Sunday, May 30, 2010

NOTD and Review

Yesterday was the Trend Show at Nordstrom. (I think that in a previous post I called it Trendsetter Show--sorry!) I picked up some things at the Dior counter that was on presale status and I'll review these later.

I went early in the morning and there were some presentations by various people in the beauty industry but I had to skip it because I really needed to go to work by a decent time. I just went straight to the cosmetics department and walked around. I discovered a nail polish line that I had never heard of before and these products are also used in their nail salon.  The line is called Deborah Lippmann. She is a manicurist who works with celebrities and high fashion. Her nail lacquer is long wearing and contains no formaldehyde, toulene or dibutyl phthalate. It is also supposed to be easy to apply.

One of the items that I purchased was Hard Rock, which can be used as both a base coat and top coat. It is a hydrating hardener. This was highly recommended to me by someone not working in the Lippmann counter. I was told that this smooths out the nail and gives it an acrylic finish and look (like you have acrylic nails on). I was also shown this really cool nail color called Dream a Little Dream of Me, which is a sheer pink shimmer. In the bottle it is a pink that is on the brighter side. When you pull the brush out of the bottle, it is beautiful iridescent blue color. You put this over a really dark nail polish and it changes the color to a really beautiful color. For example, apply this over black and you get a beautiful shimmery turquoise/teal blue. I bought this as well. One of the most popular items is called Happy Birthday. It is a multi-color glitter polish. I wasn't too keen on this but I bought it because I understand that it is often sold out and people are always put onto a waiting list. I also purchased a "Start Me Up Treatment Set" which has different items for treating your nails prior to coloring them and also has a base coat, Baby Love nail lacquer, and top coat. All of these are in mini size bottles. I am thinking of returning this set though because I probably won't treat my nails. I received as a GWP a full-size bottle of  Baby Love nail lacquer. It is a sheer baby pink, which actually looks like my natural nail color.


Last night I played with the items that I bought. I used the Hard Rock as a base coat and it really does make my nails nice and shiny like I have acrylics on. I then applied two coats of Baby Love and applied Happy Birthday on the tips of my nails, in a french manicure style.


When I took the picture, I didn't apply Hard Rock as a top coat yet.

Haha, I had to use a Sephora nail polish
bottle to take the picture. How do you
take pictures of your own nails? I had a difficult time!

I honestly can't give an accurate review on the nail lacquer itself yet. The Baby Love is so sheer and same as my nail color that I can't tell how it really applied. I will have to go back and purchase another color. However, it does seem like it applies quite easily and nicely. Although I wasn't too keen on Happy Birthday, I like how it looks on in the way that I applied it--at least when I see it from far away. Seeing it up close in the picture above, it doesn't look as nice. The MUA had applied Happy Birthday over her entire nail over her nail color. It was okay if you like a glittery nail. Hard Rock is really amazing for me. I really like it a lot. I am also amazed by Dream of Little Dream of Me.

I will do a review again after I purchase a new, darker color. That way I can test it's longevity and how it really does apply. I am really hard on my hands and nails so if I can get my nail polish to last and not chip or wear off within a day or two, then that will be amazing.

*Kat*

2 comments:

BV said...

Lippmann is something I always see on Scrangie - but I have no idea where you would get that in Australia. I am really interested in what you think of it and whether the formula is good/longevity etc...
I like the look of the bottles + your nails!

galpal.hi said...

Thanks BV!

I went back yesterday to pick up a couple of nail lacquers that are darker so that I can test to see how it applies and the longevity.

It's been a bit crazy around here and I'm really tired tonight. I'm hoping that I can do a blog post tomorrow.

*Kat*