+ Essie Luxeffects holiday collection (third photo, top row) and School of Hard Rocks winter collection (third photo, second row). Salon mainstay Essie recently branched into the drugstore market, offering their polishes not only at stores like Ulta but also places like CVS Pharmacy, and I’m sure that move — and these outside-the-box collections — are paying off for the company. For those craving glitter and shimmer, the Luxeffects top coats fit the bill: A Cut Above, with hexagon and small round fuchsia glitter; Set in Stones, with the same kind of glitter, but in silver; As Good As It Gets, a shimmery gold pearl; Pure Pearlfection, a shimmery silver pearl; and Shine of the Times, packed with shimmer and flakey glitter that flashes orange, red, green and gold in the light. The School of Hard Rocks collection isn’t at all glittery, but an unlikely mix of shades: dirty blue creme Bobbing for Baubles, purplish gray creme Bangle Jangle, camel beige Brooch the Subject, light red creme Size Matters, murky teal evergreen creme School of Hard Rocks and bluish light gray creme Cocktail Bling. All pretty and not at all expected. Each polish is $8 and available at Ulta.
+ Deborah Lippmann’s holiday 2011 collection (third photo, third row), with glitters and shimmers and metallics. Celebrity nail stylist Deborah Lippmann’s polishes are certainly on the pricey side, but ooh, they’re so pretty. The six shades include I Love the Nightlife, a clear base with large hexagon particles of graphite glitter; Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?, with the same clear base and hexagon glitter, but in bright red; Shake Your Groove Thing, with the same clear base and hexagon glitter, but in shiny gold; Stairway to Heaven, with a milky base and large flake glitter that catches and reflects different colors in the light; shimmery dark berry and gold Good Girl Gone Bad; and frosty rose gold Glamorous Life. The glitters are perfect for adding a bit of outrageous pizzazz to a solid-colored manicure, and nothing’s wrong with the latter two metallics and shimmers, either. The polishes cost between $16 and $18 and are available at Deborah Lippmann.
