Dior Shadow Nail Lacquer / Vernis Review, Photos, Swatches
Dior Shadow Nail Lacquer
A Deep Purple Emerges from the Shadows
Dior Shadow Nail Lacquer ($23.00 for 0.33 fl. oz.) is described as an “intense, shimmering purple.” It’s a dark eggplant purple with flecks of coppery red shimmer. Cult Nails Spontaneous is lighter. MAC Festive Finery is duller, slightly lighter, and has a cream finish. Cult Nails Enigmatic is browner. China Glaze Urban-Night has a stronger red undertone. You might be remembering Bobbi Brown Twilight from yesterday, but while both are dark, purple-ish shades, Shadow is much more of a purple-eggplant without all of the brown that Twilight had.
This is a Nordstrom-exclusive shade that launched with the retailer’s Anniversary sale, but it’s still available. Shadow was opaque after two coats, and the formula wasn’t too thick or too thin. It applied easily and evenly, without pooling along the sides or bubbling up. Dior has a wider, curved brush, which has made it easier to apply polish for me, but I could see those with narrower nail beds having more difficulty. I liked that the shimmer in this one was bright enough to actually show up even in low light. I typically get a week of wear without chipping, just minor tip wear, with Dior’s formula.
Limited Edition
Dior Shadow Nail Lacquer
Dior Shadow Nail Lacquer
Dior Shadow Nail Lacquer
Dior Shadow Nail Lacquer
Dior Shadow Nail Lacquer
Dior Shadow Nail Lacquer
I have this polish already and I love it! It has a red base with red glitter and a murky purple layer (shadow…) over it. If I applied carefully I could get this in one coat and more of the red showed in one coat. It looks somewhat like Dior’s Licorice but with an extra layer of purple murkiness. I love it so much I want to go snag Licorice somewhere too.
Very n ice! I haven’t seen Licorice I don’t think — off to google!
The brush on this reminds me of the brush on the Sally Hansen rapid dry polishes (can’t recall the exact name now) which I really like. Like you, Christine, I find this style much easier to use than the “traditional” nail polish brushes.
I didn’t know they had that brush type – will have to check it out for sure now!
They do, and they’re surprisingly good quality! Once you get used to the different brush design. 😉
Looks good! I’m usually not a fan of purple shades, but this one is so deep and rich (and it sparkles, woohoo) that I do like it.
I love the depth, too!
I was bummed when my store ran out the first day, but a wonderful SA was nice enough to order it for me and have it sent to my place for free. He even called a few days after it arrived to make sure I got it ok. Yay for Nordies! And yay for this polish; it is sooooo beautiful.
Aww, what a great SA!
I love this colour, especially the flecks, which seem to show more in the light. This looks like the perfect vampish colour, with a bit of dimension to it.
Me too! I love when the shimmer is subtle but still noticeable!
I like this A LOT.
Yay!
Oh, I like this a lot. I’m a sucker for purple, and shimmer, and this is both done really well 🙂 I’ll have to look for a gel polish dupe!
I hope you can find one!
Stunning, but I don’t think I can justify splashing out on Dior nail polish!
They’re pricey and don’t have a lot of product (at least not the typical 0.5 fl. oz.), so they can be hard to justify!
I wish this would be available at Sephora! That’s the only way my poor Canadian self would be able to get ahold of it. 🙁
Boo 🙁
Maybe it’s at Holt Renfrew?
I didn’t think of Holts! Now I have an excuse to swing by. 🙂
You can pick up Dior nail polish at The Bay
Thanks! I’ll check them out. 🙂
I think this looks a lot like a Dior polish I’ve had for a few years, called Liquorice. Liquorice has some sparkles rather than shimmer, but the shade is very similar.
Good to know – thank you for sharing the dupe, Lulle!
This is so pretty, and perfect for Fall. It kinda reminds me of ORLY’s Fowl Play except FP has flakie-ish shards instead of a smooth glitter
Hmm, sounds like I might like Fowl Play even more!
Thanks for the tip. I’ll add that one to the list to check out, esp. as ORLY’s price is much more palatable than Dior’s.
This polish is so stunning! If I wore purples more often I would probably pick this one up.
This is really pretty!! It looks like NARS’ Endless Night a bit, only with flecks. So, even better! Totally OT, I sooooooo love Fall (& Winter) Collections because it features all the colours I’m drawn to. Yay for purple-eggplant nails!
I really love this–I love the color and I love that the shimmer is actually visible!
Ooh! Very pretty!
Thanks, Kimberly!
This looks very similar to the fall 2012 Estee Lauder metal mania polish color smashed. I’m wearing it right now. Now I’m curious to see a side by side comparison to see exactly how close they come to one another. From your description same color tones and color of sparkles. Smashed looks darker on my hand though but it’s hard to tell from picture on moniter to room lighting.
I wish I had Smashed to compare!
I was REALLY hoping I’d fall in love with one of the dupes so I wouldn’t have to splurge on this, but dang, nothing is a good enough match. I love the richness of the color with that SHIMMER! Makes this color stand out for me a lot. :]
Aww! Too bad about the dupes not coming close enough for you 🙁
This reminded me of both chanel vertigo nail lacquer and mac beauty marked eye shadow.
It’s so pretty!
Love it~ Dior is my absolute favourite nail formula! I love everything about it, other than the price! The brush is phenomenal and allows me to apply to my steeply curved nails without getting polish on my skin. No other brush is this easy for me. The polish stays put for at least 7 days on my nails and upwards of 3 weeks on my toes. I can’t rave enough about it. I just wish Dior came out with more colours, but alas I must buy other brands for variety.
Hi Christine, I looked up the EL fall 2012 color smashed and found a blog that has swatches. apolishaddict . com has a few pics. It looks exactly like the same color. I was surprised that it is so very close. Just wanted to let you know in case you are curious.
EL Smashed is closer to EL Ultra Violet than to Shadow. Shadow is very unique but from the swatches I have seen, it is similar to Liquorice, but not exact dupe. There is an older color of Estee Lauder that is similar, called Plum Cassis. Still appears on Ebay sometimes. If you have EL Molten Lava, it is the eggplant version of that, if you KWIM. the base of plum cassis is darker, redder, so it is not a dupe, just more similar with the coppery red shimmer within. Another close but no cigar is Barielle Mystery woman, which comes closer to shadow’s blurple base, but has a brighter, less murky effect. Hope that helps
Christine, do you use a base and top coat with any Dior polishes? I have Masai Red and one entire nail color came clean off in two days, just looked down and noticed I don’t have any polish on my third finger. So I am wondering if I do not use a base coat maybe I will get longer wear.
I get the same wear with/without a base/top coat, but almost nothing chips on me.