Whenever we need a new product, we're faced with the inevitable question - do you have to spend more for a good product? Can 'budget buys' ever really compete with an upmarket brand? Our popular feature Save or Splurge is all about finding out the answer to this question.
For this special SOS we decided to find out if a dupe can ever really rival an iconic product and shade.
In 1994 an icon was launched. And no, we don't mean Uma Thurman's Pulp Fiction character Mia. We're talking about that vampy red shade of polish her nails are sporting. Chanel Rouge Noir.
Rouge Noir is now known as Vamp. Dominique Moncourtois, Chanel's director of makeup creation was inspired by the shade when Karl Lagerfeld asked him for a dark polish that would show up in black and white photos. For the photoshoot Moncourtois didn't have such a shade so he improvised with ordinary red polish covered with black marker ink and a clear top-coat.
Now we love Chanel here at BR. Who doesn't. But how does the legend compete in the real world? We asked three members to put Chanel Rouge Noir to the test against a slightly more budget friendly Essie dupe Wicked.
In the case of Beauty Review vs Rouge Noir will the verdict be Save? Or Splurge?
I'd never dabbled in dark nail polishes before so it was definitely an adventure.
I tried the Essie polish first on my fingers and toes. I was immediately terrified when I put it on my fingers! It started off looking black and I was worried that it would be too much for work. Fear not! Once the colour "sets" on your nails it definitely becomes more red - still dark but definitely red.
The Essie polish lasted 4 days on my nails. For me that's pretty good. I didn't have any base or top coat on so I'm sure it would have lasted a lot longer with that. But I'm happy with 4 days before any chipping!
I tried the Chanel polish after that. The packaging truly is gorgeous. I felt very pampered as the formula was great and the applicator really smooth. I didn't have the fear with this one about the colour because it instantly went on the gorgeous dark red that I was looking for.
The Chanel polish only lasted a couple of days before chipping but I guess as I didn't have a base or top coat for either polishes (and I would've been doing different things when wearing them both) it's quite hard to say which is better in that regard.
It's hard to say which polish is better actually! I think it I had to summarise I would say that I preferred the colour of the Chanel polish because you could really see the "Rouge Noir" that they were talking about. It looks more sophisticated on the nails. Other than that I think the Essie polish almost took it out! I preferred the applicator and formula of the Essie polish.
If you're looking at these two colours specifically then I'd say SPLURGE but if it's a comparison between these brands then SAVE! You'll still get a gorgeous application in a gorgeous colour!
Verdict: Splurge. (Sort of?!)
BR member: Hyacinthgirlbeauty
It’s no secret that Essie is my favourite nail polish brand, so I was particularly interested to see how it would hold up against a luxury brand like Chanel. I’ve never used a Chanel polish before this, but I had high hopes. I mean, it retails for $58 NZD for a single bottle, so it better be incredible!
Essie’s Wicked is billed as a dupe for Chanel’s Rouge Noir, but Wicked leans slightly more brown when it’s on the nail, whereas Rouge Noir has a wine red undertone. The difference is minimal, though—if I asked an average person, they wouldn’t see a difference, but if you’re used to justifying buying new nail polishes (because they’re not exactly the same colour!) then you’ll see it.
For scientific purposes, I applied Wicked on my left hand and Rouge Noir on my right, both in two coats over the Essie Millionails base coat, with no top coat. The Essie formula is thicker, but they both needed two coats for an opaque even finish. I put them on on Saturday, and by Friday they’re both showing wear, but the Chanel polish has chipped more at the tips.
The biggest difference between these polishes is in the application. One of the reasons Essie is my favourite brand is because they have great brushes: wide, with a gently curved end and smooth bristles. This makes it fast and easy to paint your nails, even when you’re using your wrong hand to apply. Which is a good thing. Obviously.
On the other hand, the Chanel brush is something you’d see on a nail polish from 30 years ago: narrow and square-tipped, with thick nylon bristles. This makes it hard as hell to get a tidy application close to the cuticles, and leaves streaks on the nail. Painting my nails with this brush was not fun, and I even tried to give Chanel a break by using my dominant hand to apply it.
On the nails there’s nothing to suggest that one of these polishes costs more than twice as much than the other. Several bottles of wine deep with two friends (shh) I demanded they guess which hand’s polish was Essie and which was Chanel. They each picked a different hand, which kind of confirms that there’s not an obvious visible reason why one polish should cost more than twice as much as the other.
If it’s not clear, my preference here is for Essie’s Wicked. This is definitely a case where you should save, not splurge!
Verdict: Save
BR member Trudi
To be honest I was equally excited and a bit doubtful that Essie would be any different from any other polish I've used over the years. Nail Polish lasts, quite honestly, a matter of hours, not days, on my very bendy nails. Surely, wouldnt Chanel Rouge Noir blow Essie Wicked out of the water, so to speak, because of the price difference?
My thoughts were that Chanel at around $60 a bottle would be superior to Essie at $17.99...not so...
Right from the very start, I loved the deep Red/Burgundy, almost brown colour of Essie Wicked. It felt rich and very classy but a little naughty as well. The first coat had good coverage, the second almost perfect...I think if I had used a Base Coat it would have been perfect. I loved the thick brush. It was flat, wide and soft, with a curved end so made application smooth and even. In contrast the Chanel brush was thin, hard and spindly, with sticking out bristles making my fingers as covered in it as my nails. I also loved the consistency of the actual Essie polish, it was rich and thick not at all watery or runny, which is how I found the Chanel polish to be.
Chanel Rouge Noir lasted all of 36 hours on my nails, 20 of these hours were spent sleeping - which for me is pretty normal nail polish wear time. Essie Wicked has lasted 4 full days!! I am now on my 5th day and, only just, is it now starting to wear at my nail tips..BUT..still no chipping, splitting or cracking! Just Wearing! That is totally unheard of for me!! I am blown away!
So my verdict is that I will definitely be using Essie Nail Polish Wicked again but I will also be purchasing Essie Nail Polish in as many colours as I can. I love it!
Moral of the story, don't judge a book by its cover OR don't think that just because it's cheap, it's nasty.
Verdict: Save.
So there we have it - in the case of BR vs Rouge Noir the jury finds in favour of the dupe. Go Essie!
Have you used these brands or shades? Do you agree with the SOS team on their findings?!
This is such a beautiful shade and yay for the save winning!! I haven't yet tried Essie nail polish because I find the shade range so overwhelming, but this one is on my list now :)