REVIEW of Deborah Lippmann Strike A Pose

Hello bunnies,

It's time for dark polish review. I tend to save up all of my dark polishes and glitters for fall and winter so look out for those in the coming months. Or don't. I'm highly unreliable unpredictable. If you're wondering why there have been so many Deborah Lippmann polish reviews, don't worry, I'm not being sponsored. Dear God, why won't anyone give me money for this quality work? No, I just happened to pick up a bunch of minis and they're in dramatic colors that are more appealing to me right now than the other polishes lying around waiting to be reviewed.

Color: Deborah Lippmann Strike A Pose is a very dark teal creme polish. It's a green leaning teal but for all intents and purposes it could be black or at least very dark green. It did make me a little crazy. Sometimes I thought it was green. Sometimes I thought it was blue. I think if you like a sort of goth dark color, but you don't want to wear an actual black polish, this might be a good choice. If you want a teal or a dark green or blue, there are better options.
Formula: The polish was a little thick.
Application: The first coat of polish applied smoothly without any drag. It went on very dark and very shiny. It reminded me a good, inky black polish. The second coat also went on smoothly. The polish was a little thick but it was easy to even it out. with the brush. On short nails, I thought two coats were enough for opacity. On my right hand, I found the polish forming more ridges but it was fairly self-leveling. Also, the polish was threading (forming a long thread of polish when you pull the brush from the bottle) but it didn't seem to affect application.

As part of my application, I tried out Simply Peel for the first time. It didn't work for me. I didn't get the Simply Peel close enough to the nail to get it where the polish got on my skin. And when the polish did end up on the Simply Peel, it didn't pull up when I pulled the dried layer off. I'm going to try and revisit the Simply Peel when I do some kind of nail art and I'll let you know how I get on with it.
Wear: I wore this polish for 5 days. At the end of the 5 days, I definitely had tip wear. It wasn't horrifying. No major chipping though it wasn't just regular wear or shrinkage because the tips didn't wear away in that clean half-moon shape of my nails. The wear was definitely noticeable.

CONCLUSION: If the color of this polish sounds appealing to you, I think the formula is fine. Personally, I'd rather wear a true dark polish or a true teal and I think there are better formulas that are cheaper. I would not buy a full price regular sized bottle of this polish and 5 days is not great wear time for me so if you struggle with your polishes chipping, I don't think this would work well for you.

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REVIEW of Deborah Lippmann Nail Lacquer in My Boyfriend's Back

Hello angels,

Did you know that Broadway production of Jersey Boys is closing in January? It feels like it's been running forever. I remember when it first came out and I really wanted to see it. Instead I just got the album and listening to it over and over. It's still a great listen and available on Spotify if you're interested. I know that seems like a weird transition into a polish review but like most (all?) Deborah Lippmann polishes, My Boyfriend's Back is named after a song. This one was first performed by the Angels. Ah. See? Everything makes sense now.

Color: My Boyfriend's Back is a medium blue creme polish. It's a dusty blue like cornflower but maybe two or three shades darker. But it's still lighter than actually dark shades like Prussian blue and royal blue. I think it's pretty unique in that respect. I don't think I have a shade of blue that's an exact match. Most of the blues I have are similar but either lighter or darker.
Formula: The formula is a little thick but not gloopy.
Application: Application started off well with my first nail. The polish went on very smoothly. Moving forward, the polish seemed to get thicker and it was applying streaky so I had to even it out. It was still absolutely manageable though. I was able to even out the polish with the brush without destroying my manicure. The second coat of polish also needed to be evened out. The results were a little streaky and uneven but... not the worst. It just wasn't the prettiest manicure, though I did like the color of the polish. Two coats was fine for short nails so I left it there. Things were similar when I moved to my right hand. The brush seemed to be causing some of the streaks. The polish went on smoothly without drag. It was a little patchy on the first coat but I touched it up. The second coat also applied OK. Again, they weren't the best results or the worst.
Wear: I wore this polish for four days. I was also testing top coats (I'll get around to explaining that eventually). The two nails I used the Korres top coat on got a little messed up and you could see the imprints made before the polish fully dried. The two nails with Poshe had experienced shrinkage or tip wear. The nails that I applied Zoya's top coat to had experienced clear tip wear. So in general, I wouldn't say this is a polish that holds up exceptionally well.

CONCLUSION: I think the application of this polish is manageable and the results don't look terrible if you're in love with this color. But if you need a perfect manicure, this polish is not for you. It's a somewhat unique color but in all other aspects of performance, it scores average marks.

So angels, if you're planning to do any shopping at Amazon... and of course you are, because it's Amazon, please consider starting your shopping trip from one of the affiliate links on my site. You don't have to buy what's pictured in the ad. As long as you start from one of my links, I'll get credit for anything you buy during that Amazon shopping trip. It won't cost you anything extra and it would help me out greatly. Aside from leaving a comment, it's the best way to let me know that you like what I'm doing with this site and want more of the same.

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REVIEW of Deborah Lippmann Nail Lacquer in Pink Cadillac

Hello my dears,

I have been a very lazy bunny lately when it comes to blogging. I've been too busy to add running around to sample sales to my schedule and I haven't felt like doing much more than keeping my nails trimmed. But that's no excuse because I still have a bunch of swatches and notes in the tank ready to go for nail polish reviews. This is one of them. I tried Deborah Lippmann's Pink Cadillac polish out at the very end of September (9/30 to be exact). From my understanding, this polish originally came in a kit. I bought a mini bottle at a street fair.

Color: Deborah Lippmann Pink Cadillac is a blue-based medium pink polish. It's the kind of color I've stayed away from (except in lipstick) since my goth phase in high school when I decided I was too cool for pink. Normally these kinds of pinks do not do great things for me but I think because it is a blue-based pink, it counteracts whatever normally clashes with my skintone. It does have a bright, artificial kind of Barbie look but I'm into it.
Formula: Oh, here is where we run into problems. The polish didn't seem that thick at first. It was kind of medium thickness, solid but not gloopy. That changed as I went through my manicure.
Application: Applying the first coat of this polish was like doing a very tentative dance. It wasn't really flowing onto the nail so I had to do thicker coats than I normally like to paint in order to get the polish to go on smoothly. However, any time I tried to go over the polish with the brush at all, it went streaky. It didn't matter if I was actually trying to work with the polish to even it out or just to add that center brushstroke, this polish wanted to apply streaky and patchy. The second coat went on a little smoother than the first now that I had a base down. You could still see ridges instead of one smooth, even layer but it was mostly because of the bad first coat. Though the brush was not helping. At two coats, it failed a light test and you could really see the unevenness of the paint job. I think you could get away with it on short nails if you didn't do a light test. Because the polish was applied in such thick coats, there were no noticeable bald spots. I added a third coat which made the manicure more opaque but still not fully opaque. This coat applied more smoothly but it was still very difficult to not create streaks whenever you went over a fresh layer of polish with the brush. There was also this weird pilling and clumping happening which is generally not even a thing nail polishes do. Painting my right hand (using my nondominant left hand) was just a mess. The first coat was even worse than on my left hand and for some reason the polish had thickened to the point that I was just kind of slopping polish onto my nail. It was ridiculous. I did not feel very much like a professional nail polish blogger who had a handle on the situation.
Wear: After a week, as usual, my nails grew a lot so I took the polish off. My left hand held up really well. The polish only wore away at the tips. My right hand experienced more tip wear but it was still fairly minimal.

CONCLUSION: This is why you try cheap mini polishes. I'm definitely going to give these kinds of colors more of a chance in the future but yeah, the formula on this one was so bad I couldn't possibly recommend it unless you can work some magic with polish thinner. But even if you can get it cheaply, I'd save your money and look for a similar shade with a better formula.

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REVIEW of Deborah Lippmann Looks Like We Made It With SWATCHES

Hello my lovelies,

I am so behind on my polish reviews! It's just been such a hassle. I do my nails less frequently and even though I'm still swatching and taking notes, it's such a process that I've been saving the photos instead of going through the trouble of trying to color correct them. If anyone knows of a better program than Picasa (that's still simple to use) please let me know. Anyway, since it's the holidays, I thought I'd share more of a holiday manicure so I bumped this review to the top of the list even though I just tried this polish out recently.

Color: Looks Like We Made It is a red jelly base containing red hex and regular glitter particles. I don't review a lot of jelly polishes. They're just not my thing. This polish doesn't completely register as a jelly on short nails because of all the glitter. I don't mind that it's a jelly because it makes the polish a little easier to apply, like a glitter top coat and you don't have to worry about the creme base covering up the glitter. The red is a little darker than a true red. When the glitter catches the light, it reflects it back as a bright red but I actually think it's the same color because when you remove the polish, the red wipes away and you're left with silver glitter. And on a few nails, you could see one or two pieces of silver glitter. I think this is pretty polish. When it catches the light it's sparkly and makes me think of Christmas and Dorothy's slippers in The Wizard of Oz. But for a Deborah Lippmann polish, it looks a little cheap. It doesn't have a lot of depth and I have more affordable glitter polishes that I prefer.
Formula: The formula is thin but pigmented, almost like a cheek stain. You get a deep color but it's not opaque and you can apply a thin layer of product.
Application:
Wear: Normally I like to use glue so I can peel off glitter polishes but I thought that would be tough since this isn't a dense glitter. Instead, I just used my regular base coat. I'm using Essie at the moment. The first coat went on pretty smoothly. I added a thin layer. There was a little drag and the layer was a little chunky because of all the glitter but it wasn't hard to get on the nail. With the second coat, I added a thicker layer. It also wasn't difficult to apply though it was less even because I didn't want to move the glitter around too much. The brush isn't great for evening out the polish because it's loaded up with glitter. I did like that the polish had a thinner, more fluid base. Because my nails were short, two nails were good enough. I wasn't at full opacity but the polish had applied evenly and the glitter covered most of my nails so opacity of the base wasn't really important.

Everything went to hell when I tried to apply this polish to my right hand using my nondominant hand. For some reason, the polish had become very thick and it was threading (threads of polish were forming when I pulled the brush from the bottle). It wasn't impossible to apply polish to my nail but there was no technique to it. I was just slopping it on. I applied two coats and didn't end up with terrible results but I had more clean up to do and I couldn't get the polish as close to the edge of the skin.

I wore this polish for 5 days. At the end of my wear time, it didn't look terrible but I had a lot of growth at my nail beds and also a little chipping/uneven tip wear. I could have still worn the polish for a few days and most people wouldn't have noticed aside from my right hand where the growth was more noticeable because I wasn't able to get the polish that close to the nail bed on initial application. But I was over it after 5 days so I just took it off. Glitter is always tough to get off, but I was able to get most of it off with cotton pads and q-tips (though admittedly there was scrubbing involved). But at least I didn't have to pick the polish off piece by piece. The polish did lightly stain my fingertips red when I removed it. It didn't last more than a day but it's something to keep in mind if you want to switch your polish and immediately go out.

CONCLUSION: This polish made for a pretty holiday manicure and I'm glad that I had it on hand but I wouldn't recommend it. The formula turned on me halfway through application and while this polish is pretty, it didn't have a lot of depth. Red glitter polishes are not that hard to come by.  I would suggest searching out another one instead.

If you're planning on doing any last minute shopping at Amazon, please consider starting your shopping trip by clicking on one of my Amazon affiliate links. It would help me out so much. 

I know this isn't the song this polish is referencing but this song puts me in a good mood. Enjoy your holidays! I'll see you back here next year. :)

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(This polish photographed slightly brighter and less blue-toned than it was in person).

REVIEW of Deborah Lippmann Nail Lacquer in Rockin' Robin With SWATCHES

Hello little birdies!

I've got a fun one today... It's Rockin' Robin from Deborah Lippmann. I know, it's yet another Deborah Lippmann polish. I also picked this one up in the beautybrands.com sale. This is actually the polish that inspired that purchase as I've been lemming it for a while now. Still, I always told myself I didn't need it and I could get a similar look from another brand or by mixing polishes but then it went on sale and all my arguments flew out the window. Isn't that the way these things always go?

Color: Deborah Lippmann Rockin' Robin is a light blue creme polish with dark blue glitter particles. There isn't much more to say than that. The creme base is not as light as some pastel or baby blues but it's still light enough to not be a medium toned or cornflower kind of blue. As you can see from the photos, it has a bit too much green to be a true blue. The glitter can appear so dark that it's black, but it's more of a dark navy blue. Of course, the lower layers of glitter are less prominent because they are partially concealed by the top layer of the creme polish base.
Formula: I would say that this polish has a thinner formula. It's not excessively thin or watery. It's just not that thick in consistency and it is a bit sheer.
Application: The first coat went on smoothly. It didn't apply evenly, I think in large part because the polish is a little sheer. It's sheer for a creme polish but not ridiculously sheer like a jelly or some nude polishes. I was worried at how much glitter was being applied with the first coat but that didn't prove to be a problem. The second coat also went on smoothly without any drag but the polish still appeared sheer and a little patchy. There was no drag on the third coat either. I did have to even out the polish a bit with the brush but I didn't encounter any issues with that. At three coats, the polish is still a little sheer when you do a light test, holding your hand up to a light source to test the opacity by seeing if light passes through your nails. Application was pretty much the same painting with my nondominant hand. I had to even out the polish a bit but it went on smoothly without any drag.
Wear: I did not use glue as my base coat for this polish because I've been having some bad luck with that lately and I didn't want the polish to peel off before I was ready to take it off. After five full days of wear, I didn't see any real wear at the tips of my nails. Really, there was just growth at the nail bed and a little bit of peeling on one nail after I took a bath on the day before I removed the polish. As for removal, I used my Zoya remove+ which is what I always use for glitter polishes or otherwise stubborn polishes. The creme base came off with almost no effort while the glitter stayed on. My method of removal was scrubbing at the glitter with cotton pads and Q-tips soaked in Zoya remove+. I did not pick at the glitter at all but I did have to exert some pressure. It wasn't the most fun polish to remove but I would say it was doable. It certainly wasn't as bad as trying to remove stubborn hex glitter. However, two of my nails did get a little scratched up on the surface so I'd proceed with caution. If I wear this polish again, I'll try the glue as base coat method.

CONCLUSION: Yes, I would recommend this polish. It is a little on the sheer side and thus a bit patchy but application is smooth and easy and I just love the look of it. I think the color will be flattering for a lot of people and it's a glitter polish with depth that's almost more like nail art.

Cat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. If you would like to help support this site, please consider making your next purchase at amazon.com through the links on my page. I will get a small percentage of anything you purchase through one of my links at no extra cost to you.

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REVIEW of Deborah Lippmann Nail Lacquer in Lady Is a Tramp With SWATCHES

Hello my dears,

I was toying around with calling you "vamps" or "harlots" but it seemed like a bit much. I've benched this review of Deborah Lippmann Lady is a Tramp for a while because it was a pain in the arse to photograph. I do not know why I bother with red polishes sometimes. This is another one of the Deborah Lippmann polishes I picked up in a beautybrands.com sale. They're not a sponsor, but they can call me anytime they want. Seriously, I'd love to have sponsors. I was looking for a fancy, grown up shade to wear to Carnegie Hall and Lady is a Tramp just felt like the perfect thing.

Color: Deborah Lippmann Lady is a Tramp is a red creme polish. After applying it, I could see why so many bloggers call it their go-to red polish. Outdoors in natural lighting I would say it's just a hair darker than a true red. It reads a little more like a blood red than a true red. Indoors, I find it a bit darker and duller like more of a brick red. As you apply the polish you can see that it's actually a bright red that darkens as you layer on additional layers of polish, as opposed to a polish that is actually just a dark red.
Formula: This polish has a thicker formula.
Application: This is my first creme polish from Deborah Lippmann so I was paying very close attention during application. The first coat applied smoothly without any drag. The formula was noticeably thick. It wasn't gloopy or difficult to work with but I did have to even it out and it wasn't self-leveling. The second coat also went on very smoothly. I again had to even it out a little but I would actually say that it was easier to even out the second coat than the first. At this point I noticed the polish clinging to the brush as I pulled it out of the bottle. It wasn't enough to form a thread as the polish snapped back almost immediately but it was noticeable. I think you could maybe get away with two coats if you were in a rush. At two coats, this polish isn't opaque enough to block out all the light during a light test but it applies evenly and I only noticed a few patches of lighter opacity on two nails. As I had an event and I was going to be photographing my manicure for swatches, I added a third coat. The third coat went on very smoothly without any resistance or drag on the brush. I don't know if this is true for all Deborah Lippmann brushes but the brush I had was the slightest bit wonky with some of the bristles sticking out at weird angles. It thankfully didn't affect application.

When I applied the polish with my nondominant hand, the polish seemed to be thicker and threading more. It was more difficult to even out the first coat of polish on the nail though it was still manageable. There were some bubbles though and the polish was not totally even. Applying the second and third coats of polish, I started to experience some drag and the polish became increasingly more difficult to even out though I would still say that it was manageable. Even at three coats, coverage was not as even.

CONCLUSION: Lady is a Tramp is a pretty red polish but given the price of Deborah Lippmann polishes, I don't think it's worth the trouble of application. You could very easily find a dupe for this red from a cheaper brand.

 

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REVIEW of Deborah Lippmann Glamorous Life With SWATCHES

Hello darlings,

This is the first Deborah Lippmann polish I'm reviewing. Can you believe I'm reviewing a Deborah Lippmann polish? No, I didn't suddenly realize my great expectations and come into a large inheritance. They were having a sale on Deborah Lippmann polishes on beautybrands.com and I caved and bought three of them. Yeah, I'm still cheap. Deal with it. I did own another Deborah Lippmann polish before this, Across the Universe, but I've never really used it so this is my first chance to really evaluate the Deborah Lippmann formula. It typically gets raves in the nail blogging community and it better for the price. What did I think of my first Deborah Lippmann polish? Well...

Color: Glamorous Life is a gold frost polish. Before purchasing this polish, I'd read on a blog about how this was Deborah Lippmann's attempt at a rose gold polish. In my opinion, that attempt wasn't successful. I was expecting more of the pink or coppery tones that are associated with rose gold but this is a fairly ordinary gold polish that only occasionally takes on a bit more warmth. Even then, I would not call this color rose gold.
Formula: This is a thicker polish.
Packaging: I just wanted to talk about the packaging for a second as this is the first Deborah Lippmann polish I'm reviewing. God, have I said that enough in this post? You could turn it into a drinking game. Anyway, I find the bottle to be a little bulky which is a bit irritating when it comes to storage (I really need to come up with something more sophisticated than cardboard boxes.) but I like how distinct the design is. It's not the craziest bottle shape I've ever seen but you can definitely pick a Deborah Lippmann polish out of a crowd. The shape of the cap is also a little unnecessarily bulky but it wasn't hard to manage during application.
Application: Application of the first coat was very smooth though the brushstrokes were very apparent because of the frost finish. Though the polish has a thicker formula, I was able to apply a nice thin layer of polish for the first coat. The second coat also applied smoothly though there was a bit of dragging on one nail (which was resolved by using more polish) and I had a bit of a tough time evening out the polish on two other nails. I wouldn't call this polish gloopy but it wasn't a dream to apply like some of my favorite polishes. I also found that the brushstrokes became more pronounced as I added more coats of polish. At two coats, this polish still failed a light test so I added a third. The third coat of polish also allowed me to adjust the look of the polish and smooth out any issues. The third coat of polish glided over the nail smoothly though again, the brushstrokes were very apparent and I had to work at evening out the polish to create a single even layer. At three coats the polish was opaque though I was able to see one or two spots at the tips of my nails where there wasn't full coverage. Applying this polish with my nondominant hand, it also went on smoothly but the brushstrokes were even more apparent and I had a bit of damage at the tips of a few of my nails. I think there was a drying issue.
Wear: This polish doesn't dry matte but it also doesn't dry to a super shiny, glossy finish. I'm not sure if it's intended to be a satin polish or if it simply isn't a high shine polish but it's something to note if you don't use top coat or if you don't use a high shine top coat.

CONCLUSION: I wouldn't recommend paying full price for this polish. It's pretty enough and application is manageable but it's not such a beautiful or unique polish that it's worth the price of a Deborah Lippmann polish. Putting aside my disappointment that this wasn't a true rose gold polish, you still have the very apparent brushstrokes. There are plenty of cheap gold polishes like Confetti Debutante and rose gold/copper metallics like Essie Penny Talk to give Deborah Lippmann Glamorous Life a run for its money.

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