Remember Petah’s Wicked evening with Deborah Lippmann?
A couple of weeks later, I flew to New Zealand for my own Wicked adventure and I traveled with Deborah’s Wicked set in tow. Petah had thoughtfully sent it to me super fast, to make sure I got it in time for my trip.
Deborah released the set to celebrate the Broadway musical’s 10th anniversary and I thought the timing was perfect because Wicked was coming to my country. I went to Auckland to watch Wicked and meet the cast and crew – the same people who will be bringing the show to Manila in January. We arrived on Wednesday night, had dinner and headed to our rooms to rest after our two flights. But I knew I couldn’t sleep without getting my nails ready for the next day.
I painted my nails with Defying Gravity and added One Short Day to the tips.
Thursday was crazy exciting. We were scheduled to go backstage and discover just how much work it takes to stage a show as magical as Wicked. Naturally, I brought Deborah Lippmann’s set with me again. I showed it to Kellie Ritchie, Wicked’s head of wigs and makeup.
Here’s the Wicked trio with some of the costumes. Note the abundance of green.
I love how the box matches the fantastic costumes.
I took a photo of the set with MAC’s Chromacake in Landscape Green, the makeup used by Wicked productions to transform actresses into the green-skinned Elphaba.
I wanted to see how close Defying Gravity was to Elphaba’s skin color. And yup, it’s pretty close.
That’s my Deborah Lippmann Wicked set posing with Elphaba’s hat.
I couldn’t resist snapping a quick photo of my Wicked mani too. Forgive my dry hands. Travel really messes with my cuticles.
Here’s a photo of my Wicked set onstage at Auckland’s Civic Theatre, the same theater Peter Jackson used when he filmed the movie King Kong.
And here’s a photo of the set on one of the seats.
That night, we watched Wicked. It was my second time to see the show. I first saw it on Broadway a couple of years ago and fell in love with it. The cast in New Zealand cemented my love for the show – it has officially become my favorite musical. It made me cry four times and that’s okay because it made me laugh even more times. Suzie Mathers is the perfect Glinda. She was so good. Jemma Rix was sick that night and we got to watch her understudy Ali Calder. (I can’t wait to watch Jemma in Manila – she was fantastic at the press launch.)
After the show, we were given the chance to go onstage and have photos taken with Suzie, Ali and the charming Steve Danielsen who plays Fiyero. As I was posing for these pictures, one of my travel companions said something about me being crazy about nail polish. And I said, “I’m wearing Defying Gravity!” They asked me to show off my mani so I did. I thought it was funny that Elphaba was looking at my nails in one of the pictures.
Friday had even more Wicked fun in store for us. We were set to spend hours interviewing the cast. I spent Thursday night preparing for those interviews. I also knew I needed a new Wicked manicure for the next day. So I brought out the Wicked set again and put together a fun mani using all three colors including Popular, the shimmery pink. This was the mani on my left hand.
Here’s a closer look. I kept the Defying Gravity + One Short Day combination on my ring finger and middle finger, painted my pinky with two coats of One Short Day and my index finger with three coats of Popular. On my thumb I went a little crazy – I used Defying Gravity as a base, added One Short Day to half of my nail and then added a stripe of Popular. I did a similar mani on my right hand and wore all three shades on my nails all the way back to Manila.
It’s been a couple of weeks since my trip but I’m still on a Wicked high. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack nonstop and I’m counting down to January. When I got back to Manila, I also spent time playing with the Wicked set and taking proper swatches.
These are the three mini bottles included in the Wicked set.
Let’s start with Defying Gravity.
Deborah describes this as “Elphaba’s unlimited green.” Inspired by Elphaba, she created this green hue as an extension of Elphaba’s skin color. And because Elphaba is my favorite Wicked character (even though I really really adore Suzie as Glinda) and Defying Gravity is my favorite Wicked song (okay it’s a tie between Defying Gravity and For Good), this color was my favorite from the collection.
It’s a beautiful shade of green. Application was easy. I used three thin coats.
Love.
Next is Popular.
Deborah describes this as “Glinda’s glistening pink.” Inspired by Glinda and one of the most fun songs from the musical, this polish is a shimmery pink that matches the dress Glinda wears for the Popular number.
Application was easy but this is the sheerest of the three shades. After three coats, it was almost opaque, with the nail line still a little visible.
And finally, One Short Day.
Deborah describes this super glittery shade as “positively perfect emerald.” This was inspired by Glinda and Elphaba’s journey to the Emerald City. I love the song it was named after too.
You know how some glittery shades can be so sheer that you need coat after coat after coat after coat to get it to go opaque? Not this one. It could have become opaque in two but I went for three. Loved the application too – it was super easy, no need to fish out any glitter. It applied quite nicely.
Because it’s super glittery, One Short Day dries gritty. You will need a top coat to make it glossy and to bring out even more sparkle. But I skipped that bit so I could play with the colors together (you’ll see what I mean in a bit).
You didn’t think I just swatched these three shades separately, right? I’m sure you know that despite my serious lack of nail art skills, I always have fun trying.
Here are a few more looks I created using the Wicked set.
Starting with a Defying Gravity base, I added One Short Day on top but not just to the tips – I painted almost half of my nails with the glittery emerald shade. I intentionally made them look uneven. I thought it made the mani look a little more interesting.
Then I decided to add Popular on top of the Defying Gravity + One Short Day mix just to see how it would look.
And I thought that was interesting too.
Next I started with Popular as the base before adding really thin Defying Gravity tips.
“Ooh, my nails look like watermelon slices,” I thought.
And then I went a little crazy and added my version of Wicked watermelon seeds using One Short Day.
I know, I know, it looks crazy.
Using all three shades I also created a diagonally striped mani without using a nail art brush or tape. I just used the polish brushes.
I started with a One Short Day base, added two coats of Popular and finished with Defying Gravity.
Fun!
Deborah Lippmann’s Wicked Set is now available at Sephora stores and Sephora.com, DeborahLippmann.com and HSN. Follow Deborah on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. In the Philippines, Deborah Lippmann products are available at Rustan’s The Beauty Source.
Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, Concertus Manila, David Atkins Enterprises and 105.9 Radio High and presenters Visa and Smart Infinity will be bringing Wicked to Manila in January 2014. Tickets are available at Ticketworld. Call 891-9999 or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph. For more information, visit www.wickedthemusical.com.ph.