As a red lipstick lover, I’ve regretted not buying Chanel Dragon Rouge Allure Laque liquid lipstick many times. It’s a classic shade and a popular favorite, but was discontinued about a year ago. At the moment, it’s going for about $100 on ebay – way too much for me to consider. But, a few weeks ago I got lucky and found it on a blogsale for only $25 (and almost unused, too – only swatched with a separate applicator). So – is it worth the hype?
Chanel Rouge Allure Laque applicator
The packaging is really lovely – a substantial feeling, black square tube. It’s functional and elegant. I also love the applicator – it’s a variation on a doe-foot applicator, but with a slanted tip that makes the product easy to apply precisely.
The formula is as good as I expected – smooth, creamy, and pigmented. It’s comfortable to wear, and very long lasting. It does transfer more than I prefer, but that’s to be expected since it has a slightly glossy finish.
The color is beautiful as well – somehow it manages to be both bright and dark red. It’s a very balanced, true red – to my eye, it doesn’t lean warm or cool, and I can imagine it looking great on anyone. Many red lipsticks turn pink on me, but this one stays very true to the swatched color.
I’ve heard that Shiseido RD607 Nocturne (reviewed here) is similar to Chanel Dragon, and I also wanted to see how Rouge d’Armani 400 (reviewed here) compared, so below I have swatches of all three together. As you can see, both are fairly close, but neither are dupes – Nocturne is slightly darker than Dragon, and RdA 400 is brighter. Nocturne is closer in texture, but also has microglitter (not very visible when first applied, but quite visible when blotted).
Armani Rd’A 400; Chanel Dragon; Shiseido Nocturne
Overall – love! This is just as fantastic as I hoped it would be, and I am thrilled to have it in my collection. It’s really a pity that Chanel discontinued something this beautiful. If you have the opportunity to buy Dragon, I would absolutely snap it up – it’s a classic for a reason.
