Painted Lady

Review By Melanie Parker

Chanel has been vamping around for awhile now. The dark red crème
polish first made a swatch on nail polish history circa 1994 and catapulted
itself to one of the longest waitlists that Chanel counters have ever seen is
back in the US market…with a twist.

Originally known as a blackened red crème, Vamp was discontinued some time ago. It slowly made its way back by popular demand. It’s current incarnation in the US has a slight shimmer to it that dries almost like a crème, while the European version, still #18 but called Rouge Noir, is the more familiar crème formula. I was a little surprised when I saw it in stock on Nordstrom.com last month and got a shimmery bottle in the mail. This photo shows the difference in finishes in direct sunlight.

Chanel capitalized on the popularity of Vamp when it first hit the runways and then again after Uma Thurman wore it in Pulp Fiction by releasing two other formulas. Very Very Vamp is a deeper brown, and Metallic Vamp is a deep plum with silver shimmer. In Fall of 2006, Black Satin and its European counterpart (again the USA version having a slight shimmer and the Euro version being a crème) were black beauties that had the waitlists of the original Vamp back in the day. For a gunmetal shimmer, the European Noir Ceramic is still quite in demand. Readily available, Chanel Madness is a rich brick reddish brown crème. And on the runway for Spring 2007, Chanel made a statement that silver was the new black with a limited edition Duo
Platinum Holographic Nail Colour, which consist of a Base Fixante and Holographic nail color. This has not been released in the US.

If you live in the United States and miss the original crème formula, Revlon’s Vixen is a very good match. Actually, almost all salon nail polish brands have a blackened red crème polish now, but only Chanel can claim they coined the “vamp” nail trend.

Photo courtesy of Tobywoo.