There are eight colors in the new Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo range of lipsticks. I could have easily gone for six of them, but I was good (The Husband begs to differ) and only picked four: 206 Histoire, 208 Roman, 214 Message, and 216 Lettre. Lipsticks are often packaged in a stylo format when they're too soft and creamy to stand on their one in firm a bullet shape. Prime examples are the sadly discontinued Dior Sérum De Rouge (I loved it so much!) and Cle de Peau Extra Silky Lipstick (ditto).
If you love this style of lipstick that are a balmy treatment as well a premium makeup product, Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo Complete Care Lip Shine is among the better one you will find. These are rich and nourishing lip balms with a sexy lacquered finish and an intense pigmentation and an opaque coverage. It's kind of dreamy, really. That said, remember my observation about softness: the actual product inside the Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo could have easily been poured into jars or a flat lip palette and applied with a brush. The lipsticks are on the extreme side of creamy and you need to be careful not to smear them all over, and never ever twist the pen more than 1/4 of a turn out. You can actually see in my photos how easily they get squashed and squished.
Another word of warning: I didn't notice before buying these Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo Complete Care Lip Shine, but the third ingredient listed is a hydrogenized coconut oil. Long-time readers may remember that I'm allergic to almost everything coconut-related. The swatches had left me with an angry itchy red welt on my arm (Benadryl gel helped, as did pure aloe gel), which was when I finally looked up the ingredients. It didn't stop me from testing the lipstick on my lips, which might have made me eligible for the Darwin Awards. By some miracle, my lips remained intact and I could enjoy these Chanel lipsticks, but I'm aware that an allergic reaction can come at any time as a result of prolonged exposure, so I'm being careful and using a liner to make sure the Chanel concoction doesn't touch the skin around the lips, just in case.
As far as application goes, you can apply directly from the pen and then try to smooth it, but I get a more precise result from working with a lip brush. This way the product doesn't collect at the corner or inside lines and grooves. The opacity and shine are beautiful, the red colors leave a nice stain, and longevity is enhanced by applying with a brush, but there will still be transference and most of the color is gone by the first course. It is a rich balm, after all.
Now to the colors I have:
206 Histoire is a warm tomato red, 208 Roman is a sexy berry red, 214 Message is a deep rose, and 216 Lettre is a neutral/natural mauve. All of them are lip wardrobe staples for me, and if I weren't worried about the coconut oil becoming a problem I'd also add 212 and 218 to my collection. As things stand, I'll be wearing these Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo lipstick for as long as I can, and when my coconut allergy catches up with me I'll cry.
Bottom Line: I probably spent $148 before tax on getting myself red and itchy.
Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo Complete Care Lip Shine ($37 each) can be found at the counters and on chanel.com.
It stinks to get products only to be disappointed to find out that you are allergic to them. I have many allergies and have actually had a rash on my lips more than once. A rash on the lips is one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever experienced. I prefer it if I can read the ingredients online first and if it is not there then on the boxes in stores where you can access them without a sales person like Ulta or Sephora. I have also e-mailed companies for an ingredient list if I can't find it anywhere. I hate buying something I can't use and I hate to return products so I usually wind up keeping those things and wasting money, so I prefer to my research first.
ReplyDeleteI definitely should have noticed the coconut thing when ordering, since Chanel websites actually focuses on their use of coconut oil in these lipsticks. I guess I was in a frenzy to buy them because the colors are so great.
DeleteOh, I'm so sorry to hear about the allergic ingredient! Such a pity since these are such nice lipsticks. The colors are pretty great (I have 3) and they're surprising--to me, at least--in how vivid they are for such a balmy item.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pain (in more ways than one) to be allergic to such a common ingredient in skin care and cosmetics. I am allergic to jojoba seed oil, which is in almost every natural/natural-ish skin care or makeup product, so I empathize. (I'm also allergic to something in Chanel's Les Beiges powder, but I don't know what. Every once and a while I take it out and try again--why??--as I did today; and then spend the day clawing at my red, itchy skin. Charming, huh.) Here's hoping these Stylos leave you unscathed! Maybe also put a layer of Mac prep and prime for lips (whatever it's called) between you and the lipstick...
Allergies are so weird. And developing one in my 40s is even more frustrating, because I love coconut. Strangely enough, despite the reaction I got on my arm, further testing on the lips caused no damage. Yet.
DeleteBy the way, these Chanel lipsticks also contain jojoba oil, so you may want to avoid them.
Roman is definitely calling my name. It's terrible when lips react with products, they were so uncomfortable large that I wondered how people manage with lip injections. Go figure. Hopefully the allergy will stay at bay you can enjoy them awhile. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Evelyn. Roman is such a great color.
DeleteHistoire. Swoon!
ReplyDeleteI do truly hope the gods of gorgeous lipsticks intervene and protect your lips with these!
Anna
Thanks, Anna. So far so good, which is completely inexplicable, considering I can't eat coconut sticky rice without breaking out all over.
DeleteThese look like wonderful reds! I've been hoping to find a red lipstick to replicate the color of that beautiful red Chanel Glossimer you reviewed last year. It looks like one of these would be close. nozknoz
ReplyDeleteI loved that Glossimer! There's nothing like Chanel reds.
DeleteOh, please be careful with the coconut allergy. Wouldn't want anything to happen to one of my favorite beauty bloggers. I saw these on the Chanel website on February 1st. Ordered Lettre, but before it arrived found myself in The City at the Chanel boutique and bought Recit that day. Wore that one all Superbowl weekend and then alternated with Lettre when it arrived. A week later I found myself in The City again for an early Valentine's Day with the Dear Husband and popped into the boutique to buy Message. I've been wearing these every day since. Now that they're at my local Nordstrom Chanel counter I'm tempted to add Conte, Histoire and Roman. Yes, I'm crazy. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling. And if I weren't sitting here waiting for a major allergic reaction I would have been tempted to buy the other two I coveted. Now the money will be diverted to something else, and less coconutty.
DeleteI have gone from all-day-matte lipsticks (which always sounded better than they wore) to suddenly looking for soft, balm-y, hydrating lipsticks after my lips complained. Found these a few weeks ago and bought Roman and Message. Now I'm looking at your 216 Lettre and thinking that may be MLBB (with POP). Will try in Nordstrom. Neiman didn't know what the Stylo Lipsticks were a few weeks ago and were asking me to look it up, "it's probably in Europe only". Walked over to Nordstrom and they had the line. I do need to wear lip liner with these, and best with a good once over with the liner inside the lines, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, I fully agree about using a liner to keep the balminess confined to where you need it. And, yes, I've had similar experiences in various counters with SAs telling me that something does not exist (never mind the fact that I had the official press release in my email).
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