Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle.....

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle Dazzle 'em!

I have had this song from the musical Chicago stuck in my head for the past 5 days... ever since I put on Deborah Lippmans's Razzle Dazzle.

Razzle Dazzle is from the All that Jazz collection.  It's been on my lemming list for a while now so I was excited to try it.  Lippmann's website describes the shade as darkened raspberry sizzle (glitter).  That doesn't begin to describe how pretty it is in person.  This shade has a dark raspberry jelly base with raspberry glitter.  The polish went on smoothly and was opaque in two coats (though I would probably use three next time because I noticed the polish looked a little sheer when I took pics with the flash on).

The pic below is one of the few I managed to capture on the first day of my mani:

OPI BC, then Zoya Anchor, then 2 coats Razzle Dazzle, Zoya Armor, then Seche Vite TC

I got a lot of compliments on this shade. My sister ( whose entire nail polish collection consists of 3 bottles that were gifts) loved this color.  She said it looked like I had gems on my fingers and asked if she could take a pic of my nails to send to her friend.  :)

The rest of pictures were taken on day four of my mani except for the last pic which was taken on day five.  The polish held up really well.  I only had a little bit of tipwear and a small chip on my thumb.  (You can't see the tipwear in the photos because I filed my nails right before taking the pics.) My nails didn't start to look bad until the fifth day when huge chips came off of my right thumb and middle finger.  To be fair I did do things like wash dishes,  peel stickers, and other manicure busting activities.

The pic below is kinda blurry but I think it really shows off the glitter well.

Look at how gorgeous Razzle Dazzle is in the bottle!!!

Day 5 -- you can see a little bit of the tipwear

I love this color and I admit that I don't regret spending the money on it.  It's a unique shade with a great formula.  Deborah Lippmann polishes are pricey but nobody else out there makes glitters quite like she does with the same level of quality.  My opinion is that if you're going to splurge on a high-end polish it should be unique and definitely not dupeable. (Tangent: Is dupeable even a word?)

Deborah Lippmann polishes are Big 3 free and retail for between $16-$20.  Usually the cremes cost $16, the glitters cost $18, and special polishes like Boom Boom Pow cost $20.  Razzle Dazzle cost $18 and can be found at high-end department stores like Neiman Marcus and Nordstroms.  Deborah Lippmann polishes can also be purchased online at lippmanncollection.com


Coming up in my next post is my nail polish version of a Power Suit.

Till next time

Mac
who is going to attempt a no-buy for the next month.  However I can't be held responsible for my actions if a HTF polish crosses my path...

Something new: UNT - Little Mermaid

Hi guys

Today I have a polish from a little known brand called UNT Color made by UNT skincare.  UNT is a Taiwanese company that specializes in affordable skincare products.

From UNT's website:

Our Mission

UNT was founded based on philosophies that skin care should not be a luxury, that all people deserve healthy and comfortable skin equally, and that every product should have a purpose for skin. Since its inception in 2004, UNT has persisted on developing only medical-grade skin care products that deliver visible results, at prices affordable to the mass market.

You can read more about UNT Skincare here.




Little Mermaid is part of the Pink Fiction Reverie collection - Utopia. The Unt Skincare website describes the collection as Sun bathing on a yacht in your teeny tiny bikini, sipping bubbly champagne… what a life to live!  Well sign me up!!!  The collections consists of some gold & nude shimmers, a brillant blue, a few purple shades, and pink... Lots and lots of pink.

 

Little Mermaid has a mixture of purple, silver, and holographic glitters.  Am I the only one who is wondering why they didn't name the blue polish "Little Mermaid"? Anyway, the formula was excellent.  It went on thick and was almost opaque in one coat.  Most people could probably get away with one coat if they don't mind visible nail lines.

1 coat OPI Basecoat for Natural Nails, 2 coats polish, 1 coat Ulta Topcoat

The UNT brush is wide and easy to work with.  It's actually a little wider than the OPI brush.  I love this brush but it might cause a problem for people with narrow nailbeds.

It's really hard to capture this shade on camera.  The purple glitter isn't showing up well in the pics.  In person the glitter looks more purple than silver.

Here it is layered over China Glaze Liquid Leather:

1 coat OPI BC, 3 coats Liquid Leather, 1 coat Little Mermaid, 1 coat Orly Top 2 Bottom

Bottom Line:
I took a risk when I ordered this because I couldn't find any swatches online.  Not many people have heard of this brand.  But purple is my favorite color so I decided to go for it.  I'm glad I did.  I had no problems with the order system ( I ordered through Amazon) and my package arrived in under two weeks.  This is a great glitter!  The color reminds me of a purple version of OPI's Teenage Dream from the Katy Perry collection. I was really impressed with the formula and the brush. I don't have anything like this in my collection. So Win for me!!!!  BTW I eventually found swatches on this Taiwanese blog and on Ommorphia Beauty Bar.

Are these polishes Big 3 Free?  I'm not sure.  I looked at the ingredients and it doesn't have Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde, or Toulene listed.  However I'm no scientist and I don't know all of the different names these ingredients might be listed under.
Click the pic to see the list of ingredients full-size.

UNT Nail Lacquer is available through www.shopunt.com and through Amazon for $8.00 with free shipping.

(Amazon lists the price as $15.00 with a $7.00 discount to make the price $8.00 but the Unt skincare website lists the price as just $8.00)

Bye for now
Mac


Update:
Eugenia from Ommorphia Beauty Bar (whose blog is awesome and you should check it out) was kind enough to let me know that she contacted UNT and not only are they Big 3 Free but they are also animal cruelty free.  I definitely recommend trying this brand.

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