Lynnderella A Neutral Party

So a few months ago, I would have told you that I was never going to buy any Lynnderella polishes... that her brand of crazy overrode my lemmings.  Then the crazy died down and my lemming for Salad Days just did not go away.  So when I saw a BIN listing on eBay for 3 Lynnderellas for $66 (directly from her), I cringed and then hit "buy".  LOL.  I chose 3 of my list of about 10 Lynnderellas, Salad Days, When the Moon was a Star, and today's post... A Neutral Party...

This is 2 coats of A Neutral Party over 2 coats of Essie Gym Dandy, a deep taupe from this Fall's Yogaga collection.  I also used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, one over the base color and one over the glitter.  

A Neutral Party was the one I kept waffling on in my selections.  And even after I sent my order, I was kicking myself for not ordering One Nutty Fruitcake instead (especially since it appears that it is now OOS).  However, once I put on A Neutral Party, all the kicking stopped.  I have had this on all day and I can't stop looking at my nails.  LOL.  I absolutely love it over Gym Dandy, though I can't wait to wear it over darker shades, like a dark red.  

This is the first Lynnderella I have used, so I was really surprised at the myriad of glitter shapes, colors, and sizes compared to some of the other indie glitters I own.  Even with this one being a pretty simple color palette, there is a lot going on, so I will do my best to describe it.  It's a clear base loaded with golden micro-shimmer, and hex, square, and round glitter in copper, silver, gold, brown, white, and gunmetal.  There is also black bar glitter, though you can only see one in my swatch and that is slightly hidden by the flash on my ring finger.  I think my favorite thing about this polish is the square glitter, because frankly... square glitter had me at hello.  :)

A Neutral Party applied very well and I had no issues with getting the glitter on to the nail.  It also was almost completely smooth after just one coat of topcoat.  I would have done a second coat to completely even it out, but my bottle of Insta-Dri is gloopy and hard to use, so I just did the one. 

One thing I did notice is that these are a bit stinky.  When I first got them, they were very smelly, almost like Kleancolors, but after being in my house for a couple of days, that has died down somewhat, but they still smell like they are chocked full of chemicals.  I'm sure that I have lost many, many brain cells to nail polish fumes over the years, so the smell, while present, didn't really bother me while I applied this.

Current Lynnderellas are available through her eBay store for the $23 for singles and (when available) $22 each when you purchase them in multiples (the LE and "one-ofs" are auctions and go for much more).  Yes, that is crazy for nail polish, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.  :P

Lynnderella A Neutral Party was purchased by me and Essie Gym Dandy was sent to me for review.  

Candeo Colors Joker

Candeo Colors Joker has been one of my longest indie lemmings.  It seems like whenever Melinda would add it to the sale on her site, I wasn't fast enough.  So when I saw it in stock on Llarowe a few weeks ago, I jumped on it.  I know that Llarowe has been a bit of a drama llama lately, so I was a little nervous about ordering, but the power of the lemming was stronger than my trepidation.  LOL.  

She came in a couple of weeks ago, but that was when packages from Llarowe were still being sent with signature required, and it actually took me almost a week to have a chance to go the post office.  And then she sat in my purse for another week.  So much for a hardcore lemming, right?  :P

Anyway, I finally had a chance to put her on my nails (am I the only one that refers to nail polish as "her"?) and I am so happy I got her...

This is 2 coats of Joker over 3 thin coats of Essie Boxer Shorts, a soft periwinkle blue.  I also used one coat of Barielle No Chip Speed Dry.  

Joker is a mix of purple glitter, purple microglitter, blue glitter, periwinkle matte glitter and large silver and holo hex glitters.  Any other color you see in my swatch above (i.e. pink, orange, and green) was created by the flash off the holographic glitter.  It's a little brighter than I thought it would be, as I initially thought it would kill my lemming for Lynnderella Nosegay.  It doesn't... but Lynn's crazy kinda kills that on it's own.  :P  That said, it's still really, really pretty and I think it would fantastic over tons over colors (can you imagine it over a bright blue like Zoya Song?).  

Also, in the future, I think I may go lighter with my application.  It actually looked really pretty at just one coat, but I never know when to stop, so that's why you see two above (my second coat was much thicker).  The base on Joker is clear and I had no issues with the formula being thick or with the glitter not wanting to transfer to the nail.  That's one of the best things about Candeo Colors glitters.  

If you can snag it, Joker is occasionally available at Candeo Colors' website.  That said, they only restock about once every 4-6 weeks and when they do, the stuff is loaded into carts within seconds.  You probably will have a better chance of getting Joker through Llarowe (where I got mine), but keep in mind that she charges $12, about 25% more than purchasing directly from Candeo Colors, plus shipping costs.  For me, if it's something I really want, I'd actually rather pay a little more and get it, rather than deal with a long wait and fight a stampede.  

Joker was purchased by me.  Boxer Shorts was provided for review.

Essie Yogaga Collection Review

Last month, I received a press release from Essie's PR collection regarding one of their new fall collections, Yogaga, which was a collection of 6 "neutral" cremes with fitness-themed names.  I thought it was such an intriguing collection for fall, and I'm so happy to show it to you today.  

Before I show you swatches, there is one color in the collection, Yogaga, that I did not receive for review, but it is looks like a soft, sandy beige.  You can see the color on Essie's website.  Here are the colors I did receive...

Boxer Shorts - light periwinkle blue.  Boxer Shorts is the reason that I put the word neutral in quotations above, because while it is a calm, serene blue, it's not what I would exactly call neutral.  It is, however, a gorgeous color and it's my favorite of the collection.  This one is definitely on the blue side of periwinkle, but there is a enough purple in the base to make this one a periwinkle rather than a cornflower blue.   Also, of the 5 I swatched, Boxer Shorts had the best formula.  It did take 3 coats to reach opacity, but the coats were thin enough that there was no issue with evenness or leveling.  

Gym Dandy - medium-toned, brown taupe.  Essie calls this one a "greige" and while I definitely see brown and mushroom and taupe, I don't see much grey.  It's certainly in the same vein, but it's more brown than what comes to mind when I see the word greige.  This one is one of the more fall-ish colors in the collection.  I did have a bit of issue with the formula, as it was a tad thick, but going slow and trying to keep a thin amount on the brush helped.  3 coats.

Marathin - slightly spicy, tea rose pink.  Marathin is the one that I have shown you before, and it's a very pretty pink for cooler months.  The more I wore it, I did think it age my hands a bit, but in all honesty, that also could have been from the Julep remover which dried out my hands while I was swatching.  This one is a great pink for those of you that just like to wear neutral colors.  For example, my mom and aunt would LOVE this one.  I did have the same formula issues that I had with Gym Dandy, but they were nothing that couldn't be handled.  2 coats.

Pilates Hottie - light grey-lavender.  Now this is one that I would call a "greige", albeit a very pale one.  It's a really pretty grey/lavender hybrid, but unfortunately, it didn't look all that great on my nails.  Though, I think it would look much better on a darker skintone.  These pale greys and lavenders always have a tendency to give me a case of "dead hands".  Like the other 2 light colors I swatched, this one also had a thicker, slightly temperamental formula.  3 coats.    

Spinning Again - brick red.  In the bottle, I thought this one was going to be more brown, but on the nail, it's a fantastic brick red that just screams "FALL!".   It's also very flattering on my pale skintone. It had one of the better formulas in the collection and is my second favorite behind Boxer Shorts.

I think this is a very wearable fall collection from Essie.  It's funny because while it is a collection of neutrals, my favorites were the least neutral of the bunch.  What does that say about me?  LOL.  

The collection, including Yogaga, is currently available from Essie.com, as well as other outlets (I think I actually saw it at Target last week), and retail for $8 a bottle.

This collection was sent to me for review.  

Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening over Essie Marathin

Over the next few days, I plan to swatch Essie's Yogaga collection, but in the meantime, today, I have for you one of the polishes from that collection, Marathin.  I loved it on it's own, but me being me, I had to add glitter to it...

I used 2 coats of Marathin, a medium-toned, tea rose creme, and topped that with a gradient of Some Enchanted Evening.  

The formula on Marathin was perfect.  I was able to reach opacity in 2 coats over a coat of CND Stickey (I'm trying hard to get back in the habit of using base coats).  

Essie Marathin is available at essie.com and Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening can be purchased at deborahlippmann.com.  

Marathin was sent to me for review.  Some Enchanted Evening was purchased by me.  Links within this post link to sites to purchase polishes shown and are not affiliate links. 

Essie Long Stem Roses

I have such an affinity for rose-red polishes, and Long Stem Roses is no exception.  It's a bright pink-based red loaded with fine silver shimmer.  When I first saw this one in the bottle, I was afraid that the silver ribbons were going to translate into frostiness, but that is totally not the case.  On the nail, the shimmer is very subtle.  There is a tad bit of pearl to the finish, but it's very wearable.  

The formula was perfect, and I was able to reach opacity in 2 coats.  It does suck up topcoat a little bit, so you may need to apply an extra coat of topcoat (in my picture, I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri).  

Long Stem Roses had been in Essie's line up for awhile (it was one of my first Essie lemmings that I never actually filled until recently), but it looks like it's since been discontinued.  However, it is still available online at Beauty Stop Online.  

Long Stem Roses was sent to me by Beauty Stop Online.  Links within this post link to Beauty Stop Online and are not affiliate links.  

Essie Dive Bar

Essie Dive Bar is a deep, blackened teal shimmer and as summer is winding to a close (it's still hot as all get out, maybe I just feel like that because my kiddos started school today.  LOL), it's one of those colors that I will happily reach for when I'm in the mood for fall shades.  I absolutely love this color, and I especially love the way it appears to deepen around the edges of my nails.  The formula on Dive Bar was great and I was able to reach opacity in 2 coats.  

Dive Bar first hit shelves back in 2010 as part of Essie's retail launch, but it was also re-released last year as part of a collection.  You can find this color, as well as many other recently-released Essie polishes through Beauty Stop Online.  Dive Bar was one of those colors that I had wanted when it came out, but then it got pushed to the back of my wishlist like many, many other colors.  And as much as I love finally filling a long-time, HTF lemming, it's also nice to add those "easy-to-find, but not brand-new" polishes to your stash.  

Essie Dive Bar was provided to me for review by Beauty Stop Online.  The included link links to Essie polishes on Beauty Stop Online's website and is not an affiliate link.  

30 Days of Blues for Autism Awareness - Essie Mesmerize

Welcome to my fourth day of blues in my "30 Days of Blues".  Today, I have for you Essie Mesmerize...

This is 2 coats of Essie Mesmerize, a bright royal blue (which is darker, brighter, and not nearly as dusty as my picture would suggest), with 2 coats of Barielle Starchild on my tips.  Yes, y'all... I am still addicted to the glitter tips.  LOL.  

Essie Mesmerize is easily one of my favorite blues in my collection, and it was one of the earliest blues I purchased.  I remember when it came out, I had recently started becoming interested in polish again, and I had just discovered nail blogs.  When I saw this one on The Polish Addict, I immediately fell in love.  However, I had yet to become comfortable with the idea of wearing blue on my nails.  Once I realized that I can wear anything and everything on my nails ("p'shaw Mom, red isn't natural either". LOL), I quickly added Mesmerize to my collection.  Also, unlike a lot of other older Essies made of win, Mesmerize is still in the regular line-up, so it should be easy to acquire if you have a lemming.

And because it was sitting right next to me looking all shiny, I then added 2 coats of Barielle Starchild just to my tips.  Starchild was one of the polishes that I purchased, along with Shannon's Attitude and a couple others, when Barielle offered their 30% off sale a few weeks ago.  Also, like Shannon's Attitude, this one looks nothing like the picture on Barielle's site (this is becoming a trend).  Based on that picture, I thought it was going to be blue and silver glitter in a clear base.  It's not.  It's still beautiful, but again, keep in mind, it's not like the picture.  Rather than being silver and blue glitter, it's actually highly rainbow-holographic, multi-shaped and sized, chunky glitter in a clear base.  When I first pulled it out of the box, I was disappointed, but just like with Shannon's Attitude, I was very pleasantly surprised.  This picture does not do it justice.  Trust me, it's crazy, I-may-wreck-my-car shiny.  I have several chunky, holo, glitter top coats and this one just blows them out of the water.

Again, thank you so much for reading my "30 Days of Blues" posts.  Remember, I'm glad to take any requests for blues.  I have a huge amount of blues, so chances are I may have it (just don't say Starry, Starry Night).  Please reply to this post with any suggestions, or you email them to megan@apolishproblem.com.  

Essie/TOMS One Day Without the Blues

Hi all, my nail polish table/storage is still in a state of flux, but I thought I'd take a short break from my break (LOL) and post about TOMS One Day Without Shoes. 

Recently, on Facebook, TOMS Shoes along with Essie offered a contest where 5000 FB followers could win a bottle of an exclusive polish, One Day Without the Blues.  I was very fortunate to be one of the 5000.  The contest was to raise awareness of TOMS shoes' One Day Without Shoes, a day to raise awareness of shoeless-ness in third world countries. 

For more information on One Day Without Shoes, click here

Also, here is the color, One Day Without the Blues...

If it looks familiar, it is... it's Essie Coat d'Azure.  I cannot find my bottle of Coat Azure for the life of me, so you are just going to have to take my word for it.  :P  I know some people were upset that they weren't one of the 5000 chosen, and if that was you... fret not... as Coat Azure is easily available.

I still greatly appreciate the message and the cause, but it's not an exclusive polish (which is fine, I just don't want you lemming it as it's easy to find).

KOTD: Crazy Zebra

Tonight during my training class, I decided that the new cover on my Blackberry would make a great design for a konad.  So instead of during my homework, that's what I did.

I started with a base of Piggy Polish Silver Scream.  I then used bits and pieces from the zebra full-nail image from plate m57 in a variety of colors to create this design.  I used the following:

Orly Sol Cabana
Essie Mesmerize
Konad Black
OPI Who the Shrek are You?
ChG Turned up Turquoise
ChG Heli-Yum
ChG Grape Pop

Essie Resort Collection

These pics are a little old, as I had tons of stuff stored on my camera before all my free time seemed to slip away from me.

I had plans to pick up this entire collection from an e-tailer, but unfortunately, all the e-tailers raised their prices on Essie just before this collection was released, so I resorted to eBay, and picked up the mini set, rather than the full collection.  I figured it was more cost effective that way, as I'd probably never use up the minis, much less a full bottle.

Like the majority of the reviews I've read on this collection, my favorite was probably the one you'd least expect, but more on that in a minute... first the swatches.  As these pics are older, I honestly don't remember many thoughts on them, so I'll just show you the pics and then try my best to recap my thoughts at the end.

Playa del Platinum

Turquoise & Caicos

Splash of Grenadine

Lapis of Luxury

So my favorite of this collection, oddly enough, was Playa del Platinum.  It's a perfect putty color.  The most disappointing was Turquoise & Caicos.  I liked Lapis of Luxury and Splash of Grenadine well enough, but found the colors to be a little commonplace, especially in the case of SoG.  IIRC, the formula of these was iffy.  I think PdP was 3 coats, as was T&C, but SoG and LoL were 2 coats.  I think the best in terms of application was actually SoG. 

I like this collection okay, but I'm not sure if I'll be picking up any Essie collections in the future.  For some reason, I'm a little put off by the fact they sold out to L'Oreal.  I'm all for companies making money, but that just seems like U2 levels of selling out, IMO. 

Adoree Harbour Blue vs. Essie Aruba Blue

Adoree is one of those brands that I've been interested in trying for awhile, but I would always hesitate before pulling the trigger on my haul because there just isn't much about the brand either on the NB, Nailgal, or various blogs.  A lot of the colors looked interesting to me, but since I couldn't find many swatches online, I never ended up placing an order.  Since they are gradually raising their prices, I figured I'd never get to try them.  Then, Esther's Nail Center (the only place, I think, to get Adoree in the US) ran a sale in which all of the Adoree polishes were $3.99.  At that price, I figured I could give them a shot.  Unfortunately, I don't think I did a good job of picking colors as I've already swatched one color and I've already found a dupe.  :/

This is Adoree Harbour Blue compared with Essie Aruba Blue

HB is on the index and ring and AB is on middle and pinky.  Can you tell the difference?  There is one, but it's very, very slight.  Aruba Blue has a bit more of a pearly finish, which lends itself to being a bit brushstroke-y.  Also, going on, Harbour Blue has more of a blue-green base, but after 2 coats, it is the exact same shade as AB. 

Now, I love AB, but I honestly have to say that I think I love HB more.  However, I will probably keep AB as it's one of my dautghters favorite colors and the Essie brush is easier to use on her nails. 

This is my first time using Adoree polishes and I really like them.  The formula is very nice, and the brush is easy to use.  I can't wait to swatch the other Adorees I picked up.  Unfortunately, the sale is now off and the polishes have been raised in price again, to $6.  According to Polish or Perish, Esther's Nail Center will sentd you brushstrock samples of polishes.  You can also get a gift with purchase if you mention you are a PoP reader (check PoP for more info).

Merry Christmas!!!

(what's left of it, that is.  I started this around 11:30p)...

This has been a crazy week, so I'm so sorry for not updating before now.  I have a few recent manis that I'll just combine into one post.  And then I'll try to get back on track with the daily NOTDs next week.  I should have my "big" Dermelect review either Monday or Tuesday as well (plus a surprise, so stay tuned.  LOL).

Here are my recent manis that I haven't gotten around to posting yet...

First up is RBL Killa Red

Sigh.  I love the color in the picture and in brighter light, but that's about the only thing I love.  The formula was hard to work with.  You'd think with it being a RBL it wouldn't be such a bear, but I struggled with it for the entire mani (actually 2, but more on that in a minute).  Also, the brush on my Killa Red was a freakin' mop.  I managed to make it through, but my application isn't as neat as I'd like.  In darker light, or under the halogen in my kitchen (where I polish my nails), this looks very dark.  In fact, it looked very similar to OPI Got the Blues for Red (which is a great color, but I expected something different).  In bright light, it's much lighter and it's a beautiful color, but I wish I got Glamourpuss instead.  Lastly, it seems, on me at least, that RBL cremes do not want to work with some base coats.  I finally got it to play nice with Orly Calcium Shield, but I had to remove my previous mani and reapply Killa Red because it was so glumpy with the first base coat.  I plan on keeping it and using it again with longer nails, but if the color wasn't so nice, I'd have to put it in the "no" pile.  So far, I'm 0 for 2 with RBL cremes.  I didn't really like Au Chocolat, either.  But I'm planning to try again soon.

Next is the ubiquitous ChG Emerald Sparkle Holiday Mani

I love ES, but I only used this for Christmas Eve because I felt it was expected.  Not by my ILs (who I spend Christmas Eve), but by the NP gods in general.  It applied perfect, and without a lot of fuss.  This is one coat with another spot coat to cover a few bald spots.  I liked it, and I love the color, but I removed it pretty quickly.  I just don't like conforming.  LOL. 

Lastly, here's my attempt at some festive nail art

This is 2 coats of Essie Amalfi (a pretty white/gold (heavier on the gold) shimmer), with 2 coats of ChG Golden Enchantment.  I also did dots with Migi Nail Art in red and gold.  On my index finger is 2 coats of the Migi Nail Art red (Migi is unique in that there's a dotter and brush on each color.  Click the "Migi Nail Art" label to see more info on Migi... I'm too lazy to link right now, sorry :P).  I meant for this to look like strands of beaded garland.  I think the look turned out okay, but there were so many coats on my nails that I ended up getting sheet marks and shrinkage.  I took this off this morning (Christmas Day after I did this the night of Christmas Eve).  My nails were actually nekkid for Christmas *gasp*.

And that's it for right now.  I plan on starting back up with the daily NOTDs very soon.  I hope everyone had a happy and safe Christmas.

NOTD: Essie It's Genius

Again, I'm sticking with the polishes with the small brushes and handles until I'm used to my short nails.  The few times I've tried to use a longer handle on my right hand, it looked like a kindergartener did it. 

This is a very interesting color and I wasn't exactly sure how to describe it.  To me, it's a dusty-ish plum with tons of golden shimmer.  It has so much shimmer that you'd almost think it was a metallic in the bottle, but that doesn't really translate to the nail.  It's a beautiful fall color, nonetheless.  BTW, it's not as pink IRL.  It's definitely in the plum-my range.  EDIT: Essie describes this as a violet quartz shimmer.  I think that's actually a very good description.

It did drag a little bit during application, so I'd have some pooling at my free edge.  So, I guess it just needs thinner coats.  Of course, that may be user error.  If I had longer nails, I may not have the same problem.  This is 2 coats on every finger except for the ring finger.  I had a smudge on the ring finger, so I removed it and applied one coat to it when I re-did it.  You really can't tell the difference.  I think it would it would be a totally different, deeper color with 3 coats, but I don't really have the time or patience for that right now.  :P  I like at 1-2 coats just fine, though.

I used a base of Orly Calcium Shield under it.  I love my Dermelect Ridgefiller, but I see my bottle going down quickly, so I'm trying to make it last.  LOL.  I also have one coat of Out the Door.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that this is from Essie's fall collection last year, but it is still in the regular line up.  Thus, it's available at all the usual places and at Essie.com.

NOTD: Essie Clambake

Essie Clambake is a bright, tomato red jelly.  It definitely leans more towards the orange family than being a true red.  It's actually listed as a bright orange on Essie's website.  As you can tell, it's definitely more of a summer red, rather than a holiday or valentine red.  I just used it now because I'm trying to use my brands with smaller, easier to control brushes/handles due to my stubby nails and this was the first Essie I grabbed.  It looks like it would be dupey to OPI Monsooner or Later, though I don't own that one to do a direct comparison.  Application was pretty easy.  This is 2 coats and you can still see my VNL (what's there, that is), and any blemishes on my nails, though it doesn't look bad.  I'm also using one coat of Dermelect Makeover Ridgefiller and one coat of Out the Door TC.  This is part of Essie's regular line up and can be found at your usual e-tailers, eBay, beauty suppliers, and at Essie.com. 

BTW, I'm loving being able to polish my natural nails.  Compared to glue-ons it's practically low maintenance.  I'll probably be posting a lot more NOTDs in the future.

NOTD: Essie Aruba Blue

It's been 3 weeks today since I took off my last set of glue-ons.  Except for my swatching of the new ChG collection, I've had very little nail polish on my nails.  All I've worn for the past 3 weeks has been the Dermelect treaments and top coat.  I was okay with waiting to polish my nails until I reorganized my stash last night.  For one, I thought I had 150 polishes and I had almost 300, so I figured I'd better get cracking if I was ever going to use them.  And, I fell back in love with some of my forgotten babies.  So, even though my nails are not back to being polish-worthy, I figured I'd show them some love nonetheless. 

I fell in love with Essie Aruba Blue while watching The Devil Wears Prada.  Emily Blunt's character wears it through much of the movie.  Of course, at the time, I didn't realize it was Aruba Blue.  I just happened to stumble on that bit of information while reading ALU.  I think I fell back in love with it at that moment.  I had to hunt it down and make it mine. 

Honestly, though, I don't think I've ever worn it.  Amelia, my daughter, has, but I haven't.  So I rectified that today.  Here's one coat of Essie Aruba Blue over one coat of Dermelect Makeover Ridgefiller.  I also have one coat of INM Out the Door TC. 

The color is a gorgeous medium-to-dark, bright, blue shimmer.  IRL, it's more like bottle color, but it still has that same gorgeous glowy quality.  I had no application issues and it was actually opaque in one coat.  It's in Essie's regular line and you can pick it up at your favorite e-tailers, eBay, BS, and at Essie.com.  The cheapest place I've found is TD. 

As for my nail recovery, I think it's going pretty well.  Most of my nails are growing out without any problems, and I think all of them will be fine in the end.  Just to remind you, here's where I started...

They aren't perfect, but I think they look tons better.

Progress?

It's been a week and half since I took off my last set of glue-ons and started using Dermelect.  Just to remind you, here's what I started with:

and here's where I am today:

Both pictures are of my naked nails.  I do have Mango Mend on in the second picture.  As you can tell by the cut on my index finger cuticle, the cold weather is really drying them out. 

I titled this post with a question mark because I'll occasionally get discouraged, but I think they are actually doing pretty well. 

Also, in the interest of total disclosure, I am also using Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition 1-2x a day.  My finger tips hurt so badly, up to a couple days ago, that I needed some fast growth.  The NN gives me pretty fast growth, but my nails are not much stronger.  I think the Dermelect products are what's helping with that.

Lastly, I applied my coat of Dermelect Launchpad and my coat of Dermelect Makeover, then I decided to put some color on my hideous nubbins.  I used Essie Porcini.  It's a pretty taupey, mauvey pink with gold micro-shimmer.  It looked better in the bottle than it did on my nails, but it wasn't a bad color at all.  The one thing I didn't like was that my polish looked glumpy (gooey+clumpy) and I was reminded why I never liked polishing my natural nails.  However, I'm hoping that in the next few months after all the ridges and bumps are gone my polished nails will look much better. 

Also, the one problem I'm having with the Dermelect products is a lot of bubbling after I apply the topcoat (High Maintenance).  Their info states that it's fast drying, but I'm finding drying times to be a bit slow, but the main problem is the bubbling.  Seriously, it's worse than the bubbling I always got with Seche Vite.  I don't know if that's because it's a naturally thick product or if there is some other reason.  I had to remove my Porcini mani within 30 minutes of application due to the bubbling.  Here's a pic, though I doubt if you can see the bubbling.  Maybe on 1-2 of my fingers.

This mani is 1 coat Launchpad, 1 coat Makeover, 1 coat Porcini (could have used a 2nd, but I don't like using too much polish on my natural nails) and 1 coat of High Maintenance TC.  Application on the Essie was fine, but I hate Essie's brushes.  I can never get the right amount of polish on them.

Tonight, I will apply another coat of the Dermelect base coats/ treatments.  I wish I hadn't had to take them off to begin with, but the bubbling was too bad.  I plan on retrying the HMTC a couple more times, maybe with a thin fast dry TC over it, to see if that helps with the bubbling.  I'll let you know if anything changes.

EDIT: I tried using a thin fast dry top coat over the Dermelect High Maintenance top coat and it made the bubble issue go away.  I used Beauty Secrets from Sally's.  Nails dried very fast due to the Beauty Secrets TC and feel very protected thanks to the HMTC. 

Essie Joins the Fight Against Breast Cancer

I received this yesterday from Essie's PR Department:

ESSIE COSMETICS SAYS ‘YES WE CAN!’ TO WINNING THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER

Introducing the Limited Edition Polish

‘Yes We Can, Pink!’Wear pink this October…on your fingers and toes in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness. To join in the fight against the powerful disease, essie cosmetics has created Yes We Can, Pink!, a new nail color, for which a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC), a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women affected by the disease.

“There’s no better way to empower women than to make them feel beautiful,” says Essie Weingarten, founder and president, Essie Cosmetics. “Yes We Can, Pink! is inspired by the soft, pale pink color associated with breast cancer awareness and will help to remind those wearing it that there is hope.”

To commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 10% of the proceeds from essie’s limited edition polish, Yes We Can, Pink! will be donated to Living Beyond Breast Cancer in a collaborative effort to raise interest, awareness and funds for women coping with the disease.

Living Beyond Breast Cancer is dedicated to giving women the information and education they need to live as long as possible with the best quality of life. The organization offers specialized programs and services to women affected by the disease as well as their family members, friends and healthcare providers.

Yes We Can, Pink! is available at http://www.essie.com/ and fine spas, salons and beauty stores nationwide beginning in October 2009. SRP $8.00 USD.

I don't have pictures of this myself, but I did happen to find swatches on Mary's blog.

It's a nice idea, and I do applaud Essie for contributing to LBBC, but come on... do we need another sheer pink, especially from Essie? Most of the women I know who are currently fighting breast cancer or who have fought breast cancer, and especially those who succumbed to the disease were not "pale pink women". They are fighting or have fought breast cancer with every fiber in their being. They are bold, bright, "hot pink women". I realize that pale, soft pink has become synonymous with the Susan G. Komen foundation and the fight for breast cancer in general, but it's also associated with shyness and meekness, IMO, and when you are fighting for your life, you are neither of those things. I read that pink was chosen as the color for breast cancer because it represents femininity at a time when a person dealing with this disease feels their least feminine. I get all that, and I think it's a wonderful idea, and I'm definitely NOT disparaging companies for creating pink products in an order to help breast cancer research. What I do have a (small) issue with is why everything has to be pale pink. Why not bold, hot pink, ala Essie Pink Parka? For me, bright pink is far more empowering than soft pink. And as much as I want to support breast cancer research, since I have yet to see a nail polish created specifically for the cause that interests me, I will support the cause in other ways.

I hope my little soapbox rant did offend anyone, because I do understand the idea behind the color and I have no problem with companies creating products to help the cause, I just wish they put a little more thought into it that producing yet another pale pink.

Essie Viva La Vespa compared to Essie Sexy Divide

This is something I'd been meaning to do ever since I got Viva La Vespa a few weeks back. A few blogs had mentioned that SD was a little dupey to VLV, but I couldn't find any comp pics. Since I was getting ready to remove my previous nails, I figured I'd do a little swatching before I soaked them off. I'd already used n-a remover on the nails about 2x at this point, and the texture on the SD nails is testament to that, for some reason, they showed it much worse than the VLV nails. So I apologize for the texturing, but at least you can see the difference in the colors.



Viva La Vespa is on index and ring fingers and Sexy Divide is on middle and pinky fingers.

As you can see, while they are similar, I wouldn't call them dupey. More like, Sexy Divide reminds me of Viva La Vespa. Sexy Divide is a gorgeous color in it's own, though I think I prefer VLV. I'd say that Sexy Divide is a true Tyrian/Imperial purple (though looking up colors on Wikipedia has led me to think this is actually Byzantium purple, but that's so random). VLV is in the same family, but it leans more magenta. Also, SD is nowhere near as glowy as VLV. VLV has the same quality as OPI Kinky in Helsinki in that it looks like it's lit from within.

In terms of application, SD was far superior. The pic is 2 coats of SD and it was opaque at one. I just did 2 to reach bottle color. As for VLV, as I mentioned in my previous post, VLV is thin and a little difficult to work with. It also took 3 coats to reach the above color and there is still a bald spot on my ring finger. I suppose that's the difference between new formula (SD) and old formula (VLV).

If you are lemming VLV, but can't find it, then I say SD should help to calm your lemming. It's not a dupe, but it's in the same purple family and is amazing in it's own right. However, if you can find it (as far as I know, VNS still has it), VLV is a must have for any purple-ite.

KOTD: Essie Viva La Vespa w/ ChG Devotion and Harmony w/ Orly Matte Top

To acheive this, I used my Viva la Vespa mani from yesterday and applied a konad design using the butterfly and stemmed flower from plate m21. I used ChG Devotion (silver) and Harmony (purple) from the ChG Romantiques collection. I applied my regular top coat to set it, then about 10 minutes later, I applied 2 coats of Orly Matte Top. I like this a lot, but I think I prefer it shiny (sorry for not taking a pic of it while it was still shiny), or maybe not (as I'm staring at it trying to decide), this satin look is fab, too.

NOTD: Essie Viva La Vespa

I was in a rotten mood, given yesterday's bad news, and I was in desperate need for a little cheering up. I decided to try a recent acquisition, Essie Viva La Vespa.

I have no clue what collection Viva La Vespa is originally from, but it was rereleased, along with SSN, in late 2007. Now, it's not as rare nor as sought-after as SSN, but it's still relatively HTF. There are a few bottles on eBay, usually in the $15-20 range. However, I got mine at VNS for $5. As far as I know, they still have them. If you are interested, you'll need to email them as they don't have d/c'd Essies or OPIs listed on their website.

Here's a pic:




Isn't this the most gorgeous color of purple you've ever seen? I know it's been compared to Essie Sexy Divide, but IMO, while SD is a beautiful color, but it's no VLV. If you are lemming VLV and can't find it, SD will do in a pinch, but if you can get your hands on VLV, it's totally worth it. It's a deep, rich, grape-y purple (that leans slightly blue) with fine magenta/red shimmer. There's no black in this. Thus, it's a beautiful deep color, but not what I would consider vampy.

I did have a few application issues w/ this, but nothing that wasn't easily handled. The formula was thin and it was streaky on the first coat. I had to do 3 coats on my left hand, but only 2 on the right.

I plan on taking comparison pics between this and SD, but I've been so flakey lately, I may not get around to it. I'll try, though. :)