Earlier this year Christian Louboutin released a classic red nail polish called Louboutin Rouge followed by thirty additional shades in three families called The Nudes (neutrals), The Pops (brights) and The Noirs (dramatic dark shades). The nail polishes are among the most expensive in the market, priced at $50 each but have been selling out repeatedly. I pre-ordered these from Nordstrom back in August before they were released. I received them the first week of September and have been putting each shade to the test for weeks. I’ve already reviewed and tested the classic Louboutin Rouge (more thoughts in this post). Today I have all ten nudes to share with you (yes, my fingers have been very busy swatching!).
The Louboutin Nudes have two different finishes. All are creams without any shimmer. There are shades with a sheer finish and then colors with more opaque coverage. The range of nudes is quite wide, but the soft pinks are very similar in effect with slight variations in undertone. First, the packaging is quite stunning. These have long heel spikes for handles. All the nude colors have a pearly beige finish on the handles with large glass jars to hold the polish. Each one contains 0.4 fl oz/13 ml of polish. All of mine say they are made in the USA.
Packaging these seems like it would be quite challenging to construct a large box. Instead of encasing the entire polish + handle in a box, these come with a cardboard container that goes around the glass portion. Mine were all wrapped individually in study stock when they were shipped. They all arrived in tact and without any scratches or issues:
The colors are labeled at the base:
Here are all the shades lined up side by side:
Colors and descriptions according to my testing below.
- Tres Decollete is the darkest pink with a blue base, this one is sheer but has the most coverage out of all the soft pinks
- Sweet Charity is a super sheer soft white cream, this was the only shade I did not like, mainly because it took four coats to get decent coverage, three coats gave the nails a soft glossy look, but one I think could be duplicated by cheaper brands
- La Favorita is a medium warm pink, the pigment is sheer, but applied smoothly and evenly with two coats
- Simple Nude is a warm camel nude that has medium-to-full coverage
- Me Nude is a cool mauve nude with excellent pigment, it had smooth flawless coverage
- Just Nothing is a beautiful nude that leans beige, but still has a bit of pink in it so it doesn’t look orangey on the hands
- Alta Perla is a unique grey nude with a hint of sage, the formula is medium on this one, with two think coats you might still see the nail underneath some fingers, I applied a slightly thicker second coat to get full coverage
- Tutulle is the perfect nude pink cream
- Zoulou is a really lovely chocolate nude cream with excellent pigment
- Madame Est Nue is a the lightest pink, it’s a nude pink that has super sheer coverage
One more view below, same order as above, but in direct sunlight:
Swatched side by side, lightest to darkest:
Individual photos and swatches, I’ll indicate how many coats I used for each one. I tested these with a number of different base and top coats. The cult favorite Seche Vite gave major shrinkage with these polishes on tips and cuticle areas causing these to get tip wear after 1 day. I don’t recommend it, although I know many people love that brand. I really liked mine with the Deborah Lippmann Rehydrating Base Coat to help color adhere to the nail, and then topped with either the Chanel Laque Brilliance Extreme or Dior Gel Top Coat. Louboutin has their own Nail Care Kit, but after splurging quite heavily on the colors themselves, I decided to try what I already had first. Using either the Dior or Chanel Top coats allowed for 7 days of wear without any chipping or tip wear which I found very impressive with this formula.
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Sweet Charity, shown with four coats
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Madame Est Nue with three coats
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La Favorita with two coats
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Tres Decollete with two coats
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Tutulle with two coats
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Just Nothing with two coats
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Me Nude with two coats
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Simple Nude with two coats
Equipment Cashmere Sweater in Camel for color reference:
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Zoulou with two coats
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Alta Perla with two coats (pinky has three coats)
The wear on these is really amazing in my experience. I didn’t want to say that I would fall in love with $50 nail polishes but the colors that Louboutin has released are truly flawless and naturally flattering. A good flattering nude can be hard to find. There are many good ones out there, but so many are either too pale, too warm, too orange or just look pink on my hands. Louboutin hands down has created the perfect palette of nude polishes with a diverse range to suit any skin tone.
If you’re looking to splurge, I would say you definitely don’t need all ten of the nudes. My thoughts rounded up:
- For a soft pink, I like Tres Decollete the best, although La Favorita comes in close second
- For a medium nude, Tutulle is my favorite because it has a bit of pink, followed by Just Nothing which is another great nude
- For unique colors, Zoulou and Alta Perla are the best picks, they do have a similar vibe to other brands, but these ones just work so well with the skin
- Two to skip for me include Sweet Charity (just too sheer) and Simple Nude for my specific skin tone is too match so it blends in (if you’re lighter or darker in skin tone, I think this will look lovely on you)
One last shot, my personal take on the Louboutin Nudes cluster:
I hope you enjoyed this roundup. It’s taken me weeks to complete but I can say that I highly recommend these if you’re looking to treat yourself (or a friend). The $50 price tag on 10 shades has certainly been an ouch on my wallet, but I have no regrets. Available now at Nordstrom.
Special thanks to Nordstrom for sponsoring this post.
For more information, refer to my Disclosures.
