Brand: Elizabeth Arden
It may surprise some of you to know that Elizabeth Arden once carried an excellent line of nail polish! I can’t say for sure when it was launched, but around perhaps 2007, I found them being clearanced at a local beauty supply and bought up a metric buttload. I may have purchased some additional ones online, as well.
I can only assume that the line was produced for their Red Door beauty salons, because I never saw them at Elizabeth Arden cosmetic counters in department stores.
The bottle’s label doesn’t actually have a product name on it, so I’m just calling it “Nail Lacquer”, since whenever Elizabeth Arden releases a couple of random nail polishes (I have a super old GWP bottle and also found that they released two polishes last year, for some reason), that’s what they’re called.
The first one I’m swatching for this blog under Throwback Thursday is Fleet St. Plum (5600-54). Elizabeth Arden’s polishes from this product line all seemed to be named after streets or cities. I initially thought that they were named for New York City streets, since that’s the city in which the company was based, but they also have some polishes called La Jolla Cream and Verona True Love, so who knows. I’m not familiar enough with NYC to know whether La Jolla and Verona happen to be places there.
Anyway, Fleet St. Plum is a deep plum cream with the slightest touch of russet to warm it up a little. It’s on the muted side, and makes a fine choice for cool weather. It’s dark but not quite vampy, so it still looks like a purple in dimmer light.
Application is very nice and smooth, although I did need to use three thin coats to get it perfectly even. Two thick coats would do the trick, as well.
The polish dries to a nice gloss, and quality-wise, I’d say it is on par with the other salon brands like China Glaze, Essie, OPI, and Orly.
The bottle is also one of the nicest ones, in my opinion. The square glass bottle has a great heft and feels very luxe. The cap is perhaps a little on the slippy side; a little ridging or rubberizing would have gone a long way. Still, it’s a minor quibble. The brush is slim and Essie-ish, but a bit longer.
If you happen to come across one of these older Elizabeth Arden polishes, and the color appeals to you, I’d definitely recommend that you jump on it!
Elizabeth Arden Nail Lacquer retailed for around US$10. The bottle was 0.5 fl oz / 14.7 mL.
Elizabeth Arden was the business name of Canadian-born Florence Nightigale Graham. She founded the Red Door salon on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1910; the company eventually became the Elizabeth Arden cosmetics company. After being owned by Eli Lilly and then Unilever, Elizabeth Arden was purchased in 2001 by FFI Fragrances, which also assumed the name Elizabeth Arden Inc. The company is now based in Miramar, Florida, USA.
Beautiful shade.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They really had some lovely colors. I hope to swatch a few more, soon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a beautiful colour! Great review 🙂 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! It’s a shame they d/c the line!
LikeLike
Agreed! 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
EA is one of those brands that I’m starting to pay more and more attention to – perhaps I’m just getting older and approaching their target age group?!! 😛
I LOVE this bottle design – LOVE! It’s got that perfect thick glass surrounding the colour, square shape, and a nice handle too.
When you say “metric buttload”, how many bottles are we talking about here?
I hope I cross paths with these nail polishes one day…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha! Maybe EA is just trying to alter their image 🙂
The bottle is super nice! It’s too bad that the random polishes they bring out now are not packaged the same way.
Metric buttload meaning…oh I am guessing 20 or so? I will have to do a proper count.
I wonder if you might still be able to find these on eBay…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, would you look at that!
http://stores.ebay.ca/NailsOne-Depot/Elizabeth-Arden-Nail-Lacquer-/_i.html?_fsub=3616537018&_sasi=1&_sid=10837538&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322
Basically everything is on ebay!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, nice! I’m half tempted to get a couple that I don’t have 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not a bad price really. The shipping kills it though. And I checked, they don’t do combined shipping!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw that sucks. $10 a polish is a bit steep. I guess if there’s one color you really want, it’s OK. You might like East Side Taupe!
LikeLike
Never had a bottle from Elizabeth Arden! This purple looks good on you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry about the initial comment, I got SO confused. Thank you! 🙂
LikeLike
Looks royal! The red door conclusion is legit! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, yes it is!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this shade!! This would make another great Fall shade. I love plums and purples! 🙂 xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
They’re so easy to wear 🙂 Purple goes with everything!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree! Purple is awesome! That’s probably why it’s my favorite lol. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is truly an elegant color!!!
LikeLike
[…] polishes (as if I need more, right?) L to R: • Elizabeth Arden Nail Polishes in Fleet St. Plum and Painted Desert Paprika (these are discontinued polishes that I oogled over on her blog!) • […]
LikeLike