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Lippmann

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Lancome Pop Petrol Le Vernis Nail Polish

February 23, 2010

I just received a package from London, thanks to one of my favorite UK bloggers who was so kind to arrange a custom purchase for me. I was ecstatic to be able to get my hands on the Lancome Pop Petrol 014 Le Vernis Nail Color and immediately ran out to get a manicure.

How would I describe it? It’s not quite as teal as the promo pictures showed, but it’s still stunningly gorgeous. I’d describe it as a complex murky deep ocean blue-green. In natural light, it looks dark and almost black, but when the sunlight shines on it, the color flashes smokey greenish blue.

I took quite a few photos to try and show you how it looks at different angles and with different lighting. I hope this gives you an idea of how the color looks.

Please do not republish these photos, thanks!


With flash:

No flash:

With flash against Balenciaga First in Anthracite (2007 s/s):

Without flash against Balenciaga First (2007 s/s):


I did another post on some other teal-greenish nail polishes here. The closest color I have is Lippmann’s Don’t Tell Mama. They are extremely close to each other, the Lippmann is just greener and Lancome has a more smokey finish.



Overall thoughts: I love the color. It’s a beautiful unique smokey green. The formula itself isn’t easy to work with, but it’s no different from other dark greens which seem to have a very sheer/streaky blackish base. Like all the other greens I have, the first coat looks horrid, but after the 2nd and 3rd coats you get the full frost finish. The salon put on 2 thick coats which took really long for it to dry. I would have rather had her apply 3 thinner coats, but was in a rush for a meeting. Overall, huge thumbs up. I’ll try and update in a few days after I see how it wears.

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Color Focus: Teal Eyes & Nails Inspired by Marion Cotillard

January 20, 2010

I watched part of the Red Carpet coverage of the Golden Globes and was inspired by Marion Cotillard’s beautiful deep teal-green dress, eyeliner and nails she wore to dig through my collection and find similar shades so I could try to recreate the look. You can see her look linked here.

I don’t have a lot of blues or teals in my stash but with a little practice was able to combine the shades to achieve a similar result. Just a disclaimer: I have no idea what products or colors were used on her actual look, this is just what I tried myself to get a similar effect.



My application steps/technique:

Cheeks: First apply MAC Dainty on apples of cheeks followed by a sheer dust of Pink Swoon.

Eyes: Apply a pale champagne cream on eyes as a base like Nars Copacabana and dust MAC Quick Frost pigment from lash to brow (apply heavier near lash line). Right around the rims of the eyes, apply a seafoam green shimmer like the Bottom Left shade of Chanel Murano followed by a smokey line of a darker smokey grey-green like the Top Left shade of Chanel Murano. Apply a teal green liner like Laura Mercier Black Turquoise Eye Kohl heavily along upper lash line and lower lash line. Take a slightly damp brush and apply a shimmery teal-green shadow like MAC Deep Blue Green Pigment or Chanel Murano right over the pencil blending with a soft brush for a smudged look. The last step for the eyes (not pictured) is to take a contouring powder or soft brown like MAC Soba or Era and apply right over the middle of the eye for depth/contour.

Lips: Line with a pale pink shimmer like Trish McEvoy Essential Pencil in Baby Pink and top with a shimmery shell pink lipstick like Chanel Waikiki Aqualumiere. Top with a matching gloss for shine like Dior #431.

I would have liked to get a brighter smokey teal along the lash lines, the teals I have are darker and more subdued. I learned from experimenting that the key to get a brighter teal is to layer the colors from light to dark. Layering the Laura Mercier Black Turquoise, MAC Deep Blue Green Pigment and dark green shade from Chanel Murano over the lighter shades brings out the teal shimmer more.

For nails, I pulled out my green shades. I’m still in search for a dark teal shimmer that doesn’t look black in natural light. It’s hard for me to find something that’s the right balance of teal and dark shimmer. Most teals are either too bright for my taste or too dark. All swatches are taken with a flash, each has 3 coats. Anyone have alternative recommendations on pretty dark teal shimmers?





I already featured some other teal shades in my Smokey Eye Series in Color Focus: Smokey Eyes Part 5 (Blues & Greens) last November.