Let’s give some credit where credit is due: Deborah Lippmann put glitter nail polish back on the map. When the superstar manicurist and entrepreneur (her collection of lacquers includes collaborations with Renee Zellweger, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Cher) rolled out Happy Birthday—a “party in a bottle”—a few years ago, the nail art trend was just gaining momentum and girls were embracing the possibilities beyond the crème color du jour. Rather than taking your run of the mill, arts-and-crafts glitter and shaking it up in a bottle, Lippmann went full-on and churned out a brew so thick with oversized metallic sprinkles, you almost have to chip it off (she’s the first to admit that glitter polish is not a quick change situation; recommends her Stripper to Go remover mitts).

Season after season, she ups the ante with new variations on the theme. Boom Boom Pow, a bottle of multi-sized gold flakes floating in a clear base, was an early ITG favorite, and Glitter in the Air, a smattering of baby blue and pink flecks in a milky translucent base, was my nail obsession for a good three months after seeing it backstage at a show. Never one to sit still for long, Lippmann is now exploring “3D Holographic nail lacquer.” The pink (Sweet Dreams) and blue (Ray of Light) polishes, on the nail, look a little like a child’s Jelly sandal: sheer but with some volume, heightened by subtle flecks of glitter. Equally impressive is the new hyper-pigmented crème On The Beach—a “rich Riviera blue.” “Whether you wear one shade on your nails, the other on your toes,” she says, “or use a glitter polish on one nail and a crème color on the other four, the creative options are endless.” Spoken like a true innovator.