Deborah Lippmann Until Your Dreams Come True Set

Mr. Karen and I no longer give each other Christmas presents under the tree, having decided we'd rather go for more shared experiences, like the trip we took last December to Walt Disney World, so I buy myself presents. This year's biggest indulgence was the Deborah Lippmann Until Your Dreams Come True Music Box, a set issued to celebrate the 15th anniversary of her brand.

The box, its top secured with a ribbon, has a nail polish marble design printed on the top.

Inside, swaddled in a protective fabric sleeve (not pictured) is this glossy black box.

Lifting the hinged lid, fifteen mini polishes nestled in a tray are revealed (the tray lifts out, so the box can be used for other treasures). You might also just be able to see the holes in the liner of the lid where the music comes out; it plays a song performed by Deborah Lippmann herself (you can hear it on the her website, too).

There was also a signed, numbered card in the box.

The back of the box shows little squares of each polish.

I was very tempted to just admire this whole package and not touch the polishes right now, especially since they're minis and thus easier to use up, but reminded myself how happy I was when I finally tried other polishes I'd been saving (like Monday's beauties from Brazil) and also that the only colored polish I've used up in the last decade are my go to black and white bases, since I use them way more than any other single bottles. I started with four cremes: Come Fly With Me (dusty blue), The Climb (warm milky coffee brown), We Are Family (deep berry red), and Love Will Leave a Mark (dark purple). I Skittled these (while I talked myself into using them, they're still minis, and I was only swatching so wouldn't get to enjoy them for too long). I used three coats each of Come Fly With Me and The Climb, two coats of Love Will Leave a Mark and We Are Family.

I topped these first four cremes with one coat of Hey Jude, which has silver and holo hex glitter in a black jelly base. Hey Jude did seem like it would be buildable enough to wear on its own, but since I already had these great base colors on, I layered. I did add one coat of clear topcoat as well.

For my next look with this set, I did two coats of My Coloring Book, a raspberry creme, then topped three of my nails with two coats of Daydream Believer, which has diamond shaped holo glitter, small holo glitter, and blue and pink irisdescent shimmer in a sheer pink base. All nails got clear topcoat. For the first coat of Daydream Believer, I stroked it on as usual, but for the second coat I used more of a dabbing motion, which seemed to work better. I did have to fish for the diamonds, as they were not too interested in leaving the safety of their bottle.

Because it's so close to Christmas, it seemed only natural to alternate Looks Like We Made It, a red jelly packed with silver glitter (might be some red glitter, too; it's hard to tell through the jelly), and Land of Make Believe, a green jelly packed with green and blue glitter (or mabye it's silver and blue; again, the jelly). I used two coats of each plus clear topcoat.

Next, I tried I Will Survive, an olive shimmer, 1999, a purple microglitter, and A Hard Day's Night, a dark blue jelly with blue (or maybe silver) and iridescent glitter. I did two coats of I will Survive on my index and middle fingers, and two coats of 1999 on my index and pinky. Then my middle and ring got one coat of A Hard Day's Night before all fingers got clear topcoat. I was in love with all of this: the bases on their own and the glitter over both of them. I bet A Hard Day's Night could be built up and worn on its own, but when the transformations it goes through when layered are so entrancing I just want to try it over more things.

I followed a similar pattern for the last three polishes. My index and middle got two coats of Pure Imagination, a bright rose pink microglitter, while my ring and pinky got two of I Dreamed a Dream, a glowy deep red shimmer. My middle and ring then got one coat of Magic To Do, which has fuchsia hex glitter in an orange flecked shimmer base (it could be worn alone, but again, layering is fun). Clear topcoat went on all nails.

No doubt this set is pricey ($195), but I feel it was worth the money to splurge on it. The box itself seems well made, and I know the polishes are high quality, having a lot of Lippmann in my stash already. I like that there's a good variety of finishes, from creme to shimmer to microglitter to chunky glitter. Overall, I'm happy I bought it, and hope to see some of the shades released later in full size bottles so I can use these minis (a.k.a. "fashion size") with abandon.