Deborah Lippmann Don't Tell Mama, plus comparisons!

It felt as though I had been on a green hiatus, so I had to bust this one out of my untrieds for this warm fall day. Don't Tell Mama is described as a "mood ring blue/green" on Lippmann's website, but in the bottle it really seemed deeper than that - inky, almost. On the nail, it is like a blackened teal - not so black that you don't see the green tone, but definitely "moodier" than your typical jewel tone.

Lippmann polishes tend to be "jellyish" to me, going on light with coat number one and deepening in intensity with each coat thereafter. This polish, however, was fully opaque in ONE coat as you'll see in some later swatches.

Want to see more?  Keep reading!

First, the swatches of this polish alone - isn't it gorgeous?

Now, I thought this one might be somewhat similar to a couple of other polishes I own - China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald, and China Glaze Watermelon Rind. I decided to compare the three. How could I resist pitting three of my favorites against each other?

Here they are after ONE coat each. From left to right: Don't Tell Mama, Emerald Fitzgerald, and Watermelon Rind. The latter is a glass fleck polish from one of China Glaze's past summer collections, so I had a feeling it wouldn't be as intense with one coat, but I was pretty surprised at the difference. I guess it's been a while since I used a glass fleck.

The next photos show these after two coats each. Watermelon rind (far right) is still far less opaque, and although Don't Tell Mama and Emerald Fitzgerald are close in color and tone, the former is just more intense and inky.

Here's a close up of just Don't Tell Mama and Emerald Fitzgerald:

Same here, different angle and more light. Don't Tell Mama just has that blacker base to it. Both are gorgeous though!

Looks like I can justify owning all three, and you can too! If you are looking for a less expensive option, Emerald Fitzgerald is probably the way to go. It's close in the overall concept, and if you put it over a black polish you may get inkier results, closer to the Lippmann shade.