Essie Manicure

Essie is without a doubt the number one nail polish brand for nudes; you only have to spend one second in front of a stand to know that with the copious display of bottles.

I've previously posted about a few polishes and compared the likes of Ballet Slippers, Fiji and Sand Tropez (you can read this here)

Almost all three of these bottle are now coming to an end so with the 3 for 2 offer on in Boots I restocked my base and top coats and snapped up a new nude to try: Mademoiselle.

I've never tried the First Base base coat from Essie so I was interested to see how the green/blue coloured polish would fare in comparison to others I've used that are cheaper.

It contains a rubber adhesive to help bond polish to the nail surfaces creating a smooth base for application, helps resist chipping and against stains created by some stronger colours.

I always try and use a base to help against staining, there's nothing worse than weirdly coloured nails that look unhealthy when actually it's just an orange toned red polish that is the culprit!

The base applied easily as expected with any Essie polish, the brush seems to fit my nail perfectly so I can just swipe it from base to tip and not manage to get too much all over my fingers.

It dried really fast and left a clear base with a good finish for colour application.

So Mademoiselle is a sheer light pink, its like the sheerness of Ballet Slippers with the colour of Fiji.

I wasn't sure what colour this was going to turn out as, I can never tell but I couldn't test on my own nails as I'd just done them in a dark red and the name sounded familiar. Next time I buy one I will have to investigate further! Not that this colour isn't lovely but I have something similar already and would probably prefer something that doesn't require 4 coats for a more opaque finish.

The photo above shows Mademoiselle after 2 coats. It doesn't quite cover the tips of the nails so you can see how translucent it is; I don't like my nails to look white but I do like the colour to show up.

I don't think I'm a sheer polish kind of person however at work nail polish seems to be a no no, especially as my new job requires lots of hands on work with spanners - no joke.

Four coats seem to have done the trick and this is a much better colour for me. I've actually really liked wearing such a sheer colour on my nails this week and it seems to have been a welcome change for me.

As always Essie polishes are top notch in application and quality and the top coat is one of my favourites. The combination of all three polishes seem to have created a rock hard manicure that hasn't budged whatsoever, even with all my new found spanner and screwdriver skills. 

This is definitely a colour I would recommend for those who love all nudes and sheer finishes. I'm sure I'll pick up more in future, Essie is just too irresistible!

What's your favourite Essie polish? Do you prefer sheer or opaque polishes?

L xxx

Nail Splurge!

I'm sure you can imagine after getting myself a discount card at Boots I have been putting it to good use.

The other day I went in to pick up a few things before my shift started and the things I wanted weren't in stock (boooooooooooooooo!)

Clearly this meant that I had to buy 8 nail varnishes and some nail wraps instead.....oops?!

I'm not quite sure what happened to my logic during that decision as the other items were ones that I needed, and still need.

But it was too late at this point so I'm just enjoying my new polishes!

Here's my haul......

Having only bought one Essie polish before (Sand Tropez, read here) I needed more in my collection.

Having heard so much about Ballet Slippers that was first in my basket, then I saw the Winter 2012 collection was was won over by the sparkle.

This was when the sparkle went to my head and I became drunk on nail colours.

Suddenly Lovie Dovie (the pink), Chinchilly and the Top Coat were added to my basket before I'd even blinked.

After breaking a nail half way down my nail and coincidentally having to keep painting it so it doesnt snap and bleed (ouuuuucccchy!) I also bought the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hard as Wraps in an effort to stick it back together as a temporary aid whilst it grows out.

The nail wraps were also a spontaneous buy that I will be saving for after Christmas when I won't be opening boxes all the time and potentially ruining them.

Just look at those colours!

I will be doing a separate post on these coming up shortly I would imagine.

Leading Lady is a beautiful colour and perfect for this time of year, whilst Snap Happy and Beyond Cozy are obvious party season choices!

This would be the perfect stocking filler and I wish I'd bought more of them in other years, assuming they existed.

I'm new to the Essie hype and am completely loving it!

These are all my Essie purchases bringing my total now to 8 from this particular brand, and I am yet to find one I don't like!

I can see my discount getting used quite a considerable amount.....eek!

I always hear 'Painted Lady' on the tannoy but I have to admit I hadn't heard much about them.

When I did walk past them I was amazed, there was such a good choice of patterns and colours!

It took me a good few minutes to decide but as I've never used them before I made myself choose one as I also don't know how they will fare with my job being so demanding on my manicures.....it's inconvenient!

Sally Hansen is yet to fail me with her range of affordable polishes for every ailment imaginable so I am hoping this will stick my nail back together and stop it from coming off/splitting any more until the time comes when I can cut it off myself.

I have heard the tea bag technique can work wonders....can anyone comment on this? 

I would love to know if it can work!

My broken nail is on my middle finger and although it doesn't hurt yet it has snapped across half way and would likely bleed everywhere if it did break further. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

How do you like my impromptu splurge??

I felt so naughty buying them as I really cannot afford to buy unnecessary items so I've had to hide them from my parents ha!

What's on your Christmas list from Essie? 

L xxx

Seche VIte

When I went to America Seche Vite was one of the things I picked up. When I spotted it in target it went straight in the trolley. I'd heard so many good things about it I couldn't resist it. I love my No7 top coat and have mentioned my love for it loads on this blog.

Excuse my slightly battered box. It has been on a long flight. The bottle seems large and this will definitely last a while.

Seche Vite has a unique formula which allows it to be put on wet nails. Something I found my No7 one wasn't allowing. Lately when I was using it, it would streak the wet polish on my nail. Seche Vite is truly amazing. A drop on the nail does spread really well.

This topcoat really deserves all the good reviews it gets and I now wouldn't use another. It drys really quickly, leaves nails looking glossy and doesn't smudge wet polish. What more could you want. The brush is also very good. The way it holds the perfect amount of topcoat allows the nail to be covered easily and quickly.

You can pick it up readily on eBay it's a bargain £6.25 from this seller and they have 100% feedback. I cannot recommend this top coat enough and will be ordering some of their treatment base coats.

Have you tried Seche Vite? What's your favourite top and base coat?

Love M

xxx