Vinyl Deborah Lippmann

Vinyl Deborah Lippmann is a new collection from the celebrity manicurist that brought us the amazing cult colors Bitches Brew, Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Brown Eyed Girl. Carried exclusively at Bath & Body Works, this collection is named after Lippmann's new album of cover songs, Vinyl, where she covers songs that were originally recorded on, you guessed it, vinyl.

Inspired by women who are once again discovering the joy of bright, eccentric polish colors (that's me!), she decided to rework popular colors from the 80s and 90s with a modern, wearable twist. All the shades are named after songs on her album and 10 of them will become permanent. Twice a year an assortment of Limited Edition colors will be released, reflecting the seasonal fashion trends. Call Me, You Give Love a Bad Name and Beautifully Obvious are all LE neon colors.

I am sad to report that as much as I wanted to love these polishes and send you all out to your local Bath & Body Works to hunt down this line, I just can't give them my seal of approval. I was honestly disappointed in every way by the two Vinyl colors I was able to test. Let me break it down for you.

Packaging: While the bottles are sleek and adorably tiny, they are completely impractical. The cap is uncomfortable to hold and the neck holding the brush is way too short. The brush starts right under the cap, making it near impossible to control application. And the small size of the bottle makes it difficult to get the correct amount of polish on the brush. Basically, it was a nightmare trying to get anything resembling an even coat of lacquer on my nails or the nail art wheel.

Formula/Color: While I found Fade to Black to be highly pigmented, it only needed one coat, the formula just wasn't what I would expect from a Lippmann polish. It was similar to Zoya but didn't flow as nicely. I'm sure it's because this line and all the new Lippmann collection polishes are free of toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate. That tends to make most lacquers a bit thicker and trickier to spread. You Give Love a Bad Name is a bit thinner and sheerer which made it better to apply but the sheerness didn't go away with 3 coats. And while the gold shimmer makes this a very wearable neon pink, it's not a stand out shade.

Price/Value: Do I think that the original Lippmann Collection is high priced? Abso-freakin-lutely! But, as frugal as I am, I don't mind plunking down $15 for one of those polishes. Because I am guaranteed that the formula will be top notch, the pigmentation will be what I expect and the shade will be unique. So when I see an $8.50 price tag on an awkwardly shaped bottle that is less than half the size of most polishes (.2 fl oz) I cannot, I repeat CANNOT, justify spending my hard earned money on any of these.

What I can recommend is the spring line from the original Lippmann Collection. A set of 4 elegant, skin toned shades, the colors are How Far Is Heaven, Baby Love, You Can Leave Your Hat On and Fashion. Inspired by chic, refined fashions such as white linen shirts, nude chiffon dresses and sheer pink blouses, there is bound to be a color that suits your skin tone.

I was able to test Fashion and while I don't know that it suits me at this very pale moment in time, I could see me wearing this when self-tanning season is in full swing.

Here are a couple of pics of my swatch tests. Let me know what you think. Has anyone else tried Vinyl Deborah Lippmann? Share your review with the group!

Essie Starting Over Collection

New for Spring 2007 from Essie, the Starting Over collection. I guess Orly and Essie are both going through bad breakups. Though while Orly's names were more humourous, Essie took a more empowering approach.


I saw this collection at my local Trade Secret over the weekend. They're very pretty shades, nothing that I need to have but, great staple colors for beginning collector.


The shades (l-to-r): E-nuff is E-nuff, My Way, Pinking Up The Pieces, Red-y Set Ex, Starter Wife, Wife Goes On.

OPI Garden Party Collection

For all your spring sheer needs, OPI expands their SoftShades line with the Garden Party collection. With delicate pink, white and beige tones Garden Party seems to have something for everyone.

As a reformed sheer hater I can appreciate the need for these type of colors. They're just not my cup of tea. My favorite OPI Sheer is Passion. It's a perfect, clean, pink sheer for my nails.

The colors (l-to-r): Hearts & Tarts, No Bees Please, Funny Bunny, Just Tea-sing!, I'll Take the Cake!, Mod Hatter

So, what do you all think of these colors? What are your favorite OPI SoftShades colors?

Misa Love Connections

I'm way late in posting these pics due to my break. Love Connections was meant for Valentine's Day but I think the colors translate well for spring as well. Also these colors are made with Misa's new formula using nanotechnology to make the polish adhere to the nail better and last longer.

When I was swatching the colors on my nail, I definitely noticed a difference from the old Misa formula I'm used to. In my opinion, this new formula is much thicker and more difficult to apply. I had a lot of difficulty getting my coats smooth due to the thickness of the polish. I found that I needed to remove a LOT of polish from my brush before applying in order to get a good result. In fact, I needed to redo these swatches just to get them presentable for you all.

I have to say that Ur Beautiful is my favorite shade in the bunch. It works really well with my skin tone and is a color I don't have in a creme finish. Unfortunately because all the polishes are cremes the shades aren't extremely unique but they are opaque and very pretty. Since I don't have a lot of cremes, these will fit nicely into my collection but there aren't any I would call "must haves."

I plan to do an experiment comparing this new formula to the old Misa formula in terms of durability. I hope to have the results for you all in the next few weeks.

Orly Divorcee Collection

OMG you guys, this collection is totally cracking me up. It's obvious that Orly has a great sense of humor with this new Divorcee collection. The color names and tag line are priceless.

"Some romances don't last forever" No kidding! It's about time someone said it. Over a year ago a good friend of mine had a "Divorce Party" to celebrate her re-entry into the dating scene. It puzzled some people but I loved the idea and the party was an absolute blast. It was a celebration for her and for all the people that stood by her during that really rough period.

Even if you're not going through a divorce (knock on wood), I'm sure you know someone that is or has. I'll bet they get a kick out receiving one of these totally fun colors, if only for the names alone.

I Must Be Mad

I have to be at least a little bit crazy. I don't doubt that the employee at my local Trade Secret thinks so. I decided to stop by tonight because I heard that some stores, not necessarily Trade Secrets, already have the OPI Australian collection for sale.

I walked in and much to my dismay, no Australian collection. They did have the new Essies out and some of the OPI Brights are on clearance but no Aussies. I decided to ask about the collection, in case they had received it but not put it out. Sure enough, it was sitting back in the salon area all ready for the February 7th launch. I asked if I could take pictures of them and even though she looked completely confused by the request, she pulled out the display and let me snap some shots. I told her I was writing an online article but all she wanted to know is if she'd get in trouble.

A few customers came in while I was taking pictures so I apologize for the poor quality. I didn't want to monopolize the counter and block the register so I did the best I could in fluorescent lighting. I can only imagine what those ladies thought when they walked in the store and saw some loon taking pictures of polish.

Here are some close ups of each row with labels.

NOTD: Creative Hyper Fresh

I'm continuing with my "Dare Week." I was dared to do a white creme but I don't own any of those so I chose Creative Hyper Fresh from their new Optix collection for spring.

As much as I initially hated the color on me, I'm warming up to it by day 2. I think the opalescence is the saving grace. It's just so weird to look down and see such a light color on my nails. It's so not me and everyone I know has told me so. Especially my significant other. He likes my tips with brights, reds and vampy colors.

The only real downside of this polish is in the application. It was very streaky and somewhat goopy. It took me 3 coats to get the color even and then I still wasn't happy with the end result. I can see problems with my mani that I'm sure aren't noticeable to the general observer. This not at all what I've come to expect from Creative. I hope the rest of this line is different. Maybe I just got a bad bottle or didn't roll it long enough.

I've been seeing a lot of mixed reactions to the Optix line. Some are embracing the pastels and 80's vibe of it. One person mentioned the Golden Girls and I immediately flashed on those pastel ensembles Don Johnson donned on Miami Vice. I know he's worn all of the colors in this collection at least once during its' run.

The others aren't necessarily having negative reactions to the collection, more of a "Meh." I think for a lot of serious polish fiends, like myself, we're at the point of only wanting truly unique colors. When your collection gets above the 100 mark, it's understandable to not want yet another pink shimmer or red creme.

I can honestly say that I don't have a polish in my collection that looks anything like Aqua Jet or Cosmic Coral. Blue Nirvana is could be Creative Jiggy's twin except that Blue Nirvana is much more opaque. For me, that's a wonderful thing. I've always love the color of Jiggy but it's sheerness turns me off.

So, after having a couple days to see the collection, what are your thoughts? What do you think of Hyper Fresh on me? Be honest!

Creative Optix Collection

*inserts foot in mouth* Alright, I was wrong, the new Creative collection isn't a redux of Spring 2006. I know that no company would be stupid enough to do that. Give me a little slack though, the pics I saw online weren't that great. And, seeing them on a nail display makes a HUGE difference.

The only color I don't have to show you is Milky Way, the iridescent lilac and I didn't have enough open spaces on my nail display to show you Hyper Fresh. Though I doubt it would translate well.

I would like to thank Red PR for providing me with samples.

For comparison, here is a pic I took last year of some of the Creative Spring colors.

Creative Nail Design Spring 2007 - Optix

There isn't a lot of info to be found about Creative's spring line. These few pictures are the best I could do. Optix is the name of the new collection but to be honest, they might want to call it "Spring 2006: Part II" Some of these new colors look like they're just a deeper version of what we saw last year. I'm just hoping they're more opaque. Especially the green. You know I'll have to have it.

Top Row (l-r): Milky Way: a lilac patina, Cosmic Coral: an edgy peach shimmer, Hyper Fresh: an opalescent white



Bottom Row (l-r): Aqua Jet: an opal mint lustre, Blue Nirvana: a translucent periwinkle, Pink Chrome: an opalescent pink

For comparison purposes, this was last spring's collection.

I found an interview with Jan Nordstrom-Arnold, co-founder and style director of Creative Nail Design, on the Gulf News website. In it, she comments on the upcoming trends in nails.

Spring: The collections have layered, sheer fabrics in pastels with translucent undertones. To complement these we have nail colours such as cosmic coral, blue Nevada, which is great with jeans, a soft luminescent lilac called Milky Way, aqua green and pink chrome. Hems are shorter and necklines are higher, so the accent is on legs and perfectly polished toenails are important. There is also a trend for a futuristic look which will see longer nails with a metallic silver or gold tip and Swarovski crystals on the nails.

Summer: The little white dress is big. We have designed longer almond shaped white eyelet lace nails and marblising effects to go with the dress. Glittering gold nails will be big and we have experimented with crocodile prints with metallic chocolate brown on gold. Lavishly decorated feet will also be the trend in summer 2007. Red, fuchsia and gold are the main colours of the season.

Autumn/winter: The attitude of the season is imperial anarchy or a London punk rock look with a regal touch. There is a lot of plaid with metallic undertones. Our palette for the season includes burgundy with bronze undertones, anthracite metallic, copper pearl, royal purple, metallic burgundy and fuchsia.

Full article

OPI Designer Series Comparison Pics

Here are some comparion pics of the new Designer Series polishes. Just trying to save you all a few dollars in case you already own some of these.


To my eye, Amethyst is a bit more pink than Sand-erella and has way more holo bling.

Glamour is truly unique and I couldn't think of a color combination that would come close. The burple (bluish-purple) base is very unique.

Passion is more rose toned than Elegance. I thought for sure that they'd be twins. Passion is definitely a more muted pink than Elegance. As much as I was initially unimpressed with it, I'm now happy to have it based on this comparison.

Desire is Design's darker, more bronze, winterish sibling. Because of the amount of holographic shimmer in Desire, it's hard to catagorize it as a warm or cool color. The base is definitely warm but when the light isn't causing the holo to show off it's rainbow beauty, the shimmer looks silver.

For anyone that hasn't tried this line, the glitter is as smooth as the diamond dust formula is to apply. I love that it's easy to remove and doesn't give you that nails on a chalkboard feeling as you rub it off, like with a lot of glitter polishes.

OPI Designer Series *New Colors*

I have to leave for Columbus but I wanted to leave you all with some new pretties to stare at. There are the new Designer Series polishes from OPI and they're HOLOGRAPHIC!! Just like the original 12. Love them! Glamour will definitely be the first one I use.

Colors (l-r): Amethyst, Passion, Desire, Glamour

Orly Color I.D. 2

Orly has introduced another Color I.D. collection; colors that are supposed to "beautify and enhance natural skin tones."

The colors are (l-r): Truly Tangerine, Fabulous Flamingo, Lovely Lilac, Precisely Poppy, Beautiful Blush and Wonderful Wisteria

I've always considered myself light medium/medium but that lilac color does not appeal to me at all. I've tried lilacs before and they make me look deathly. Maybe they should have split the collection into two parts, one for warm skin tones and one for cool skin tones. I love to wear corals like Precisely Poppy but, that's because I'm warm. I don't know that the same color would work on a cool skin tone.

What do you think of the shade meant for your skin tone?

Misa Spring '07 - Love Connections

Love Connections is the name of Misa's newest collection for spring and as you can see from the picture (click for full size image), it's definitely got that Valentine's Day vibe. I believe it will be released by the end of January, just in time for your V-day manis.

Looking at the bottle pics up close, it looks like they're all cremes but we'll just have to wait and see. As much as I love my glitter and sparkle, the gloss of a great creme looks classy. Does anyone remember the old Fancy Feast commercials where you just saw a hand petting a fluffy white Persian? The image of the red nails on that hand is so vivid in my mind that every time I wear a red creme I want to run my hands through my cat's fur. And not in some creepy cat lady way.

The colors: (l-r) Row 1 - Ur Too Sweet, Baby I Love You, Row 2 - Kiss Me Now, You're Beautiful, Row 3 - Be My Lover, Muah..Ur Too Delicious.

Photo courtesy of Misa Cosmetics.

While I'm immediately drawn the berry goodness of You're Beautiful, I think I'll have to get Muah..Ur Too Sweet for the name alone. I tend to shy away from orange based reds but the name, OMG the name. Misa, Muah..Ur Too Cute!!

Also, with the introduction of these new colors comes a new formula. Misa will be using nanotechnology in this new line and eventually converting all their polishes to it. To quote Misa on how this technology will affect the polish...

Nanotechnology allows us to create products that are easier to use (apply and remove) that provide long-lasting, superior results. Nanotechnology eliminates many of the problems associated with conventional products—including higher abrasion resistance, finally improves the wear.

It provides a smoother, more even surface, allowing light to reflect evenly, Conventional Nail Polish create a less even surface, which causes swirl marks on the surface of nails Nanotechnology improves the performances of the Nail Polish:

1. Ease of Application
2. High Gloss
3. Higher Abrasion Resistance
4. Improvement Stability

I certainly am looking forward to testing out this new formula and seeing how it stands up against the traditional Misa formula.

Essie Spring '07

Even though I'm not an Essie fan, in the interest of fairness to all brands, I present their spring collection. I must admit, I do like the Mod theme they have going on and I'll probably pick up a bottle of Guchi Muchi Puchi & Pinkadelic for the names alone.

Anyone that was disappointed with last years brights will be a happy camper this year.

And, can I get that bottle-heeled shoe? That would get me to rush to the stores.



Names are (l-r): Cool Lots, Guchi Muchi Puchi, Jackie Oh My, Mini How High, Mod Squad, Pinkadelic