Christian Louboutin Scarabee I nail polish review

Do you believe in magic? Well, if not, may I present you with Christian Louboutin’s Scarabee I.

Duochrome colours – metallic shades that shift different colours in different lights – are certainly nothing new in the nail polish world, but that certainly doesn’t stop me feeling a giddy sense of wonder every time I wear one… and Scarabee I is no exception.

Christian Louboutin’s limited edition Scarabee Collection is a trio of colours inspired by the iridescent shell of the scarab beetle. As ever with the Louboutin lacquers, the presentation is stunning, with the infamous stiletto cap decked in gold, gorgeous brown-and-gold beetle print boxes housing the bottles, and of course, the actual polish colours themselves.

Of the three, Scarabee I has the most obvious duochrome colour shift. It’s generally a rosy copper, a pink-leaning russet – except when it becomes an orange gold, like a shimmering goldfish. It makes me think of Snow White’s enchanted apple, an enticing red that’s been cast with a mesmerising colour-changing spell.

Formula-wise, I didn’t find Scarabee I as easy to work with as my first Louboutin nail polish. It’s quite difficult to get the amount of polish on the brush just right – too thin and you don’t get full opacity, too thick and you get air bubbles. It also dries with some visible brush strokes if you mind that sort of thing, but they do seem to dissipate the longer you wear it – and on me, it lasted almost a full week without any major chips.

But oh that colour! Look how magical it is. In the sunlight of Macau (and with some delicious donuts in the background), it turned into a Midas-touched gold. Paired with the coral of Miss Loubi as French tips, it becomes a dainty metallic pink.Even in the space of the same photo, it manages to turn each nail into its very own ombre sunset.