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Tom Ford Ginger Fire Nail Lacquer

March 6, 2013

Tom Ford Ginger Fire Nail Lacquer is my nail pick for the week. It’s a luscious vibrant tangerine with subtle shimmer. I feel like I have summer on my fingers with this shade. It’s the perfect amount of bright, orange and red mixed together. Ginger Fire retails at $30 for 0.41 fl oz/12 ml and is available online at Nordstroms, Neimans, Saks and select counters. I purchased mine from Neiman Marcus Fashion Island in store.
To date I’ve purchased several Tom Ford Nail Lacquers and my feelings are mixed. The regular line consists of sheers and creams, most of which are on the sheerer side, requiring three coats. I haven’t been a huge fan of the creams mainly because they require three coats for full coverage and also don’t last long on me (chips occur on day 3 with major tip-wear). I’ve found that the limited-edition releases (metallics) wear much better in terms of pigment, coverage and lasting power. Ginger Fire seems to last like the metallics from Tom Ford’s beauty line. I only started to see tip wear on day 4 and only one finger had chipping by the evening. With two coats there is still a slight transparent look. You can still see the whites of the nails underneath. I think a third coat would cover the nail fully. Still the color is gorgeous. I love that the shimmer shows up on the nail if you look closely. It’s not quite as invisible as Chanel’s can be.

Swatched with two coats, this was on day two of my manicure:

I love the color, the formula is almost as good as Chanel/Dior/OPI, but not quite (in my book). The price is quite steep and although it may be difficult to get to a Tom Ford counter, I think more stores carry the nail polish and lipsticks versus the full lineup. The nail polishes may be easier to find. Given the fact that this costs $30 and has a semi-sheer formula, I can’t say that I’m 100% in love. Perhaps I need to experiment with different base and top coats to make it last longer. (I’ve been using Deborah Lippmann’s base coat and Rescue Beauty Lounge’s top coat.)
This past weekend I wasn’t able to do comparisons. I would say this is most similar to Chanel Holiday, except the Chanel is more reddish, while the Tom Ford is clearly tangerine.
Have you tried Tom Ford’s nail lacquers? Thoughts?


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Chanel Western Light Le Vernis

February 18, 2013

Chanel has released a small beauty collection of three limited-edition items to celebrate the opening of a new fashion boutique in Hysan Place in Hong Kong. The three items include a 5-pan eyeshadow palette called Pearl River ($80) and two nail polishes in Eastern Light and Western Light ($30). It’s my understanding these will arrive in most Chanel Boutiques and select Studio Counters (Saks NY, Nordstrom Seattle, boutiques like the Wynn in Vegas). I ordered mine from Saks NY, however last week they did not have Eastern Light.
First up is Western Light Le Vernis, a dark vampy chocolate. Like some other classic Chanel colors, this one has a beautiful complex but subtle shimmer in the bottle. Unfortunately on the nail none of the pretty shimmer shows up. On me it applies like a very dark cream that looks like a pure black. The color has a thin slightly streaky finish with one coat, but with two thin coats transforms into a rich opaque blackened-brown. I have mixed feelings about this one. The quality and finish is stunning, but the color seems unoriginal to me. I can’t say it’s love simply because it’s so so basic for a $30 nail polish.

Close up of the shimmers:

A few more swatches:

In comparison to other vamps, you can see there are a lot of others that are more unique. Below are some Chanel bottles to compare. Further down there are a few more swatches from other brands.

Two wheels, same set of colors, just different lighting. First set is what the colors look like applied, very dark and vampy.

Second set in full sun with full flash to show the undertone a bit better.

I’m still undecided. Perhaps it’s the original Rouge Noir reincarnated? I don’t have the original to compare. But for now, I feel that it would have been so much better had they included some visible sparkle like the gold from Haute Chocolat or the silver from shades like Pink Satin.
Did you pick up anything from the Hong Kong Chanel collection? Thoughts? I’m debating whether or not to track down the white shade.
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NARS Disco Inferno Nail Polish – Spring 2013

February 9, 2013

NARS has released a new nail polish for spring called Disco Inferno, a complex sheer sparkly metallic ($19). I’ve never found a nail polish so difficult to describe. It’s almost duo-chrome, but not quite. On me it’s an iridescent grey-purple-opal-blue infused with tiny silver micro sparkle flecks. Sometimes it flashes a hint of green, but on me it’s mostly purple-blueish. It has a 90s-ish feel – reminiscent of edgy metallics from the early Urban Decay/Hard Candy days, and some older Chanels like Fluorine and Metal Argent. As most have reported, Disco Inferno is quite sheer. Even with three coats it still has a slight transparent finish where you can see the nail tips underneath. I think it’s beautiful although I do feel that it is slightly too edgy to wear to a conservative work office.
Here it is swatched with three coats:

There’s nothing quite like it in my current nail polish collection. The most similar color I own is OPI’s Not Like the Movies (looks more similar on the nails than on the nail wheel or in the bottle). OPI’s The World is Not Enough has a similar edgy feel with a transparent finish but is still quite different.

Nail wheels have four coats (all shades are sheerish):

Nail swatch comparisons have three coats:

Bottom line gorgeous and listed as limited-edition. Available online at Narscosmetics.com.
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Deborah Lippmann Careless Whisper

January 27, 2013

Deborah Lippmann’s Careless Whisper ($17 for 0.50 fl oz/15 ml) is a sparkling champagne nude. It’s a sheerish sparkle that is easy to apply but requires three coats for full coverage. It’s not as sheer as Diamonds and Pearls (which I don’t own but have tested at Nordstrom). Careless Whisper has a lovely sheen that comes from the multi-colored sparkles suspended in a beige base. It has an iridescent sheen but looks very natural on the hands.

Here it is swatched with three coats:

Comparisons to a few other nudes: Dolce & Gabbana Nude, Chanel Lily Beige (discontinued), Dior Beige Lotus, Deborah Lippmann Naked and Butter London All Hail McQueen.

Overall love. It’s a beautiful natural nude that has a lovely sheen.

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Deborah Lippmann Groove is in the Heart

January 26, 2013

Deborah Lippmann Groove is in the Heart ($17) is new from Deborah Lippmann for spring. It’s one of those bright baby pinks that makes you feel happy just looking at it. If you look closely at the bottle, you can see tiny silvery sparkles, however on the nail it applies like a non-shimmery cream. The coverage is smooth but it does require two coats for full coverage. I had this applied with a professional manicure using Deborah Lippmann’s base coat and OPI’s top coat and it has lasted quite well. I’m on day five right now and there have been no chips or tip wear.

Swatched with two coats, on me it pulls a bit warmish, but I consider it more of a neutral pink:

Groove is in the Heart is a quite similar to other bright baby pinks. The differences are slight compared to others but the main difference is that Groove is in the Heart pulls more peach. The two most similar shades I found were Chanel May (more rose/pink) and Dior Rosy Bow (also more pink, but not quite as rose/mauve as May). I wasn’t able to get good swatch comparisons due to the cloudy weather here.

Bottom line: thumbs up. I purchased mine at Neiman Marcus, the spring collection should be available at Nordstrom, Neimans and most Deborah Lippmann locations now.
Have you checked out the spring collection yet?
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Deborah Lippmann Moon Rendezvous

January 22, 2013
Deborah Lippmann Moon Rendezvous ($17 at Neimans and Nordstrom) is part of the Romantic Rapture Collection for spring 2013. It’s a beautiful sparkling steel blue with a slight transparent finish. The shimmer is quite complex in the bottle. There are flashes of teal, steel gray, blue and pearl. On the nails it applies more like a soft pearly baby blue – more so than what you see in the bottle. It’s not quite a jelly-finish polish, but it has a soft transparent quality. I applied with two coats, but probably could have used a third for full coverage.

Swatched, here you see more of a powder baby blue shimmer:

Here the pearly frost is more visible:

Comparisons: Deborah Lippmann’s Moon Rendezvous is similar to OPI’s Moonraker. The difference is Deborah Lippmann’s has a more sophisticated complex shimmer while the OPI has more of a frost finish (with a bit of visible streaking due to the metallic quality). The OPI is also darker by a few shades and a bit more dramatic. NARS Full Metal Jacket is quite a few shades darker and deeper. Chanel Skyline is more of a sky blue. When Skyline is side-by-side to Moon Rendezvous you can see a bit of the teal undertone.

Bottom line – perfection.

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