Monday, April 13, 2009

Estee Lauder 'Pure Color' Nail Lacquer In Berry Cordial




The purple nail polish craze continues. This time with the darkest magenta one can ask for.

Berry Cordial was originally launched by Estée Lauder last season, as part of the Chocolate Decadence collection. It was supposed to be a limited edition color, but it seems to have a longer stay than expected, as it's still available from Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom, and isn't marked as an LE. I got it as gift from a friend who knows about my recent quest for the purple, and Berry Cordial definitely hits the spot color-wise.

Try as I might, I couldn't photograph the polish even semi-decently, so the original stock photo will have to do. It's so dark that between my lack of skills and my miserable camera, the nail swatch looked black. In reality, the color looks more red (or crimson) in bright daylight (not that we've had too much of that lately) and like a purple tinged black cherry at night. All of this means Berry Cordial is very dark. While on the vampy side, it's not over-the-top, unless you have Morticia Adams nails. If you've already worn Essie Wicked or Chanel Tulip Noir to the office, Berry Cordial shouldn't be a problem to pull off, as it's actually quite classy and elegant and completely devoid of glitter.

When it comes to quality the good news is that one coat is enough for a perfect opaque finish that is true to the bottle. The thick brush covers the nail easily, so each nail is coated quickly and efficiently without streaking. The bad news is that like several other Lauder polishes I've owned, it's incredibly quick to chip. I tested this Pure Color lacquer with several base coats: two from Zoya, an OPI and an Essie with the same chipped results, so it's safe to say it's the polish. You absolutely must use a protective coat and renew it daily, and even then expect the need to touch up and redo every few days.

Estee Lauder 'Pure Color' Nail Lacquer In Berry Cordial ($18) is available online from Bloomingdales.com and Nordstrom.com.

Raspberry Cordial cupcake photo (and recipe) from the wonderfully inspiring
Tofu and Cupcakes blog

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