Tracy Reese for Sally Hansen Fall 2013 Nail Polish Swatches and Review

The longest running collaboration in nail polish world is the fifteen season partnership between Sally Hansen and fashion designer Tracy Reese. The combination of Tracy Reese’s amazing eye for color and Sally Hansen’s top notch formula has produced some of my most beloved shades from the past 6+ years of writing this blog.

Tracy Reese for Sally Hansen Fall 2013

Affiliate Link|Press Sample

Remember Stormy Blue? How about Arabian Night? And don’t even get me started on the entire Spring 2009 line. Well the team is at it again, pulling inspiration from the rough textures and romantic patterns of the Tracy Reese Fall 2013 collection. The three shades created to represent the collection are an unexpected mix of dark, bright and classic.

Formula & Application: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polish is 5-Free (Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP, Formaldehyde Resin and Camphor). The formula is designed to serve as base coat, color and top coat. Plus it packs in ingredients to help promote growth, strength, extended wear and high shine. The claim is a 10 day wear and as I’ve shown in the past (click here), it lives up to that claim.

The hefty glass bottles are topped with a smooth chrome cap that has a rubberized grip around the base. The grip makes opening the bottle easier and keeps the brush from slipping while polishing. The brush is the same flat, paddle style as the Insta-Dri line, cut with a curve at the tip. The bristles are firm so use a light touch to avoid streaking or dragging the polish.

All three polishes in this collection are cremes with a squishy texture and excellent pigmentation. In all cases, I achieved full coverage with two coats. Note: Even though you can wear these without a base coat, I suggest wearing one with darker colors and blues to avoid staining.

Sally Hansen Malbec is rich, aubergine creme. It has a lot of wine in its base, as the name suggests, yet there’s enough purple to to keep it from crossing into the red category. While this is definitely a dark, vampy shade, it’s light enough to be able to distinguish it from black.

Sally Hansen Malbec

Sally Hansen New Wave Blue is a bold cyan creme. It’s actually much darker and more vivid in person but that doesn’t translate on screen. The shot below is much better representation. NWB borders on teal yet not as much as Orly Teal Unreal. To me, it’s a deeper version of OPI Fly.

Sally Hansen New Wave Blue

Sally Hansen Perfectly Poppy is a scarlet red creme. It leans a bit warm when compared to a color like Zoya Sookie. Almost tomato-like. It photographs a bit sheer but to the naked eye it’s completely opaque.

Sally Hansen Perfectly Poppy

For the Tracy Reese runway show, Sally Hansen Nail Ambassador Tracylee Percival created an Outline Manicure incorporating a core Sally Hansen shade, Wedding Glitters. We’ve seen something similar from another Sally Hansen designer collaboration, Jin Soon Choi’s Slim Silhouette for Prabal Gurung.

Tracylee’s take for Tracy Reese focused on the bright pops of teal in her collection, paired with metallic accents. To recreate, apply two coats of Sally Hansen Wedding Glitters and then two coats of Sally Hansen New Wave Blue just inside.

Outline Manicure

Bottom Line: I know I JUST said that a teal didn’t wow me because I have so many but there’s something about New Wave Blue. I think it’s because it’s a bit more muted and fall-feeling than Unreal Teal. Plus I can’t get over how much I LOVE it with Wedding Glitters. Even just pairing them in a party nail situation would be fantastic.

Malbec is a winner for me because it has that vampy, sexy vibe while maintaining the integrity of the bottle color. This is no “almost-black” downer. You guys know that red isn’t really my game and while Perfectly Poppy is lovely, it’s a bit too warm and summery for my liking.

The Prabal Gurung for Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fall 2013 nail polish collection is available now, in limited edition, at drugstores and mass retailers nationwide. Sally Hansen CSM nail polish retails for $7.99/ea for a .5oz bottle.

Are you liking the new Tracy Reese for Sally Hansen shades? Which ones do you plan to get? Are you a fan of Outline Manicures?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for Sally Hansen. Affiliate links appear via skimlinks. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.