Reswatch: Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle

I didn't feel like my last post of this polish did it justice. I don't think these photos do either, but I figured since I gave it a shot, I'd go ahead and post! Razzle Dazzle consists of 2 sizes of very small magenta hex glitters in a dark berry jelly base. 3 coats, plus 1 coat of Gelous.

I. Love. This. Polish. And I'm sure I've told you before of my distaste for pink, but this is just fantastic.

Bummer that Lippmanns are so expensive, because they are truly awesome (aside from Wicked Game).

So yeah. Not much to say today. I'm going to go take a nap. Have you tried Razzle Dazzle? What were your thoughts on it?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!

Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game

Alright. You ready for another sheer disappointment??? No? Oh well, neither was I.

Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game was released in Winter 2009, along with Happy Birthday, if I recall correctly. It's a purple/pink-green duochrome in a sheer grey base that you may have seen before, because it's really not all that unique. I think the grey-purple-green thing is probably the most common color combination for duochromes........before we get to swatches, let's drool over the colors in the bottle. It looks so cool!!

Don't trust the bottle. This is 4 coats, in the shade.

Let's pretend that I did a good job cleaning up this manicure, and let's also pretend that there wasn't any VNL after four coats. In sunlight:

I was quite concerned about the brushstrokes I saw while the polish was wet, but they pretty much completely disappear once dried. You can see the green at the sides there. Here are some awkward angled shots in the shade, so you can see the shift:

It's not that bad. The shift is pretty cool, I just think for $16, the opacity should be much much better. Mind you, the application was good and I didn't have to deal with an obnoxiously long dry time.

I think the part that bugs me the most is the fact that there's a $2 dupe for this $16 polish: Wet n Wild Grey's Anatomy, from the Fast Dry line. Luckily, this polish is one that I borrowed from my mother's stash, so it's not actually mine. :P I am just really disappointed because I've got a few Lippmanns of my own, and they set my expectations pretty high. They're fantastic.

I think next time I'll try layering this over a lavender or light grey creme. Hopefully that won't totally kill the color shift.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Rants about high-end polish?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and enjoy the rest of your week!

Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers

Here's another one from my Top 20 post that I did at the end of December. Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers is comprised of small red hex glitter and big red glitter suspended in a black jelly base. In order to conserve the glitter polish, I layered 2 coats of Ruby Red Slippers over 1 coat of Sinful Colors Black on Black. Since it's a glitter polish, Ruby Red Slippers did dry with some texture, but it wasn't too bad. Here it is without any Gelous or top coat:

Still pretty shiny, despite the texture. Of course, it's even better with 2 coats of Gelous to smooth it out.

The glitter is a pretty interesting color. I figured it was a neutral red, but whenever it catches the light, the glitter turns this bright, fiery orange-red.

Man, I love this color. I know there are dupes out there, but this one was a present, so I like this one best.

Thanks for looking!

Hard Candy Envy + Comparison

Hard Candy Envy is a blackened emerald shimmer. In some lights it does look black, but the green shimmer is vibrant and almost always visible. It took 2 coats for opacity.

This was actually one of the colors that started my polish addiction a little over a year ago. I love green, I love dark colors, and I love shimmers, so this is pretty much perfect for me.

I read somewhere that Envy is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann Don't Tell Mama, so I thought I'd swatch the Lippmann next time I went to Nordstrom. Here they are side by side, 2 coats of Envy vs. 2 coats of Don't Tell Mama:

Not quite dupes, but very close. Honestly, the differences you can see in this photo aren't all that visible in person. I kept forgetting which fingers had which polish on, but you can see here that the Lippmann is more of a dark teal shimmer than green, and it looks like there's a bit more blue in its base color. Envy just has a black base.

Thanks for looking!

Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle

Thought I'd give you a closer look at one of my Top 20 polishes! Razzle Dazzle is magenta glitter in a dark raspberry jelly base, and it is nothing short of spectacular. It's sparkly and glossy and has loads of depth. It needs 3 coats for opacity, but it also has the typical smooth, self-leveling, quick-drying Lippmann formula. This is how it looks whenever you're inside or in indirect light:

In sunlight, the glitter is much more visible, and you can see the true depth of this polish. By the way, despite the density of the glitter, it only required one coat of Gelous to be completely smooth!

And here's a macro:

So awesome. And this is one of the Lippmanns that hasn't been duped yet!

Thanks for looking!