Essie Penny Talk

Again with the soft tones, I seem to be really loving the more delicate side of nail polish these days.
This is the polish I went looking for when I picked up No Place Like Chrome from the Mirror Metallics collection, and I thought I'd missed it but the store had restocked when I passed by this weekend.

I must say though, I'm not liking it at much as it's silver counterpart. The formula is really difficult to work with. Every bump, quiver, and hesitation is noticed by this polish. I have small dents on my nails right now and this finish really accentuates them. Maybe next time I'll use a ridge filling base coat. The colour itself is beautiful though, I can't deny that... but a crummy formula can really make or break loving a lacquer.

To be fair, I was hungover while doing this manicure so maybe that has something to do with it.

This is in direct sunlight.

Here we are with other metallic looking things. See the dents? Going back over the same spot with this polish was next to impossible. It left streaky, uneven splotches all over the place! Rose gold is quite a trendy colour right now so if you must get this I totally understand, just be wary of the questionable formula.

Essie Camera

Once again the busy-ness of life is starting to grab hold of me and I haven't had a chance to photograph my nails these days. However, I have something from the spring to share. Essie Camera is a really bright reddish pink that reminds me somewhat of China Glaze Rose Among Thorns. Except I like it more (shhh).

This photo came from my phone and the clarity is actually quite impressive! Could it be my phone cam is better than my standalone one? Gosh.

It was so bright and striking, though I must admit I picked it up anticipating it to lean more pink than red. This being said, I tend to buy pinks and then hate them, whereas I LOVED this one so maybe (probably) it was for the best.

Since the daylight these days is LIMITED at best, I'll be putting some more phone pics as I go along, how does that sound?

Dexter Morgan - Blood Spatter Analyst v2

On a complete whim yesterday I picked up Essie's No Place Like Chrome and I wanted to figure out a way to incorporate it into a Halloween manicure. Since Dexter plays tonight I decided to do another blood splatter set, but this time using silver as the base so it looks like blood on Dexter's knife!

 

You can find my original version and a tutorial here.

A rare sighting of my right hand.

Okay is it just me or are these pictures turning out kinda fuzzy? They're clear on my computer until I upload them to Blogger. Anyway - I like it so much more with silver base! It gives it more of a "wow factor."

My tools and canvas.

Look how shiny the silver is with the flash!

The process looks so gruesome, I love it!

Essie No Place Like Chrome, before the blood bath. I used Revlon Valentine for the blood. I love the new Essie polish. It was very opaque, but I did notice that if I tried going over the same spot for a touch up while it was still wet the brush left even more bald spots. Overall though this is a 1-2 coater max.

I looooove getting to theme my nails, it makes the whole process so much more enjoyable (for me anyway). I'm looking forward to the sunshine coming back, it's been a while... and because of the hurricane will still be a long wait. Nail photos always turn out nicer in sunlight.

I have at least one more blog-worthy manicure planned before Halloween, see you soon!

NOTD: Mattified Flaky Goodness

Being a pretty avid MUA NBer makes me want to change my polish rather frequently. And I mean like, all the time. I'm usually planning 3 manicures ahead, and when I land on a new polish there's usually no stopping me. Nothing about this changed when a friend brought me two OPI's yesterday. However right now I am out of acetone, which is definitely required for removing my current manicure (try taking flakies off without it ... not pleasant).

So I had to improvise. What could I do to my mani before being able to buy more acetone on Thursday? I've been seeing a lot of really nice dark matte colours lately and felt inspired. Essie's Matte About You it is! I love the effect it created. It brings out the duochrome quality of the polish quite a bit more than with a shiny top coat, which almost distracts from the colours playing within the flakies.

Green

Blue/Green duochrome

So much blue now!

Close up. Please excuse the shoddy clean up job.

The flakies almost seem more defined now that they're matte. I like it! 

NOTD: Week of untrieds - Essie Smooth Sailing

So the nail board at Makeup Alley.com is doing a "week of untrieds" challenge where you need to wear a new untried every day. Yesterday's was Essie's Smooth Sailing which I won from a contest that I entered with Trade Secrets.

When I first googled the colour I was on my phone and didn't see the micro-shimmer, it just seemed like a beautiful periwinkle blue. Upon it's arrival I saw tiny silver/blue/purple flecks and I was so disappointed. I'm not much for subtle micro-shimmer. I like my polishes with a creme finish or very obviously sparkly. I decided to swatch it anyway to see how it would turn out, and since it's Untrieds week I figured it was a great opportunity.

Looks pretty in the bottle, not so hot on my nails. I know this is a favourite for many but I just don't love it. With all that being said, it will have its uses. I'm swapping with Ali for China Glaze Rose Among Thorns... my first swap! Yay :D

NOTD: Easter Egg Nails!

Easter is tomorrow, what a better time to whop out some pastels? I had originally done this mani last weekend for an Easter party we had at work but I accidentally deleted the photo so - here it is again! I made it a bit different this time though, I threw on a matte top coat for an "eggshell" finish (full credit for this idea goes to dear bf).

Without the matte topcoat (pretty, but.. just wait)

 

This is my right hand, a bit shakier than the left eh?

Yay! The matte top coat actually made the polka dots more defined, they're a lot easier to see now without the glossiness reflecting back at you. They look like Cadbury's Mini Eggs, I wanna nom them.
Happy Easter everyone!

Comparison Swatch: Joe Fresh Matte TC vs Essie Matte About You

So I picked up my first matte top coat last week (Essie's Matte About You), but seeing as they're owned by L'Oreal  I'd rather not buy their products. If I had known that Joe Fresh had a matte top coat I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

Three days later, I find out about the Joe Fresh. A bit of a bummer, because I'd already bought the Essie one, but I figured I'd at least compare the two. So here goes.

I picked up a bunch of polishes that day, and started with Joe Fresh Cobalt.

Then add the top coats

The Joe Fresh is a little bit glossier and reflects the light more, while the Essie dulls it a little bit more (ie: mattifies more). The application is very similar, other than the length of the brush on Joe's being really short and a little bit harder to control. I found Joe's wear to be a bit sturdier than Essie's though.

Overall, I like both of them. Price wise Joe cost me $3.33 (3 colours for $10), and Essie's was over $10, so I think in the future I might stick with Joe.