Rouge Dior 551 Cocotte lipstick + Dior Vernis 916 Czarina Gold nail lacquer

(Per leggere la versione in ITALIANO di questo post, andate nelle note della mia FUN page su Facebook!)

A while back I felt this incontrollable urge to go out and buy a reddish lipstick. Yes, I know this regularly happens to 99.9% of the female population, but for me it's always an event. Red glosses? Check! Red lipsticks? Mmm, not so much.

I do have some "powerful" shades in my lipstick box, but I must admit I don't wear them very often. Sadly, I'm not a true red kind of girl, I just can't pull it off. It could be lack of confidence, but then again I have no problems whatsoever wearing my lovely tomato-red Marc Jacobs coat from a few seasons ago (♥ the man, by the way!), so when I choose darker shades - as opposed to my every day pinks - I usually go for berry colours that warm my face up while still making me feel comfortable.


This urge happened at the same time when the new reformulated range of 32 Rouge Dior lipsticks came out, gorgeously advertised by one of Italy's most famous and beautiful exports, Monica Bellucci. As usual I was sucked in by advertising, despite the fact that I'm about 17cms shorter than Monica, I'm practically flat as a pancake, I don't have brown eyes and I'm not a brunette etc etc. 
However, thanks to Rouge Dior Cocotte (551) I can now stop traffic just as Monica no doubt would if she just happened to walk down the street in my hometown!

The lipstick is housed in an elegant dark blue tube with cannage motif, unmistakeably Dior. My pick, Cocotte, was inspired by an Autumn/Winter 2007 Dior Haute Couture wine taffeta gown (inspired, in turn, by a Caravaggio painting...see, another Italian connection!). It belongs to the pink family and in the tube looks like a raspberry red with really tiny micro-shimmer, which translates to vibrant colour with no sparkle but a nice shiny appearance.

On the lips it looks either berry-ish, as in the photo above, or more reddish, as in the photo below. A bit too vivid for my liking, but a nice rich colour otherwise.

The lipstick tastes and smells a little perfume-y, flowery and powdery, like all Dior lipsticks. It's not too overpowering, though. It goes on smoothly and feels creamy, but personally I don't find it that moisturizing (Dior claims the hyaluronic spheres it contains "ensure long-term hydration" by replenishing fine lines and filling in wrinkles...well, honestly, could my lips look any more wrinkly in these photos???).

Here are swatches of Cocotte next to Blossom (644), which is actually the shade Monica Bellucci wears in the ad, in case you were wondering. The two shades are very similar, but while Blossom, which belongs to the red family, is a more neutral balance between pink and red, Cocotte has more marked berry undertones.

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I also recently bought one of the two nail varnish offerings from Dior's Holiday 2010 collection. My pick was Czarina Gold (916), I think it cost around 21euros. 

*Remember you can always click on all my photos 

to get a better view!*

This is a truly gorgeous colour in the bottle, a dark chocolate brown with olive undertones (a bit like Taggiasca olives from the Italian region of Liguria...which are totally yummy, by the way!) and heavily flecked with fine golden sparkle.

I'm not overly happy with Dior's new wider and flatter brushes with a rounded edge. Initially I thought this would make it easier to apply the varnish, but the truth is it's the kind of brush you have to really get the hang of as you risk getting too much polish on the nail bed and making a mess of it all.

Luckily, Czarina Gold goes on smoothly and has a nice consistency, neither too liquid nor too gloopy.

However, you just have to laugh out loud when you read the claim on the varnish box "Extreme Wear"...hell, this is the worst chipping nail polish I've ever tried! Yes, I didn't wear a topcoat (highly recommended!), but then I almost never do. This started chipping after about...an hour? Crazy!

And this is a view of my nails in natural light. Some people prefer the look of the varnish in the bottle and are a bit disappointed to see it on. Personally, I like the effect of Czarina Gold applied to my nails. I think the secret is to just put one coat/maximum two thin coats on (which you CAN do, once you get the hang of the infamous brush!), so that you can still see the actual colour of the varnish instead of just a dark brown nail!!

Anna xx

PS: and yes, I now have a FUN page on Facebook, it's a bit crappy at the moment as I seldom have time to update (no surprises there, then ;)!!, and when I do it's usually in Italian, but if you want to "like" that would make me immensely happy!!