Les Scintillances de Chanel Holiday 2011: Rouge Carat

Chanel Holiday with its reds and golds was my first "true" Holiday 2011 experience. Guerlain, while beautiful, didn't strike me as festive, which is what I've come to expect from holiday collections. As repetitive as it gets year after year, I say bring on the golds! (Can you tell I'm dying for Dior's gold palette to hit stores now? Because I am.) 

Following my disappointment (mostly at myself) with Chanel's Sophisticated Eye collection, I've become very picky about succumbing to Chanel. I realized that I've become far too susceptible to the interlocking Cs instead of paying attention to quality or uniqueness in terms of color and texture. When Chanel Holiday finally rolled into stores I forced myself to look at the collection with a discerning eye, and picked up only three pieces, one of which is Rouge Carat. 

This last picture captures what fascinated me about Rouge Carat. Without a doubt, one of Chanel's best products is their nail polishes, and that's because they're the master of the understated shimmer. It ever so slightly peeks out from the nail. Rouge Carat is a blue-based red with a tinge of pink to my eye. Dior Holiday also features a red polish called Merveille, which is decidedly orange-based. I chose not to purchase it because I already got uh, too many nail polishes this season, but you can see a comparison shot of it to Rouge Carat on The Beauty Look Book. 

Rouge Carat retails for $25 and is available at Chanel counters nationwide. I purchased mine from Neiman Marcus. The full Chanel Holiday 2011 Collection is also available on chanel.com.