Thursday, December 8, 2011

Duri The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Collection Winter 2011 Swatches and Review

Duri's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo collection. It's described as "Edgy, dark and beautifully disturbing." Sounds like the makings of a good polish collection, right? This is the first time I've ever used a Duri product, and I've also never read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, so this review is a journey into unknown territory for me; you'll have to tell me if the colors actually tie in with the characters or story, or if it's one of those pure marketing tie-ins like the NOX Twilight collection. Anyway, on to the polish.



Duri Angels and Demons. I know this is supposed to be book-themed, but wasn't this a totally different novel? And then a movie with Tom Hanks. Either way, this is a pretty awesome color. It's a black base with fine silver foil shimmer. And I know I have probably a dozens colors just like this in my collection, but every time I see one I'm just drawn to it. The formula on it is super nice, so it's definitely a winner. It's so smooth and practically applies itself, and it looks so glossy and speckled at the same time. I keep accidentally calling it Demons and Wizards. Only click that last link if you want to see one of the most hilariously terrible music videos ever (but I really do like Jon Schaffer).



Duri Black Diamond. This is a strange one, but good. In the bottle I can see a lot of silvery iridescent swirls of shimmer (enlarge that second picture for a good view). But once I have it on my nails, it looks like a black creme. Huh? I mean, I can see little sparkles every now and then, but it's one of those "hidden shimmer" style polishes on me. Either that or I didn't shake it well enough and all the shimmer is in the bottom of the bottle. Who knows. Looks really good on the nail, though. Super glossy.


Duri Dragontini. This shows up in my pictures slightly darker and more blue-toned than it looks in real life, but I always have that problem when I try to photograph berries. This one is very purple, more purple than most berry shades. It's a creme finish. This is the one polish in the collection that I don't really like. Makes my cuticles look red.


Duri Fallen Angel. Another deceptive yet good color. In the bottle this looks like the most amazing vampy grape shimmer, with red and blue and gold sparkles clouded by a dusty purple creme. Once it's on my nails, it's a vampy eggplant creme with almost no visible shimmer. Is that how it's supposed to be? It's gorgeous on the nail, but it doesn't look like it does in the bottle. Another unexpected secret shimmer/hidden shimmer polish. I like it either way. Especially because the name is a :wumpscut: song.


Duri Frozen Fire. I like this way more than I thought I would. It's a sheer, ever so slightly milky/cloudy pink base with tons of tiny iridescent glass fleck shimmer. The reason I like this more than most pink shimmers is because the base has a distinct blue tone which keeps it from turning my hands that dirty color that they appear when I wear most other pinks. The shimmer is nice because it looks like a mix of silver and gold with a more opalescent pearl type color mixed in.


Duri Icicle. Best one last. This is a sheer milky white base with silver, gold and iridescent glass fleck shimmer. It's soft and sparkly and beautiful. Looks like snow. It's similar to other shades like China Glaze Frosty, but the gold and slightly blue-tinted clear stand out really strongly in this one. The only downside is that it is sheer (this is three coats), but that adds to the depth of the color. Perfect color for winter.

The press release mentions that you can layer the two sheer shades (Frozen Fire and Icicle) over the other colors in the collection for more color options, so I tried it.


Duri Frozen Fire (one coat) over Duri Dragontini. Perfect! I turns Dragontini from a meh berry into a sparkly purple! Plus, the dark base really makes the shimmer particles in Frozen Fire stand out. It is cloudy and dramatically changes the colors you layer it over, but it adds a slight blue tone from the sheer milky base and some iridescent but mostly gold/silver shimmer.


Duri Icicle (one coat) over Duri Fallen Angel. I like this even more. The blue-toned sheer milky base adds a blue sheen over the dark purple, turning it into an iridescent muted dark blue with shiny, pearly shimmer. I think this would look even better over a light color, like a pastel purple.


The formula on these was great. It was very thin but it flowed evenly and didn't run or pool. The only one that was different was Dragontini, which had a slightly rubbery feel to it which caused it to drag a little. Otherwise they were all fantastic. I did three coats of each. Only the two sheers needed a third. Drying time was very fast and every shade dried to a very glossy finish even without topcoat. The brushes were nice as well; they're wide but not fluffy. They're thin and flexible and have a square edge. Like a less fluffy OPI Pro Wide. I had no problems with any of these.

Overall, I'm impressed. Like I said before, this is my very first time using Duri so I wasn't sure what to expect. Everything was really good. I like the colors, I like the names, I love the formula, bottles and brushes. I would definitely try more Duri colors now that I know they're this good.

As for the collection being true to the theme of the book, I have no idea. Anyone want to weigh in on that? I do recall seeing some of these shade names on the Duri website before, so I don't think all of them are made specifically for this collection.

I have never seen Duri in a store or a salon, but I do know that you can order them directly from Duri. They're really inexpensive for being so good at only $5 each. Plus, they have colors with amusing names like "Invincibly Frail," Hot Ice," and "Macarena So Buena."

(This was sent for review.)

26 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this brand before, but the colors are AMAZING! I love how dark and deep they are. The pink and white ones are very pretty also. And they look incredibly opaque, just how I love them! Thank you for this awesome review!

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  2. You should totally read the Dragon Tattoo books. They are really, really good. It's a bit slow to start, but once you're in it, you're HOOKED. I couldn't put them down.
    And thanks for posting the swatches of the layering polishes - I've been looking for those. It's a nice collection!

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  3. Stunning! I am loving the purples! I had never heard of Duri before, I will have to check their site out for sure :)

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  4. Duri is from Brooklyn (represent!) Haha. Their polishes can be found in a lot of salons around the NYC area, but they're available to order online.

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  5. I've wanted to try Duri colors since I randomly found their Miracote "super fast dry through" top coat at a Bed Bath and Beyond, of all places (and it was the only Duri product they had).

    I REALLY like Miracote. I disagree with their claims of it being "super fast dry", especially compared to Seche Vite, Poshé, etc. But it does dry *pretty* quickly and I love that it's much thinner than SV et al; sometimes I don't want thick layers of polish troweled on my nails, yknow?

    Also, the shine/finish isn't *quite* as shiny as SV/P, buuuuut it actually keeps the initial shininess, whereas I find the thicker fast dry top coats dull after a day or so.

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  6. Wow, I love this collection! I don't have any Drui polishes in my stash, but I may have to add a few from the collection. My favorite is actually your least favorite, Dragontini! I love berry colors, and this one is calling my name. I know how you feel about berry colors though =) Also, so crazy how different Fallen Angel looks from the bottle!

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  7. I don't own any Duri polishes, nor have I read the book series, but I think this collection has pretty colors. Kind of strange about Fallen Angel and Black Diamond looking like cremes though, when the bottles show tons of shimmer.

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  8. I've read the book, and I'd say that the darker colors are really in keeping with the main character's dark, goth style. I wasn't expecting that pink or white because of this.
    LOVE the darker colors though. I'm a sucker for rich, cremes.

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  9. I've read the books and I don't see the names having anything to do with the series. Like Nik said though, the darker colors fit well with Lisbeth's goth style. I like how the last two look layered.

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  10. I do really like that gorgeous sparkly black at the top! I might have to check it out!

    dp
    x

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  11. Beautiful colors! I've only seen these polishes at a beauty shop in Brighton Beach when I was visiting. I used to love their base coat, but it has yucky stuff in it, so I stopped :(

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  12. These are gorgeous, and Angels and Demons really makes me drool. :P Is this collection already out? I read this post several times looking for the answer, but I still could have missed it. >< I also looked for it on the website and didn't see it there, either? If someone could relay this information to me, it'd be much appreciated! :)

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  13. Funny the loacation for the Duri store is in Brooklyn, NY and very close to me. I think I will stop by and pick up some shades. I like Angels and Demons,Dragontini and Frozen Fire.

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  14. Gotta love $5. I am interested in Duri but they don't say anything on their website about being 3-Free. Hm.

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  15. I think they just took polish they already had and put them together for a collection, like sinful colors does with their collections

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  17. I'm curious to hear your opinion on wear time. I tried a couple of Duri polishes (different colors)and they chipped damn-near immediately. I tried multiple times with multiple top- and base-coat options. Chip mayhem. I was so disappointed.

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  18. It's obvious that the person in charge of naming these polishes has never read the Millennium Trilogy. Some nice colors, though.

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  19. Great colors. I don't own any Duri polishes. I haven't read the book series. Want to do both.

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  20. Really impressive!!!great colors

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  21. I never read the book but saw the original movie. Definitely dark. I don't think I will bother seeing the movie remake, but it sounds like I need to read the book.

    Beautiful polishes. Never heard of Duri.

    Didn't Demons & Wizards have one good song? Considering the talent on that album it should have been great. Oh well. More Iced Earth, please.

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  23. i read the book and those names have nothing to do with anything...

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