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When developing the shades for her bright, bold spring '13 collection, nail pro (and all-around-lovely person) Jin Soon Choi was inspired by the New York Botanical Gardens and artist Claude Monet's gardens. "Neons really only appeal to a small group of people — usually young people," she says. "For this collection, I wanted to create really vivid brights that weren't quite neon, but still had a bold, high-fashion impact." Choi created bright, rich formulas that weren't chalky or thick, but rather translucent and buildable (and therefore more flattering on a wider variety of skin tones).
When naming the shades, Choi reached out to some of her top model friends, who christened their shade with the names of their favorite flowers. Blue Iris, a deep electric blue, was named by Saskia de Brauw; Vanessa Axente named the hot pink Coral Peony; French Lilac was named by Meghan Collison, Tea Rose by Fei Fei Sun, and Poppy Blue, a turquoise, by Tati Cotliar.
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Model cred aside, we're loving how the luxurious, long-wearing formula is free of toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde, toluene, DPB, and camphor. Punchy, sophisticated, and so shiny that a top coat is totally optional, these lacquers are so going in our spring nail wardrobes.
Jin Soon Botanical Flowers Collection, $18 each, available in March at Space NK.
Photo: Courtesy of Jin Soon Choi