It's brown! It's sparkly! Ooh, aah! How perfect!
At least, that is, until I put it on.
Chanel Haute Chocolat.
It looks so sparkly and delicious in the bottle, but on my nails it falls flat. It doesn't look like it does in the bottle. It just looks like weird brown with dust on it.
The formula is consistent with the other Chanel polishes I have (besides the Robertson ones which were a nightmare)- a little on the thick side, but otherwise decent. It applied well, dried quickly, all that good stuff. Chanel polishes usually chip the same day for me, but I didn't leave this on long enough to find out.
I may even be the only one who isn't impressed by this color, as I've heard nothing but rave reviews of it. Call me crazy- I don't think this is anything special.
As much as I wanted to love it, and as much as I hoped it would look like it did in the bottle, I just can't convince myself that I'm happy with it. I'm disappointed, that's all. Which brings me to this thought- this is another $20 (or was this one $25? I can't remember) nail polish that I don't love. I can't afford to keep buying $20 nail polishes that I'll probably never wear. There are a few Chanel polishes that I *love*- Kaleidoscope, Azure, Gold Fiction, the ever-elusive Cobra which I don't own but have lusted after ever since I first saw it- but how many more Chanel polishes have I purchased that have been a total disappointment?
So, my opinion on this? Chanel Haute Chocolat- sure, it's a nice color, whatever, ho-hum. You would be better off buying China Glaze Prize Winning Mare. While the two colors aren't matches, Prize Winning Mare definitely satisfies my craving for a sparkly, dimensional earth-toned polish, while Haute Chocolat leaves me wanting more.
Gosh on my monitor it looks really dark on you. I find it milkier on me.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at SpaRitual Can U Dig It, you might like it better, in the bottle it has more gold to it
Scrangie, could not agree with you more! I also found this to be beautiful in the bottle but flat and boring on me. It is also chiptastic and chips on me the same day just like other Chanel's. Yet for some reason I keep buying them.... junk. Must stop.
ReplyDeleteDitto!
ReplyDeleteI figured it was because my skin color was too dark for it (I'm Filipina)...wow, I'm glad I'm not the only person who was kinda disappointed when I got Haute Chocolat.
(Actually, I also associate the color with the night I bought it; a disastrous night fueled by champagne :/)
However, I've never had a problem with my beloved Kaleidoscope...that bottle may be going to the grave with me along with Extravagance.
Wow, in your photo Scrangie, Chanel HC looks way darker than in Steph's Closet's photo (26 October 2008). Could Chanel's batches of HC polish be of inconsistent quality?
ReplyDeleteSteph compares Chanel HC, and the much less expensive Sally Hansen's HC and The Good Earth, so I bought The Good Earth and it goes well with my conservative brown-based office suiting.
Thanks Scrangie for all the swatches! Really helps me with purchase decisions.
While I do love Chanel polish in general, I really need it to scream out to me. Gold Fiction and Kaleidoscope certainly did the job. I agree with your assessment about the polishes being on the thick side. For me, it's a plus since I tend to do thin coats. I don't use Seche, so I wonder if the chipping people report is an incompatibility with Seche. I put my Chanels in a CND Stickey Sandwich with CND Super Shiney on top and Use OPI Drip Dry Drops.
ReplyDeleteBrown is a color I enjoy, but it's neither green nor purple nor metallic...so it's not a screamer. I also have Sally Hansen's The Good Earth in my untested pile along with CND's Cuppa Joe and OPI's Espresso Your Style. I can probably do without in this case. Almost anything compared to the Rodeo Diva collection will come up looking a little sad. LOL.
I think it looks beautiful on you (what doesn't), but I completely hear you on this one. I own it and like it, far from love it though. Chanel should just stop making new colors and bring back the oldies but FABBIES!!! Who wouldn't love Night Sky, Cobra, Vert Sacriledge, Ruby Slipper, or Very Vamp just to name a few????
ReplyDeleteu have revived my gold fiction lemming!
ReplyDeleteI don't buy Chanel polishes because of the poor quality for the dollar, and I really don't think I am missing out. RBL and Lippman put out better products for the same price, or even a bit less. Thanks for confirming my thoughts on this one!
ReplyDeleteBTW, have you tried the Sally Hansen Haute Chocolate? I like the colour and shimmer, and it costs much less. :)
I completely agree with you, 100%. I was VERY disappointed with this one :( I had such high hopes seeing the bottle but it was so dull on my nails.
ReplyDeleteOPI My Private Jet (version 1)!
ReplyDeletei still want this because i have a new found love for browns but i can't bring myself to splurge on it.
ReplyDeleteI tried this on at Saks but it looked like crap on me (literally). I don't own any Chanels yet and I probably won't due to how much they cost. I just can't bring myself to spend that much for something I'm pretty sure (though it may require some searching) a dupe of.
ReplyDeleteYour nails, however, are GORGEOUS!!
I'm wondering if there might be different batches of it. I love it, the gold flecks really stand out and it is not at all thick to apply.
ReplyDeleteBut, I do have a problem with Chanel polishes and chipping. With Seche Vite I get about 2 days without a chip.
Thank you! One polish cut from my list of lemmings! yay!
ReplyDeleteFrom your pic,
ReplyDeletethis looks a lot like the photos of the newer, non-holo version of OPI My Private Jet-
flat brown with flat sparkle...
Scrangie- What say you?
(I haven't tried either- just seen in bottle, and in pics.)
HC looks so much darker on you than on me! ON me it's a neutral brown with very visible gold microshimmer...I love it!
ReplyDeletemaybe it's just me but i'm not feeling brown-esque nail varnishes at ALL. just not my cuppa tea
ReplyDeleteI too am constantly disappointed with chanel polishes, I own lots of them and really love some of the colours, like kaledoscope, marilyn and fire but they too chip the same day so are not worth it. Plus I've found almost exact dupes for some of my colours from essie, a-list is dupe of fire, wicked is a dupe of rouge noir, polish addict showed that steeling the scene was a good dupe for kaleidoscope. Essies last ages on me and are half the price of chanel!
ReplyDeleteI always vow not to buy anymore chanel but I just can't resist, damn this nail polish obsession!
I was considering purchasing haute chocolat but since seeing your pics and reading your review I am no longer lemming it. Thankyou for stopping me from wasting my money!
Diann_co, it is *somewhat* dark on me, but it's more of a medium brown than a dark brown on me. I will definitely check out the SpaRitual. I've been planning a SpaRitual haul but haven't done it yet :D
ReplyDeleteKatee, I don't know why I keep buying them! I'm hoping they'll be as awesome as Kaleidoscope but they never are :(
The Asian Girl, uh oh! I hate when I get those sort of associations- I can no longer wear one of my favorite perfumes because I got sick while wearing it! I love my Kaleidoscope too :D
Watcher, hmm, interesting observation, I wonder if that's the case! I have Sally Hansen Haute Chocolate and I love it, but I don't find it similar to the Chanel. I've been looking for The Good Earth but it hasn't shown up at my usual places yet. And you're very welcome, I love doing it! :D
Tarotbydiana, maybe the reason I don't love Chanel that much is the cost-to-awesomeness ratio is off. lol. CND Cuppa Joe is one of my favorite polishes EVER, I like it way more than the Chanel :)
SiennaX, thank you! And YES!!! That's the most amazing idea ever, I wonder if Chanel would listen to some consumer input?? All those old colors are way better than anything they've released recently!
Ocelot1, uh oh! I'm sorry :D Hee hee ;-)
Melli, I agree, RBL and Lippmann are cheaper but drastically higher in quality! Better colors, too. And I do have Sally Hansen Haute Chocolate and I *love* it :D
Audreynicole, aww I'm sorry to hear that, but also happy that I'm not the only one! :D
Fudge, interesting! I will have to compare (if I could find my bottle of My Private Jet that is, lol)
Dami, I love browns and I must say that there are better, less expensive ones out there. But even I can't resist a lemming once I get one :D
Anonymous, lol! Yeah, they're not that good. For a 'luxury' brand, you'd expect the quality to be much higher. And thank you!! :D
Polish Lover, that could be the case. I really liked it in other people's pictures, but it doesn't look the same on me. Very strange!
Sminkan, yay, you're welcome! You can buy 4 or 5 OPIs from head2Toe for the amount you would spend on the one Chanel polish :D
Wixbetty, I have two bottles of My Private Jet which are different, but I haven't seen the flat brown one, I've been looking for it so I can compare! I'm very, very curious about this as well!
Karman, yay, I'm happy to hear that! Maybe Haute Chocolat and I were just not meant to be...
Sara, I totally understand. I think it's a love it or hate it color- and I used to be firmly planted in the 'hate it' group! I'm not sure what changed my mind, but now I love it!
Alison, you're welcome! And that is an excellent comment. I'm going to try my best not to cave in to any more Chanel purchases unless the color is *really* awesome or unique. :D
I was intrigued by Chanel Haute Chocolat when I first heard about it, glad I didn't buy it. I love my Sally Hansen Haute Chocolate, even though its a very different color!
ReplyDeleteScrangie, have you ever posted any pictures of your polish collection? I can't imagine how many you must have! How do you store them all? I'm not very organized when it comes to my beauty stash, so I love seeing how other people organize theirs.
Megs, I definitely like the Sally Hansen Haute Chocolate better :D
ReplyDeleteAs for my stash, I haven't posted pictures of the whole thing, but I have been planning on doing a 'tour' of it :) It takes up an entire room of my house, I use wall racks, table racks and Sterilite drawer towers to 'organize' it- it is a mess though :D
Thanks so much for your swatches and your honest opinion. When I first saw pictures of the color, I was like OMG GOTTA HAVE. Thanks to your blog, looks like I'll be saving some money! LOL Thanks as always.
ReplyDeleteOMG your stash takes up an entire room?? I would probably die from joy if I ever saw it in person. I would love you see it if you have time to give us a photo tour of it!
ReplyDeleteJess, I'm glad I could help you save a little cash :D You can get 4 or 5 OPIs for the price of one Chanel :D
ReplyDeleteMegs, hehehe indeed! It's so wild, I'm definitely going to clean it up before I take pics, heheh :D
I have to admit that when I first saw the ads for it, my reaction was something like "seriously? this won a contest? it's just dirt brown with some sparkle, people!" I love browns--actually wearing Essie Chocolate Kiss right now--but Haute Chocolate just did nothing for me. Kaleidescope on the other hand, well, I love it so much I wore it on my wedding day :D
ReplyDeleteAnd please post pics of your treasure cave of polish, Scrangie!!
You do remember that a color doesn't exist until Chanel makes it, don't you? (Kind of like it's not news until the New York Times writes about it.)
ReplyDeleteSo even if we think that the Chanel is sorta kinda maybe like CNY Spanish Harlem crossed with OPI Espresso Your Style, but without the charm of either, clearly ... WE ARE WRONG.
I don't know why you say that it's meh; i think it looks great on you and I may be one of the few but i LOVE mine and always get great compliments when I wear it.
ReplyDeleteAny who, thanks for the post!
I totally agree with you Scrangie. I bought it, brought it home and then returned it in two days. Flat and blah, and it looked like dirt on me. Meh.
ReplyDeleteActually, I didn't even find it that pretty in the bottle. Usually the color winners make pretty spectacular nail polish colors, but this was blah for me.
ReplyDeleteGaah but I love it on you!
ReplyDeleteI just bought Essie Decadent Diva and I think it's a more vibrant version of this brown. It's a more wine colored brown and still has that lovely sparkly depth. got a wonderful compliment on it today too.
ReplyDeleteE, I love browns so that's why I got excited about HC, it just did not live up to the hype. *sigh* But Kaleidoscope is a masterpiece, though! :D
ReplyDeleteSarasotagirl, LMAO You are EXACTLY RIGHT!!! Oh, so, so true. :D
Anonymous, thanks! :D It's not that I hate it, it just isn't as pretty as I hoped. I bet it will look a lot better on someone with a different skintone than me :)
Tifflet, I wish that it looked like it does in the bottle! *sigh* Oh, Chanel, you're so tricky.
Diana, I liked it a lot more in the bottle but even before I put it on it was disappointing. lol. :D
Rocketqueen, awwwwe thank you! :D
Deepo, I like Decadent Diva a LOT more, it's an amazing color with a lot more depth! It's one of the polishes I've accidentally bought more than one bottle of, oops XD
On my monitor, it looks very pretty and sparkly on your nails! :)
ReplyDeleteI love browns and am currently obsessed with that beautiful brown black that is My Private Jet; I've been wearing it for months. ;):P
That comment about a new MPJ intrigues me!
Great blog, btw - I just stumbled on it!
Makeupmag, thank you so much :) My Private Jet is one of the best colors ever created!
ReplyDelete*sigh* FINALLY someone that agrees with me. Its not that original. I've tried to love it but I just can't. Looks like a hobo's turd that has eaten glitter a few meals ago.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, LMAO you're absolutely right :D
ReplyDelete