Juicy Couture TROY SURRATT 24 KARAT COUTURE LIPGLOSS and DEBORAH LIPPMANN HERE COMES THE QUEEN Nail Polish Set Swatches and Review

This is my 1,000 post!!!  EEEE!  *celebratory dance* Okay, now that we have that out of the way.... =D

Over the holidays, Deborah Lippmann got with Juicy Couture and made some festive sets.  I had actually only thought there were trios of nail polish released, but on an after holiday jaunt to the mall I saw a set (hidden, mind you, buwhahahha!) of a flashy golden Deborah Lippmann top coat and some sort of champagne bottle lookin' thing.

Upon further investigation I saw the champagne bottle looking thing was in fact a Troy Surratt 24 Karat Couture Lip Gloss (which the salesgirl told me was totally clear, you'll see later she was wrong).  Seeing as how the name didn't ring a bell, I decided to educate myself by searching the interwebs.
Please enjoy this short bio on Troy Surratt from Teen Vogue:

Troy Surratt spent his childhood dreaming of beauty and fashion—and of getting out of the Midwest. After high school, he picked up and moved to New York City to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. In between classes and studying, Surratt found time to assist renowned fashion designer Randolph Duke. But the gowns on the runway didn't draw him in as much as the behind-the-scenes creations of the makeup artists, so Surratt shifted gears to focus on beauty. Shortly thereafter, his work caught the attention of makeup legend Kevyn Aucoin, further catapulting Surratt's career. Surratt went on to help launch beauty brand Tarte, act as a spokesperson for online retailer beauty.com, and work with dozens of starlets along the way, from Zooey Deschanel to Charlize Theron. But this fast-paced lifestyle hasn't altered his simple yet fearless philosophy: "At the end of the day, it all washes off. So why not go for it?" —MAURA LYNCH

I assume this is the right bio since the other Troy Surratt I found is working for the U.S. Air Force Academy.

On the the photos and review!

 (outdoors, with flash)

 (outdoors, no flash)

This is such a gorgeous set to look at, it's no wonder that it jumped out at me, even while hidden.

As you can see, the Troy Surratt 24 Karat Couture Lip Gloss is not clear on the swatch, but rather a beautiful, shimmery gold.  On the lips, you can see the shimmer a BIT, but not so much that it's garish.  I found the gloss to be thick and moisturizing, but not sticky.

Deborah Lippmann Here Comes The Queen is likely my favorite polish ever (that I've tried) from her line, and quite possibly in my top 10 polishes of all time.  The base is clear with random sized gold flakies throughout.  It was easy to apply and no flakie maneuvering was necessary.  I used one coat of this polish over top of China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic for the swatch photos.

The retail on this set was $48.00.  But then it was on sale for $23.99.  And then it was another 40% off I believe (I paid like $15 something with the tax?).... so if you can possibly still find this at Juicy Couture, it's likely to be super cheap, since it's been a bit since I picked it up.