Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid Collection

Earlier this year my Mum and Dad took a trip to America. I only asked for 5 things. The Sephora Disney Jasmine nail polish set and the 4 new Deborah Lippmann Mermaid polishes.  Luckily these weren't too hard for my parents to find in New York.

On to the swatches!

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream - Sunshine

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream - Shade

Mermaid's Dream is the original Mermaid Polish, released before the other four, back in 2012.  I picked this up while on holiday last October in America.  It matched the dress I wore to my brother-in-law's wedding, which was in Toronto last October.  This swatch is three coats, which apply easily. It is a teal green glitter packed polish, with golden micro-shimmer.  It looks like it is gritty and bumpy, but with one thick coat of top coat, is as smooth as a regular polish.

The next four polishes were released as the summer 2013 Mermaid's collection.

Deborah Lippmann Do the Mermaid - Shade

Deborah Lippmann Do the Mermaid - Sunshine

This is a lilac version of Mermaid's Dream.  A light lilac base, with darker purple glitter and golden micro shimmer.  Again this is 3 coats.

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Kiss - Sunshine

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Eyes - Shade

Mermaid's  Kiss is the pink version in this collection. The gold shimmer in this one is a lot more obvious, and actually looks like bigger bits of glitter instead of the shimmer in the other polishes.  It still has a rose pink base, with darker pink glitter.  This is three coats.

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Eyes - Sunshine

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Eyes - Shade

Mermaid's Eyes is the odd one out from this collection.  The base and the glitter colour are a lot closer in colour, with the base colour being darker than the other polishes in this collection.  It still contains the darker glitter pieces and the golden micro shimmer, but they don't show up as much on the nail. 

Deborah Lippmann Million Dollar Mermaid - Shade

Fortunately the sun decided to disappear when I was swatching the last polish in this set.  Million Dollar Mermaid is the orange/peach version in this collection.  The base on this one is quite light and the golden shimmer is quite present (although not as much as in Mermaid's Kiss).  This is three coats.

I love this collection. Even 6 months later it is still unique in my collection.  The biggest problem is that Deborah Lippmann polishes are not sold in New Zealand.  However this website does ship them to New Zealand, and has regular sales.

Lots of Love
Lisa

Monday, October 28, 2013

I am back from Holiday - with a Haul picture

I just spent 2 weeks with the husband in Hawaii and it was pretty amazing.  I love the Big Island of Hawaii, and the shopping in Waikiki.

We did all the touristy things including helicopter rides, Pearl Harbour, The Dole Pineapple plantation, Snorkelling and lots of shopping.

I even got to swim with dolphins!

(I can not for the life of me figure out why blogger is turning my pictures sideways)

We don't have a Sephora in New Zealand, so I spent quite a bit of time in there (my husband hates it, but does appreciate the free wifi the stores have). I bought 14 of the new Formula X for Sephora  polishes to try out.

All up my total polish haul was 56 bottles, which for me is very restrained. This included 7 Deborah Lippmanns (and the Wicked set - which I saw three weeks ago in Auckland), 8 Butter Londons and 10 China Glazes.

Unfortunately my nails didnt survive the holiday very well. I am now trying out NailTek II - intensive therapy in a bid to try and save them.  Fingers crossed this treatment works.

Lots of love
Lisa

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Ruby Wing Spring Garden Collection


 
The Ruby Wing Spring Garden was released mid 2013 and is a collection of six colour changing polishes that are also scented. Today I have four of this collection to show you.

Ruby Wing Cut Grass - Inside

Ruby Wing Cut Grass - Sunshine

Cut grass is a pastel green that changes to a darker dustier green in the sunshine.  While it doesn't actually smell like fresh cut glass (which the Ruby Wing website says it does), it does smell nice.  To be honest it smells like my shampoo, it is floral scented, but I cant figure out like what flower, either way it smells nicer than grass. This is two coats and the polish applies like a dream. It is not streaky at all.

Ruby Wing Fresh Linen - Inside

Ruby Wing Fresh Linen - Sunshine

This is three coats. It has the thinnest formula of this collection and unfortunately does leave streaks on the nail. This one smells fruity - a lot like lemon, but a clean flowery lemon scent.  This one changes from a shimmery slightly frosty white into a light yellow colour.

Ruby Wing Poppy - Inside

Ruby Wing Poppy - Sunshine

Poppy is a vibrant pink jelly (although not quite as neon as the above picture suggests) which changes into a deeper burgundy colour in the sun.  This is two coats which apply perfectly for full coverage. This one smells rose scented, although I suspect it is actually poppy scented.

Ruby Wing Sunflower - Inside

Ruby Wing Sunflower - Sunshine

Sunflower is the glittery polish in this collection. It is a clear base packed full of gold micro glitter. This one is interesting because the glitter doesn't change colour in the sun, but the base it is in changes from clear into a bright yellow base, which makes the glitter look yellower and more golden.  This is three coats and I was surprised to see that it did actually provide good coverage in those three coats.  This one also smells flowery and shampoo like, although I am pretty sure its not the same scent that sunflowers have.

All in all I am happy with the four polishes I have from this collection and absolutely love that they combined colour changing polishes with scented polishes.  I was wearing Cut Grass all day today, however didn't really get time to get outside (and it was horrible) weather, so I didn't actually get to see it do its magical colour change.

Lots of Love
Lisa

These polishes were provided to me for review.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Naughty Night Shift Nurse

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Naughty Night Shift Nurse was a special polish designed for Kirsty from The Polish Haven for her birthday as a gift from her friends and released in June 2013.  Originally 100 bottles were made, and sold like crazy.  Last month though, Pretty Serious released another 100 unnumbered bottles of Naughty Night Shift Nurse. And I managed to get one!

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Naughty Night Shift Nurse - Natural Light



This is three coats. It is quite a thin polish.  It is a duochrome fuchsia with lighter iridescent flakies.
It is purple and red duochrome base with added blue shimmer that also changes to orange in the right light, with pink flakies. This is a pretty complex polish, I mean flakies and duochromatic in one bottle!

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Naughty Night Shift Nurse
This picture was taken underwater to show the colour shifts

The Polish Haven actually swatched this over black, and it makes the polish appear a lot more purple, so I am thinking of trying it out that way.  As it is not really 'me' in this form.

My sister is a nurse and I'm wondering if she would appreciate this one. But I am torn, because it is Limited Edition and I am a nail polish addict, and she is not.

Lots of Love
Lisa