Mystic Lilac is so beautiful. It’s a light lilac colored polish with a gorgeous, subtle green shimmer–almost an aqua color–that really sparkles in sunlight. It’s a pretty sheer polish, but builds up well. These are 3 coats.
The aqua was hard to capture with the camera. It’s more evident in real life.
Oh. My. Goodness. Hot on the heels of Serena Williams’ announcement on The Oprah Show that she will be collaborating with OPI to make a new ‘Grand Slams’ polish collection, Nicole by OPI has announced its new collection, One Less Lonely Girl, is inspired by Justin Bieber.
*ETA* OPI has also announced that it will be teaming with Katy Perry… and a crackle polish is included in the collection!!
These first six polishes are scheduled for release in December 2010 at Wal Mart, with a subsequent launch in January 2011 at Wal Mart and in February 2011 at select Target, Sears, Ulta and other retail locations.
Prized Possession Purple
Give Me The First Dance
Me + Blue
OMB!
Step 2 the Beat of my Heart
Before I start with another polish from MAC’s 2010 F/W trend collaboration with Jin Soi, I think it’s fairly obvious that with this manicure I decided to experiment a little bit with my nail shape. I went for a round shape (whereas I usually rock the squoval) but immediately after this manicure I went back to my comfort zone. Squoval fits me better, I think! Now, on to Jade Dragon. To see my review & swatch of another polish from this collection, Earthly Harmony, click here.
Jade Dragon is described as an emerald green frost. As was the case with Earthly Harmony, the description of Jade Dragon on their website and the actual product differ quite significantly. I think it is important to review this for readers who may not be able to get to MAC to check it out for themselves. If you’re in love with the color based on MACCosmetics.com, you’re going to be disappointed.
Jade Dragon has a deep emerald green base with beautiful blue specks of shimmer throughout. While the sparkles cling to the side of the bottle, in application they are a bit less prominent. I found that mostly they are obvious in flashes of direct sunlight and especially on the sides of the nails. Even though it’s described as a frost, Jade Dragon is definitely a sparse shimmer.
Formula was great, nothing noteworthy which is generally a good thing. Even with my favorite top coat, Sally Hansen’s Mega-Shine, it was completely dry really quickly. As I mentioned in my review of Earthly Harmony, I’m actually not sure if MAC knows how to make a polish with the shimmer (or, in the past, flakies) sufficiently suspended in the base. However, I think Jade Dragon was more successful in this venture, though it definitely wasn’t a homerun.
I have no regrets with Jade Dragon! I’m really happy with the color, so even though I was looking forward to a bit more blue shimmer, it is present enough to not be a complete disappointment. This color is a gorgeous unique addition to my collection.
MAC, please step it up and start taking actual pictures of your products! It can be downright misleading when you fake it, and it’s painfully obvious that even though there have been rumors you’re going to switch to actual swatches for years, you still haven’t done it.
I wanted to show you one way to extend the life of a manicure if you get chippy tips after a few days. My original manicure was MAC Earthly Harmony, and I simply used Nail Art Striper in black and a rhinestone to cover the chippy tip!
If you don’t know about Confetti already, you should run to your nearest CVS and see what is left of the display! Confetti polishes cost only $1.99 and have a pretty fantastic formula (especially for an inexpensive polish). I picked up 3 yesterday: My Favorite Martian, Wedding White (I meant to get White Tie, but that’s another story :(), & Tiara.
So why is it a big deal that you run and get these right now? Well, CVS is currently being sued by Sally Hansen for selling Confetti polishes in the drugstore chain due to a non-compete clause. So while most CVS stores have retained the displays, the polishes aren’t being restocked when they sell out. Get to it! :)
I knew My Favorite Martian was a little on the sheer side, so I decided I wanted to layer it–but I couldn’t decide over which green polish I already owned. So I just decided to do all of them! :D
MAC Peppermint Patti, Icing Jade & MAC Beyond Jealous.
As it turns out, My Favorite Martian is a bit more opaque than I anticipated. I was hoping that the base color gradient would be a bit more obvious, but that’s okay. Love the green!!
Base coat: Gelous
Top coat: Sally Hansen Mega-Shine
For the past couple years, MAC has teamed up with Jin Soi to put out a collection of Fall/Winter Trend nail polishes. I’ve been looking forward to the 2010 installment because last year’s was so gorgeous, and I knew Jin & MAC would get it right again with Nail Trend F/W ’10.
Earthly Harmony is described as a frost, muted taupe in color with a copper shimmer.
As is sometimes the case with MAC, the description of Earthly Harmony on their website and the actual product differ quite significantly. I thought it was important to review this for readers who may not be able to get to MAC to check it out for themselves. If you’re in love with the color based on MACCosmetics.com, you’re going to be disappointed.
Earthly Harmony has that mid-tone “greige” base that is in following with F/W ’10 trend–a taupe with a more yellow base as opposed to purple. The sparkles are copperish, flashing sometimes orange and sometimes gold. However, looking at the sparkles in the bottle (and it is a very pretty bottle) is about the extent of the visibility of the glitter. Even though it’s described as a frost, Earthly Harmony very much looks like a creme.
Formula was great if a little fast-drying, so I had to be careful about having enough polish on my brush for a second coat so it didn’t drag and get lumpy. Even with my favorite top coat, Sally Hansen’s Mega-Shine, it was completely dry really quickly–I was very impressed. As I mentioned above, the glitter is NOT suspended in the base enough to make it show up on the nail. I think this might actually be a problem with MAC’s formula (I’m thinking of the Baby Goth Girl from Style Black, wherein the glitter sort of disappeared in the base), but intentional or not, it’s still gorgeous.
I love this polish. I’m really happy with the color and I think it is on point with the “greige” F/W trend. Thankfully, I could really take or leave the glitter, so I wasn’t disappointed when it totally didn’t show up on my nails at all.
MAC, please step it up and start taking actual pictures of your products! It can be downright misleading when you fake it, and it’s painfully obvious that even though there have been rumors you’re going to switch to actual swatches for years, you still haven’t done it.
