“Lillibet” was Queen Elizabeth II’s childhood nickname, and 2012 marks her sixtieth year on the throne. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate the monarch’s Diamond Jubilee?  (England’s second such celebration! Elizabeth II’s reign is exceeded only by Victoria’s.)

From the photos I’ve seen, I’d call Lillibet’s Jubilee a metallic silver-lavender frost-foil (slightly gritty, but the “grit” is small and seems to get lost in indoor photos). Many have praised its coverage (almost a one-coater) and smooth finish. The color is $14, and is limited edition.

Butter London describes this shade as containing holographic glitter… I don’t see it,  but it’s a lovely color nevertheless.

For more photos of Lillibet’s Jubilee on AlexandraRC’s perfect nails, click here.

You can pick up Lillibet’s Jubilee on ButterLondon.com and Beauty.com (Beauty.com has a Friends and Family, 20%-off discount May 14 – 18, or you can take $10 off a $50 purchase — no codes, these are clickthrough offers).

If we’re lucky, the color might also come back in stock on Nordstrom.com.

Eyeshadow duos are back, though they’re $27.50 now. As with last summer’s duos, MAC doesn’t identify individual shade names or finishes.

Dynamic Duo 1 features a warm candy pink with gold duochrome shimmer, paired with a slightly chalky matte magenta berry (really the only shade that disappointed me at all in terms of smooth delivery of pigment). Dynamic Duo 2 includes a softly shimmery blue-silver and a vibrant matte cerulean.

Dynamic Duo 3 offers a shimmery blue-purple-steel grey and a matte teal (yowsers). Dynamic Duo 4 has a matte Pepto/Barbie pale blue-pink and a super-dark matte eggplant purple. All in all, the texture and color payoff of the duos is excellent.

The collection also features a few face powders. Pink Cult blush (repromoted from Jeanius) is a dusty bubblegum pink (Matte). I thought — from its name — that Magenta, a matte red-violet, process magenta, was a permanent, pro color (products with simple color names are often pro shades)… but I was mistaken; it’s limited edition. The blushes are $20 each.

Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish was originally released in 2006; recently repromoted in the Cindy Sherman collection of fall 2011. It’s a pearly warm-white shimmery highlight, $29.

I swatched the powders first lightly, then heavily.

The collection also includes three nail polishes (each $16). Vivid Effect is a red-pink coral, an intense hibiscus creme. In the Dark… Purple is grape. Screening Room is a green teal.

There are also four Eye Kohl (non-mechanical pencil) eyeliners ($15 each). Heirloom is a shimmery metallic dishwater blue-purple silver grey. Hyacinth is a satin (low shimmer) justice blue. Resort is a satin grape. Smolder (a permanent shade) is black.

The lips are probably my favorite part of the collection. I’d been vaguely regretting not buying Watch Me Simmer from February’s Shop MAC Cook MAC collection, but it’s already being repromoted, so I got my second chance.

Reel Sexy is a light coral pink Amplified Creme. Watch Me Simmer is a deeper warm pink. Pink Popcorn (Lustre) looks really lavender in the tube, but swatches on surprisingly pink. It’s a very sheer pink lilac with microscopic blue shimmers.

Wag of the finger to MAC for naming the fourth lipstick in this collection Heroine. MAC fans surely remember that there was a Heroine lipstick in MAC’s recent Wonder Woman collection. It was a Frost finish, and a completely different color (frosty red-brown). This Heroine is a grape creme Matte. The lipsticks are each $14.50.

There are also four Cremesheen Glass lipglosses ($19.50). Private Screening is a light warm pink. Star Quality is a bright red-pink coral, a color that J.Crew would probably call “melon.” Cinestyle is periwinkle, pale blue-purple. Colour Saturation is berry.

Reel Sexy is available on Nordstrom.com, Dillards.com, Bloomingdales.com, and MACcosmetics.com — happy shopping!

Pantone was a commercial printing company that became famous for their color standards. To make a long story short, they created books of color swatches and a system by which any of these colors could be consistently created. Some colors are created with the standard printing mix of CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). Others are “spot” colors, created from some combination of Pantone’s 13 inks plus white and black. What this means is a graphic designer in Phoenix can create a corporate logo in PMS 78 (Pantone Matching System), and it can be printed correctly in Iceland, India, or New Zealand, without calibrating it to another printed sample. The system is so pervasive that even national flags are described by PMS color.

And since 2000, for the prestige of the brand, Pantone has named a “color of the year.” I don’t always agree with their predictions; I wasn’t feeling “Honeysuckle” last year. Orange was pretty hot last summer — I think it hasn’t yet gone out of vogue. Regardless, I love orange, so I was very excited about the collaboration.

I originally expected to buy the collector’s set, $68. It includes everything I thought I would want: eyeshadow quad, lipstick, the blush duo, and single blush. The lipgloss and eyeliner were just a bonus! But the eyeshadow quad kind of talked me out of it. The texture was nice, but not, as Camel cigarettes used to say, pure swatching pleasure. The shades are all a little sheer (I built them up).

Scallop Shell is a sheer, satin, beige ballet pink. Carnelian is a satin coral with a few pink-gold shimmers. Sparrow is a cool, matte, slightly purpled bark-brown. Pavement is a sheer black satin with a few tiny sparkles. The eyeshadow quad is $28, if you buy it individually.

Tangerine Tango Cream lipstick ($18) is the flagship piece of the collection, and Sephora, you got me good. I love it. It’s a semi-sheer coral orange — and because it’s sheer, it goes completely warm-strawberry red-pink on me. Also because it’s sheer, it doesn’t last THAT long on my lips. The texture is glossy-jelly, not drying at all. It also has a sweet scent (gummi bears?) that I notice only when I’m applying.

Then there’s the lipgloss set, $20 (which is nothing when you consider you’re getting 4 glosses). But in what will become a recurring theme for this collection, I kind of wish they’d done individual products instead of a set.

The lipglosses are a nod to Pantone’s different finishes. Vivid is probably the truest representation of what “Tangerine Tango” is supposed to be. It’s the most opaque and the most red. Tangerine Tango Luminous is a little lighter, a little more sheer, and has gold sparkles. Tangerine Tango Opal is a little more sheer and a little lighter, with dense pink sparkles. But as you can see from the swatches, it almost seems like you’re buying three tubes of the same gloss. Tangerine Tango Glaze is a nice surprise. It’s a sheer, warm, grapefruit pink with pink and gold sparkles.

There are two blush options, a blush duo ($26) and a Prisma Chrome Blush ($16). The blush duo consists of Desert Flower (a matte, warm guava pink) and Coral (a deeper, more intense, watermelon pink with gold shimmer). The Prisma Chrome Blush was REALLY sparkly; I felt like there was nearly as much sparkle as color/pigment. It’s apricot with dense gold sparkles.

Not loving Apricot Brandy confirmed my decision not to buy the collector’s set.

I found the Tangerine Tango nail polishes to be surprisingly nifty… but I wished I could buy just one of them for $6, rather than all four for $24. Like the lipglosses, the nail polishes are an exploration of finish. The set contains Tangerine Tango Matte, Creme, Shimmer (sheer with tiny orange and pink shimmers), and Glitter (intense, autumn-leaf orange glitter in a clear base).

There’s also a trio of mechanical eyeliners ($22). Though these pencils were very soft and creamy, I was concerned about staying power. (Anyone own these and care to weigh in?) Meteorite is black, Tangerine Tango Twist is a sheeny satin bittersweet red-orange with pink and silver shimmers. Chestnut is dark brown.

The collection also contains a number of makeup accessories: “Tangerine Tango” brush sets ($68), false lashes ($28), eyelash curlers ($18), a makeup bag ($28). None of these made my have-to-have list.

Also, I do have to ding Sephora for their packaging on this collection: the outer packaging is absurdly wasteful (perhaps to discourage in-store shoplifting of what was sure to be a popular collection). I also disliked the translucent, non-attaching, magnetized lids on the eyeshadow quad and blush duo.

Are you an orange-lover? A Pantone-groupie? What did you love (and not love) about this collection?

Butter London polishes are pretty widely available these days, but I like Nordstrom.com for their free shipping at any price. The polishes are $14 each.

A wisteria (dusty) purple crème base with a fair number of wisteria-colored sparkles, No More Waity Katie can be worn alone, or as a topcoat over something else (check out AlexandraRC’s spiffy combination with OPI My Pointe Exactly). Though the new Duchess of Cambridge didn’t wear this on her wedding day, I think it would have looked nice.

Profound thanks to AlexandraRC of Sparkly Vernis for sharing her swatches with us.

Butter London polishes are $14 each (and always ship for free from Nordstrom.com.

In 2007, Tom Ford collaborated with Estee Lauder on a summer collection that gave rise to Estee Lauder’s annual Bronze Goddess tradition. I think that collection deeply affected Mr. Ford as well — his spring/summer season also celebrates that bronzed, smoldering sexpot in a white swimsuit on a beach on the Riviera.

Mr. Ford’s collection is fairly straightforward: four cream eyeshadows and four corresponding nail polishes. There’s also a sheer golden lipgloss. All nine products are limited edition.

The collection also repromotes permanent blushes Savage and Love Lust, which I didn’t reswatch (I’m still happy with these swatches of them).

I was surprised by how much I love the cream shadows. They’re quite pigmented, with a very soft, mousse-like texture — they’re really easy to use. One quick swipe over the lids (using your fingers) and you’ve got that perfect, effortless summer look. Add eyeliner and mascara and you’re a Tom Ford dream girl.

Guilt is a sparkly yellow gold. Platinum is fawn brown with silver shimmer. Spice is a warm, golden brown with golden shimmer. Illicit is red brown shimmer with gold sparkle. The shadows are $40 each.

One word of advice: be careful traveling with these. I had one in my purse (wanted to show a friend). The top unscrewed itself, and the product made the most amazing mess. I’m not sure whether I’m more upset about losing the product, or the fact that cream shadow is now ground into everything I own. Oy. I think if I wanted to take these on the road, I might secure the top with painters tape.

The polishes are all frosts or frost/foils, which isn’t my favorite finish, though the colors are pretty. Gold Haze is a dull, beaten gold. Silver Smoke is a pale, cool gold. Burnt Topaz is a golden brown. Burnished Rouge is a dull burgundy, theatre-seat red. The polishes are $30 each.

In the regular line, Tom Ford’s lipglosses are cream finish and $45 — except for Lip Lacquer Vinyl, which is a clear, shimmery/sparkly gloss (for anytime you want to add shimmer). Gold Dust is that product’s golden counterpart, a shimmery yellow gold that slightly mutes the color of Mr. Ford’s very vibrant lipsticks, and gives them a gold finish and a wet look. Gold Dust Lip Lacquer is $30 (as is Lip Lacquer Vinyl).

The collection is available at NeimanMarcus.com (free shipping with code SPRINGFS).

The polish is a fine/small-grade turquoise-blue glitter (with a few green and gold sparkles) in a clear base. Click the photo for a better view of that sparkle. Alexandra painted four coats for maximum opacity.

But wait! You want to see some real magic happen? This is one coat of Henley Regatta over two coats of Zoya Mira. Yowsers.

For more photos of both manicures, visit Sparkly Vernis.

Zoya polishes are $8 each. Butter London’s are $14.

Hollywood & Vine is a black polish with tiny silver sparkles (here’s the arm swatch). I think it’s really rocker chic for short nails, but maybe a little too “tough girl” for summer in Texas. Like all NCLA polishes, Hollywood and Vine is $16, available on their website.



Sunglasses: A.J. Morgan, $24
Fox ring: Spring Street, $48
Reversible envelope clutch: Trouve, $138

I swatched the eyeshadows shade-by-shade, and then couches de couleur style. General operating instructions for a Kaleidoscope eye kit are to layer shades 1-3 on the lid (from lashline to crease) without blending, then use the fourth shade as a liner. The result is an anyone-can-do-it smoky eye.

I like to be surprised by the combined color of a kaleidoscope, but I could not believe that shades 1 + 2 + 3 turned out to be a satin dusty beige-pink.

It seems the shades in these kits do have individual names, so I’ll use those names (though you won’t see them anywhere on the packaging). Ionic is a warm, dusty pale pink. Sky is a shimmery/satin ice blue. Magnetic is a shimmery copper. And Equinox is a blurple (blue-purple) satin.

Lip Kaleidoscopes are truly an “owner’s choice” type product. I swatched the shades individually, then layered all four to combine that color on the end — but you could use the colors singly, in pairs, or as a trio to make the color you desire. Again, using LMdB’s “secret” shade names: Illuminate is a bright, warm flamingo pink with sparkles. Voltaic is a muted warm mauve-rose. Dynamos is a sheer strawberry coral with gold and silver sparkles (it reminds me of limited-edition-Dallas-lipgloss Nadine). And Eos is an opaque, cream-finish, cool, Barbie blue-pink.

The nail polishes didn’t speak to me right away (I’m still obsessing over neons), but once I swatched them, I really wanted them. Solar Flare is a magenta rose creme. Faraday is a purple grey with tiny silver shimmers. This is SO understated-gorgeous on the nails, and I think you could wear it year-round. Aurora is a bright, turquoise blue creme (and blues are having a major moment right now). The polishes are $18 each.

This collection is available everywhere that sells Le Metier. If you’re ordering online, you can get free shipping at any price at Nordstrom (no code necessary) and Neiman Marcus (code SPRINGFS).

In this case, I had NCLA’s Pick Me Up at Melrose Place on my nails and had the (rather inspired, if I may say so) idea to top it with one of their glitter shades: Miss Sunset Strip. The combination is so natural, now I’m not sure I can imagine wearing Miss Sunset Strip over anything else.

Miss Sunset Strip offers a medium number of tiny purple sparkles, a few medium-size round silver holographic glitter pieces, and a few big grape-purple hexagon glitter pieces, all suspended in a clear base (click here to see the arm-swatch). I did two careful coats, and loved the result.

I apply glitter “topcoat” polishes differently from the way I put on “regular” polish. To make sure I get an adequate density and concentration of glitter, I use more of a dabbing motion than a long, smooth stroke. I’m basically making a thicker coat and trying not to push the glitter around too much.

The only bummer was that we had all this crummy, rainy weather, and I couldn’t get a proper picture.

I didn’t even mean for this to be a “blog photo,” but I happened about this oh-so-fabulous smooth-glitter Deux Lux pouch in Nordstrom’s accessories department. I was never really cool enough to routinely go clubbing with the girls, but looking at this itty bitty clutch gives me fantasies that I could be. I wanted to remember it for later, so I snapped a cell phone pic with my blingy nails. The pouch is $31 if you like it too.

NCLA polishes are $16 each. These polishes were provided for swatching purposes.