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9 Oct 2012

Vamp It! Chanel Rouge Noir (Hydrabase v Allure)

Out with the old and in with the new...

(another Chanel post - I'm not obsessed, I'm not, I'm not)

L -> R: Old / #18 Rouge Noir (Rouge Hydrabase), New / #109 Rouge Noir (Rouge Allure)

Chanel Rouge Noir is one of those cult lippies.  This is such a 90's colour.  Quite dramatic, with darkened plum, blackened cherry, old-blood red shades, this is an absolute vampy femme fatale shade with dark chocolate brown and plum undertones underneath the burgundy red shade.

So why the comparison?  This was my mother's favourite lip colour of all time, and I've been trying to replace it for her for maybe over a year now, to no avail (while the shade was available in Rouge Coco* since around 2010, this was just not the same formula and of little interest, apparently).

(Reference the excellent Café Makeup's comparison post on the Rouge Hydrabase v Rouge Coco formulas of Rouge Noir here).

The (now discontinued) Rouge Hydrabase formula was all about "[bringing] comfort and hydration to your lips [with a] soft, creamy texture [and a] silky satin finish".

The (recently re-formulated) Rouge Allure formula is "a new formula with concentrated, ultra-thin pigments, [offering...] intense colour with full coverage and a satin finish".

More or less the same, it would seem, from the description anyhow.

Both are satin finish, both are full-coverage, although can be worn sheared-out (à la my mother)) if that's what you fancy) or vamped-up to the max if you prefer a more full-on look.

What about the colour?

L -> R: as before...
Old / #18 Rouge Noir (Rouge Hydrabase), New / #109 Rouge Noir (Rouge Allure)

The older formula (Hydrabase) Rouge Noir is ever so slightly, if you squint a bit and turn your head to the side**, more brown.

(**the left side, of course)

Its also ever so slightly more pigmented (this is more obvious when worn on lips as opposed to backs of hands ;-).  And slightly patchier (but this might be down to the fact that it's old).

What about the wear?  Both of these last about four-to-five hours.  So, long wearing and highly pigmented so.  They feel comfortable and don't dry out the lips.

There's a serious return to all things matchy-matchy at the moment, and if you want, you can get hold of matching nailpolish (#18 Vamp) and a matching Le Crayon Lèvres lip liner (#09 Rouge Noir) (or even the recently released #54 (Amarante) would work), that said you don't actually need a liner with this, as it's quite pigmented all on its own.

There's not a huge amount more to say about this, except that the new Rouge Allure in Rouge Noir seems to be the same thing as the old Rouge Hydrabase Rouge Noir lipstick.  Suffice it to say, I bought two copies;  one for myself and one for my mother.  She had better like it :-)