Chanel Forbidden, Diabolic, Vamp, Rouge Noir and Some Other Burgundy Shades . .

October 8, 2009

Quite a few fall collections have jumped on the dark-vampy-trend bandwagon and while I’m usually very excited to find new dark colors for nails, I have mixed feelings about the new polishes from the Chanel Noirs Obscurs collection after seeing them in person.

Chanel just released two new colors, Forbidden and Diabolic and repromoted Vendetta from last holiday. I ordered the two new ones sight unseen and at first glance was less than impressed. However when I swatched them on my nails, my feelings changed.

Both Forbidden 437 and Diabolic 427 are deep chocolatey-burgundy-vampy shades and are extremely similar. When swatched, the colors aren’t as dull as I expected – they have just the right amount of brown and red. You definitely don’t need both, but they are different enough from Chanel’s Vamp and Rouge Noir to justify maybe buying one.

Difference between the two: Forbidden is slightly lighter and more chocolatey, Diabolic is deeper and darker.

Here are more photos with my comparisons to similar shades:

Swatches:
Thumb = Cosmic Violine 497
Index = Forbidden 437
Middle = Diabolic 427
Ring = Rouge Noir 18
Pinkie = Vamp 18

With high flash:

In natural sunlight:

Another view:

Compared to a couple other brands: MAC All Night Long and Sephora by OPI I’m With Brad:

Overall thoughts: Even though I’m a huge Chanel fan and obsessed with collecting almost every single nail color they release, Forbidden and Diabolic were just ok for me. I didn’t gasp with awe when I took them out of the box. I was hoping for something different with those complex shimmer particles that they are known for creating.

That being said, I tend to like shimmery nail polishes, perhaps I need to get more used to those creamy non-shimmery shades. As a fellow Chanel fan and I were discussing a few days ago, they seem to be more for the Chanel collector, and while they are nice to have, we wouldn’t have died if we didn’t get our hands on them.

Bottom line: They look great on the nails, but there’s no need to have both. They are different enough from Vamp/Rouge Noir to justify trying out. If you don’t mind shimmer and want a cheaper alternative, Sephora by OPI I’m With Brad is pretty close, however do note that the Chanel formulas are superior by far. With the Sephora by OPI – you can get good results, but it will require a lot more thin coats.