Here is the Soho Story Collection continued with the lip items. Luckily there are a number of other resources you can look to for reviews, descriptions and swatches. Check out Beauty Moogle Zone and Karla Sugar for a few other resources.
Left to right: Stunt Rouge Allure Laque, Stunning Rouge Coco and Star Glossimer
Stunt Rouge Allure Laque – full coverage, creamy, no shimmer, plum-mauve leaning more towards the purple side, almost borderline too purple but ok when blotted
Stunning Rouge Coco Lipstick – beautiful natural light rose pink
Star Glossimer – a smooth sparkley sheer silvery pink (not as opaque or whitish as Brilliance)
Swatched on bare skin:
Stunt Rouge Allure Laque – slightly more purple than the photos show
I didn’t have time to swatch the other items before the sun went down, so here are some comparisons to other Chanel colors. Stunning is beautiful but I think if you have any of the other shades below, you can get a similar effect. I didn’t photograph it next to Perle Rouge Coco but the effect is similar in my opinion.
Stunning Rouge Coco compared to Aqualumieres:
Star Glossimer compared to other sheer light pinks:
Those who have e-mailed me I will respond shortly!
My current favorite lipsticks are all from Chanel and I’ve been enamored with the new Rouge Cocos, particularly the lighter more natural shades Perle, Secret & Cashmere. Compared to the Aqualumiere and Rouge Allures, the Rouge Coco has a different texture. I can’t say that one is better than another, they are all simply different. Aqualumieres are the glossiest, Rouge Allures are the creamiest and smoothest, Rouge Cocos seem to be a combination of Hydrabase + RA + Aqualumiere mixed together (in my opinion). I’ve scattered features on the lipsticks I picked out over the past few months. I thought it was time to try a few swatches of these three, note that they all do look very similar:
Perle 02 is a nautral pink with a pearly-champagne shimmer
Secret 03 is a nude beige-peach cream (without shimmer)
Cashmere 04 is similar to Secret, but a peachier version with slight shimmer
My lip swatches are all just the lipstick, but I added a few lipliner swatches of colors I thought would match well with these (see below). What I love about the Rouge Cocos is that they really are a nice “swipe & go” lipstick. The formula is sufficient to give full coverage and the color blends out so nicely, I don’t need lipliners with these.
About the arm swatches, I tried swatching these on my arm/hand but they all ended up looking exactly the same no matter what lighting I tried. But here they are anyways. Oddly enough, my Secret swatched darker on my arm than Cashmere, even though in the tube and on the lips, it’s the opposite (Secret = lighter, Cashmere = darker). I think the shimmer in the Cashmere reflected more in the flash.
These are different in the tube but the difference is very slight. Unfortunately the swatches all look very much the same. I highly recommend you check out other blogs such as Karlasugar, Temptalia, Makeup & Beauty Blog for more swatches, photos etc.
One benefit of being on a mailing list is that you get notifications of new products and sometimes cute promotions. The most recent one I received was for a sample of the Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle (good when you present the mailer at the counter). Also at the counter were cute little pink and white flowered perfume spray cards to sample their new Chance perfume. I really wanted to get it because who can resist a pretty pink bottle of perfume? But alas, the scent was just not for me. The card however was irresistibly cute and I happily smelled it all the way home trying to convince myself that I could possibly wear that scent.
Dear Chanel, If you read this, this is the cutest sample + packaging I have seen in a long time! Please do one for the new Hydramax Lip Care Treatment. I would definitely consider splurging on an expensive lip balm if I had the chance to try it beforehand. (I saw the tester at the counter, but who trusts lip testers of potted lip products where anyone can stick their finger in if not watched 24/7?)
I doubt Chanel would take the time to read this blog, but who knows. These days I find that it’s hard to come by good samples. Even store events typically have crummy samples of products I would never use. This may be rude of me to say, but getting bad samples for spending $100 is almost worse than no sample at all. For me, a mini or sample size product should be given of something a store or brand wants to sell + also be relevant to customer interests. It should let the customer try a certain color or product so they can get a feel for how it can work for him or her.
While it is hard for me to find good samples, there are a number of skincare items I’ve fallen in love with from samples. NARS, Shiseido, Clinique, Paul & Joe are a few brands that have good samples to name a few. Things like skincare require a few trial uses before I can truly make a decision on whether or not that product will work for my skintype. If it weren’t for the fabulous GWP Paul & Joe skincare samples I received from BG, I probably would have never tried their skincare line and would have totally missed out.
Also, since customers have so many options of where to buy, I think customers should be given more incentives in the form of loyalty programs as a token of appreciation for giving a certain brand or store their business.
I have been guilty of getting sucked into numerous beauty events with the gift being a cheapo tote + 6 stingy samples that I don’t know I’d ever use. Many times, I already know there is something I want to buy – my mind has already been made up that I do intend to purchase something (ie the Chanel Rouge Cocos). The decision for me is where to buy it? Stores or brands that typically have better customer service, friendly more sincere sales reps, and better incentive programs usually get my loyalty.
I’ve been trying to convert my mother to Chanel for sometime now. I already have the Mademoiselle Rouge Coco, so this will be passed along to her. Hopefully she will be as excited about the cute little bag and packaging as I am and will maybe branch out of her usual go-to’s. (She’s an loyal EL + Lancome fan, which are great each in their own way, I just want her to try new stuff!)
I’ve been testing out the new Rouge Cocos, one by one, and am pleased to report that I find them to be everything Chanel claims them to be: lightweight, hydrating, full coverage and pure luxury. For the most part, they all seem to be full-coverage, but there are a few shades that seem a bit sheerer than the other which are basically the lighter ones like Perle. Here is the line up of the other shades I have: Perle 02, Secret 03, Cashmere 04, Camelia 10, Bois Des Iles 33, Sycamore 32.
I won’t be posting a swatch line up on my arm, but will be posting a few lip swatches in the near future like I did for Gardenia, Sycamore & Mademoiselle. There are already a number of great blogs who have swatched the lipsticks including Karlasugar, Temptalia, Makeup & Beauty Blog and Cafe Makeup, I highly recommend you check them out! Or even better, run to your nearest Chanel counter to try these if you haven’t already.
Today’s lips of the day features the new Chanel Rouge Coco in Sycamore #32 and Paul & Joe’s Lip Lacquer Magnifique #10. Both colors are in the plummy-brown category.
I also used Paul & Joe’s #2 lipliner (not pictured) which is a perfect match for both colors. The lipstick has amazing pigment and those who like darker plummy-browns will really like this. It’s like a more brown version of the Crazed Rouge Allure (which is another favorite).
Swatch of all 3 lip items used:
I attempted lip swatches, but they turned out more red and a bit washed out than it looks in real life. In real life, the lipstick is a pretty plummy-brown shimmer and the gloss deepens the color and adds shine. The swatch photos really don’t do the lipstick/gloss justice.
Check out swatches on other blogs such as Karlasugar and Temptalia to try and get a better idea of the color on different skintones.
Just the lipstick (looks less reddish and more plum in real life):
Lipstick & gloss (note the sun makes it look lighter, this is actually darker in real life):
Yes – I am a die-hard Chanel fan and went nuts over the new Rouge Coco Lipsticks. Even though I love the unique smaller independent brands, if I were pressed to pick only one brand to use, it would hands-down be Chanel for the color selection and quality.
When I heard the news of the upcoming lipstick launch, I initially thought, oh great, another brand revamping something just so they can charge $30 for a lipstick. But when my friend and I checked out the new lippies, we couldn’t contain ourselves. We were like kids in a candy store and bought way too many lipsticks – but at least we can feel like we look good.
Most of the shades are available at all Chanel retailers. The U.S. Exclusives I know of include:
Chanel.com – Teheran #56
Saks Fifth Avenue – Byzantine #28 (vibrant berry wine/almost fuschia color with slight shimmer)
Neiman Marcus – Gardenia #13 (featured one post below)
While swatching the colors at Saks and Bloomies, I started at #01 and swatched consecutively so I wouldn’t miss any colors. However I lost track after I ran out of space on my hand and I didn’t see 07, 12, 30 or 35 in the line up at any of the counters. So the investigator in me wonders if they simply skipped those shades or if those are exclusives elsewhere.
So far, to our knowledge, Nordstrom and Bloomies do not have exclusive shades. We didn’t even think to go check out Macys. In 2 hours we had literally shopped until we were ready to drop.
If anyone has details about the other major department stores exclusives, please let me know!!
Some of the colors I bought: Mademoiselle, Ruban Rose, Gardenia, Muse & Rose Comete. I swatched these today but failed miserably. It’s cloudy and rainy and the swatches were just very blah. The remaining shades I purchased will be featured at a later date.
Swatch fail, please don’t let these crummy swatches deter you – this is for the commenter who wanted to see how Gardenia compared to Ruban Rose.
Pigment: The pigment is excellent. Some of the colors are a bit sheerer than others – but they those are the ones like Perle, Ruban Rose and Rose Comete. They aren’t super sheer like Aqualumieres – it’s just some of the lighter colors have a more transparent finish.
Texture/Finish: I’ll reiterate that I think these are a great swipe-and-go lipstick. I loved the Peter Phillips videos featuring his discussion of these colors. La Chanel Phile is great for info and news (thanks to Leslieal for pointing this out to me). The formula is moist and creamy and easy to apply, yet lightweight. My SA said it’s like they took the Rouge Allure + Aqualumiere and mixed them together for a rich creamy moisturizing lipstick.
Scent: No overpowering scent. There is a subtle hint of a lipstick smell, but it’s nice and soothing. I can’t put my finger on exactly what that scent is though. I have one of the pickiest noses and only tolerated the Hydrabase Lipstick Scent simply because it was Chanel.
Packaging: These come in a new metal tube rather than the plastic. It definitely has a more luxurious feel. The Chanel design team did a great job giving this lipstick a higher-end feel in the material without changing the classic packaging – one among the many thing I really appreciate with Chanel. I really like the fact that they have kept the same classic packaging over all these years keeping the product true to their brand image and feel. I love that they are classic and trend-setters both at the same time.
The lipstick caps have a more snug fit to the lipstick itself. There’s no loose feeling when you push the lid down. The tube is metal like the Rouge Allures.
One more thing I am happy to report is that they have maintained the same product weight for the Rouge Coco as with their other lipsticks. They are still 3.5 g/.12 oz. Big YAY from me – especially when it’s a trend with other lines to revamp packaging and give us consumers less product.
Here are a couple of the Hydrabase tubes compared to the Rouge Coco Tubes, left to right: Lilac Sky Hydrabase, Rose Comete Rouge Coco, Rose Baby Hydrabase (Euro)
My friend and I just checked out the new Chanel Rouge Coco Lipsticks and we hit up all four major department stores near me to investigate on any store exclusives (yes, we went to all four). We found that only Saks and Neimans had exclusives and we both were delighted with the ones at Neiman Marcus: Rose Paradise Nail Polish and Gardenia Rouge Coco.
In addition to their full Rouge Coco display, Neimans also has a mini unit featuring:
* Rose Paradise #185 Nail Polish (Retails for $23) – a warmer pink rose frost
* Gardenia #13 Rouge Coco Lipstick (Retails for $30) – a soft warm pink base with & cool pink shimmer
* Bel Air #147 Glossimer (Retails for $27) – this is the second repromote for this shade, it’s a classic creamy pink-rose (pinker than giggle)
We both had to get the newer shades and I already had Bel Air from the Les Naturels Collection from last April/May 2009. All the Chanel reps were either wearing the exclusive Gardenia #13 or Mademoiselle #05 (featured on Vanessa Paradis in the Rouge Coco ad). Both colors were stunning on all the artists regardless of skin-tone and coloring.
To clarify – the lipstick is not an exact match for the gloss. It appears they simply decided to repromote the Bel Air to compliment the new lipstick. The artists told me they were also combining Pagoda Glossimer (another favorite of mine) with Gardenia Lipstick for their makeovers.
No flash, natural light:
It looks like Rose Paradise Nail Polish is available on Chanel.com, but it’s currently Out Of Stock which makes me think they might not have got it in quite yet. So perhaps these aren’t really “exclusive” as the little display showed. I’ll do a manicure post on this later in the next week or so, but here it is compared to a few other shades, Ming, Rose Blossom, Paparazzi. The Rose Paradise is a warm shimmery rose, similar to Tarte Love Child Cheek Stain in a nail polish form.
I am sad to see the Hydrabase go away, but the new colors and formula is amazing. I swatched as many as I could fit on my hand and ended up coming home with way too much. If you had or tried any Hydrabase colors you know that there was a strong floral scent and that some of the shades felt a bit dry to apply. Once on the lip they were perfectly fine, but the texture tugged the lips a bit upon application.
The new Rouge Coco Lipsticks have a creamy moisturizing formula that just glides on the lips without feeling too shiny or glossy. I find that it really is the best of all Chanel lipsticks – like if you mixed all three formulas from Aqualumiere, Hydrabase and Rouge Allure together. There is a slight scent, but I could barely notice it. I am thrilled with the new colors and formula. You really can just apply and be done in one swipe. No liner or gloss needed in my opinion.
