Dupe Alert! Chanel Rouge Coco Shine vs L'Oreal Color Riche Balm

I had a funny feeling the other day while I was sharing my love for the L'Oreal Color Riche Balms to the the world aka via Twitter. I have been meaning to do a post on the L'Oreal Rose Elixir shade but haven't managed to take photos of the swatches yet- bad beauty blogger!. I have, however, recommended it to friends. Everyone who tries it loves it and is obviously thrilled with a gorgeous conditioning lip balm with a touch of colour for under $10. The Color Riche Balms smooth and moisturize the lips, have SPF15, and really add a subtle yet brightening pop of colour. Rose Elixir really adds a just bitten glow to the lips. I also love Pink Satin for more of a baby pink lip.

vs

However. I had a creeping suspicion the other day as I was playing around with the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines at the Chanel counter that they reminded me of something. Yep - you got it. The L'Oreal Color Riche Balm. They have an almost identical luxe balm feel, impart a  Your Lips But Better tint that sticks around for a little while, and leave a wee stain effect behind. Seriously? A drugstore cheapie vs a $38 department store luxe product. I actually did a little running between the pharmacy and the Chanel counter to be sure I wasn't cray. Ok well, that I wasn't "completely" cray. I wish I had been able to photograph swatches but the comparisons were on the fly with only my iPhone and crappy mall lighting. Plus as usual I was running late. For something. Even thought this was a lippy emergency.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Boy = A cross between L'Oreal Color Riche Balm in Heavenly Berry and Rose Elixir. Depending on your natural lip tone, one reads a little bluer than the other so play with the testers to see which is best. Or, buy both. And a treat from Starbucks, you will still have money left over with what you would have paid for the Chanel.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Bel Ami = this lovely grape tone which is So Perfect for fall is basically the same L'Oreal Color Riche Balm in Plush Plum on me. Swatched on my arm, Bel Ami is a teensy touch redder, with Plush Plum being slightly more on the, well, plum end of the spectrum. But on my lips (fairly pigmented) it is hardly noticeable.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Chance = this pale and sheer baby pink that I have been tempted to buy is so close to L'Oreal Color Riche Balm in Pink Satin that I won't bother now may buy it later when I've forgotten and get all impulse-y at the Chanel counter. Pink Satin has been a summer go-to staple for me this year. So beachy and casual. It's a pale pink with a blue tone that is sheer enough that I don't look washed out, and it goes beautifully to night with a smoky eye. I'd even say that Pink Satin is close to Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Royallieu, just slightly pinker vs nude.

Now, one would think that with such glaring similarities that I would be discouraged from buying any more high end lippies. But one would be wrong, because I LOVE THEM ALL!

Do you have any high-low dupes to share? I'd love the scoop!

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Royallieu For Pale Rose Lips

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Royallieu

The best part of Chanel Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks is the balm aspect. No other lipstick feels as soft, silky and conditioning as the Rouge Coco Shine line thanks to the built in balm. I adore them, and am grateful for an elegant and sheer lipstick that has a case as beautiful as what is inside. I'm a sucker for that Chanel packaging, I admit it.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Royallieu - daylight

My last trip to the Chanel counter had me trying Royallieu. I really need to replace the Boy that my youngest daughter swiped but I always end up getting distracted....Chanel Royallieu is a dusty taupe pink, and a perfect your lips but better shade, with some added shine. It has some wee tiny micro shimmer, but like the magic shimmer in Chanel Le Vernis nail polishes, it doesn't show on the lip as shimmer. If you click on the photo of the tube of lipstick at the top of the post, you can see the shimmery bits on the lipstick. But, not on my lips. Like most Rouge Coco Shines, it can be applied without a mirror, which I love. It feels like a balm, and smooths on like buttah. 

Right - Chanel Glossimer Amour 166 Left - Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Royallieu

I read a review of Chanel Glossimer in Amour 166, and decided I Had To Have It. Turns out the two go perfectly together! The Glossimers are lovely glosses, not too sticky and not overly pigmented, with better than average lasting power. Pretty pink lips are just that easy. 1-2 and go! 

Chanel Royallieu with Glossimer in Amour on top

Next Chanel review coming is the new Le Vernis for Fall 2012, Frenzy, which is the Most Beautiful Nude I have evah seen....

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine and Glossimers are available on their website and at Chanel cosmetic counters.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Bel Ami - Perfect For The Lipstick Challenged (like me!)

I was in a beauty conundrum. I wanted a lip colour that looked like, well, a colour. I am a YLBB (Your Lips But Better) woman at the best of times so this was indeed a challenge. My daughters are so brave and always sporting bright fun lippies and while I love colour, I just felt like they made me look old, weird and clownish. Not for moi. Chanel came to the rescue awhile back with their Rouge Coco Shine line, which is balm-like and basically gorgeous. All colours can be applied without a mirror (check), don't settle into lines or bleed (check) and condition your lips (check). So I wandered up to the Chanel counter with high hopes and was not disappointed. 

I had seen the pic above from Carolina Herrera on Beauty Editor  and had become obsessed with a slightly grape-y lip. Clinique Black Honey, you're thinking! For some reason, that shade just doesn't work on me. A tad too dark? I dunno, but it's not me. As soon as I said SLIGHTLY grape-y, the Chanel SA grabbed Bel Ami. I recoiled as it looks so dark and suspiciously like ACTUAL LIPSTICK in the tube but, lo and behold, I loved it. It is perfect. I feel like a real laydee now, with a (sort of) lipstick to call my very own. 

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Bel Ami

Bel Ami swatched lightly on lower left, more heavily on upper right

I love the lipstick and Chanel trivia behind the name Bel Ami. Coco Chanel's modiste career started with her hat-making and really bloomed when theatre actress Gabrielle Dorziat wore her designs in the Noziere play "Bel Ami" in 1912. If you haven't seen the movie "Coco Avant Chanel" with the divine Audrey Tatou, you simply must. 

Gabrielle Dorziat in "Bel Ami" and her Chanel chapeau...