Dior Vernis Garden Party Collection: Waterlily 504 and Forget-Me-Not 694

From Dior Garden Party, the spring 2012 collection includes two new limited-edition colors:  Waterlily and Forget-Me-Not.  I have to say the colors were very well chosen.  They captured the essence of a spring garden perfectly.  When I look at the colors, my mind immediately conjures up images of a Claude Monet painting.  Beautiful.

Not only are these colors visually appealing, Dior decided to appeal to another one of our senses... smell.  By now, I'm sure you have all heard these are scented.  Again, taking the garden theme to heart, these carry a subtle scent of roses.

I know, I'm a little late to Garden Party.  I originally wrote off the collection, not because I didn't find the colors beautiful, but because I'm not much of a pastel color wearing gal.  As always, something about Dior colors always end up pulling me in...  I gave up fighting and grabbed the colors.  So shall we get started?

Let's begin with what has been dubbed by most, as the star of the collection: Waterlily.  Waterlily is a beautiful soft pale green.  It looks a bit minty and leafy green with subtle, but detectable shimmer under the sunlight.

I don't own many greens because it's a color I find very difficult for me to pull off.  But this is such a stunning color, way too difficult for me to resist.

When you wear Waterlily, you get a lot of compliments.  That is exactly what happened to me, literally minutes stepping out of the house. 

Love the color!  However, I have to be honest and say that the formula on Waterlily was somewhat challenging in comparison to all my other Diors.  It was a little thicker than usual, and it didn't apply quite as nice or smooth.  Maybe I have been spoiled by Dior in the past; but if I am paying the premium price tag, I am allowed to have a higher set of expectations.  In the end though, I can't really deny the beauty of this color.  So yes, I will suck it up and be prepared to work more carefully and diligently.

The second color in the collection is Forget-Me-Not.  It is a cool, soft medium toned purple with a mixed base of blue and pink.  The color has a slight muted quality to it, making this purple shade flattering and very wearable, even for warmer skin tones.

Forget-Me-Not has that Dior signature crème formula with the sparse hidden shimmer they are widely known for.  On the nails, the shimmer is not visible, but you can see it in the bottle when under direct sunlight.

The consistency was thinner, making application very easy.  It's not a one coat formula, so 2 coats are needed  for even coverage.  Drying time was great; I didn't have to wait long before adding additional coats.  I did use 3 thin coats total.

Although the color is not very unique, Forget-Me-Not is still very beautiful.  I don't have anything close to it my collection, though at first I thought I did.  A lot of people thought it was too close to Dior's Purple Mix, but it's not.  It may be along the same lineage color-wise, but Purple Mix is darker and a bit smokier.  Forget-Me-Not is lighter without being classified as a pastel, yet still evoke the feeling of "spring".  I think a color comparison may be in order for a future post.

To my very pleasant surprise, I am loving the color!  I really didn't expect this at all.  I certainly appreciate the gorgeousness of Waterlily, but I dare to say I am more in love with Forget-Me-Not.  Yes, I am the minority here.  But the simple fact is Forget-Me-Not is much more suitable and flattering on me than Waterlily.  In the end, isn't that what it's all about?  What looks good on me?

Before I forget, let's talk about the rose scent.  In the beginning, I was very concerned.  I'm not a fan of scented nail polish because they tend to smell too artificial and even too strong.  I was happy to find that the duo was not too bad.  The rose water-like scent was mild enough that I am able to tolerate it.  Admirers of my manis could not even detect the rose scent, and probably thought I was pulling their leg when I told them they were scented.  The rose scent is strongest upon initial application.  It dissipated quick enough so it was not bothersome.

To sum this all up: great collection Dior!  Waterlily has become a bit difficult to come by now.  It's been out-of-stock on Dior.com and other online retailers.  Your best bet would to look for this at a retail location or Dior boutique.  Forget-Me-Not is well worth having.  It's such a flattering soft purple, so do take a look.