Celebrating the season with appropriately festive shades, CHANEL brings us their ‘Les Scintillances Collection’ for Holiday 2011, redolent with gleaming golds and sultry reds. One of the four pieces that I picked up was this absolutely gorgeous, intensely simmering red lacquer, ‘Rouge Carat’, basically the nail polish version of CHANEL’s Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in ‘Triomphal’ (review forthcoming) – a deep true red hue, made all the more unique by the addition of delicate blue shimmer in its depths. All swatches are with Deborah Lippmann’s 2-Second Nail Primer and a-england ‘The Knight’ Base Coat.
‘Rouge Carat’ is a deeply luxurious red hue, with both orange and blue undertones, making it equally wearable by both cooler and warmer skin tones. The formula was sublime; highly saturated in pigment, it can almost be a one-coater if applied thickly enough, although I opted for two thinner coats here. Perfectly self-levelling and with a magenta/blueish “secret shimmer” that CHANEL has become known for, the finish resulted in a beautiful high gloss shine. Bonus: absolutely no staining left behind upon removal — a definite plus when dealing with a (potentially) messy shade such as red.
In full sunlight, a more orange-y tint seems to emerge, while the shimmer dances coyly upon the nails’ surface.
Indirect light appears to draw forth that “lit-from-within” glow which I love, and deepens the true red pigment in a sophisticated way.
Shaded light pulls a more blueish tinge from ‘Rouge Carat’s’ base and gives subtle glimpses of the secretive shimmer within.
A final view taken with flash emphasizes the intense richness of the base colour, while casting the spotlight on the scintillating glimmer.
I was convinced that I had seen ‘Rouge Carat’ before, and in a CHANEL format no less, so when I pulled ‘Dragon’ (previously reviewed here) from my collection, I was at first rather crestfallen. Upon closer inspection, I realized that there were indeed some differences; the formula on each was exceptionally similar, with perhaps ‘Dragon’ being a hair thinner in viscosity, and while one coat would have more than sufficed once more, I opted for two to keep things equal. ‘Dragon’ holds no shimmer whatsoever and is a rich, pure crème hue, bearing an über-glossy shine, much like an amplified version of ‘Rouge Carat’. The following swatches are all index and ring fingers – ‘Rouge Carat’, middle and pinkie fingers – ‘Dragon’. Note that no top coat has been added.
When viewed in sunlight, you immediately notice how the base shade of each lacquer is basically identical, with only ‘Rouge Carat’s’ shimmer setting them apart.
Once more, indirect light deepens these two varnishes to a more blood-red hue, yet the sheen of ‘Rouge Carat’ gives the impression of a slightly lighter shade.
Shaded light brings the two lacquers incredibly close together, but you can clearly see the shimmer lending a blueish tinge to ‘Rouge Carat’.
A final view taken with flash gives the impression that ‘Dragon’ bears more of an orange undertone than ‘Rouge Carat’, who’s shimmer adds a unique new depth.
Taking the comparison one step further, I wanted to see how they compared to each other once mattified, and so they both received one coat of CHANEL’s Limited Edition ‘Velvet Mat Top Coat’ (previously reviewed here). One thing to note, is that it took approximately three full minutes for this top coat to take effect, and it really does leave behind a ‘subdued, satiny’ finish, much like the nap of brushed velvet.
In sunlight, only the barest hint of something more going on in the heart of ‘Rouge Carat’ betrays any difference between the two.
Indirect light appears to tone down their obvious sultry hues, but still the tiniest vestiges of shimmer make themselves known on the ‘Rouge Carat’ nails.
Shaded light twins the two lacquers and brings them exceptionally close, but I sense that ‘Rouge Carat’s’ glimmer adds slightly more depth.
A final view taken with flash clearly separates the two varnishes and highlights the small distinctions between them.
Final thoughts: As I personally have not met a CHANEL polish I didn’t love (and believe me when I say this, having indulged and collected them for over 2o years now), I was still blown away by the formula and final finish of ‘Rouge Carat’. Red hues can be notoriously finicky, both in application and in how well they match your skin tone, but somehow this shade has managed to transcend all these obstacles. Holiday ready but well able to move on beyond this season, this is a fun yet urban take on a traditional colour…don’t miss out on this limited edition beauty!
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