Coral Beach is more of a straight peach compared to Chanel Distraction, Laura Mercier Cabana (discontinued) and NARS Vertebra (discontinued from the Pierre Hardy collection).
Tom Ford released four new limited-edition nail lacquers for spring in Sugar Dune, Coral Beach, Incandescent and Indiscretion ($32 each for .41 fl oz/20 ml, made in France). The colors together make a beautiful collection perfect for spring. Those who have read my reviews of Tom Ford Nail Lacquers know I wasn’t too thrilled with the formulas for the original release of colors. I’ve found the limited-edition releases to be much better in lasting power, finish and pigment. The new shades for spring have good pigment and last quite long (going on 4 days and counting with Sugar Dune). These four shades come with the limited-edition white caps to match the white packaging on the lipsticks for this collection.
Sugar Dune is a beautiful pink nude cream. It makes for a lovely natural manicure. I’m on the end of day four wearing this and there are no signs of tip wear. I did find this one a bit difficult to apply smoothly. I had to apply three thin coats – each coats need to dry completely before you apply the next coat. If you have patience to apply this one carefully you will be pleased with the color. It has a bit of pink in it to prevent it from being too flesh-toned.
Coral Beach is a semi-sheer coral peach cream color. It’s not quite a jelly finish nail polish but it has a tiny bit of transparency. I found it applied with near-full coverage with two coats. It’s more orangey and less pink than other medium corals but it’s not pure orange. There’s a bit of softness to this that makes it look bright but more natural on the hands.
Incandescent is my favorite color in the collection. It’s a metallic mix of pink, bronze and silver. In sunlight it looks more like a metallic golden rose, in natural light it looks more golden. With two coats you can see a little bit of the brush strokes, but it applies fairly smoothly. This one had a bit of tip wear by day three (as shown below).
Indiscretion is a standard bright pink. It’s a bit brighter and lighter than the other Tom Ford pinks in his regular collection. This one was a bit hard to photograph. On the screen it looks a bit neon but it’s really a straight bright hot pink.
Bottom line – classic shades that will be wearable throughout the entire year. I think you can safely skip Indiscretion since it’s fairly similar to other hot pinks. The remaining three colors are beautiful with Incandescent being the most unique. It has a lovely shimmer frost without being too metallic. I finally ordered nail wheels, expect a comparison post to follow shortly.
The Tom Ford Nail Lacquers for spring are limited-edition at $32 each. You can find them now at Tom Ford Beauty counters, also online at Nordstrom, Saks, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Selfridges.
Tom Ford Beauty fans: the Spring 2014 Beauty collection has arrived online at Nordstrom. The collection has new colors for lips and nails.
Nail Lacquers $32 each in Incandescent, Indiscretion, Coral Beach and Sugar Dune
Spring Lip Conditioners $49 each in Pink Dune, Paradiso, Bitter Sweet, Sweet Spot, Incorrigible, Summer Fling, In the Buff, Firecracker
I cannot wait for these to arrive in stores at counters. I am trying to resist the urge to order these online although I have all the nail polishes sitting in my cart right now. Plus Nordstrom has an online gift with purchase going on right now.
What has been your favorite spring collection released this year so far? I haven’t seen everything yet in stores so my favorite is still yet to be determined. This one just might be it.
YSL spring has two new La Laque Couture nail polishes in Rose Scabiosa #48 and Rouge Pablo #49 ($25 each for 0.34 fl oz/10ml). Both are rich vibrant creams that have a flawless finish. They have that lovely romantic Valentine’s Day feel. I’ve been a huge fan of the YSL La Laque nail polish formula. The brush is flat and wide but with a tapered edge. I can cover the whole nail with one brush stroke (except for the thumb) which makes for a super easy application. These are two coaters, but the pigment is rich and smooth. Lasting power is quite good – I can get up to 4-5 days of wear without any chipping or tip wear. Quality matches that of Chanel, maybe a tiny bit better in wear time. I use with my regular go-to’s with Deborah Lippmann Rehydrating Base Coat and either Chanel Laque Brilliance Extreme or Rescue Beauty Lounge Top Coat.
Rose Scabiosa #48 is a stunning baby pink with a slight hint of lilac undertone. I usually cannot wear baby pinks like this because I find them to be extremely sheer and streaky or too pale and powdery looking. YSL Rose Scabiosa has impressive coverage and enough pink color in it to suit my skintone. Below it’s applied with two coats:
Comparisons show it is quite different from my other pinks which tend to be warmer in color. Below shown next to Rescue Beauty Lounge Smitten (discontinued), Chanel May (reviewed here), Chanel Melrose (discontinued) and Laura Mercier Flamingo (discontinued, reviewed here).
Rouge Pablo #49 is a dramatic red-pink. It pulls warmer and more red on my hands but when compared to other reds, Rouge Pablo looks more pink. Your mileage may vary depending on your skintone. My mom is a huge fan of brighter reds and pinks for the nails. She tried this one and thought it was too bright for her taste with too much pink (she’s less olive than me in skintone and slightly lighter).
YSL Rouge Pablo is fairly similar to other reds. From arms length it’s almost identical to the ones shown below. It was hard to photograph the differences. Below I swatched Chanel Coromandel (warmer and more orange), Chanel Tapage (lighter and more pink), Chanel Rouge Rubis (almost identical but the Chanel is slightly darker) and Chanel Dragon (darker and deeper with more brown). If you have any of the other Chanels, I would say you can probably skip the YSL, although I do find it to be really pretty.
Overall really impressed with the two new YSL nail polishes. I’ve been really pleased with the formulas and textures. The application of the YSL colors I’ve tried is among the best out of all the brands I’ve tried. I give both a thumbs up. Out of the two I favor Rose Scabiosa – it’s an impressive baby pink.
You can find the spring YSL Rose Scabiosa #48 and Rouge Pablo #49 at all YSL counters now. Online at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and YSL Beauty US.
There’s a new nail polish from Bobbi Brown called Bronze ($15 for 0.37 oz, limited-edition). It’s one of three new nail polish shades from her Nude Glow Collection. The polish is a beautiful shimmering bronze. It applies smoothly with two coats and without any visible brush strokes. It’s quite lovely.
Bobbi Brown Bronze is a lovely metallic bronze. I give it a thumbs up. I haven’t tested it for a full week yet but the formula seems to be holding up quite well.
Dior’s Trianon Collection brings us six new nail lacquers this spring. I picked out three of the six shades from my local Nordstrom. You may find yourself shopping around various stores for all the shades. Some are only available to select retailers. The regular nail colors retail for $24 each, the matte topcoat retails for $25. The six shades this spring include:
Bloom #777 – a bright fuschia pink cream (Saks and Macy’s)
I picked out the three options available at Nordstrom. I’m typically a huge fan of Dior’s nail lacquer formula. I’ve found the coverage and pigment to be smooth and rich. The three spring shades I picked are stunning in the bottles. On the nails I found them to be extremely sheer.
Blossom #132 is a lovely sparkly sheer peach with gold flecks in the bottle. On the nails even with three coats I found it to be extremely sheer and disappointing. There is something about the color of this peach that is not flattering with my olive skintone. Below is shown with three coats. It pains me to give this one a huge thumbs down.
Perle #187 is an interesting matte top coat. I found it lovely by itself, with a glossy top coat, or used as a top coat over other shades. It’s a bit high maintenance but if you have extra time for top coats or like to layer colors, this one is quite lovely.
Pampille #192 looked so lovely in the bottle. It has the most beautiful mix of shimmer infused with a cloud-blue base. On the nails this was extremely disappointing. I found this one to apply unevenly and blotchy. The color with three coats looks faded. It didn’t go well with my skintone. I suspect it would make a good top coat over similar blueish colors. I thought this review with one, two and three coats on Pointless Cafe to be very helpful. Below with three coats:
I ended up being disappointed with two of three colors I picked out. When I bought them at Nordstrom my counter didn’t have testers available. They looked lovely in the bottles and given my past experiences with Dior, I thought these would be true to what you see in the bottle. I ended up re-gifting Blossom and Pampille to a couple friends who love sheers and layering colors. At this time I haven’t checked out the other three options for Dior spring. My recommendation is to try before buying.
Did you check out anything from Dior spring? Thoughts? Loves?
Guerlain’s release for spring is called the Météorites Blossom Collection. It’s full of pinks and pastels along with some reformulated météorites pearls. I spotted the collection at a few counters in Beverly Hills last weekend. The two items that caught my eye were the Stardust Nail Lacquer and Lipgloss. After a few swipes of the nail polish on my finger, I decided to purchase the Stardust #862 Nail Lacquer ($25 for 10 ml/.33 fl oz).
Stardust #862 is an iridescent sheer pearl that flashes blue. It covers the nail with three coats with a transparent finish, but the base seems to be milky enough to be more than just a top-coat like YSL’s Premiere Neige (from 2012ish, now discontinued). I tried this as a regular nail polish and also over other colors as a finishing top coat. It applied well over light to medium shades of blue, pink and beige adding a subtle sheen and shimmer. On darker shades the base was too contrasted and ended up looking a bit messy with a coat of the Stardust. I’m still not sure how to wear this one. It works for me as a sheer nail polish. I wish it had more coverage and pigment.
Guerlain Stardust is a lovely sparkling pearly shade. I love that you can layer it for coverage and that the sparkle is visible. I still wish it were a bit more pigmented although perhaps it was designed to be more of a top coat rather than regular nail polish. It’s a pretty fresh light color for spring, but as pretty as it is, I’m still left craving something with more color.
Stardust #862 should be at all Guerlain counters now. I found mine at Nordstrom. Did you check out Guerlain spring yet? What did you think?
