Deborah Lippmann Girls Just Want To Have Fun Swatches!

I spent most of the summer searching for the perfect tangerine coral. I've stared at page after page of swatches, and by now I've purchased 4 or 5 of these colors trying to find the shade I'm imagining in my head. The trick with these colors is that they are very difficult to photograph. Some corals look pink in photos while others look orange. I end up purchasing polishes because I love the look of the swatches, then don't care for the color in person. Girls Just Want To Have Fun was just another polish on my quest to find this color. It just so happens that I can't get color accurate photos of this one either!

Deborah Lippmann Girls Just Want To Have Fun looks more orange in photographs than it does in person, but try as I might I couldn't get the color just right! In person this polish has a bit of a bubblegum pink hue to it (but it's still very clearly coral). The color I'm searching for is the color that this looks like in photographs, perhaps one day I will find it!

Girls Just Want To Have Fun is a crelly/jelly formula. It doesn't apply like a jelly or dry semi-transparent, but it required far too many coats to be a true creme. I used 4 coats for the photos below because I had some issues getting a smooth flawless finish.

This bottle shot with flash captures the color a bit more accurately, although it still isn't quite pink enough.



Overall this is a gorgeous polish, even if it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for!



Are you ever disappointed in a polish after falling in love with the swatches?

Deborah Lippmann Brown Eyed Girl: my quest for the perfect red/brown polish

I'm always on the search for colors in the red/brown category. I absolutely love the color brown, but I have a hard time wearing a straight brown on my nails. Red, on the other hand, is my absolute favorite, so I'm always on the hunt for the perfect autumn red/brown. The first contender was Butter London Shag, which set the bar quite high!

Today I have Deborah Lippmann Brown Eyed Girl. Brown Eyed Girl is a bit darker and maybe a touch less brown than Shag, but they are definitely in the same color category. Brown Eyed Girl is blackened shimmer. The warm shimmer is bright and fine and it seems to glow out of the dark base color when the light hits my nails. It's definitely beautiful!

The formula on Brown Eyed Girl wasn't my favorite. It was a bit thick and difficult to deal with, and with two coats I ended up with a bumpy finish. I required a third coat to smooth out the finish for the photos below. The dry time was okay, but slower than most 3-free polishes.

Although Brown Eyed Girl is beautiful and I adore the name, I'm still not completely satisfied. I don't think my hunt for the perfect red/brown polish is over just yet. Which do you prefer, the darker Brown Eyed Girl, or my previous attempt to find the perfect red/brown, Butter London Shag?

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

I have a bit of a polish theory for you today... My theory is that the popularity of textured nail polishes began with a single polish: Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream. When it was released, Mermaid's Dream was original in the polish realm, with an unexpected combination of shimmer and glitter. Mermaid's dream is frosty and bumpy, and it dries to a textured appearance that every polish addict might have hated... instead everyone loved it. Mermaid's Dream was one of the most popular polishes from last summer, enough that Deborah Lippmann has released a mermaid collection with pink, purple, and blue versions of Mermaid's Dream (I have the pink and purple, and the original is still my favorite).

Mermaid's Dream is a frosty turquoise base with blue glitter, and tiny sparkly glitter. It's a complex polish, and it reminds me of pearls and the ocean, mermaid's dream indeed! The formula is good, it's easy to apply, but just a touch sheer. I usually find the need to use three coats, although it's nearly opaque in two (three pictured below). I usually wear it with a coat or two of top coat since I'm not a huge fan of bumpy polish, but top coat doesn't change the look of the polish very much at all (pictured with 1 layer of top coat).

Don't you just love it? I certainly do, and it looks particularly amazing with a little bit of a summer tan.

I'm planning on wearing Mermaid's Dream to go with a dress I bought for a friend's wedding this summer. (From Maurices, pictures on the left) Isn't it a perfect combination?

Photo link

Deborah Lippmann Christmas in the City: A nubbins feat.

I know it's a bit late to share a Christmas Collection and I'm not too sure how I missed it, but I have two gorgeous polishes to share with you today!

First of all, I occasionally get an urge to completely nubbify my nails. Usually after I've been growing them out as long as possible and they start to annoy me. I was a nail-biter for 21 years, so it's not surprising that I sometimes get the urge for nubbins. That being said I don't normally do much swatching on my nubbins because the pictures never turn out looking quite as pretty, but I wore my nails pretty short for all of the holidays between baking and cleaning and traveling, and that's when these photos are from.

First up is Let It Snow, a pearly white frost with tiny opalescent glitter. This one was a surprise favorite for me, perhaps due to the fact that I don't have anything like it in my collection. It's very pretty and feminine and a great palate cleanser in a season filled with dark and vibrant colors.

The fomula was a bit sheer, which I expected. I used three coats that dried with a few brushstrokes, but nothing too annoying.

Run, Run Rudolph is a bright medium red shimmer with red flakes. This one is right up my alley. I love red shimmers and the flakes just add character to a color we see all the time. Formula was perfect, two flawless coats for opacity. Even if these types of reds are very over-done (particularly at the holidays) I still can't get enough of them. It reminds me a bit of Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar, but Sugar Sugar is a bit darker in color.

The last shade in this collection was Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree is a black jelly filled with tiny red and green glitter as well as bigger red, green, and black glitter. This one is a fun polish for the holidays and the mani I wore for black Friday. The black base just seemed appropriate but I was too busy shopping and forgot to take a photograph of my mani!

I know I was really late with this collection, but I love both of these colors and will wear them all year long. Do you wear your holiday nail polishes after the season is over or leave them on the shelf til next year?

This collection is sadly no longer available at Nordstroms online, but it might still be around in stores.

Deborah Lippmann Let It Bleed - True Blood Forsaken Collection

The world didn't end today. :)

Not that I really thought it would.

In honor, here's one of my favorite gorgeous vampy polishes! Holiday manicures are everywhere right now, and while it's fun, I still love me a good swatch!



Deborah Lippmann Let It Bleed is part of the Forsaken True Blood collection. It is a gorgeous dark vampy creme, everything you'd expect out of a polish from a True Blood collection. The fun part about this polish is that it has the Forsaken fragrance (the polish scent is very close to the eu de parfum).



The only problem that I had with this polish was the wear time. I wore this manicure for about half a day before taking these photos and you can see all of the tipwear already. Now, I won't say I'm gentle on my hands/nails through the coarse of a day (quite the contrary) but comparing this polish to other brands (even other DL polishes) the wear time was quite horrible. You can see tipwear as well as scratches on the shiny finish. I feel that the addition of fragrance might be affecting the wear time, but since this is the only scented polish I can't say for sure.

I absolutely love this one. The Forsaken fragrance is so delicious and being a huge True Blood fan I absolutely love it!

Deborah Lippmann Lady is a Tramp

I have so many gorgeous manis and swatches to show you all! I just need to find some time to sort through the 600+ photographs on my memory card. Hopefully that will happen this weekend.

Until then, enjoy this swatch of Deborah Lippmann Lady is a Tramp, a pretty, balanced, red crelly. The formula was decent, this is two coats and there's still a bit of visible nail line, even though my nails are quite short here. I really don't have much to say about this one. It reminds me a lot of Zoya Carmen, both in color and formula. If it hadn't come in a set of minis, I doubt I would have sought it out (and I love red polish).

Do you ever find a polish that you should really like but just... don't? Perhaps I've been wearing so many of this season's gorgeous shimmers to be happy with a creme/jelly!

Deborah Lippmann Dancing In The Sheets

Sorry for the late night post, today's manicure is Deborah Lippmann Dancing In The Sheets. I picked up this polish this summer on an HSN clearance, two Deborah Lippmanns for less than ten dollars, which for a polish that retails for $18 each, is one heck of a deal.

I haven't worn this color much since it's more of a fall or winter dark shade, but it's absolutely stunning. Dancing In The Sheets is a blackened navy blue shimmer. The actual base color of this polish is a dark purple, but it's so loaded with blue shimmer that none of that purple is visible. 

The formula was nice, two coats to opaque, self-leveling and really quite nice. Usually I don't get the best wear out of Deborah Lippmann polishes (something about my body chemistry I suppose) but this one lasted for a good three days. 

Deborah Lippmann Dancing In The Sheets

On the nail it reminds me a bit of OPI Russian Navy, so I might have to compare these two soon!

Deborah Lippmann Dancing In The Sheets

What's your favorite blue for fall?

Vampy Half Moon Manicure

Hi everyone, I'm a bit down in the dumps today so I'm going to keep this one short. This is OPI DS Indulgence over Deborah Lippmann  Let It Bleed (from the True Blood/Forsaken Collection).

If you haven't tried OPI DS Indulgence over a dark base yet, you have to try it! It's a completely different polish. I was covering up some tip wear in my < 1 day old mani so I did a quick half-moon with my new bottle of Indulgence. Man this looks gorgeous! It sparkled like crazy with just one coat. I've provided pictures in both bright light (to capture the sparkle) and diffuse light.

What do you think?

Half Moon Manicure with OPI DS Indulgence over Deborah Lippmann  Let It Bleed

Half Moon Manicure with OPI DS Indulgence over Deborah Lippmann  Let It Bleed 

Half Moon Manicure with OPI DS Indulgence over Deborah Lippmann  Let It Bleed 

Half Moon Manicure with OPI DS Indulgence over Deborah Lippmann  Let It Bleed 

Forsaken: Deborah Lippmann's Bad Things (True Blood!)

If you've been a follower of mine for a couple of months, you might know that I'm a huge fan of True Blood, in fact, I sponsored my first giveaway centered around the season 5 premiere. :D When I first learned that HSN was launching Forsaken, a True Blood themed fragrance, with Deborah Lippmann polishes to go along with it I was extremely excited;  I wanted to own everything. I ended up ordering the fragrance, Bad Things Deborah Lippmann mini nail polish set, and the matching nail and lip color also from Deborah Lippmann all as sort of an early birthday present to myself. The nail and lip color are supposed to be infused with the Forsaken fragrance so I can't wait to try those out! (Unfortunately mine are back-ordered.)

Just look at that gorgeous bottle.

I normally only talk about nail polish, but I'm also a bit of a fragrance hoarder. I have probably 30-40 different purfumes and body sprays. The Forsaken fragrance came in the mail yesterday, surprising me since  I just got the order confirmation yesterday morning. I wish I could write a proper review, but I'm not all that knowledgeable about fragrances so I won't pretend to be. All I can say is that I'm very happy with this scent. It's subtle yet deep, it's warm and musky, it fits the theme perfectly, yet something I could wear everyday. The bottle is to-die-for gorgeous. All vampy and mysterious.


Now on to the nail polish, which I'm sure you've all been waiting for.

Bad Things Nail Polish Trio

First up is New Flesh.

New Flesh is a beige toned nude jelly, sheer on the first coat but very buildable. The formula is very interesting because it applied streaky, but dried smooth and flawless. I thought it was going to be a disaster at first but I was pleasantly surprised. The nice thing about having a nude jelly is that it's much more likely to match your skin tone.

Deborah Lippmann - New Flesh - 3 coats

Deborah Lippmann - New Flesh - 3 coats

Deborah Lippmann - New Flesh - 3 coats

Strange Love is what I'd consider a 'crelly' finish. On first coat it looks and applies like a jelly, but it's easily opaque in two coats like a creme. This color is absolutely gorgeous. This is the shade I was looking forward to the least and it turned out to be my favorite. It has a very slight subtle shimmer that's hard to see and nearly impossible to photograph but it just makes this polish so beautiful. It also has a killer shine. This one is
with no top coat.

Deborah Lippmann - Strange Love - 2 coats

Deborah Lippmann - Strange Love - 2 coats

Deborah Lippmann - Strange Love - 2 coats

Bad Blood is a sheer dark blood red jelly. I think it's described as sheer black cherry, but in my mind it's a bloody plumb, a bit more purple than it is red. Regardless, it's dark and vampy and very pretty. When the description says sheer they mean sheer. This one reminds me a lot of the pictures I've seen of the Zoya Gloss collection. This is four coats, but I easily could have gone on and done five or six. My only issue with this is the fact that it's only available in a mini bottle, so one opaque mani takes a lot of that little bottle.

Deborah Lippmann - Bad Blood - 4 coats

Deborah Lippmann - Bad Blood - 4 coats

Deborah Lippmann - Bad Blood - 4 coats

Overall I'm very happy with Forsaken. I mainly purchased it as the novelty of having True Blood themed fragrance and polish (I've got a classic Fangtasia t-shirt in my closet) but I can see myself wearing all of these colors. Bad Blood would make great jelly sandwiches (I might have to try that soon) and I will wear Strange Love any day!

Did you order or consider ordering Forsaken? Have you ever ordered nail polish just as a novelty item?

Deborah Lippmann Footloose

Just a fast swatch today since I've been so busy! This is Deborah Lippmann's Footloose with Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday on the accent finger.

Footloose is from the DL collection "Footloose" released elusively by HSN in conjunction with the release of the Footloose movie (did I mention footloose? lol). I picked this beauty up in a duo with Almost Paradise for just $10 when it went on clearance! Such good fortune!

Footloose is a delicious rich tomato red creme, or a yellow-toned red creme. The formula was fantastic and flowed onto my nail with two effortless coats. Shiny even without top coat!

Happy Birthday is the original multicolored glitterbomb. It's definitely a classic to any DL lovers. It was really hard to photograph because it was just too sparkly for my camera!

Sun:

Shade:

Deborah Lippmann Almost Paradise Swatch

Deborah Lippmann Almost Paradise is part of the Footloose collection, released celebrating the Footloose movie last fall. The collection was released exclusively on HSN and sold in duos. Almost Paradise came with a bright tomato red creme called Footloose. When I picked up the set recently I paid $10 for the pair. DL polishes for $5? Amazing!

Almost Paradise is a pretty pale green creme. It's not a bright lime, rather a much more subtle green. The application of this polish was absolutely amazing. I didn't have any clean up because it positively flowed onto my nail. This is two coats without top coat.

I'm normally not a fan of these white-based colors (I bought the set for the bright red of course!) and I was surprised to love Almost Paradise. Greens aren't very flattering on me, but I will definitely wear Almost Paradise.

Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe swatch

Across the Universe has been on my wishlist for some time now. Blue... jelly... glitter... sounds perfect right? Well I have to tell you: yes, yes it is.

Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe is a dark navy blue jelly with small blue glitter and large hexagonal blue and green glitter. This is three thick coats and application is relatively easy, the glitter spreads itself without any special maneuvering. I used a thick top coat to smooth it out and didn't experience any shrinkage.

This color is so beautiful. I read reviews and I've seen it in pictures, but nothing prepared me for the magnificence of this polish.

It shines, it sparkles. Gorgeous!

Since you probably won't click the pictures for a closer look you just have to see this polish up close. The different shapes of glitter in the jelly base... I think I have a new favorite blue!