I celebrated my birthday with Deborah Lippmann......Across the Universe

Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe with accent nail, sun

Across the Universe is the only Deborah Lippmann polish that I've seriously considered paying full retail price for. None of the other polishes the brand offers impresses me quite as much as this jelly blue glitter bomb. Luckily, I was able to take advantage of a special offer from the company and got ATU for $9. It's still way more than I usually am willing to pay for a polish, but Across the Universe was definitely worth it to me.  

Across the Universe is so special to me that I felt like I would only wear it on a special occasion. That's why I waited until my birthday last week to wear it as a full mani. I wanted to do an intersting accent nail, and that's why I wore a blue green glass fleck gradient. Find out what polishes I used for the gradient (and base) and see more pictures, after the jump!

Comparison-Deborah Lippmann On the Beach vs. Urban Outfitters Blue Icee

Deborah Lippman On the Beach on the pointer and ring finger, Urban Outfitters Blue Icee on the middle and pinky, shade

Deborah Lippmann's most unique polishes are her glitters, so it's no surprise that On the Beach did not garner nearly as much attention as its companion color, Mermaid's Dream. However, it's a pretty bright blue jelly in its own right, and apparently, Urban Outfitters liked it enough to copy it, also. Here's another comparison pic.

Deborah Lippman On the Beach on the pointer and ring finger, Urban Outfitters Blue Icee on the middle and pinky, sunlight

Surprisingly, On the Beach had more application issues than the Blue Icee. However, its streakiness means it's less opaque, and that makes On the Beach is a better option for doing glitter sandwiches. On the Beach is a hair dustier and less bright than Blue Icee. Considering the price difference, though, I don't think it's a big enough difference to justify going with the Lippmann.  Both colors are topped with a bit of Urban Outfitters Sea Dust, ie a dupe of Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream.

Today was a Fairy Tale in a Bikini So Teeny

Essie Bikini So Teeny topped with Deborah Lippmann Today was a Fairytale, sunlight

I was thrilled to find Essie Bikini So Teeny at one of my local nail supply places last week. I ended up having a few problems with application, but the gorgeous color is totally worth it.  The periwinkle blue is quite sheer, but it's not a jelly. When I tried doing a jelly sandwich with it and OPI Pirouette My Whistle, the glitter was just lumpy and not visible underneath a coat of Bikini So Teeny. The crelly took 3 coats to even out, but the color is so beautiful, its worth it. When it came time to do some layering, I added a coat of Deborah Lippmann Today Was a Fairytale.

Essie Bikini So Teeny topped with Deborah Lippmann Today was a Fairytale, sunlight

Comparison-Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream vs. Urban Outfitters Sea Dust

Urban Outfitters Sea Dust on middle and pinky, Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream on pointer and ring 

Back in my weekly update, I let you guys know that Urban Outfitters had a polish out that looked a lot like Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream. I was as excited about this news as anyone, so when I saw an Urban Outfitters on Sunday, I had to stop in. I picked up Sea Dust and another polish for $8.50.  Now that I've had a chance to compare Seafoam to Mermaid's Dream for myself, I feel pretty confident in saying that we have a dupe on our hands, people!

Were there any application differences between the two polishes? How did I come to have both? For answers to these questions and a few more pictures, keep reading!

More magnetics! Orly, Sally Hansen and Deborah Lippmann magnetic polishes

Sally Hansen Magnetic polishes

I've been out shopping recently and have spotted quite a few magnetic nail polishes that were new to me. The brands featuring magnetic polish now include: Deborah Lippmann, Sally Hansen and Orly. I've included a few pics here, but be sure to keep reading for more info, links and pictures!

Swatches of Orly Magnetic FX polishes

Deborah Lippmann Steal My Kisses magnetic nail polish set

3/18/12 Weekly Blog Roundup:-Unicorn Puke gets a little sister!

Or a close cousin? When I heard about Cult Nails releasing a new collection, Divas and Drama, I was only mildly curious. However, when I spotted a flakie in the mix, my attention was piqued. The new color, Seduction, is apparently a lot like Unicorn Puke, except without some of the green flakes.  The entire collection is swatched at this post.  The polishes are supposed to be available for pre-sale soon, but as of tonight the official Cult Nails website does not have them listed. In further Cult Nails news, the polish Captivated is back and is available right now on the official Cult Nails website. 

In case you haven't had your fill of St. Patrick's Day manicures, you can catch more of them at this post from Nouveau Cheap. People responded to G’s request for St. Patrick’s Day nail art in droves. Besides the amazing creativity in nail art and polish combinations, one of the things that struck me about the post was just how different the China Glaze polish Four Leaf Clover looks depending on the lighting!

You've probably seen pictures of the polishes in China Glaze's Prismatic collection by now. If you want to see the swatches, you're in luck. Both Scrangie and Kayla Shevonne have done posts about the collection. They both seem to really like it, so check out their posts at their blogs: Scrangie and Nails by Kayla Shevonne. Scrangie also has swatches up of the Wet n Wild Coloricon Be Jeweled collection, which seems to be similar, if not complete dupes of, the China Glaze Prismatic collection. Check out her post about it here.

If you're like me, you've wondered just how close a dupe Claire's Candy Shoppe is to the original Deborah Lippmann version. Now you can see a comparison between the two at the Colour is Magic blog. Here's a link to her post where she does a thorough comparison.

A few bloggers have been able to preview the OPI New York City Ballet collection. One of them is Carla at Deuce Beauties, who did a complete review in this post. She's a blogger I just discovered recently, and I'm amazed by the quantity of complete collections she swatches and variety of brands she covers.  

Comparison-Jordana Cosmic and Milani Jewel FX Teal

Milani Teal on left,  Jordana Cosmic on right

Jordana is kind of Milani's overlooked young sibling. Both are children of the same parent (company), but Jordana is only available in a few places, so she doesn't get talked about much. Even us nail bloggers pretty much ignore her. All that changed when Jordana announced its new collection of 24 glitter specialty polishes. I was surprised when I found out recently that Milani is releasing a collection of glitter polishes called Jewel FX. Some of the shades in the collection looked a lot like Jordana's glitters. When I saw both collections at Kmart over the weekend, I took the opportunity to swatch Jordana Cosmic and Milani Teal. See more pictures of the two polishes and find out what might be different between them after the jump.

Across the Universe on a budget (prepare for a jelly sandwich)

Jordana Cosmic sandwich on left, Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe on right

As soon as I saw pictures of Jordana Cosmic, from the glitter collection, it immediately reminded me of Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe. Swatches of Cosmic show that it's not quite the same, but all that can be remedied with the right jelly sandwich. Find out how you can use a blue jelly and glittery topcoat to get the look of Across the Universe, after the jump.

Spoiled nail polish dupe info

Spoiled nail polish display at CVS

I went to CVS today and was thrilled to find that the Spoiled collection has finally arrived. If you've been following this blog, you'll know that I've been searching for it for a while. I controlled myself and only bought 2 polishes in the hopes that there will be a sale soon. Watch for swatches of Trust Fund Baby and Pet My Peacock in the next few days. In the meantime, I swatched some of the colors on an old gift card when I saw them. (Nothing but the best for this blog, LOL.) I found quite a few dupes and re-promotes in the group, join me after the jump to learn more.

Revlon Whimsical-OK, fine, I like it....

Revlon Whimsical over Color Club Factory Girl, sunlight

So my strong desire to get Revlon's Whimsical, the Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air dupe, was not a rational one. Basically, if there's an affordable Lippmann dupe out there, I want it. However, in all the swatches I had seen of Glitter in the Air, I had never been totally into the polish. It was a little too subdued for my taste, I think. I also didn't like how translucent it was, and the idea of having to wear a base color underneath.  I have to say, now that I've worn and swatched Whimsical over a few colors, I can see why the color was such a highly coveted one! Join me after the jump to see Whimsical over a variety of blues and other colors.

Comparison-Nomadic in Nude vs. Waking Up in Vegas

Part of the reason I was excited to get the Color Club Back to Boho collection was that I had heard that Color Club's Nomadic in Nude is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Waking Up in Vegas. Though this post proves that this is not the case, I still like all the colors in the Back to Boho collection and am glad I purchased it.

Here are Deborah Lippmann Waking Up in Vegas and Color Club Nomadic at 2 coats a piece:

2 coats of Waking Up in Vegas on left, Nomadic in Nude on right

I have a few more pics after the jump.

Weekly(?) blog roundup

So I"m doing this post to share what I consider to be good information or nail art for the nail loving community. I may not have enough material to keep doing it weekly, but I certainly found lots of interesting stuff this week:

-Dupe Alert! Revlon has created a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air. Read a blog posting that compares the two here. http://hotpinkaurora.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-on-revlon-dupes-deborah-lippmann.html (For those few non-nail lovers reading this, Deborah Lippmann is a brand of polish whose polishes are often unique, but run $18-$20 per bottle [!]) Revlon's dupe is called called Whimsical and it is appearing with the new Revlon displays. It looks like this display also may contain dupes for the Chanel Jeans collection.  Read more about it in Nouveau Cheap, which does its own comparison in the post. http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2011/12/revlon-whimsical-deborah-lippmann.html

-Dupe Alert, part 2! Ulta is currently selling a 4 pack that contains dupes for the following popular Lippmann shades :Bad Romance, Ruby Red Slippers, Dancing in the Dark(part of the recent collection, which you can read about here: http://www.thepolishaholic.com/2011/11/deborah-lippmann-dance-music-holiday.html) AND....Across the Universe!!! That last one is the one I'm most excited about, this is my all time most coveted Lippmann and I have been searching for a good dupe of it for a while.Read about it and see the swatches here: http://adventuresinacetone.blogspot.com/2011/12/ulta-glitterati-minisaka-deborah.html

-Layering awesomeness alert: Watch two beautiful polishes transform into something even more gorgeous at Swatch and Learn: http://www.swatchandlearn.com/cult-nails-hypnotize-me-layered-over-cult-nails-iconic-swatches-review/  Like I mentioned in a prior post, seeing this post inspired me to layer more!

-A beautiful winter mani at LadyLuck Beauty Blog: http://ladyluckbeauty.blogspot.com/2011/12/winter-nail-art.html  I think it's simple enough to do with just a toothpick, no special tools/polishes necessary. I plan to test this theory and imitate the design later in the season, though I'm going to do Christmas specific ones in the meantime.  

-Rebecca over at Rebecca Likes Nails shares some flakie awesomeness with us with her swatches of Nfu-Oh 50. Maybe this is only important to me because of my huge love of flakies?  Hmmm....http://rebeccalikesnails.blogspot.com/2011/12/nfu-oh-50.html

-Nouveau Cheap posted another update about the Spoiled collection from Wet n Wild. http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2011/12/quick-update-on-new-wet-n-wild-spoiled.html  The good news is, it will be permanent. The bad news: I've been to 4 different CVS and have yet to find them! Maybe it's being rolled out slowly and California is last on the list?

-I've been to a few Big Lots! recently for non-polish reasons and checked out the beauty section. At the two I visited, there were still some Revlon Carbonite polishes to be had for $1.50. (Carbonite is a very near dupe of a Chanel shade called Graphite) Some were in the generic bucket of beauty products on the bottom shelf, and in both stores, there were only 5 or so left. Visit your local Big Lots quick if you want to pick up this beauty on the cheap! 

-Finally, I'm sure I'm not the only one who is happy to hear that Michelle from All Lacquered Up posted an explanation of her absence. http://www.alllacqueredup.com/2011/12/dawn-day.html I'm sad to hear about her recent problems, since I've also battled depression in the past and can relate. Luckily, things are looking up and she says she'll be back to posting regularly. Even if she never posted again, her blog is invaluable resource.  I wish her the best, in blogging but more importantly, in life!