Deborah Lippmann Permanent Vacation Summer 2019: My Picks Swatch & Review

Summer’s still in the air, unfortunately. I think it’s been in the 90s for over a week now and, well, Old McDonald’s had ENOUGH. Not enough polish, though! I feel like I have barely gotten to enjoy the summer collections before the fall ones started pouring in. They clearly know what the people want (cozy colors! cooler weather!). Deborah Lippmann has recently released their fall collection, so of course today we are looking at some of their summer releases. I actually have my fall picks already, but I refuse to post swatches until official fall. Deborah Lippmann shades tend to hang around for a while anyway, so I’m sure it’s fine. These posts actually generate quite a bit of activity here at Short Nail Swatcher. I don’t think many people swatch Deborah Lippmann, and they really do not help themselves by posting super not color accurate photos to their site. I cannot tell you how often I read their color description and then look at the bottle shot trying to figure out in what world they are a match. I suppose I should be thanking them for making swatch work more valuable! Anyway, I have 3 colors to show you today, all in their gel lab pro formula (more money, better brush). I also have comparisons for all of them. Let’s still try to get some enjoyment out of summer while we can!

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Spring Has Sprung: Deborah Lippmann I Like It Like That

I always look forward to Deborah Lippmann’s new collections; they are one of the few higher-end brands that consistently releases polishes that are actually interesting. They do not shy away from crellies, cool glitter mixes, duochromes, contrasting shimmers, etc. The spring collection this year was a little lackluster for me, but I think that made today’s polish, I Like It Like That, stand out even more. It is a teal/purple duochrome shimmery metallic. It fits in with some of the other dreamy, ethereal shimmery polishes that have been found in other collections this spring (Essie’s Tiers of Joy comes to mind). I had a lot of fun wearing it and, yes, it is a compliment grabber. People notice it on your nails!

Hand & Nail Empties: January-March 2019

It’s already empties time for the first quarter of the year! Between being late on my last empties post and switching up the frequency of posting, this one really snuck up on me. I used a decent amount of products up in this time period. I think these posts are going to be a lot more digestible going forward – as much fun as it is to write about 20 products at once, I know that can be exhausting to read. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this short and sweet journey through the hand and nail care I was enjoying!

Part I: Hand & Nail Care

Baroness X Acetone Antidote in Cranberry Orange and Deborah Lippmann Smooth Operator

I am continuing to love the Baroness X Acetone Antidotes! Removing my nail polish is doing less of a number on my skin and cuticles, which is especially important for me during the cold, dry winter. Cranberry Orange was a lovely scent, but it did get a little lost in the the scent that my nail polish remover already has.

I am not the kind of person that EVER buffs the surface of my nails, so why and how do I have a nail buffer in my empties? Well, friends, I received this in a little Deborah Lippmann gift set a year ago and I discovered that using #1 on the buffer really helps get rid of those little bits of nail that are sometimes left sticking out from the tip after filing (I pretty much never cut my nails – I continually file them down). I wore it out so much that I ended up getting another one!

Cuter Cuticles Mani Bomb in Cheshire Grin and MDJ Creations Smooth Finish Fast Dry Top Coat

I got this set of two mani bombs by Cuter Cuticles from Polish Pickup last spring because they were a fun berry scent and had cute little Cheshire Cat grins on them. They proceeded to sit in my drawer of nail stuff for almost a year. Soaking my hands does not really appeal to me (they spend too much time in water) so I finally decided to use them for foot soaks instead! They worked perfectly, I enjoyed the sweet and tart fragrance and my feet got clean and soft. Score. I would get some mani bombs again, but not for my hands. It’s not going to happen.

I finished my bottle of MDJ Creations Smooth Finish Fast Dry top coat and the only reason I have not started another bottle yet is that I am testing out another top coat. This MDJ top coat is the best out there – way better than Seche Vite and that’s coming from a Seche Vite worshipper. It dries faster and does not require nearly as much thinner to keep it going as Seche Vite does. I want a life-time supply of this stuff!

Emz Blendz Jojoba & Avocado Body Lotion in Vanilla Chai and Baroness X Acetone Antidote in Pistachio Macaron

For a couple years now I have been carrying around a locally made lotion in my purse for dry hand emergencies. I find that a lot of small batch-type lotions have a thicker texture and work well as a hand cream substitute all year round. This Vanilla Chai lotion from Emz Blendz smells absolutely divine. I already have another bottle of it in my purse!

I used up another Baroness X Acetone Antidote, this time in Pistachio Macaron. It is a lovely gourmand scent, not to sweet but smells exactly like the pistachio macaron I ate a few weeks ago! It is the type of scent that goes well with nail polish remover, if that makes any sense.

Part II: Hand Soaps

Bath & Body Works Nourishing Hand Soap in Spiced Gingerbread Swirl and Gentle Exfoliating Hand Soap in Toasted Vanilla Chai

During the winter I cannot use foaming hand soaps; they dry my hands out too much! Spiced Gingerbread Swirl was a nice scent, not super sweet or overly spicy, but definitely smelled like the holidays. Toasted Vanilla Chai is one of my favorites, I reviewed the foaming version last post and found I still loved the scent this time around! Clearly I have a Vanilla Chai problem.

Bath & Body Works Gentle Foaming Hand Soap in Clementine & Chamomile

I started this soap around the beginning of March when my hands finally went back semi-normal. It had a lovely sweet citrus smell. The chamomile note did not take center stage, which is good because the smell of chamomile by itself makes me feel nauseous. This was not Bath & Body Works’s most creative scent, but it was very pleasant.

I hope that was easier for you all to take! I will have my first ever skincare/bath & body/hair care empties post coming up, so watch for that. There will definitely be some more nail content before then, so be on the lookout! I have so many photos, just not enough time to edit and write posts.

Hope you all have been doing well! What’s the best product you have finished recently?

xx, Ashley

Hand & Nail Empties: July-December 2018

I am finally bringing you my hand and nail empties from the last half of 2018. This post is a little bit ridiculously packed with products. In the future, these posts will be done quarterly. Today, to try to cut down on the length of the post, I have photographed some of the products together instead of all separately like I usually do. Since we are getting to the point where there are several repeat products, I think this is going to work better. I am still going to go vaguely in the order that I used stuff up instead of grouping by type!

Part I: Hand & Nail Care

The Body Shop’s Almond Nail & Cuticle Manicure Oil has been a favorite of my mom’s, so I decided to give it a go. Cuticle oil pens are my favorite form of cuticle oil to keep with me in my purse as they are very mess-free. This one worked brilliantly. I had a peruse through the ingredients and was thoroughly impressed. Until I get around to recreating it myself, I will gladly repurchase in the future! The scent is fairly bland and light enough that I doubt it would offend many.

If you have read my previous post, you know I am loving these Baroness X Acetone Antidotes as a replacement for my favorite nail polish remover. Pineapple Soda was an amazing fragrance, it really had an effervescence to it like a real soda. If there weren’t so many scents to try, I would get this one again in my next order!

Deborah Lippmann Liquid Metals gift set: Swatch & Review

Long time, no see. That’s becoming too familiar a phrase around here, isn’t it? This post was originally meant to be up, oh, before Christmas. I think I need to start splitting up reviews of any collection more than four polishes because clearly I cannot handle longer posts! But, I put so much work into this one that I couldn’t not share it with you guys. Also, as of writing this, Deborah Lippmann still has this set available! The Liquid Metals set is a six piece collection of, surprise, metallic polishes! These are not chromes, just good old fashioned metallics. They are in the Gel Lab Pro formula, which for all intents and purposes means you get a paddle brush. It really helps with the appearance of brushstrokes, although the polishes do have varying degrees of brushstroke visibility. It’s a long one and you know how I always have a bunch of pictures, so we really need to get started. I highly recommend listening to the songs these polishes are named after that I have helpfully linked – there are some good ones!

Deborah Lippmann All Fired Up Fall 2018: Swatch & Review

There is no better way to kick off fall than with new polishes from Deborah Lippmann! It is rare that I actually grab an entire collection, but this one has a combination of unique and too-pretty-to-resist shades, so my autumn-loving, jewel tone worshipping self had to have ’em all. I am happy to report that they are even prettier in person than I thought they would be and are all two coats or less! The All Fired Up collection is in the gel lab pro formula. To me, this means a great paddle brush and putting up more dough per bottle, but if the system works for you, then that is great and I am all for it. I personally am not here for polish longevity, I just want a good color on my nails to amuse me for a few days before I replace it. These all fit that bill! I hope you will join me below the cut because Deborah Lippmann really got in the seasonal spirit and our nails are all the better for it.

Deborah Lippmann x Grey Jason Wu

A couple, possibly a few, months ago Deborah Lippmann announced a little collaboration with Jason Wu as part of his new line, Grey. I’m not entirely sure what makes Grey different from his usual fashion line because the prices still make my jaw drop. There must be more people out there than I think who are willing to drop $400 on a sweater. That makes me want to go on all kinds of rants, but we’re here for the nail polish, not Ashley’s diatribes. I do not really know what made me buy Grey Day, the name of this little number, because it kind of looks like a grey that every brand has. Surprisingly, I actually own nothing like it! Money well spent. It walks the line between a few different types of greys and I love it lots. I mean, it’s grey, of course I wasn’t going to hate it…

First Impressions: Deborah Lippmann Hard Rock Base and Top Coat

When I first got into nail polish many years ago, I bought myself a bottle of Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat. It worked okay for the first couple uses, but eventually it started to really suck as a top coat; the dry time was horrendous and I would often end up ditching a manicure the day after putting it on. That experience pretty much turned me off of two-in-one polish treatments forever. Flash forward to last Christmas, when I received the Deborah Lippmann Her Majesty gift set. It included a little bottle of their Hard Rock Base and Top Coat. I was surprised to see a primo brand like Deborah Lippmann carrying a two-in-one type product, especially for a $20 price tag for the full-size bottle. I have been both skeptical of and intrigued by this treatment that has been sitting on my desk for months. I finally decided I would give it a go and use it as intended, as a base and top coat for one of my manicures, with the hopes that it would change my opinion on two-in-one treatments.