Guest Mani!

Hey all! Today's post features nail art by Jessica on her friend Aemi. She used an inspiration picture (Aemi's sister) :

To create this manicure:

I love this and I think its so creative. Even though it looks hard to do, its actually very simple and is really cute for spring.

She used a pin and these colors:

(1) Any white nail polish as a base to make the colors pop and appear more pastel

(2) Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Buttercup

(3) Essie in Turquoise and Caicos

(4) LOREAL in Penthouse Pink

(5) Essie in Cute as a Button

(6) Essie in Lilacism

What do you think of Jessica's manicure? Have you ever done a manicure based off of an inspiration picture?

NOTD: Turqoise and Caicos

Today's NOTD is Essie's Turqoise and Caicos. I've heard so much buzz about this color and while I don't usually gravitate toward blues or greens, this was such a pretty color it was hard to say no.  actually ended up really loving the way this color looks on my nails- this was three coats:

The formula was a bit goopy which surprised me. I feel like the typical Essie formula is usually on the runnier side. While the formula was a little hard to work with, at three coats it looked smooth and even.

Here's a closeup (by the way, the color is dead on. I just installed a new lighting system in my office and it looks like Times Square up in here!)

I really like this color. Have you tried any trendy colors that are outside of your comfort zone? What color was it and did you end up loving it?

If its pink and its got glitter...

...then I definitely have to own it! This is exactly how I felt about Essie's polish in Pink-a-Boo from the  Resort 2012 Collection. Its a sheer light pink with glass-fleck shimmer in it- both blue and hot pink. I decided to free-hand a french manicure with it today:

It's a little rough but hey- not bad for my first try, right? The application on this one was tricky- you definitely want to wait a bit between coats or you will get bald spots. Also, because there is so much shimmer and the formulas is so sheer, the finish is noticeably gritty. However, since the shimmer is so unusual and so pretty, while this would usually bother me, I don't mind it with this polish. It reminds me of the Nicole by OPI polish in "Kim-pletely in Love" from the Kardashian Kollection, except with that one there's just light blue shimmer and its much more subtle.

Here's a closeup of the polish so you can see how the shimmer translates on the nail:

And lastly, here's a macro shot of the bottle so you can see all the gorgeous shimmer:

I just love this one. Have you checked out the 2012 Resort Collection? Any colors catch your eye?

Guest Mani!

Hey all!

Today's post will feature my friend Jessica's mani. She used Essie Lilacism and Essie Cute as a Button for the accent nail.

Image credit: Jessica

I love the way she used two of the hottest color trends for spring- a pastel and a bright coral (you guys know I'm all over coral right now!)
If you aren't into brights, pastels, especially lilac, is very flattering on every skin tone. A great alternative to Lilacism is Essie's St. Lucia Lilac in case you can't get your hands on Lilacism.

What do you think of Jessica's manicure? What fun colors have you been trying for spring?

NOTD Essie Punchy Pink

Hey all!
Today's manicure is a fun BRIGHT pink- Essie's Punchy Pink. With the warm weather we're having in NYC this week, I felt like this was an appropriate color because it reminds me of spring. Every time I look at my nails, this bright color makes me happy.

The application was a dream for this one. The formula was on the more watery side, typical of Essie polishes, but it was easy to apply, streak-free and dried pretty quickly. Looking back on it, this would have also made a gorgeous Valentine's Day mani.

What colors are you loving for spring?

Accent Nails

The other day, I decided to give myself a break from all the dark polishes I've been gravitating towards and decided on a clean, light color- Essie's Marshmallow. Marshmallow is a soft, white shade that leans toward a warmer off white. Its a sheer white which in my opinion is much more flattering and wearable than a whiteout white. The formula is on the watery side and is very sheer, so I used three coats for opacity and maximum evenness. Anything less will leave you with a bit of a streaky finish. I used CND Stickey Base under this, but probably would have gotten better results if I had used a ridge-filling basecoat instead. Beautiful color nevertheless, and definitely a go to.

Essie Marshmallow

After about 2 days of wear, I decided I wanted to refresh my mani and add accent nails. What better and more attention-grabbing then a new color I picked up? Save Me from OPI's Nicki Minaj collection. Save Me is a color that definitely packs a punch. It consists of very small silver glitters and larger holographic bar glitter. I normally despise bar glitter, but truth of the matter is, I can't say no to holographic anything! I had to layer this one up quite a bit. For the picture below, I used a whopping 5 coats for complete opacity.

OPI Save Me

Thumbs up for holographic goodness!

The picture above really shows off the amazing holographic bar glitter. I bet this polish would look amazing over a dense metallic silver, or over black.

Have you picked up any polishes from the Nicki Minaj collection? What do you think of Save Me?

Essie Starry Starry Night Franken

Hey all! I wanted to show you a franken I created the other day. A franken is a nail polish that you mix yourself by using nail polishes you have to create a different polish. I was seriously lemming Essie Starry Starry Night after seeing it on  Scrangie's blog. It's basically small silver squarish glitter in a navy blue jelly base. Its a beautiful color and really does look like a night sky full of stars buttttttt it was limited edition and goes for a lot of money on ebay so I decided to make my own!

Thumbs up for a cool franken!

For this franken, I dumped out an old bottle of nail harder I had laying around and poured in about 3/4 of Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure in Navy Baby. For the silver glitter (the remaining 1/3 of the franken), I used a nail art polish from Sinful Colors, which was just small square silver glitters in a clear base. Though I don't have the original Essie polish, I think my first franken came close enough. The navy polish I used wasn't a jelly, so the silver glitter didn't peek through as much as I would have liked... but hey not bad for a first try!

Essie Fill in the Gap!

Hello everyone!  I thought I'd kick off the blog with a review on Essie Fill in the gap! base coat. I typically like to keep my nails short and polished, but chipping has always been a big issue for me. Whereas nail polish might last at least 4-5 days on others, by the next day, mine is almost surely chipped! So what gives? I am not particularly hard on my nails and have used various top/base coats to prolong the life of my manicure. My latest experiment with base coats involves Essie Fill in the gap!, as several bloggers have raved about it. Read on to find out how it measured up.

Essie Fill in the gap! is a light beige semi-opaque base coat that dries down to a satin finish. Its consistency is pretty thin and while I do not have many ridges on the nail, it does do a good job of making the nail even, smooth and ready for polish.

Essie Fill in the gap! Base coat

Last night, I used one coat of Fill in the gap!, two coats of polish, and one coat of my favorite topcoat- Seche Vite. At mid-day today (roughly half a day later), I inspected my nails and was disappointed to find significant chipping. In the picture below you can see two huge chips on my middle and ring finger, plus some tip wear:




Boo for chippy polish!!!!


The verdict? Though top coats typically fail to keep my nail polish on for more than 2-3 days without getting chippy, Essie Fill in the gap! caused chipping only after a few hours! If you're looking for a base coat to fill in ridges and create a nice canvas for polish, this may be a base coat you really like. If you find that nail polish chips quickly on you, this may not be right for you.

Have you tried Essie fill in the gap? What base coats do you recommend?