Laura Mercier Tres Chic Spring 2012 Nail Lacquer & Gel Lip Colour Review, Photos, Swatches

This is a quick overall view of the second half of Laura Mercier's Spring 2012 Collection. I will refrain from going too in-depth because individual reviews will be coming soon! All the photos were taken with my iPhone so the quality could be better, but all the photos were edited in Photoshop to look as true to color as possible. The pictures of the display look the best and you should use those as your primary reference!

Let's start with the swatches of the nail lacquers, $18 each. The paper is true white and the colors are fairly accurate, considering they were swatched on the back of a business card! They nail polishes were freshly applied, and the photo was taken within a minute of applying all 5. They are swatched in the same order that they appear on the display, from left to right, so please refer to the photo below to see the colors in their respective bottles. Sabrina of The Beauty Look Book beat me to it and has posted swatches of all these on her hands! I purchased 3 of the 5, Cabana, Flamingo, and Luscious. Individual reviews will come this weekend.

Now for the Gel Lip Colours, $22 each. These are not entirely new, since 3 of these 5 lipsticks released were part of last year's Spring collection. The new shades are Orchid and Poppy. And while these may be touted as sheer, they are easily buildable. I like how the formula really hugs the lips instead of just sliding around. Chanel Rouge Coco Shines are another great swipe-and-go product, but they have too much slip and they are very unforgiving on dry lips. I highly recommend the LM Gel Lip Colours these as an affordable alternative. And dare I add better, too?

Orchid is a scary warm purple in the tube but it applies considerably more berry. It's one of the sheerer colors, but I find that more wearable and appealing.
Poppy is the most pigmented, as you will see in the swatches below. It looks and feels like a more traditional lipstick, applies ultra smoothly and packs a punch of red hot color!
Clementine is a lovely medium orange with a pigment level nearly as high as Poppy's, but it was a touch too much orange for me. I like my oranges to lean sheer and coral, which contrasts less against my skintone.
Dollface is a cool pink, the least pigmented of the bunch, but it reminds me of a longer-lasting version of Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Chance. This one came home with me! Review coming soon :)
Rosette is a red-pink that seemed to swatch a little patchy, but maybe it was just the uneven surface of my hand. This was an automatic pass for me because I rarely wear red-pink hybrids. I think this may be, however, the most universal and office-appropriate shade of the bunch.

Nordstrom Store Lighting

Direct Sunlight

Bottom Line: Cabana and Luscious are my must-haves. As for the Gel Lip Colours, pick one that suits your fancy!