Louboutin Beaute

On Friday morning I went to to the launch event for the hotly anticipated Louboutin Beaute at the stunning Ham Yard Hotel. Initially, the range will consist of nail polish - and we had hints that there may be other products to come later down the line, although it was all very hush hush!

Christian Louboutin is most famously known for the trademark red sole of the shoes he creates. The idea of the red sole actually came about because of red nail polish - his assistant was painting her nails red at her desk, and, thinking something had been missing from the prototype of the shoe he'd designed, he grabbed it from her and began painting the sole of his shoe, and love the results. He says "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."

The nail polishes, are rather pricey at £36 a bottle, but being Louboutin, you would expect that. You'd also expect that it would be a gorgeous creation - which is definitely is, both aesthetically and performance-wise. When I first saw the displays of polish at the event, I must admit, my initial thought was 'how the hell do you store that!?', but actually, the bottles have been designed to be a piece of art - to have proudly on display. The glass looks like a precious stone floating in a block of fine crystal, and the handle on the lid is long.... very long, replicating the heel of one of his shoes.

The first polish to be released went on sale on Thursday, and by Friday had sold out worldwide. It is Rouge Louboutin - the signature red colour of the sole of the shoe, with a longer handle than the other shades set to come later in the year. This handle is the exact same height as the Ballerina Ultima shoe designed by Christian. The other difference with this bottle is that it has an ombre black bottom to the bottle, the idea being that people instantly think of the shoe.

Rouge Louboutin polishes alongside the Ballerina Ultima shoe, on a 'Loubiville' display

The Ballerina Ultima shoe.... look at that heel!

There were manicurists on hand to show us exactly what it looks like on the nails. I asked the lovely lady doing mine how it was to hold with a handle that size - she said it felt like she was writing, and was really easy to paint with. The colour was so rich and opaque after just one coat, and extremely glossy too. Traditional laquer (used on the shoes) is 20 layers of paint - Christian Louboutin wanted to create the same effect in just two coats, and I think he's managed it.

The rest of the nail polish range will launch in September and is an array of colours that were inspired by fashion. Christian and his team worked with leather samples to create the perfect colour palette then reworked them to compliment different skin tones. They all have the names of one of his shoes.

These are The Noirs -  made up of blacks, and rich, dark, intense shades topped with a gunmetal cap.

The Nudes, are, as the name would suggest, varying nude and pale shades topped with a rose-gold cap.

 And last but not least, The Pops - gorgeous, bright colourful shades topped with a silver cap.

I can honestly say there's not a shade in the entire collection that I wouldn't wear. If only my bank balance would allow!

There will also being a range of shoes, inspired by the Beaute collection which will be coming out - you can see in the bottom corner of the photo above this one the shoes with a nail-like design on them, and in the photo above, a hand print with the signature red polish. Another one I wish my bank balance would allow for!

The polishes are on sale at Christian Louboutin stores and select fashion partners, however they will be found in the shoe section, rather than beauty. You can grab Rouge Louboutin in the UK from their website (once it's back in stock!)