Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Stronger was created by Deborah Lippmann in collaboration with pop star Kelly Clarkson, who wore it (applied by Ms. Lippmann herself) to the 2013 Grammy Awards where she won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album. Named Stronger after Kelly Clarkson's rockin' so-over-you hit song, it is a blue/violet based glitter bombity bomb. It's got a mix of metallic and holographic hex glitters in medium and small sizes in all kinds of colors, red, gold, blue and silver, suspended in a blue-violet tinted translucent base. Maximum sparkly wowzerificness!

I chose China Glaze Want My Bawdy to use as a base color for Stronger. Want My Bawdy was released as part of China Glaze's New Bohemian Luster Chrome collection for fall 2012. It's a medium sapphire blue luster chrome semi-metallic duochrome with a very shy blue to purple color shift that is impossible to capture on camera.

Application of Want My Bawdy was a little tricky. The finely milled metallic pigments in this polish do not like to be overly messed with and will pull patches in a heartbeat if you do, as I quickly found out. Brush strokes are also an issue, but less so as a good topcoat will soften their impact considerably. The first coat is very sheer but coverage quickly builds with the second coat. If I were to wear this alone I would have done three coats, but since I was planning to layer I only did two. Want My Bawdy dries naturally in longer than average time to a shiny smooth finish.

I kind of fell in love with this little chameleon, it has a light magical feel on the nail as it shifts from bright sapphire to glowing purple and is extremely flattering. It's the kind of color that makes you want to constantly stretch your arms out so you can look at it at arm's length. I only have a few photos to show you, taken in the kitchen under the halogens. Maybe I'll do a full post on it in the future because I'm sure I'm gonna want to wear it again.

Photos show two coats of Want My Bawdy over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. These do no justice to the experience of the polish in person.

China Glaze Want My Bawdy

China Glaze Want My Bawdy

China Glaze Want My Bawdy

China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Over this Want My Bawdy manicure I applied (well, ploshed and spread) two coats of Stronger. Stronger has a thick sticky consistency and each brushful was so packed with glitters that it is impossible to apply like a regular polish. You've got to spackle it on there. I used Scrangie's application tip and gently tamped down each coat as soon as it was dry enough not to stick to my finger. It dries fast, as you would expect. Coverage is fantastic, essentially opaque in two coats. For a smooth glossy finish I added my beloved topcoat sandwich of Seche Vite plus Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food plus Seche Vite. Even with that, I can still feel a bit of texture working it's way up through the layers! But for all practical purposes the finish is smooth and shiny so I'm happy. Actually, having this awesome sparklefest of a polish on my nails has got me feeling very happy indeed!

Hey wanna see a pic of Kelly Clarkson going to win her Grammy with Deborah Lippmann Stronger on her nails? Sure, I knew you did.

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Photos below show two coats of Stronger over the Want My Bawdy manicure above with three layers of topcoat. 

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy on the nail, Deborah Lippmann Stronger in the bottle

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy on the nail, Deborah Lippmann Stronger in the bottle

Deborah Lippmann Stronger, macro shot in the bottle

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

Deborah Lippmann Stronger over China Glaze Want My Bawdy

I know I'll be dating myself with this excited utterance but heck, man, this polish is justified! Basically, it's a primary colors glitter polish. Well, primary plus the rainbow if you count all the colors pouring from the holo glitters. Plus silver, there's some small silver glitters in there. Plus violet for the tinted base. But mostly it's a bouquet of sparkling primary colored splendor. I love having the primaries hang out in a pack like this, it never fails to lift my spirits. Sometimes I even crave primaries in a pack and have to go buy red, blue and yellow flowers at the florist.

In person, this look is less chaotic than it comes off in these photos. The holographic glitters, which really do glow in rainbow colors, kind of pull it together and bejewel your finger tips. It's still a crazy sparkly look, appropriate for nothing and everything. I love it! Removal, what removal? This stuff is staying on til they pry it off my cold dead finger nails! Uh, kind of.

I'm getting ready to go pick up the new little kitteh at the vet's (he ate a piece of culinary twine) and as happy as I am that he's ok I'm even happier that he's ok and I get to pick him up wearing Stronger. It'll take a little of the sting out of paying the vet bill.

love,
Aunt Liz