November 24, 2011

Rose Caché 521 Le Vernis is one of three nail polishes released in the Rouge Allure Velvet Collection this year. I had high hopes for the three new shades (as you may know I have problems with restraint when it comes to Chanel nail polish). Rose Caché, Pirate and Rose Exhubérant are all indeed beautiful classics, but seemed like uninspired repeats of past collections. After a few swipes of testing I was pleasantly surprised. The colors are beautiful even though not the most unique. The first shade I put on for a full manicure was Rose Caché 521, a sheer pale neutral nude rose-pink. There is a slight iridescent glow in the bottle similar to what you see in colors Paradoxal and Jade Rose but when applied on the nail you get a creamy non-shimmery finish.

The formula is very sheer and natural, I had to use three coats to get decent coverage and the tips of my nails still showed through slightly. The shimmer does not show up on the nails once applied. Some shimmer will show up when the sun hits the nails directly but it’s very subtle. For my skintone, the color of Rose Caché is very nude and almost mannequin-like. It’s more pink and more visible on the nail compared to Jade Rose, but Rose Caché is still extremely sheer. All swatches below are with 3 coats. I do like that it is non-streaky (it has better coverage than Riva or Jade Rose).

Since Rose Caché is classic and neutral, I think it could be easily duped with other brands, but I don’t think others can replicate the fine iridescent quality Chanel has that give their nail polishes depth and dimension. It’s been quite a while since I stopped looking at neutral creamy pinks from brands like Zoya, OPI or Essie – all the ones I’ve tried are either too pale or too warm. I do have comparisons to some other Chanel neutral pinks as shown below Mica Rose, Magnolia Rose, Rose Satin, Jade Rose, Perle Roseé and Rose Confidentiel. I didn’t think Rose Caché was very unique, but after comparing to other pinks, I found that there’s not really anything quite like it. (Below the angle/flash shows the iridescent shimmer of some of the shades.)

Overall nice to own, but not a must-have. There are some Chanel colors I really wish the shimmer was more visible. Rose Caché is one of them. If what you see in the bottle appeared the same on the nails (plus if it were a bit more pigmented/less sheer) I would have been completely head over heels. Prior to the US release I had googled “Rose Caché” on a weekly basis. I especially loved the features from A Lipstick a Day, Polish Police, Makeup Magpie and Elevensixone’s Flickr Page – all of which I highly recommend you check out.
Did you check out the Rouge Allure Velvet collection? I’m not a fan of the matte or velvet look for makeup so I passed on all the lipsticks and the matte topcoat. I think looking back on the past year, the Soho Collection, along with Spring (Black Pearl Le Vernis) and Fall (Illusion d’Ombres) blew us away in such a way that anything new is hard to top. What did you think of the new Chanel items?
I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

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