This year Deborah Lippmann and Juicy Couture have teamed up to create some beautiful holiday nail polish sets. Temptalia offered a sneak peek in early August (see her website for details on the full lineup). Yesterday I saw the two nail trios on display at a Juicy Couture boutique. I picked up the Precious Metals Trio ($48) which includes three metallic shades encased in a small pink box:
- Believe – an opalescent silver gold metallic
- Here Comes the Queen – a Juicy Couture/Deborah Lippmann shade exclusive, a sheer glittery gold sparkle
- Jewel in the Crown – a Juicy Couture/Deborah Lippmann shade exclusive, a shimmering highly metallic pewter
The colors in the Precious Metals set have a slightly different packaging in the handles. Instead of the matte black top, the Deborah Lippmann/Juicy Couture shades in this set come with a metal-colored handle capped with a clear gemstone-shaped top (in true Juicy Couture bling style).
Left to right: Believe, Here Comes the Queen, Jewel in the Crown
All the shades swatched together plus close ups (Believe and Jewel in the Crown 2 coats, Here Comes the Queen has 4 coats):
Believe is not a new shade, but new for me. It’s a complex opalescent silvery gold metallic shade. Pigment is very good with this color and has minimal streaking for a metallic finish nail polish. Here it is with two coats.
Here Comes the Queen is a sheer glittery warm gold. It’s very sheer but if you apply Deborah Lippmann’s Rehydrating Base Coat first, the glitter adheres to the nail better. It has about the same finish/intensity as Chanel’s Illusion d’Or (comparisons soon). I’m not a huge fan but I suspect this will be a good layering piece for those who like to layer nail polishes (I personally do not). Below is with one coat, it does not photograph well but the finish isn’t quite as sheer as shown in the swatch.
Jewel in the Crown is the color I purchased this set for. It’s a rich metallic pewter. There were no testers at the boutique so I was not able to try this befor buying. It appears there might be tiny bits of glitter in this. They don’t really show up when you apply, but when you brush your nails with the nail polish you will see tiny little round chunks that look like small bumps. It’s not too noticeable unless you look closely. This one does have streaking like many metallics do but it smooths out with two coats.
Overall this is a cute set for the holidays but not a must-have for me. I have to admit I bought this mainly for the metallic pewter shade Jewel in the Crown. I’ve had my eye on Believe for sometime but was never able to cave in the past. If you love metallics you will love this set. If you found the metallics of Chanel fall too much, then this is something you can safely pass on. I personally feel Chanel’s metallics are more sophisticated in the shimmer and better designed with less streaking but Deborah Lippmann’s shades are still good.
Is this a good deal? Not exactly. I wouldn’t call this a “deal” since the retail price of the set is the same as if you bought 3 individual nail Deborah Lippmann polishes (unless you consider Here Comes the Queen a glitter, then you save $2). Still, Deborah Lippmann nail polishes are fairly reasonable in price for a higher-end nail polish although for a holiday set it would have been nice to have a bit more of a price break.
For availability, I am not sure where this will be available for sale. I found mine instore at a Juicy Couture Boutique and only saw the 2 nail trios. I suspect the other sets will be released in the upcoming weeks. I’ve searched online to see if this shows up through any other retailers and so far I have not seen anything yet.
Comparisons will come in the next post.
