A classic Essie red: Fifth Avenue

The one thing I didn't mention in my last post was my manicure.  Dressing up as a 1940's dame for an evening meant that my mani had to be era appropriate too - and that means bright red - so I set about hunting/rummaging/ransacking through my collection and came up with Essie's Fifth Avenue as my perfect choice...

My mini sized bottle was one of a trio of Essie favourites in their Color Icons set that I snapped up a few months ago.  Fifth Avenue was "born in 2003" and has apparently thrived in Essie's lineup since! This polish is a classic orange-red cream with a high shine finish and the application has to be the best I've experienced with an Essie polish - perfectly smooth and not too thick (and goopy) or too thin (and watery) so it was very easy to control.  Though not really needed, I added my habitual quick drying top coat to get me out the door and on the way to the party with no mishaps.

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

Until next time!

Essie: Jamaica Me Crazy

Hello again!

I've not been changing my polish all that often lately - and have even taken a short break from wearing it for an entire week! - so my recent choices have been a bit more deliberate I suppose as I try to mix things up around the colour wheel, while still keeping things seasonally appropriate.  Are you with me? Okay, so let's get onto today's little nail polish post!

I received Essie's Jamaica Me Crazy as part of an unexpected gift of three Essie polishes from a cubicle buddy at work who obviously knows me all too well!  I used to be crazy over magenta back in the day so Jamaica Me Crazy called out to me first - this shimmering magenta is something I hadn't worn in a long time.  This polish wears like a shimmery raspberry jelly on the nails and is a little bit retro but I still enjoyed it.  It applied nicely in a couple of coats but even with a top coat did take a while to dry properly and unfortunately I managed to do some damage after taking these pictures.   Also, please excuse the nubbies!

Shade

Sun

That's it for now - and my next post will be the long overdue Autumn empties...

Essie: Fear Or Desire

Orange is another one of those seasonal colour fads I go through, usually at the same time of year.  It's when summer is more than halfway gone and autumn's on the way.

Cue this swatch that has been hanging around on my computer since February - Essie's Fear Or Desire.  This bright orange polish was released in Essie's 2012 Bikini So Teeny collection and I scored it much more recently at a cosmetics discount store for less than half the usual price. Because of that little fact I thought I was going to have to disappoint and say it's been discontinued but this is still available for those orange fiends out there.  Now about the application...it's been so long since I wore this that I can't remember the specifics of the application, but if it was nasty I would have remembered I'm sure!

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

Do you get colour obsessed too?

Essie: Sand Tropez

Sand Tropez - It's beige, it's bone, it's cream, it's sand...

 

I don't think I've run out of ways to describe this neutral have I?  Or have I? So how does Essie describe Sand Tropez? They refer to it as a "soft sandy beige" so I've definitely covered it.  In terms of application this cream pastel polish is a fiddly one because it's thick and almost too creamy so it's prone to leaving an uneven finish on the nail.  Here I've used two coats plus top coat which helped to smooth it all out.  Despite the tricky application I do love the colour and, yes, it's brought on a craving for summer!

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

 

 

Until next time!



Essie: No More Film

Hey I'm back blogging again after some desperately needed rest and recuperation!  I think I've just avoided entering into Guinness World Records for the longest lived head cold because it's finally over...

 

Let's get into a wintry manicure then! I usually default to aubergine or oxblood for a classic vampy winter manicure but this year I've also been zeroing in on deep dark indigo blue because it's another twist on the classic vamp.  Essie describes No More Film as a "seductive deep violet" and this polish has very strong blue undertones.  Application was trouble-free and I'm liking this colour option very much on my newly shortened nails.

 

Indirect daylight

 

 

Sun

 

 

Until next time.

 



Essie: Too Too Hot

Summer's well and truly gone (5 weeks gone) but I needed another hit of bright colour before the warm days become too much of a distant memory.  I know I'll be gravitating towards darker, and more subdued colours soon enough so when I chose a red polish to wear this week I chose Essie's Too Too Hot.

 

Too Too Hot was released in Essie's 2011 Brazilliant Summer collection and Essie's website describes it as a "sizzling rich red coral".  Against my skin it leans more red than coral but it is the most vibrant summery red which is exactly what I was looking for.  This polish performed better than my previous Essie experience and applied smoothly with no dragging in two coats.

All pictures taken in full sun

Until next time!



Essie: Bikini So Teeny

I love periwinkle blue nail polish, boy do I ever love periwinkle blue nail polish (almost as much as my beloved purple!) so I can't help myself from collecting more and more.  A few years ago this was a problem because I couldn't find it anywhere but now it seems almost every brand carries their own version - this post features Essie's.

 

Bikini So Teeny is described on Essie's website as a "pretty yet provocative cornflower blue" although as usual I beg to differ. Cornflowers are a little deeper blue than this polish so I think my description of BST as periwinkle is a little more accurate - check out Wikipedia if you want to compare for yourself! Getting down to discussing application I found this to be on the temperamental side and I had to be very careful to avoid patchiness - in the end a third coat was necessary to get the even coverage I wanted. Ooh the colour is pretty though - this would look brilliant against darker skin too!

 

Sun

 

Outdoors shade

 

 

 

Indoors

 

 

Are you a periwinkle fan too?

 

 

NOTD: Going dotty for the first time (and then some)!

Happy Monday!

I finally plucked up the courage to try a dotticure last weekend.  I didn't have any specific dotting tools so this mani was created using toothpicks.  Following the advice of one of my expert nail art blogger friends (sorry I can't remember exactly who) I'd cut the toothpicks in half to create large dots.  This manicure isn't perfect but it's not half bad either - I dotted black and gold foil polish randomly over my beige Don't Pretzel My Buttons base for colour coordinated craziness...

Do you like it?  Well, then I went and added something more - a little layering with a single coat of Essie's As Gold As it Gets.  I can't decide if I like this look better or not...

Polish used L - R:

Revlon - Black Lingerie, Gold Coin

Essie Luxe Effects - As Gold As it Gets

Which look do you prefer?

Until next time

Vita :)

Layered NOTD: Essie As Gold As It Gets + OPI German-icure

After more than 500 posts this is the first time I've worn an Essie polish!

I was in one of my layering moods and Essie's flakie As Gold As It Gets, from Essie's Luxe Effects collection  looked like it would be a complimentary topping for OPI's German-icure.  (The Luxe Effects collection was launched as a holiday collection in the Northern hemisphere late in 2011 but they've only appeared down here in Australia over the last couple of months).   As Gold As It Gets is a fairly self explanatory title as this polish is of course a dense mix gold flakies floating in a clear base - A single coat of this made German-icure look a lot more textured, a lot more autumnal.  I was originally going to do the quick 'swatch and remove' thing but liked this mani enough to keep it on for the weekend.  As always, I've added a layer of top coat for added shine.  See what you think of this combination...

Sun

Shade

That's all for now.

Vita :)

July purchases

July was a great month for bargains with all the mid-year sales around. Yes, I kept my eyes open to all that was out there on offer and this post is a collective of pretty much all my shopping throughout the month.

After all of the shopping since finishing my Project 10 Pan in April I admit that at the moment I'm feeling a bit jaded and just damn well shopped out!  A good indication is all the online stalking I've been doing lately but not adding anything to cart.  Apart from one lipstick I've got my eye on (YSL's Forbidden Burgundy) as reward for completing my lipstick ban, I feel like taking it easy with the beauty accumulation for a little while again - until I get that sudden urge for that special something.  There's nothing worse and more wasteful than joyless consumption. Alright, enough of my philosophizing and guilt, here's a rundown of what I bought...

Essie polish minis

At $5AUD each these were too good a deal to pass up...

The Resort Collection - Aka the Fair Game Collection released in 2011. Shades are Fair Game (blue/grey shimmer), Your Hut or Mine (coral pink shimmer), Lion Around (candy pink shimmer) and, haha seriously, Da Bush (green/grey creme).

Brazilliant Summer Collection - Also released in 2011.  I bought this just for Brazilliant itself which is a hot orange with a subtle shimmer. Also in the cube are Smooth Sailing (icy periwinkle blue), Super Bossa Nova (fuschia shimmer) and Meet Me at Sunset (hot orange creme).

Crabtree & Evelyn

 I bought the Crabtree & Evelyn hand care products in two separate trips to the store - both times during a 40% off deal.  I usually stop by there for gifts but ended up gifting myself this time.

Pomegranate Deep Cleansing Hand Wash - One of my little indulgences is using something a little more luxurious than a drugstore hand wash in my bathroom. I'd seen this in my first trip to Crabtree & Evelyn but didn't buy it, then kicked myself, then went back for it!

Pomegranate Ultra-Moisturising Hand Therapy - Pardon the pun in advance but I bought this hand cream not only because it's soothing and smells lovely but because it goes "hand in hand" with the pomegranate hand wash, hehe!

Lavender Age Defying Hand Remedy - This was the original buy. A no brainer for me because it promises "younger-looking hands".

Real Techniques makeup brushes

 These brushes weren't on sale but I bought them out of curiousity (aka under the influence of beauty bloggers!) and because they are so ridiculously soft. I'm no makeup brush guru but I'll let you know how I go with these...

 SJP Lovely & Lanolips

Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker - I'm not a fan of celebrity fragrances generally but this fragrance is the exception and it was on sale!  It's soft and powdery and reminds me of spring so I'm getting in early.

Lanolips Lip Ointment (Rose) - A spontaneous buy just because I love the natural pink colour of this rich balm.

 That is all.

Vita :)