The New Normal — JINsoon x Tess Giberson Fall/Winter 2014 Nail Lacquer Collection
If you’ve ever admired the complete beauty look at a Tess Giberson show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City, then you know that nail artist Jin Soon Choi has mastered the feat of tuning into the New Hampshire-bred fashion designer’s creative wavelength, using nails as a vessel through which to channel her aesthetic vision — all the while marrying Giberson’s notions with her own intuition, her own aptitude for creating a mood via polished tips. For Fall/Winter 2014, these trail-blazing women decided to go beyond their work backstage, joining forces to create a limited-edition set of nail lacquers inspired by the color palette and textural details of Giberson’s latest clothing collection. The five-shade JINsoon x Tess Giberson collection, then, echoes the themes explored in Giberson’s wares: the way in which she turned “normcore” spectacular, how she paid homage to humble and utility-minded New England sportswear while also dialing up the drama via design subtleties and luxurious fabrics. Similarly, the nail lacquer collection incorporates five colors that, through unusual pearl, speckle, and shimmer infusions, become utterly transcendent.
Managing to feel both modern and timeless, the JINsoon x Tess Giberson collection consists of the following five shades: Pastiche, Nocturne, Mélange, Heirloom, and Farrago. Each nail lacquer retails for $18 and is available at JINsoon.com, Sephora.com, Barneys.com, and SpaceNK.com. Below, check out photos of all five shades and see for yourself why they’re anything but ordinary!
PASTICHE
At first glance, Pastiche might look like a sweet, punchy, citrus-y orange hue — a bit creamier and milkier than an apricot nectar shade but deeper and more intense than an orange sherbet color. But the specificities of the orange hue aside, what makes the nail lacquer extraordinary are the metallic magenta specks in it, which add an unusual and unexpected shimmery finish.
FARRAGO
Fall is the season for sugar plums and this shade definitely seems to take its cue from that particular gingerbread house staple thanks to a deep, saturated, metallic reddish purple base infused with swirling gold shimmer. The final effect is moody but opulent, mysterious and alluring.
MELANGE
Silver nail lacquers can sometimes feel very Jetson-y — and this one is no exception — but it stands out from its metallic peers in that it has a peculiar textural quality thanks to the incorporation of dark gray speckles that make nails look spotted and almost freckled. Typically, you’d see silver shades with a near-molten quality, tonal shimmer, or a matte finish, but this one actually inverts the classic glimmer formula by making the specks matte. Genius!
HEIRLOOM
Though teal and turquouise nail polish shades tend to abound in summer collections, as they usually pay homage to aquatic wonderlands, whereas fall and winter nail lacquer sets are typically more austere. But who decided upon these rules? Why should our fingernails be deprived of jewel-toned shades beyond the traditional ruby, emerald, and gold hues? This dark, intriguing, slightly sinister, teal-meets-turquoise shade seems to pay homage to the mysteries hidden beneath the bottom of the Pacific ocean, perhaps a reflection of the beauty found in the depths of the water surrounding the Galapagos Islands.
NOCTURNE
Like a nail lacquer tribute to Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven,” this color is a stylistic rendition of the author’s “once upon a midnight dreary” setting. From some angles, the color resembles a stormy gray, like the hue of a funnel cloud but, from other angles, the shade is an ominous onyx, blacker than a star-less night during a new moon. Deeper than a traditional gunmetal color but possessing the same metallic finish, this grayish black is like the ever-so-stylish villain in a fairy tale, a spellbinding Ravenna or manicure-ready Maleficent — but without the evil qualities and bloodthirsty urges. She’s glam, enchanting, and a bit dangerous!
