CHANEL Vernis in Rouge Noir review + swatches

         This past week, I attended a screening of Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard at work. This classic standard of American film noir paints a bizarre picture of the fantasy world of faded silent film star Norma Desmond, through the eyes of out-of-work screenwriter Joe Gillis. Though our purpose for watching was an exercise in formal psychoanalysis, I was reminded of how much I enjoy the genre-defining cinematographic interplay between light and shadow of 1950's film noir!

          When it comes to nails, I've always had a penchant for the dramatic. Building on the spirit of noir drama, there's nothing that says femme fatale quite like a dark rouge lacquer! Today I'm sharing my most recent acquisition in the genre : CHANEL Vernis in Rouge Noir, a shade I'd been eyeing for quite some time. When I saw that Rouge Noir was available as a limited edition release in Les Coleurs Culte de Chanel, I had to pounce!

         By now you know I'm very particular about my colors, especially dark reds. My preference leans heavily toward true blackened crimsons, as opposed to reds with burgundy, purple, orange, or cherry tones. (I suppose it's due to my perfectionist tendencies!) As you can imagine, I get pretty excited when I come across the 'right' red!

        CHANEL Vernis in Rouge Noir is a dark, dark red. I find that it takes three coats to reach full opacity, as shown below. Two coats can be sufficient, though you may notice an occasional streak; the red can come across a bit lighter and brighter from the barely perceptible show-through. (This might account for some of the variability in web swatches).

       

Three layers of CHANEL Vernis Rouge Noir are required for full intensity!

           I've swatched CHANEL Vernis in Rouge Noir next to an assortment of colors in my dark red polish collection. At a glance, you can see it's one of the darkest in my collection. It's significantly darker than NARS Jungle Red and Essie Bordeaux, both of which look a bit lighter below than they do in person. Initially, I was concerned that CHANEL Rouge Noir might be too similar to my favorite shades, NARS Chinatown, and Revlon Vixen, however you can see it's still quite a bit darker than both. China Glaze Prey Tell is the closest in intensity, but leans slightly more purple than red.

         CHANEL Vernis in Rouge Noir is the perfect blackened red for channeling femme fatale at my fingertips. Though, unlike Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, I'll be avoiding the postured talon look; I prefer to keep my dark nails short and chic!

         Thanks for reading! Do you have a bottle of CHANEL Vernis in Rouge Noir in your polish collection? What are some of your favorite dark red lacquers? What are your must have CHANEL shades?

Love, Dovey.