40 Days and 40 Nights Of Beauty Cult Classics
Day 35, Chanel Vamp Nail Polish

The whole dark nail trend can trace it's beginnings backstage at a Chanel show. The makeup artist had previously done a pre-show shoot with models sporting black nails created by a magic marker. The shade created a buzz. For the runway show, the makeup artist mixed a batch of almost black nail polish for 45 models.
Vamp and the waiting list was born.
Finding a bottle in the USA was an impossible task back in 1994.
The polish was a huge financial success for Chanel with sales rumored to exceed one million.
The shade spawned countless dupes and ushered in the era of fashion nail polish.

Vamp was my college nail shade.
I would wear 3 to 4 coats to achieve the rich black glossy shade. It would look like black cherry in the sun.

Tell me your thoughts on Chanel Vamp nail polish in the comments.

Credits: Melanie Parker,yahoo, youtube, and information from Color Stories by Mary Lisa Gavenas.

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.