As promised: the feature of my Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat manicure. Two coats.
Where has the time gone? In August, I featured a Chanel Rouge Noir 18 manicure with the intention of writing a dupe post shortly after. It seems I have lost track of time. Chanel Rouge Noir is one of those shades that has reached cult status as one of the most highly sought after shades. Is it simply because it’s hard to find? I’m not entirely sure. It is indeed a gorgeous dark chocolate cherry vampy kind of shade. I love how it will look reddish with one coat and get darker and more vampy with each progressive coat.
What makes Chanel Rouge Noir unique is the reddish base which prevents it from appearing like a straight black. It has a flawless glossy finish with 2 coats. It’s pure love. It’s currently available in the US in one of the Holiday Trio Nail Sets (with Rouge Noir, Gold Lamé reviewed here and Coromandel reviewed here). For those who don’t like Chanel, can’t find this shade or don’t want to splurge on a trio for 1 color . . .
The question is: Can you dupe it?
I pulled shades I thought would be similar. Some turned out to be very close, others not so much so. Here is Rouge Noir compared to colors from OPI, NARS, Rescue Beauty Lounge, Rococo Nail Apparel and Dolce & Gabbana.
I’ve swatched these with 1 coat and then 2 coats so you can see the reddish base in virtually all of these. What I find intriguing is Chanel Rouge Noir vs. Chanel Forbidden. In the bottles above, Rouge Noir looks darker. However when swatched the results are different. (See more vampy swatches here in different lighting.)
With a high flash you can see the reddish base colors come out:
One Coat Swatched:
Two Coats Swatched (Thick):
The verdict: Yes, it can be duped! My take: the closest colors I found are Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat and Dolce & Gabbana Dahlia (with 2-3 coats applied).
If you cannot find Chanel Rouge Noir #18 individually, no need to fret. There are quite a few colors that are similar. Even if the colors aren’t an exact dupe, the effect of each are similar enough that you can barely tell the difference from arm’s length. Hope this helps many of you!
A Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat manicure will be featured shortly. Enjoy the last bits of your weekend 🙂
I know vampy is not quite in season yet, but after having to be neutral (for fingers) for the past ten days or so with non-stop interviews, I was starting to crave something dramatic. Research, preparation, anticipation, having to think quickly on my feet and respond to endless situational, behavioral and technical questions have all left me exhausted. I feel lucky to even get interviews in this economy, even luckier to make it past the first few rounds at more than one company, however a mani/pedi was just what I needed to wash away my anxiety from the past few weeks.
Today I chose Chanel’s Rouge Noir 18 for my manicure, a deep dark chocolate cherry kind of shade. If you apply coat, you can definitely see the burgundy/cherry red. If you add more coats, you get a darker finish that gets closer to dark black-red-brown. Here it is with 2 coats.
The bad news with Rouge Noir 18 is that it is no longer available in the US. The good news is that Rouge Noir is coming back this holiday in one of the Chanel Holiday sets (see KarlaSugar for details on the set). I’m not entirely sure about the history and background of Rouge Noir 18. The famous Vamp Le Vernis also has the number 18 on it (see my vampy shades compared here). They are definitely different even though they share the same number. I have a couple variations of Vamp as well.
I don’t know if there is a dupe for this shade. If you click on the link above to my vampy nail polish post, you will see that Diabolic and Forbidden from Chanel are different from Rouge Noir. As this manicure wears off, I will do a little experimentation with some other RBL, OPI and Rococo shades I have to see if I can find a dupe. At this time I cannot do an extensive search for a dupe outside of what I already own – things are bit hectic with my schedule.
I’m pleased with the results of my manicure, however, in hindsight, I think this was better in theory. It’s definitely still too early in the year for this kind of color on the nails. Toes are ok, but fingers just stand out too much.
Purple seems to be popular this fall and there are quite a few vampy purples that have been released (or repromoted) this season. I did a feature back in July, Color Focus: Dark Vampy Polish with some of the vampy shades I have and a swatch/review on Nars Tokaido Express as well.
I just added MAC’s Baby Goth Girl from the Style Black release to my own personal collection and love it! Although it looks similar to my other vampy shades in natural light, I found it different enough in the undertone and sparkle to make my heart skip a beat when I put it on. Here are some comparisons to other purple shades.
Left to right: Nars Tokaido Express, Chanel Vendetta, Chanel Feu de Russie, MAC Baby Goth Girl, OPI Black Cherry Chutney
Three coats each shade:
Thumb = OPI Black Cherry Chutney
Index Finger = MAC Baby Goth Girl
Middle Finger = Chanel Feu de Russie
Ring Finger = Chanel Vendetta
Pinkie = Nars Tokaido Express
Same order as above, different view:
Close up swatches of Chanel Vendetta, Chanel Feu de Russie, MAC Baby Goth Girl
Swatches in natural light, same order as above:
Thumb = OPI Black Cherry Chutney
Index Finger = MAC Baby Goth Girl
Middle Finger = Chanel Feu de Russie
Ring Finger = Chanel Vendetta
Pinkie = Nars Tokaido Express
For makeup I’m obsessed with neutrals, but for nails, I’m obsessed with dark vampy colors and reds. Even though it’s mid-summer, I thought I’d share my favorite vampy colors to go along with the recent fall release themes like Dior Black Plum & Nars Tokaido Express. (Please excuse the messy manicures.)
***Note all pictures taken in direct natural sunlight. Also note the bottles shown don’t necessarily coincide with the shade on the finger directly above it. Bottles shown are notated in each category.***
Vampy Burgandy Shades (Sephora for OPI I’m With Brad & Chanel Vamp bottles shown):
1. Sephora for OPI I’m With Brad
2. Chanel Vamp
3. Chanel Rouge Noir
4. Chanel Cosmic Violine
5. Chanel Tulip Noir
Vampy Wine Shades (Dior Black Plum & Nars Gimme Shelter bottles pictured):
1. Nars Gimme Shelter
2. OPI NYPD Beet
3. Sephora by OPI Meet for Drinks
4. Dior Black Plum
5. MAC Boom!
Vampy Plums & Purples (Dior Licorice & Chanel Feu de Russie bottles pictured):
1. OPI Black Cherry Chutney
2. Nars Tokaido Express
3. Le Metier de Beaute Black Orchid
4. Dior Licorice
5. Chanel Feu de Russie
Miscellaneous Dark Shades (Chanel Nuit de Russie & Blue Satin bottles pictured):
1. OPI My Private Jet
2. Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams
3. Chanel Nuit de Russie
4. Chanel Blue Satin
5. Chanel Vendetta
Unfortunately for me this is how these blues/purples look on me without the sunlight:
I’m new to photographing nail polishes – so for more views or to check out these colors, I’d highly recommend checking out other various nail polish blogs for more swatches in case any of these look off on your screen! Or if some of the shades look identical, these blogs and galleries might help!
Some of my favorites:
* Community Nail Polish Gallery
* Scrangie
* All Lacquered Up
* Steph’s Closet Blog
