lipp service.
Birthdays are the best time to reflect, especially with a gleaming glitter nail polish from cutting-edge designer Deborah Lippmann. Grateful to have Keep Your Nail Game Fresh blogger Khalei as an awesome friend and thoughtful gift giver, I was excited to unwrap Lippmann’s cheery celebratory polish “Happy Birthday” for mine. Obviously a send up to the traditional annual song, Lippmann’s site calls it a “party in a bottle.” It’s definitely a festive formula, with a rich, multi-colored confetti of hex glitters. It applies with a magnetic sort of feel because the brush is easy to use despite my clutzy technique, and tons of sparkle goes on with each stroke.
Music lovers may notice that all of her polish colors are also song titles, as Lippmann is an avid music aficionado herself and a note-worthy jazz singer. Her most recent album is a collection of rock covers, coyly titled “Vinyl“, where she croons along to classics from the Stones and Bon Jovi to the apt “Message in a Bottle” by The Police.
Her luxe nail polish brand got its start after the entrepreneur ditched waiting tables and singing in smoky piano bars to go to cosmetology school, her biography explains. Now, Lippmann attracts (and collaborates with) a-list clients like Sarah Jessica Parker (the inspiration for the shade “Sarah Smile”) and Renée Zellweger ( whose color is “Just Walk Away Renee”), Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Lena Dunham.
If you aren’t lucky enough to have a nail blogger for a BFF too, blogger Christine Iversen recommends Multi Glitter from NYX Cosmetics as a bargain dupe for the pricey polish, for about four bucks. But remember that Lippmann doesn’t test on animals and her shades are free from formaldehyde, toluene, or DBP (dibutyl phthalate). For your next birthday soiree, splurge on bottle of “Happy Birthday” from Nordstrom for $19 or make sure to add it to your wish list before you blow out the candles. — Casandra Armour
