Everything Chanel makes is a cult favorite, but can this lipstick really be worth so much more than a drugstore brand?
So when I got the chance to try a Controversial Cult Fave, I headed over to the Chanel counter to get myself some new lipstick.
(Related: Controversial Cult Fave: Do Maybelline’s SuperStay 24 Color Lipsticks Really Last All Day?)
The Claim
According to the Chanel website:
The next generation of ROUGE ALLURE dresses lips with unmistakable attitude. A new formula with concentrated, ultra-thin pigments offers radically intense, long-wearing color with full coverage and a satin finish. Leaves lips supple and protected with lasting comfort.
Before dropping $35 on a tube of lipstick, I did some research. Chanel’s Rouge Allure comes in a variety of satin and matte colors. I wanted to try #93, Rose Exaltée, a bright fuchsia that Emma Stone has been rumored to enjoy because I really just want to be Emma Stone all the time.
Unfortunately, none of the shops within walking distance of my apartment had that color in stock. (I do not live in a fuchsia lipstick kind of town.)
So I had to pick a second choice. Here is what happens when I am stuck at the makeup counter with no idea what color to buy:
Chanel also has a cult favorite “Rouge Noir” lipstick that’s a dark burgundy that matches its “Rouge Noir” or “Vamp” nail polish. That’s the darkest color on my hand. In the end, I decided that if I was going to spend $35 on a lipstick to review, I should pick a color that is safe and wearable, so I did not wind up writing a review that just says, “Turns out Lorde’s style of dark lipstick makes me look old, and I hate it.”
So I went with the safe bet and got Rogue Allure #91, Seduisante. It’s a neutral, classy pink that looks like something Kate Middleton would wear.
What It Looks Like
It’s gorgeous, of course. The black and gold plastic tube feels heavy in my hand, and it’s smooth like the obelisk in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I spent a few moments trying to figure out how to get the lipstick out; then, I realized there’s a little spring, and you have to push in on the bottom to release it. As someone who has often had lipsticks come uncapped in her purse, I appreciate that.
Verdict
This is what it looks like on my face. Somewhere out there, my mother is tearing her hair out because I just posted my face to the Internet without makeup, but whatever, that’s how I roll.
It’s a pretty color but not earth-shattering. I don’t feel like emailing everyone I know to say, “OMG, I just found the perfect pink lipstick!”
Chanel’s Rouge Allure claims to be long-lasting, but it does not feel any more long-lasting than any other regular old lipstick. I wanted to test this through a meal to see if it would last, but it does not. It didn’t even last until a meal. It looked gone by lunch, and lunch was just an hour or two after I put it on.
Here it is after just two hours of wear.
It feels good, though. It did not go particularly flaky, and lipsticks have a tendency to do that on me. It is a good lipstick but not noticeably better than drugstore brands.
Really though, I regret the color. Seduisante is a lovely, neutral pink, but it does not seem anymore special than the hundreds of lovely, neutral pinks that are already out there on the market. For $35, I wish I had gone with something I could only get from Chanel.
If you fall deeply in love with a Chanel lipstick color, by all means, go ahead and spend the $35 for it. (I may well go back for that Rouge Noir after all.) But the lipstick itself does not justify the high-end price for a color you could get anywhere.