Deborah Lippmann 99 Luftballons

Have you heard the news?  Deborah Lippmann is now at Sephora!  And to celebrate the monumentous occasion, Deborah Lippmann is releasing a 4 polish collection just for Sephora.  There are 3 cremes and 1 glitter polish in this new collection.

When I first heard about this collection, I rushed onto Sephora.com to order the glitter.  Meet 99 Luftballons.

I may have taken a few hundred photos of this polish, but I have narrowed it down to 8 shots to show you how this polish looks first without top coat, and then with top coat.

 no base coat, 2 coats of 99 Luftballons, no top coat

The above photograph was taken in indirect sunlight.

  no base coat, 2 coats of 99 Luftballons, no top coat

The above and below photos were taken using an Ott-lite.

  no base coat, 2 coats of 99 Luftballons, no top coat

The photo below was taken in direct sunlight.  Can you see that great glow from the glitter?

  no base coat, 2 coats of 99 Luftballons, no top coat

And now for the photos taken after top coat:

  no base coat, 2 coats of 99 Luftballons, top coat

In the above photo, you can see how the top coat helps the glitter pop from the jelly red base of the polish.

  no base coat, 2 coats of 99 Luftballons, top coat

  no base coat, 2 coats of 99 Luftballons, top coat

 no base coat, 2 coats of 99 Luftballons, top coat

So what do you think?

Now I have to mention, something that first drew me to this polish was the name.  I love it!  That used to be a song I listened to a lot when I was younger and just wearing this polish gives me a nostalgic feeling.

99 Luftballons is what we've come to expect from Deborah Lippmann: a supremely glitter-packed polish.  The red jelly base is that shade of red that almost borders on pink in certain lighting.  To get a better idea of the type of glitter and the colors held within, think of Happy Birthday with a sheer red base.

I really like this polish - it's sparkly and shiny even in low light, and the red base will make it perfect for any time (including the upcoming Holiday season).

If you want to add this polish to your collection, head over to Sephora.com and add this to your basket! And if you're a Beauty Insider, for only 100 points you can get a mini version of Happy Birthday.  If you have never tried Deborah Lippmann before, now is the time!  You can pick up any Deborah Lippmann shade, and for only 100 points you can snag her most beloved glitter!  The mini size is .27 fl. oz./8 mL, which is the same size as the mini DL's you can buy on HSN.com.  The great thing about these minis are the fact that the bottle is just a smaller version of the beautiful DL bottle, and each bottle is labeled on the bottom just like the regular sized bottles - something that I greatly appreciate!  

Now if that isn't incentive to go buy this polish, I don't know what is!

Deborah Lippmann Va Va Voom and Rolling in the Deep

Today I have two lacquers from Deborah Lippmann's Jewel Heist collection to share with you: Va Va Voom and Rolling in the Deep!

 base coat, 2 coats of Rolling in the Deep, no top coat

So first let's take a look at the creme part of this duo.  The Jewel Heist collection features 6 polishes in total.  There are 3 chunky glitter polishes, 2 cremes, and 1 micro-glitter polish.  There are 2 golden shades, 2 green shades, and 2 blue shades, where each shade has a chunky glitter polish and a corresponding creme or micro glitter polish in a similar color.

The photograph above is Rolling in the Deep against a white background with an Ott-lite lightbulb.

base coat, 2 coats of Rolling in the Deep, no top coat 

To give you a better idea of how blackened this polish is while still remaining blue in color, I also wanted to show it to you against a black background.  At first glance this polish does look black in most lighting conditions, so don't be surprised if people assume you are wearing a black polish when you have this on!

The lighting in the above photo is an Ott-lite.

 base coat, 2 coats of Rolling in the Deep, no top coat

A very interesting aspect to this deep blue creme is the fact that it has a very faint silver micro-shimmer to it.  I have tried to capture the illusive sparkle, but it is only visible around where the light reflections on each nail are.  In the photo above, on the nail second from the left (my middle finger), you can faintly see two silver specks.  This is the sparkle.  In real life you can see the sparkle better, but for the most part it is swallowed up by the deep blue creme finish.

For a better view, click the photo to make it bigger.

 base coat, 1 coat of Va Va Voom over 2 coats of Rolling in the Deep, no top coat

With the above picture, you can get a better understanding for how well these two colors pair up!

This is Va Va Voom layered over Rolling in the Deep.

 base coat, 1 coat of Va Va Voom over 2 coats of Rolling in the Deep, no top coat

Against the black background the contrast between the glitter and the creme background really pops out at you.

 base coat, 1 coat of Va Va Voom over 2 coats of Rolling in the Deep, no top coat

And one last look at the pair in indirect sunlight to see the sparkle and color contrast.

 base coat, 2 coats of Va Va Voom, top coat

Va Va Voom is the show stopper part of this duo!  This polish contains large silver hexagonal glitter and smaller (almost micro hexagonal glitter) - both of which is holographic!  All of the glitter floats in a lovely blue base.  The blue jelly finish of the base leans slightly purple, giving it a look of a dark periwinkle blue/cornflower blue.

 base coat, 2 coats of Va Va Voom, top coat

Because this polish is packed with glitter, at two coats the glitter is built up to almost complete opacity.  If you enlarge the photos by clicking on them, you can still see some spots on some of the nails where you can see through the blue jelly finish to the nail bed below.

base coat, 2 coats of Va Va Voom, top coat

This was such a beautiful color to wear that I didn't want to take it off after swatching it, so I wore it on my left hand for the rest of the evening....

Which led me to the reminder of how hard glitter polishes are to get off.  If you have used a Deborah Lippmann polish like Happy Birthday or another glitter-packed polish, you know how hard it is to get the glitter to come off your nails.  On the bright side, what that means for wear time is that this polish really lasts, so you won't have to worry about re-doing your manicure the very next day!

Another side note I'd like to add is the fact that even though I did put on a base coat (Deborah Lippmann's Turn Back Time), I still had a few patches of staining, so I would suggest doubling up your base coat before painting your nails with Rolling in the Deep.

These polishes are both beautiful additions to the Deborah Lippmann line.  Rolling in the Deep has that extra secret shimmer that is often associated with Chanel polishes, making it an extra special midnight blue hue, while Va Va Voom is a seriously sparkly blue glitter polish that is truly unique and covetable.

I purchased these two polishes as a pair on HSN.com, but you can buy these individually on Deborah Lippmann's website, or at your local Nordstrom and Sephora.

OPI Pink of Hearts 2013 Swatches and Review

Here are the two gorgeous lacquers that come in the OPI Pink of Hearts 2013 box set.

no base coat, 3 coats Pink-ing of You, no top coat

The pink shade that comes in the set is called Pink-ing of You.  It is a full coverage pink creme polish that dries with a perfect shine.  For those of you that wear polish without base and/or top coat, this polish would work well without either, and you wouldn't have to worry about staining.  I used three very thin coats because it was extremely hot inside when I was painting and I had a fan on (and heat + fan + polish = bubbles), so to avoid bubbles I tried to do the thinest coats possible.  You could achieve this coverage with two regular coats of polish.

Now I tried to consider what polish I had that was closest in shade to Pink-ing of You and I was recently gifted I Think in Pink by a dear friend, and in the bottle they look like almost the same shade of pink.  In the photo above, Pink-ing of You is on the left, I Think in Pink is on the right.

(From left to right) 3 coats Pink-ing of You, 2 coats I Think in Pink, 3 coats Pink-ing of You, 2 coats I Think in Pink

In the photograph above, you can see that one of the major differences between Pink-ing of You and I Think in Pink is the fact that I Think in Pink is sheer compared to the creme finish of Pink-ing of You.  I turned off the fan to switch to I Think in Pink, so I used 2 regular coats of polish to create the same thickness of polish comparable to the 3 thin coats of Pink-ing of You, and if you look at the above photo, the nail line is visible on my middle and pinky nails through I Think in Pink.

no base coat, 2 coats More than a Glimmer, no top coat

More than a Glimmer is described by OPI as a matte glitter polish.  The packaging also calls this polish "Limited Edition" so it is likely this polish will not come out later as a separate polish that you can purchase without having to buy a packaged set as it comes now.  This polish is very glitter packed and comes in a milky base.  Made of medium, small, and micro-sized metallic hexagonal shaped glitter in silver, pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue.  

Although I had thought the finish on this polish would be that of a jelly sandwich look - where the glitter would look as if it was sandwiched between layers of a milky white polish - because this polish is so glitter packed, you can't do more than 2 coats without the glitter starting to poke out on the top of the nail rather than lying flat.  So while the finish is a perfect matte glitter finish, the milky color is not as obvious as one might expect from just looking at the bottle.

no base coat, 1 coat More than a Glimmer over 2 coats of Pink-ing of You, no top coat

And here are the two polishes layered together.  This is almost a similar look to Deborah Lippmann's Candy Shop without the suspended glitter finish.  

If you are looking to buy the set online, look for the above package that lists this as the 2013 Pink of Hearts set.  The set also comes with 10 pink ribbon decals and 10 micro nail crystals that you can add to top off your new polished look.

Overall I'd say the matte glitter polish is a great creation by OPI, something unique that will definitely appeal to the nail polish aficionado.  The pink is a nice neutral creme polish but is nothing unique, so if you have light pink creme polishes in your collection it is likely you will already have a similar shade of polish in your stash.

Hearts for the 4th

Instead of stars and stripes, how about some hearts on your nails for the fourth of July?

This isn't a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, but now that you have all of those new texture polishes, what are you supposed to do with them?  Well, layering them over a jelly creates a nice effect for a start.

For this manicure you will need a red, a white, and a blue textured polish.  For a background color, I found a gray to be best - it's grungy enough to complement the unusual textures, while the translucency of the shade makes it soft enough to be combined with hearts.  Used here was Zoya Pixie Dust color Chyna for the red, Sally Hansen Sugar Coat in Sugar Fix for the white, and Nails Inc Denim Effect in Bermondsey (this last color is from the kit from Sephora, which is also apparent by the fact that the lid is silver and does not have the appealing denim-covered cap that the nail polish in the UK seems to have).  For the gray I used OPI in My Pointe Exactly.  Not pictured, you will also need a heart-shaped hole punch which can be found at your local craft store, such as Michael's.

For the first step, just paint on two to three coats of the jelly background polish, followed by a quick-drying top coat.  I used two coats here, but if the weather is hot where you are, go slow and use really thin coats to try to minimize bubbling that seems to happen especially when it is hot but also when you layer on thicker coats.  

Technically, Step 2 has a part A and a part B.  For the first part, part A, cut medium strips of painters tape and stick on a piece of thick cardstock, like an index card (shown here).  It makes it easier to remove and hole punch if you place each piece of tape close to an edge of the card where the hole punch can reach, and then if you leave about a quarter of an inch of tape off the side of the card, then you can easily peel it up after you have punched your hearts.

Also, since you are going to need ten hearts, it is likely you will need two index cards (or other piece of cardstock) unless you want to try to overlap a new piece of tape on an area of the cardstock you already punched a heart on.

Now for Part B of Step 2, cut each strip of tape into sections depending on how many hearts you have on each strip of tape so you have a separate heart for each nail.  Placing a heart directly in the center of your nail each time may be a little difficult to do for some, so instead of trying to place the heart directly in the center of your nail, place it towards the top or bottom of your nail.  Because painter's tape is more flexible and malleable than scotch clear tape, you can push down around the edges of your nail to get a feel for exactly where the heart is on your nail.

After smoothing down the piece of tape, paint on one coat of your chosen color of nail polish.  For texture polishes, I found it easier to show off the texture to its best advantage by brushing a few times in one direction on the nail, than brushing in a perpendicular direction on the nail.  This may lift off a bit of the polish, but it also brings the texture to the forefront of the layered polish and also makes sure you have enough polish on the nail so you don't have to do a second coat.  After quickly painting on the polish, immediately pull off the tape before the layered polish begins to dry, so you don't have any stringy edges of polish attempting to adhere to the tape rather than your nail.

Once you have painted a heart on all of your nails, you will have reached Step 3.

Step 3 is to simply let your nails dry without putting any top coat on top of your nails and thereby reducing your textured look, since the point is to have the texture stand out as best as possible.

So here you can see I did a pattern of one red nail, one white, and two blue.  My thumb would also be red, so only the white polish would have been used once for each hand.

What do you think of this use for your textured polishes?  Have you already used hole punches and tape to create easy to do nail art?  If you don't have a heart-shaped hole punch near you, you can refer to this tutorial, where I began by making hearts without a hole punch.  Scroll down to Step 2 to see how to make a heart without using a hole punch if you have trouble making the heart look even.  It was a comment on that tutorial that made me consider going out and buying a heart shaped hole punch, and as you can see, I caved and bought one!

So what are you wearing on your nails for the Fourth of July?  And if you don't live in the United States or don't celebrate this holiday, would you still try this easy nail art on your nails?  Would you use textured polish for it?

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy nail painting with painter's tape!

I'm Still Here!

As a blogger, I post less often than most of the blogs I follow do.  But I'm not stopping.  You'll just have to find me through a different means than Google Reader (if you used it).  I, like many others, have switched over to Bloglovin'.

This link should help you find me there if that is your preferred blog reading method:
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I am also now on Twitter.

And I think I'm in love.

(With Twitter, FYI.  Sadly, no human person of interest right now.  But alas, at least I have nail polish!)

So you'll find me there now for any quick little post or update that will not be a full blog post.

You can find me on Twitter:
Cyan @BlueTapeNails

Speaking of Twitter, have you seen this little link from Zoya?

(image taken from http://zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com)

Grab yours while you can still get one!

Happy Nail Polishing with Blue Tape!

Nails Inc Beaded Polish

Are you loving the textured polish trend?  If so, Nails Inc is catering to you with their newest line of textured polishes.  Called "Beaded Polish" there are currently four colors available on the Sephora website and four colors available on the Nails Inc website.  Nails Inc has the royal blue shade called Chancery Lane that unfortunately Sephora does not have. Similarly, Sephora has the black shade Embankment while the Nails Inc website does not show that color.

I ordered three of the colors online since these do not seem to be available in stores yet.  Let's take a look at the first color that is exclusive to Sephora.

2 coats, Embankment, no top coat, no base coat

 1 coat, Embankment, no top coat, no base coat

This next polish is listed as "Mint" on Sephora's website.  I'm not sure if that is meant to describe the color, but I would not call this polish mint.  It is that shade of blue-green that is on the boarder of both.  It is a pastel too, so it makes it even harder to determine which shade it falls under.  And now let's examine Covent Garden.

 2 coats, Covent Garden, no top coat, no base coat

The above photo is more true to color than the way the polish looks in the photo below.

  1 coat, Covent Garden, no top coat, no base coat

I tried adding top coat to one of the polishes to see how it changed the polish finish, and it does give it a bit of a shiny effect that isn't there when the polish dries.

 2 coats, Covent Garden, top coat, no base coat

 And now for the last polish I purchased from this collection: Belgravia.  Belgravia is aptly described by Sephora's website as "Buff".  The color is off-white, almost creme.  With white and silver glitter inside, the white glitter changes the polish, making the final image look white, when it is not.

  2 coats, Belgravia, no top coat, no base coat

1 coat, Belgravia, no top coat, no base coat

The below photo has been color adjusted to show the true color better.  Above the polish really does look white, but if you get the chance to see this polish in person, the white glitter in the polish is brighter, starker, and whiter than the liquid it floats in.

So that concludes this review of the Nails Inc Beaded Polishes.  The effect they are meant to achieve - an "all in one" textured polish does come across well.  Though for people that only like to paint on one coat of polish, this will probably not translate well.  Different from the Sugar, Sand, Pixie Dust, etc. types of polish that seem to have sugar or embossing powder dropped into the polish, the highest point of texture seems to come from tiny micro beads that are clear (or they are at least clear in both Belgravia and Covent Garden).  The off-white shade, Belgravia , seems to be the most unique of the bunch because not only does it include two sizes of silver glitter as the other two do, but it also includes white glitter.  All glitter seems to be hexagonal in shape, and the silver glitter included isn't a boring simple silver, but shines multiple hues of the rainbow like holographic glitter.

If you were not a fan of those glitters that felt like they had sand in them, you might want to try these instead, because although they can easily build up to be overly bumpy, if you have a light hand when polishing and only put down thin coats of polish, this will give you texture that doesn't look like you dipped your hands in dirt before the polish was dry.  

I am really loving the pastels in this collection, and I hope we eventually get Chancery Lane at Sephora.  The last color in the collection is a red shade called Hampstead.  It is described by Sephora as being a "coral" shade, so if you like corals, that might be the perfect color for you to try.  

Nails Inc Feathers Collection

Was this your most anticipated Spring Collection of Nail Polishes?  The promo pictures sure were intriguing!  Bright colors, densely packed, and smaller than normal bar glitter makes these polishes stand out from the crowd!  And now the collection is out and available at your local Sephora store.

 Edinburgh (2 coats), base coat, no top coat

When the promo pictures first came out Edinburgh was not one of the original colors shown.  Instead, Chester was the color that most people that got press samples were given.  I guess Nails Inc wanted people to go to their website to pick up that color?  Either way, I am glad to have Edinburgh.  The pale blue and peach fine bar glitter is a great combination.  It's pale enough to be perfect for Spring and colorful enough to be perfect for the coming Summer months.

 

Cornwall (2 coats), base coat, no top coat

Cornwall is probably the boldest color-combination of the collection.  The stark white against the royal blue is a fun combination to wear - because of the fine quality of the bar glitter, from far away this polish looks like you're wearing speckled white and blue polish on your nails.

 OPI Eurso Euro (2 coats), Cornwall (on accent nail, 2 coats), base coat, top coat

The dark blue glitter in Cornwall matches a lot of blue-toned polishes that have come out in the last year.  One such color combination is OPI Eurso Euro and Cornwall.

 York (2 coats), base coat, no top coat

The lightest color-combination of these four polishes in this collection, York incorporates the same shade of peach glitter that is in Edinburgh, but against the white the orange glitter looks brighter.
Maybe because the orange is relatively similar in shade to white rather than the deep blue in Cornwall, the overall effect of this polish is a peach sheen - from far away, the polish looks like shades of orange rather than a stark white and bright orange combo.

 Brighton (2 coats), base coat, no top coat

At my local Sephora, this color is the one that has sold out, and it is not surprising it is popular!  Described as "teal and yellow" bar glitter on the Sephora website, this is the punch of spring-turning-to-summer every nail polish collection needs.

 (From left to right:) Floam, Brighton, Floam, Brighton (all 2 coats each), Elmer's Glue base coat, no top coat

The overall color-combination of Floam looks darker and greener than Brighton.  Because Floam is made up of tiny particles rather than little rectangles, it covers the full nail bed more thoroughly than Brighton.  (If you enlarge the photograph above, you can see the blank spaces in Brighton appear more prominent than those in Floam.)

 Brighton and Edinburgh (3 coats), base coat, top coat

To see if I could achieve the same look that Chester has, I layered one coat of Edinburgh over one coat of Brighton, then topped it with a thin coat of Brighton to blend the two color together a bit more.  The combination does not come off the same as Chester because Chester is only made up of pale blue, peach, and yellow glitters (there is no teal glitter like there is in this layered combination above). 

NYX Hieroglyphics (middle and pinky fingers, 1 coat), Cornwall (index and ring fingers, 1 coat)

All layered over OPI Ogre the Top Blue (2 coats), base coat, no top coat

The photograph above is meant to show a comparison of "regular" bar glitters compared to the bar glitters in the Nails Inc Feathers polishes.  Most glitter polishes with bar glitters contain large pieces that are often considered "hairy" in terms of glitter polishes.  Not only are normal bar glitter polishes filled with larger pieces of glitter, but the glitter in those other polishes are less dense than than the Feathers bar glitter polishes.


So now that you've seen the whole collection, what do you think of it?  I really like the attention to details on the bottles: the color-coordinated birds on each cap that match the color of the glitter in the bottle is a great detail.  The color choices are nice, but I know I've already picked out my favorite of the bunch.

Unfortunately there is at least one down side to the polishes; because they are made of glitter they are impossible to remove without a ton of scrubbing with an acetone-based remover.  This is the standard for any glitter polish, so this comes as no surprise.

There are already duplicates that are showing up in the nail polish market (like the Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat polishes), and at a better (lower) price.  On that note, I would like to mention the fact that I am so happy these polishes were the same price as the rest of the Nails Inc core line at Sephora.   I think this may be one of the only mainstream lines that did not increase their prices on their Spring collection.