YSL has a beautiful holiday collection this year filled with lovely metallic golds, champagne pinks and shimmery colors. I’m going to split up my reviews into two parts. First up are the Holiday La Laques ($20 each) in 139 Gold, 140 Pink Gold, 141 White Gold and two of the Holiday Golden Glosses ($30 each) in 38 Golden Champagne and 39 Golden Chestnut.
The Golden Glosses are typical YSL style and loaded with sparkle. They are on the sheer side and have the signature YSL gloss scent – sweet and like candy. These are non-gritty and smooth in texture. If you bought any of the Golden Glosses from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (#31, 32 or 33) then I’d say you don’t need either of these new holiday shades. The effect is similar.
- Golden Champagne #38 is a soft pink with gold sparkle
- Golden Chestnut #39 is a warm beigey-tan with gold sparkle
Comparisons to some other Golden Glosses. For many of these I can barely tell the difference in the tube unless I look at them closely in direct sunlight. Some have a different sparkle than others. There are some with a straight gold sparkle. Others have a multi-colored sparkled infused in the gloss. There are differences in the base color as well. Some have a more transparent finish while others have a more opaque creamy finish. All are still on the sheer side. Those wondering how these compare to MAC – the YSL Golden Glosses are like Dazzleglass Cremes without the grittiness. In my opinion the YSL are much better than MAC.
This is the first time I have tried YSL’s nail polishes so I won’t be able to compare these to previous shades. All I know is their number system drives me nuts to no end. Magazines will often list the products by name while the testers at counters are all labeled by number. Many times I’ve just given up trying to match the name and numbers. The holiday nail colors are frost-finished colors with rich pigment. The finish can be streaky if you’re not careful but the coverage is just incredible. The result is a high-shine metallic, almost foil-like finish.
- Gold #139 is a pale gold frost
- Pink Gold #140 is a copper pink-gold
- White Gold #141 is like a sterling silver color (this is sheerer than the others)
The metallic nature of these polishes made it difficult to photograph. Here is one taken at an angle so you can see the color without the shine washing out all the color from the flash:
Photographed with a high flash:
Comparisons to other shades:
YSL #139 Gold Comparison Swatches:
YSL #140 Pink Gold & #141 White Gold Comparison Swatches:
Overall thoughts: I’ve been exploring YSL more and more lately. After buying several Golden Glosses I’ve found that most of them are pretty similar on the lips, so in the future I’ll probably stick to the regular non-shimmer shades. I found the Holiday Collection at Bloomingdales which only carries currently sold product, like most department stores. The other shades shown for comparison purposes have been discontinued meaning they were no where in any store to be pulled for comparison purposes.
I like the nail polishes for their excellent quality and rich pigment. I do find them a bit too metallic-y for my taste. I would have liked a more sophisticated shimmer rather than something that looks like chrome. Still I am impressed. The colors are unique and even in my extensive nail polish stash I don’t have anything quite like these holiday colors. I have Pink Gold #140 on my toes right now and I have to say it looks a lot better on the toes than the fingers.
Coming up soon: the Holiday highlighter and Gold Touche d’Or.
