For the fall collections, Chanel seems to be releasing quite a few more products than usual with a series of mini collections focusing on eyes and lips. Seasonal collections are being released earlier and earlier each year. Perhaps the reason why they have launched a few mini collections to keep us Chanel fanatics satisfied once the real fall season comes around. Chanel had just released their Eyeshadow Duos only a few weeks ago (I ended up with Taupe-Délicat 20, Misty-Soft 40 and Gris 35) and now another collection has been released called Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss which has a new lipgloss, new rouge allure lipsticks, rouge allure laque repromotes and three new nail polishes.
Amy from Café Makeup has done an amazing series of reviews on the Extrait de Gloss shades she picked out. Her reviews helped me immensely and I just received my package today. I have not yet had a chance to try out the glosses but I immediately dove into the new Le Vernis shades: Rouge Fatal 487, Rose Insolent 489 and Rose Confidentiel 491.
All classic colors, cream finish, rich in pigment, insanely gorgeous:
- Rouge Fatal – dark burgandy red
- Rose Insolent – vibrant candy pink
- Rose Confidentiel – nude rose-brown-caramel-like pink
The swatches, descriptions, comparisons, more swatches and thoughts (swatched with 2 coats, no base coat or top coat added):
Rouge Fatal 487 is a deep burgandy vampy wine red. Chanel always does an amazing job with their reds and I was the most curious about this. I pulled out some similar shades and the closest ones I could find were Rescue Beauty Lounge Killa Red, Chanel Lotus Rouge and OPI Chick Flick Cherry. Note it was extremely difficult to capture the difference between these with the camera, so I will supplement with my descriptions. They are all indeed very similar here is how they differ:
- RBL Killa Red – more of a true red, brighter
- Chanel Rouge Fatal – most brownish
- Chanel Lotus Rouge – my Holy Grail burgandy red, this is similar, but has more blue, no brown tones
- OPI Chick Flick Cherry – brighter, redder, more like a cross between a cherry/red apple
* Please read the descriptions rather than going off my swatches for Rouge Fatal, the swatches are deceivingly similar
Rose Insolent 489 is a bright pink with warm fuschia tones. Those who missed out on Riviera from the summer collection will be happy to know this one is virtually identical to Riviera (see my review on Riviera here and here). I have to say their pick for Rose Insolent is odd for fall, even more odd that they released one so similar to a previous collection. The difference is that Rose Insolent is warmer and a bit deeper – but it’s very very slight.
Rose Confidentiel 491 is a brown rose caramel pink. On the boring side in the bottle, but I think this one is my favorite out of the 3 shades. I don’t have anything like it in my stash – often times these brown-nude-pinks tend to look like mud with my skintone. This one is a pretty neutral which is definitely office/work appropriate. I’m thinking it might be similar to Rescue Beauty Lounge Om (which I don’t have yet) but more pink, perhaps more neutral?
(No dupe from my end)
Other thoughts: Someone e-mailed me asking if I noticed a difference in the formula for Chanel’s darker newer shades. She had mentioned that hers seemed goopy and thick which did not apply well. She thought it might be her base coat. I did not have a good answer for her because I have not noticed a difference, but then I usually don’t do my own manicures. Today with the swatching, I noticed a few goopy-clumping issues with all my reds (Chanel, RBL and OPI) which I attribute to the following (after a few tries):
- One is that you might not have enough varnish on your brush, if you have too little, you won’t get a good coat, but then you don’t want too much
- The other is that, it’s possible you’re not letting your first coat dry long enough
The formula is definitely still superb. If you’re having application troubles, it might be your application technique. If the first coat isn’t perfect, it’s ok, the second coat should smooth things out as long as the first coat is dry enough and you have enough product on your brush. (Disclaimer – I’m not an expert at application, this is just what I noticed while swatching my nail polishes today.)
Overall thoughts: The formula and application of these are typical of Chanel in my opinion. The shades aren’t the most unique and I know there are definitely dupes in other lines in addition to what I have posted. If you missed out on Riviera you will be excited about Rose Insolent. Unless you’re a die-hard Chanel fan or don’t have a lot of nail polishes in your stash, you might be left wanting more with these. I personally would have loved some shimmer, a little more kick, or something more unique – but I have 3 more weeks of freedom until it’s back to the grind, so at least I know I have some non-nude colors that I can wear to work and not feel self-conscious or out of place. On another note, Chanel does a wonderful job on the classic shades – these are perfect in true Chanel style (even if I was hoping for something a bit more unique).
I think they are worth every penny.
I don’t think these have hit stores or counters yet since the duos were just launched. I ordered mine from Chanel.com. These currently retail for $23 each in the US.
