Deborah Lippmann All That Jazz Trio Fall 2010

I have to get used to calling these "Deborah Lippmann" now instead of Lippmann Collection... Maybe I'll just refer to them as Lippmann from now on. Confusing!

Anyway... Lippmann's been cranking out a ton of glitter shades lately. Maybe after Happy Birthday became their best seller they're starting to realize how much we all adore unique glitters. Across the Universe was nothing short of genius. Very happy to see them experimenting with the rarely-disappointing jelly/glitter combination. This is the latest:

Lady Sings The Blues. This is a deep blue creme base with silver sequins and glitter. It's not quite a jelly... The base is a little sheer but it's also mostly opaque. I actually think this might have looked better if it was more sheer. The base is a little too dense and doesn't allow all the glitter to show through. It's not lumpy or chunky, but some of the glitter does get lost. Other than that detail, this is a very beautiful polish. Takes a page out of the Essie Starry Starry Night Polish Success Manual. Heh.


Razzle Dazzle. Had to get pictures at a couple different angles for this one. It's just too beautiful. In my opinion, this is the best one in the set. It's rich blackened raspberry jelly with magenta and red glitter. It is freaking spectacular. I can't get enough of this. It looks so sparkly and deep and dramatic, it's like pink lava or a river of gemstones on your nails. The only downside? It stains like crazy. I put it on when it arrived and wore it less than an hour (accidentally smushed it while cooking, had to remove) and when it came off, my nails were stained rose pink. They still are on my right hand, actually. I did not expect that. Staining really doesn't bother me because I'm never without polish on my nails, but people who are less accepting of staining might want to take precautions with this one.

Some Enchanted Evening. I feel like I'm always complaining about glitters that are this color... Whenever companies decide to do a pink glitter, 99% of the time it's this exact shade of pink. It's the color of Milani Disco Lights, to give you a reference point. Despite this, I actually love this polish. It has two kinds of glitter- fine and large sequin. It's in a clear base. It's ideal for layering but I actually prefer it alone, as pictured here. The effect it gives is positively magical. The glitter in it is very sparkly and sometimes flashes red and silver instead of just pink (as observed in the indoor picture) and it looks light and delicate all by itself. I am starting to actually enjoy certain sheer colors and this is one of them.

I compared Razzle Dazzle to Good Girl Gone Bad (from the Party Like A Rockstar kit) because they reminded me of each other. Turns out they're not really duplicates but they are somewhat similar:

Index and ring finger: Lippmann Collection Good Girl Gone Bad, four coats
Middle and pinkie finger: Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle, three coats

Razzle Dazzle is redder, more opaque, has larger glitter and the glitter is red-based. Good Girl Gone Bad is quite sheer, is more purple toned and has tiny silvery glitter. They're both worth owning as they're completely awesome.

The formula on them was good. Not too chunky, not too thick. Good opacity and glitter density. I did two coats in these pictures but I'm sure a third coat would be even better. Drying time was longer than usual for Lippmann but still within acceptable range for me. They are not super bumpy but still look best with a coat or two of a thick topcoat like Lippmann Addicted to Speed (or Seche Vite, Diamont, Poshe, Barielle Mani Extender, the thicker the better!) The only flaw I could find with these is the tendency Razzle Dazzle has to stain. I did not experience any staining with Lady Sings The Blues or Some Enchanted Evening.

Currently these are only available as a set, but if the past is any indication of future events, they'll probably be available as individuals eventually. I don't know for sure, though... Just speculating. Though I'm sure that if you emailed them enough asking for them to be sold separately like with the Anniversary set from last year, they'd do it.

(These were sent to me for review.)

OPI Fall 2009 Mattes

OPI has jumped on the Matte-finish bandwagon and that makes this matte-fiend very happy!

Pics first, opinions second.

Alpine Snow - Matte. Stark matte white. Yep, this is the Alpine Snow I remember, just with all the shine removed. I prefer this over the KO Powder white for two reasons. First, this is brighter, whiter, cleaner while the KO is somewhat yellowed looking. Second, this is more opaque, two coats is perfect but the KO took three at the very least.

Gargantuan Green Grape - Matte. Bright spring green. Same as Gargantuan Green Grape, only matte! Now that I'm looking at these pictures on a different monitor, the color doesn't look right. It's a lot greener with some yellow and a lot more saturated. These pictures make it look like a pale mint green- it's not. Or maybe it's just my laptop screen skewing the color. I'm sure you already have Gargantuan Green Grape so you know what it looks like.



La Paz-itively Hot - Matte. Hot pink matte shimmer. WOW. Just... wow. This is a must-have if you like mattes. It looks like hot pink satin. 80's prom dress? It has that same velvet-looking finish that Zoya Posh has. This is just absolutely fantastic. And La-Pazitively Hot will always have a special place in my heart, it was the first OPI polish I ever bought for myself. Although, the matte version seems different from the original. I will find my old bottle to compare.

Lincoln Park After Dark - Matte. I'm not sure about this one. I don't feel that it translated well into matte finish. The original Lincoln Park After Dark has a hidden shimmer to it- it looks like a creme, but in bright light or up close you can see the little particles. This just looks like prunes. Almost black with a little purple. Prunes, or licorice! Maybe I just need to let this one grow on me, because I liked the original. They should have done Midnight in Moscow or Black Cherry Chutney or some other shimmery red-black matte.


Russian Navy - Matte. This one was a total shocker for me! Based on the pictures, it's the one I expected to like the least, but when I tried it on, it was my favorite! I love the matte Navy shade, it reminds me of blue uniforms. Sexy policeman polish. This would look so awesome with a gold or silver chrome Konad star. I really, really love this. What's odd though is that the original Russian Navy is a shimmer and this is a creme. I would have liked to see it stay shimmery cause matte shimmers rock, but I am happy with this the way it is.


You Don't Know Jacques - Matte. This one is... interesting. I like it but it is very unusual. It looks like dried mud! That's pretty cool. This does look a little better in real life, but it's still a strange choice for OPI to convert to matte. In certain lights, the matte finish on this makes it look more grey so that it resembles stones rather than mud.


The formula on these was great for mattes. Not glue-like and sticky! It was thin, but very opaque. All of these had great opacity, only two coats were needed. Near-instantaneous dry time, so be sure to apply these quickly and evenly! Please refer to my Zoya Matte Velvet post for matte application instructions. There is a trick to applying mattes. They are very unforgiving and fast drying, so you really have to be careful to get it right the first time.

I have been wearing these since yesterday and I can report a little on the wear. They don't stay matte for very long. About six hours into wearing them, they developed a more satin semi-matte finish. Not yet shiny, but not chalky matte either. You could see the matte finish starting to wear off. Today they're about the same, half-matte. No shine yet, but they lost the nice chalky-looking super matte finish. I did apply these with a basecoat- Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator. So far there is no chipping, cracking or tipwear. And I have applied hand lotion, but the shine that is added from the hand lotion is easily removed when you wash your hands.

I don't really know why the say not to use a basecoat. With these shades in particular, I would definitely recommend using them. In my matte experience, they don't tend to stain, but I would err on the side of caution if staining bothers you. I wear the basecoat because I like to always have treatment on my nails.

If you are applying basecoat, be sure that it is FULLY dry before applying the matte polish. If it isn't dry, the mate polish will crackle, just like those old Cover Girl Crackle polishes. Cool effect, but not exactly what you want to have happen.

Anyway, my thoughts. While I am super super excited that OPI did mattes and that we are seeing more mattes in general, I am somewhat disappointed in the shade selection. I already have these six polishes and if I wanted to make them matte, I could have used a matte topcoat. You can see where this would be frustrating, right? I would have loved to see six NEW shades, mattes unique to OPI. They have the ability to do great things with polish, we've seen them do great colors for years, they're just playing it extremely safe lately. Maybe it's the economy or maybe we can blame it on the boring consumer who only wants to by the most 'popular' best-selling shades instead of trying something new and exciting.

I'm going to see if I can find my original bottles of these colors and see how they compare with a coat of matte topcoat.

Also, once ALL the new mattes are in my hands (Orly and Nubar are next) I'll be doing a comparison with all the mattes I have. So stay tuned for that if you're curious.

Overall, I'm happy about these. The promo pictures were also deceiving, and I am absolutely shocked at how much I love Russian Navy Matte. It always seems to happen that way- I pick favorites and least favorites based on the promo pictures and advertisements and then I end up liking the exact opposite.