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.

srsly, MAC?
Left: MAC promotional image of Earthly Harmony; Right: Swatch of Earthly Harmony on MACCosmetics.com

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.

Color

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

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.

Final Recommendations

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.

I am so excited to bring you swatches of 3 new colors from China Glaze’s Fall 2010 collection, Vintage Vixens. This looks to be an amazing collection with beautiful warm, Fall colors like you’d expect as well as more trendy colors like Classic Camel, Swing Baby, and Ingrid. I love the mix of the familiar with the different, and it seems like each of the polishes are pretty unique. My love affair with China Glaze continues…

direct sunlight

flash indoors

no flash indoors

multicolor microglitter in direct sunlight

Bogie is a deep plum with multicolored microglitter. Of the three I swatched, this is the least sheer in one coat. I used two and it was perfectly opaque. Formula was perfect. This polish definitely is the biggest hit in the sunlight. The silver/multi-color sparkles are unreal.

direct sunlight

flash indoors

no flash indoors

copper sparkles in direct sunlight

Foxy is surprisingly red–in the bottle it looks much more coppery brown, but on the nail it is definitely a burgundy red base with copper microglitter. The copper sparkles are no where near as intense in Foxy as they are in Bogie or Midnight Mission.. definitely more of a traditional frost. Formula is pretty good–I found mine a bit thin, but not impossible to work with. One coat was patchy and sheer, but two coats turned out to be smooth and totally opaque. I was expecting this to look more brown on the nail, but it’s still not a true red, so this is definitely unique to my collection!

direct sunlight

flash indoors

no flash indoors

silver microglitter indoors with no flash

Midnight Mission is a gorgeous navy with silver glitter that really shines through the dark base. This has been on my wishlist since, oh, the moment I saw a swatch of it. The navy base was surprisingly sheer, so two coats was a must. Again, this color really is amazing in the sunlight, but even in low light settings it’s a gorgeous night-sky blue. I love love love this color.

This a huge collection with 13 different colors. Here are ones that I haven’t yet been able to see and swatch:

Riveter Rouge – Deep red shimmer
Goin’ My Way – Deep copper shimmer
Classic Camel – Khaki creme with gold micro glitter
Swing Baby – Taupe with silver micro glitter
Ingrid – “Greige” creme with copper micro glitter
Hey Doll – Deep rose shimmer
First Class Ticket – Deep purple shimmer
Emerald Fitzgerald – Turquoise shimmer
Jitterbug – Grey chrome with silver micro glitter

I also think I must have Classic Camel, Ingrid, and Emerald Fitzgerald… and maybe Jitterbug too. Darn it.

Per FTC regulations I must disclose that product(s) in this post were sent to me by a brand or PR firm for consideration for review on my website. I guarantee honesty above all. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I’m a nerd, so I love doing themed nail art. I can’t find my camera cord at the moment, but I will post higher quality pictures as soon as I do! I also did my toes and am considering posting those here The bottom two photos are my left and my right big toes respectively. I cropped them so you could only see the nail art, so hopefully that doesn’t skeeve anyone out too badly! (I know it’s a little bit of a faux pas to post pedicure pictures, but I do nail art on my toes, too!) Here goes…

USED:
OPI Russian Navy
OPI Dorothy Who?
China Glaze Ruby Pumps
MAC Vestral White
White nail art striper
Black nail art striper

Left hand, thumb: American flag design using OPI Russian Navy as a base for the blue, CG Ruby Pumps as a base for the stripes, then OPI Dorothy Who? and white nail art striper to make star portion, and white nail art striper for the stripes.
L, index: Black “U” using black nail art striper over half CG Ruby pumps and half MAC Vestral White base. Accented with blobs of OPI Dorothy Who? and the white nail art striper.
L, middle: White “S” using white nail art striper over diagonal half OPI Russian Navy and CG Ruby Pumps.
L, ring: Black “A” using black nail art striper over half CG Ruby pumps and half MAC Vestral White base. Accented with blobs of OPI Dorothy Who? and the white nail art striper.
L, pinkie: Fireworks design over OPI Russian Navy base using white nail art striper and accented with CG Ruby Pumps and OPI Dorothy Who?
Right hand, thumb: American flag design using OPI Russian Navy as a base for the blue, CG Ruby Pumps as a base for the stripes, then OPI Dorothy Who? and white nail art striper to make star portion, and white nail art striper for the stripes.
R, index: Gingham-inspired design using CG Ruby Pumps as a base and checkered using white nail art striper, accented with black nail art strpier.
R, middle: OPI Dorothy Who? layered over OPI Russian Navy as a base, white star outlined in black using white nail art striper and black nail art striper. (*This is the only nail I’m not really happy with. I think I should have done several smaller stars instead.*)
R, ring: Playful polka dot design using CG Ruby Pumps as a base and white dots using white nail art striper accented with dots of OPI Dorothy Who? Dotting tool was used.
R, pinkie: Fireworks design over OPI Russian Navy base using white nail art striper and accented with CG Ruby Pumps and OPI Dorothy Who?