Rouge Louboutin

Women have been wearing Louboutin red on the soles of their feet since he opened his shoe salon in Paris in the early 90's.  Now that same Louboutin red will be gracing women's fingers as Christian Louboutin Beauté just launched a collection of 31 nail lacquers yesterday, debuting their iconic red: Rouge Louboutin.

As Louboutin shoes are structurally works of art (in my opinion), so is the bottle of their new nail lacquers.  The dramatic tapering of the cap is inspired by Louboutin's highest stiletto ever created: Ballerina Ultima, designed in 2007 (pictured below).  The glass bottle features a black ombré effect, gradually revealing the bold rouge encased inside, as Christian Louboutin describes, "like a fine block of crystal."

Ballerina Ultima inspired the bottle design of Rouge Louboutin

Rouge Louboutin breaks the barrier of prestige nail polish.  At $50 per 0.4 oz. bottle (0.1 oz. less than Deborah Lippman, Essie, and OPI), expect nothing but the best in this rich formula; long-wearing, chip-resistant, and toluene/formaldehyde/DBP-free.  With one coat, this highly pigmented nail colour is said to produce a luxe gloss that mimics patent leather, and two coats gives a finishing shine of twenty layers!

Packaging: a black patent leather-like presentation box

In addition to the object d'art bottle, application is also meant to be an artistic experience like that of painting with calligraphy brushes.  The patented brush is custom-designed with a triangular shape to ensure precision while the shortened bristles pick up the perfect amount of formula without air bubbles for a flawless coverage.

Rouge Louboutin is truly a beauty - inside and out!

Ombré glass bottle of Rouge Louboutin

Rouge Louboutin has debuted first in its 15 U.S. boutiques (including their newest location in San Francisco where I purchased my Geo Pumps), plus Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship store in New York City.  More colors in the collection will soon be available, with distribution to extend to Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and select Sephora by August 2014.  Pre-order is currently available by clicking on the links of the retailers just mentioned.

Are you familiar with the story of how the red soles of Christian Louboutins came to be?  It was in 1993 (two years in business) that Mr. Louboutin felt his Andy Warhol-inspired 'Flower' shoe did not stand out as much as his drawing, but he did not quite understand why (the soles were black at the time).  Seeing that a female assistant was painting her nails red, he took her nail polish and painted it to the bottom of his creation.  Immediately, the shoe popped and he recalled thinking, "This is the drawing!"  So naturally, it was only a matter of time before Christian created this nail lacquer - even if it took 21 years!

The red sole was born from red nail polish.  I am giving back to nails what the shoe took from the nails many years ago.
~ Christian Louboutin

Rouge Louboutin Film by David Lynch:

UPDATE 07.25.14

Click here to read an exclusive InStyle interview with Christian Louboutin and to see the other nail colours in the collection.

Photo credits: ChristianLouboutin.com