Review: Essie Good To Go

Like many of you, I used Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat to get my nail polish to dry quickly, however recently I switched to Essie's Good To Go and am pleased with my decision. This topcoat is described as "sets nail color in seconds, perfectly polished manicure, ultimate shine". It has a built-in silicon drying agent to help your polish set in a flash. I always use a topcoat, I just don't have the patience to wait and am prone to ruining my polish if I let it air dry.

Essie French Affair Spring 2011 Swatches and Review

Essie's latest collection is "French Affair", it came with 6 new polishes. These polishes are soft, pastel-like, delicate colours, with the exception of "Coat Azure" which is a blue with shimmers. If you like pastel colours this may be the collection for you, definitely spring-like.

Essie Summer 2010 Collection Swatches and Review

This set is old, but I picked it up recently so I thought I would review it here. I love Essie mini sets, I have a couple of them now and they are much cuter than buying the full size bottles, Essie is too expensive. I get most of my nail polish from Nailetc on Amazon, they are affordable and have a pretty good selection. I ordered the French Affair collection a few days ago too, so look out for that. Essie Summer 2010 collection came out last year, in the summer of 2010.. duh, and it had 4 fun and bright colours, I love the colours in this collection, and I am glad that Miss Matched wasn't included in this set, cause based on swatches I've seen, it's not the greatest.

Essie Fall 2010 Collection Swatches and Review

I know we are into winter now, but I have the Essie Fall 2010 collection today to swatch and review, hope you don't mind. I purchased the Winter 2010 collection first, and then this one. You can read my review of the Essie Winter 2010 set here. This fall set definitely feels fall-like to me, the colours remind me of falling leaves: red, green, brown and a taupe mixed in, they had to add in that taupe it was the hottest colour for a while now and people still love the purple greys. The opacity of these is amazing, I found 2/4 of them (Limited Addiction and Little Brown Dress) went on with one coat coat only that's how pigmented they are.

November Haul

Just a sneak peek at the items that I purchased last month and got in the mail recently. We don't have mail set up at our new place yet (the building isn't even finished yet and we are one of few people that live there). So we have to go way the heck to the other side of town to some mail depot to pick anything up, huge hassle. Anyways, I have goodies here from ELF, Essie, Sigma, Rock and Republic and Bare Escentuals. I will do full reviews soon once I try the stuff out some more, but I will add a short first impressions here too.

ELF: 
Flawless Finish Foundation in Porcelain - Smells like men's cologne and soap. I bought some bedding from Homesense recently and had to return them because they had a huge stain on them which smelled of cologne, this smell reminds me of that, not pretty and congures up the image every time I use it. Packaging is nice, pump is great. Colour is a tad light for me, but the next shade up would be way too dark.

Complete Coverage Concealer - Nice packaging, I have it in the lightest colour, "Light". The four colours in here look very similar though, not sure why they didn't use some variation. Consistency is creamy, covers okay, definitely sets into lines, creases though.

Tinted Moisturizer - I have this in the lightest too, "Porcelain", very yellow undertones in this. I have read others on facebook mention this too, but the tube feels 1/3 full, not sure if this was a random thing, or if they are all like this, be weary, haven't used it on my face yet, found not recommend this.

Essie:
Fall 2010 Collection - Beautiful fall colours, haven't worn it yet, but will wear the red one to a Christmas work party tonight. I am happy to have Sew Psyched and Merino Cool in here.

Sigma:
F05 Small Contour Brush - Tried using this with the ELF foundation yesterday, not crazy about it for that product. My MAC one is definitely more round. I will do comparison review soon.

F82 Angled Top Brush - Like all the Sigmax brushes, this is incredibly soft and full, like it a lot for contouring.

Rock and Republic:
Tease - Purple pink colour, very cool. Pigmentation is lovely.
Immoral -  Bright almost totally orange blush. I am loving this and curious how it will work on my skin. Just a note, I paid $18.50 CAD duty on these upon delivery, so watch out if you are international.

Bare Escentuals:
5 Brush Set - I was under the impression that these were horrible, scratchy brushes, but I really wanted the Maximum Coverage Concealer brush and these were only $20 altogether on The Shopping Channel Canada, and I had a $10 gift card, so I had to get them. But surprise, I really like them. They aren't as soft, but I think will deposit product very well.

And that's it... hopefully you will hear from me more now that I have found my camera!

Essie Winter 2010 Collection Swatches and Review

This is the very first Essie mini cube that I have ever purchased. I always thought they were a bit silly to get when you can get full bottles. A mini cube costs about $17 while one full sized bottle costs $10 around me. My ever-expanding nail polish collection is getting out of control and my favourite Amazon nail polish seller has mini sets for $9-10 so it just makes sense to get these. It's a nice way to sample a couple of the colours and if you like them a lot then buy a full bottle or two. I was planning on getting the Fall 2010 collection (especially for Sew Psyched) but I got to this one first.

Essie Cuddle with Color Fall 2009 Revisited Swatches and Review

One of my favourite collections from Essie has gotta be last year's 2009 "Cuddle with Color", which had some very nice, very fall-like, muted polishes. There were 6 polishes in this collection and I have 3 of them to show and review for you today. The bright pink and orange did not fit in this collection at all in my opinion and the dark blue has been done again and again, nothing new. I know this collection is from last year, but I still think these three colours are just as current now as they were then. These colours are quite drab, but at the same time mature, classy and trendy looking. What do you guys think?

Monthly Faves: August 2010

I like doing these blog posts because it helps me reflect on the products that I used and liked most each month. I like reading everyone else do their faves too. August is always a sad month because it means the end of summer. Onto my faves for the month of August.

Essie Fall into Fashion 2010 Collection Promo Pics

Essie’s new "Fall Into Fashion" 2010 nail polish collection was inspired by this season’s runways, which showcased a mixture of traditional glamour, chic urban warriors and eclectic color combinations. The new collection will have a dark feel dominated by a posh palette of velvet textures and reflective, metallic embellishments. This collection comes with 6 colours, and they look really great.

"This season's runways showcased a mix of traditional glamour, chic urban warriors and eclectic color collections that has us revved up for fall! The feeling is dark, sexy and minimalist, dominated by a posh palette of decadent, velvet textures and reflective, metallic embellishments. 

Essie's new fall 2010 collection embodies the essence of these eclectic fashions with autumnal pops of color in six stunning new shades that are a perfect match to fall's exquisitely refined accessories and finely tailored ensembles."

In Stitches – cheeky blush pink

Limited Addiction – Racy Garnet red

Sew Psyched – soft sage pewter

Merino Cool – sensuous autumn mulberry

Velvet Voyeur – intense chocolate amethyst

Little Brown Dress – beguiling black coffee

Judging from swatches that I have seen online, Merino Cool is that taupey purple that everyone loves, but is a close dupe for China Glaze Channelesque/Sephora by OPI Metro Chic. Sew Psyched looks like a really interesting green and I am thrilled to see a green included in this. Little Brown Dress, is a chocolate brown, which looks promising as well. These colours are available in September 2010!

Which ones interest you?

L’oreal Passport to Paradise Summer 2010 Collection

L'oreal recently released this Passport to Paradise Collection, it includes 3 gorgeous colours: Waters Edge, Ocean Breeze and High Tide. These are basically dupes of last year's Essie Northfork Collection (link to scrangie's post). If you don't know L'oreal bought out Essie so this is probably why they put out such similar colours. I wanted Greenport from that Essie collection for the longest time, but for whatever reasons, I passed on ordering it online and didn't ever find it stores cause it sold out so quickly. These polishes though, for only $5.99 each at Rexall/ Pharma Plus this week (not sure if that's the regular price) are almost identical, so it's really great to pick up these up if you don't have the Essie colours.

These JUST appeared in Canada, I was looking for them forever, so I was so happy to finally find them! Cause they are gorgeous! I heard these are a nightmare to apply, but frankly, Essie... your polishes are always a disaster for me, so I couldn't imagine these being all that terrible. I prefer my polishes to be more on the thick side anyway, I can't stand applying the first coat and you can hardly see it, these applied fine for me. All swatches are 2 coats with basecoat.

My Nail Polish Collection (as of June 4, 2010)

This was requested from a follower of mine... eleventhofapril... :D

I started collecting actively a year ago or so, I bought the odd polish here and there earlier, but it has been an obsession for about that long. Once I found nail etailers like Transdesign and Amazon ones too, the stash grew steadily. I need better organization for sure and am still working out how to store all my babies. How do you store yours?

I tried to categorize these into colour groups, thought that would be easiest, but as I went along, I saw that some should of been added to other piles and so on. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

Also, my OPI Pamplona Purple rolled off the bed and smashed into pieces on the floor, so that sucked.. these bottles are not very thick, the smashing sound was pretty good too, so RIP Pamplona Purple :(.

Blues:

(whoops reverse the labels om OPI no room for the blues and Suzy says feng shui pleasee!)

Teals:

 

(that should read CG blue sparrow and sexy in the city, not SH)

Light Purples:

(ignore the dark purple on the bottom, it shouldn't be there and thus not labelled)

Peaches:

Yellows:

Berry:

Pinks:

Corals:

Greens/Mint:

Taupes/Mauve:

Browns/Gray:

Purples:

Reddy Purples:

Glitters:

Golds:

Darks:

(on far right, is orly Goth, not CG)

Neutrals:

Reds:

(the last two on the top, shouldn't be in this group!)

Plums:

(my biggest category I think, I love my plums)

That took ages to put together.. that's like 98% of my polishes, I think I may have forgotten a couple. Also it was my first time using Gimp for imac so I had some issues getting this together. I count..223! Eek.

You know you are polish-obsessed when:
- You see a new OPI/China Glaze/Essie colour and immediately can think of 3-4 colours already in your collection that look just like that one.
- You look forward to new collections and seek out swatches online constantly.
- There are always upcoming packages that you are waiting for in the mail.
- You don't know where to put it all
- You have "backups" or accidental multiples of the same colour.

NOTD: Essie Van D'Go

Van D'Go was definitely the prettiest colour in Essie's "Art of Spring" collection. I only picked up two from that collection because I thought the China Glaze "Up and Away" colours were so similar to them. After the disaster that Essie Tart Deco was (turning bright orange with topcoat) I didn't even attempt to put a topcoat on this one since I didn't want the same thing happening and I have read that it does, which is a shame cause this is a lovely colour. Lots of people expected this to be a dupe for MAC's Seasonal Peach (which I have and it's got horrible application), and it's close, but Seasonal Peach is more pink and this is more peach coloured. Essie... another one that looks amazing in the bottle, but on it just doesn't measure up.

Essie Van D'go

Light pinky peach colour. This was 3 coats, with basecoat, and no topcoat. Using a topcoat will make this turn orange and ugly. The application was bad, streaky and a huge disappointment. :( This would look awesome on tanned skin, but I don't see myself wearing this one too long.

Essie Summer 2010 Collection Bottle Pictures and Preview

 

Essie is coming out with a new Summer 2010 Collection, this one is nameless I believe and it comes out June 2010. This has 6 colours. Here is the press release:

• Miss Matched: sweet, sheer, ready for anything pink
• Haute as Hello: racy, scorching coral
• Knockout Pout: hot supercharged pink
• Vermillionaire: heart pounding red orange
• Demure Vixen: iridescent cocoa mauve
• Pretty Edgy: vivid palmetto green

"Summer is special. Aside from the wonderful outdoor activities that we wait for all year, we also revel in the opportunity to now wear lighter, brighter and more playful clothing. Finally, we can shed the wool and mohair for cotton and linen. The keyword for summer is: fun! So indulge in seriously sensational color! Don’t be shy — make it the time to play with bold, playful color combinations.

This year’s runways reflected the ease of the season with youthful, upbeat clothing in feminine fabrics,” explains Essie Weingarten, President and Founder of Essie Cosmetics, Ltd. “I was inspired by the vivid pastels at Versace and the splashy fl orals at DKNY. I created this collection to reflect the youthful, fun-to-wear flirty frocks.” The summer fashion trend is all about mixing and matching, and the summer color palette allows for the same fun and freedom. Choose Miss Matched for fingers and Pretty Edgy for toes, or whatever you fancy – since there is no more matchy-matchy!"

Now a closer look at the bottles:

Miss Matched, Vermillionaire,  Demure Vixen

Pretty Edgy, Haute as Hello, Knockout Pout

What do you think of these? I think they are nice summer colours, I don't know if they are cremes or what, Haute as Hello and Knockout Pout look cute.

Essie Resort Collection: Bottle Pics, Swatches and Review

Today I received my Essie Resort polishes in the mail so excited! I also got the China Glaze Poolside Collection (swatches coming soon). I got 3/4 polishes, I passed on the tan one cause it didn't seem too unique to me, but the three that I got are squishy and gorgeous! As with all Essie polishes that I have tried, the formulation is incredibly watery and runny. One coat gets you a very thin, virtually no colour coat, the second is a huge difference, and by three it looks great. I have a problem waiting in between coats, so these polishes end up looking thick on me and taking way too long to dry and ruining my manicure. These polishes had the same problems, the colours are great, but they take patience for sure. Resort contains all creme, tropical, fun colours.

Mint Nail Polish Comparisons: Bottle Pictures and Swatches

Continuing on with the comparison blog posts, I hope you guys like these. All of these posts over the course of the next 5 days or so were written previously and scheduled since I am away on vacation.... Onto my mint family of polishes!

From Left to Right: Orly Mint Mojito, OPI Hey Get in Lime, Revlon Minted, Essie Mint Candy Apple, China Glaze Re-freshmint.

The Orly Mint Mojito is totally different than the rest, it's a bright green, not minty like the others at all. You can tell that the last three are all similar tones, pale, light pretty mint greens. 

Index to Pinky: OPI HGIL, Essie MCA, China Glaze Re-freshmint and Revlon Minted.

From the swatches above you can tell that OPI HGIL is a yellow lime green, my bottle is a bit weird the yellow at the bottom doesn't really mix in right regardless of how much you shake it. Essie MCA is a pale, stark white mint with blue undertones, China Glaze Re-freshmint is more green than MCA, the Revlon Minted is similar to the China Glaze. HGIL is very sheer, requires a lot of coats 3-4, the Essie is pretty nice, my favourites out of all of these. 

Thumb to Pinky: Orly Mint Mojito, OPI HGIL, Essie MCA, China Glaze Re-freshmint and Revlon Minted

Mint greens are cute and great for spring/summer. What's your favourite mint polish?

Taupe Nail Polish Comparisons: Bottle Pictures and Swatches

Taupe nail polish is more "in" for the fall and winter, but I love this colour either way. I have 8 here that are quite similar, all in the taupe family. Let's see how different they really are, and if they are dupes.

My Little/or Big, Depending on how you Look at it, Taupe Army:

Left to Right: China Glaze Channelesque, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Commander in Chic, Essie Mink Muffs, OPI Over The Taupe, OPI You Don't Know Jacques!, Orly Prince Charming, Orly Country Club Khaki.

Essie: The Resort Collection Summer 2010 Promo Pictures

Essie just came out with a new Spring Collection called "Resort". It has beautiful, vibrant summery colours. I am a bit peeved because my favourite nail e-tailer, Transdesign, recently raised their Essie prices from $4 to $8, and so I won't be ordering from them anymore, since with shipping charges to Canada, it's like paying the $10 a polish that I can get in stores here. Other e-tailers have taken suit to this too and raised their prices as well, not cool. Anyway, it doesn't stop me from talking about how beautiful these nail polishes are. This collection officially launches in May 2010.

This collection is small and comes with 4 colours, they make me dream of a tropical vacation, the Lapis of Luxury being the clear, blue sky, Splash of Grenadine being the colourful mix drinks, Playa Del Platinum being the soft, sandy beaches and Turquoise & Caicos being the ocean water, or the palm trees. Onto the promotional pics....

 * Lapis of Luxury (a dreamy ocean blue) From reviews I've read, this one is a cornflower blue and similiar to Maybelline's Pie in the Sky (which is much cheaper if you can get your hands on it), and ligher and more blue than China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle. This colour may be similar also to Essie Shelter Island from the North Fork collection, or Misa's Right Here Now, No More Later.

 * Splash of Grenadine (a playful magenta pink) This one is a vivid, fuchsia purple. I am really liking colours like this at the moment.

*  Playa Del Platinum (an elegant and sheer sandy grey) I would probably pass on this one if I were deciding which ones to get. It's boring compared to the other vivid colourful three.

* Turquoise & Caicos (a flirty and pretty tropical aqua) T&C is the winner of this collection. If you had to get one, get this one! It is similar to last year's North Fork collection's Greenport, except more green.

Now I gotta say this much, Essie polishes and I do not get along very well. The Essie polishes that I have are beautiful, but apply streaky, thin, runny and a disaster for the most part. The last collection that I bought, off Transdesign when they were $4, was Art of Spring and those were average on application, Tart Deco was a huge disappointment. I would love to get colours like these Resort ones in another brand, perhaps OPI, then I know that I am purchasing something that I will actually wear, so I am always looking for dupes from other bloggers. I have read that these are tricky to apply, so already I am expecting them to suck. Having said that, if I happen to see these in salons in Canada, I will probably cave and get the three regardless.

Some NOTD: Revlon Peach Petal and Essie Tart Deco Fail

Remember those Revlon polishes that I got recently? I tried out Peach Petal the other day, wore it for about a week because I liked the colour so much. These pictures are right before I took it off, so they look rough but I wanted to include a picture. The colour is a light peach, pastely. Application was not great, staying power was good. But I love the colour. Click here for better swatches of Peach Petal and the rest of the Revlon Day Dreamer collection.

Next, we have a polish that really disappointed me, this was Essie's Tart Deco. I was debating for a while whether to get Tart Deco or China Glaze's Peachykeen, I decided on Tart because it looked less orange in swatches online. But now that I see how it looks on me, I hate it.

Something strange happened when I put Seche Vite over the Tart Deco. I normally put this top coat because it helps my nails dry, it's just part of my regular routine. Well this time, the Seche Vite made the nail polish turn a bit yellow and once it dried the nail colour was much more brighter and flourescent! This was a huge disappointed. I am taking this polish off in the morning.

As you can tell in the picture above, the colour in the bottle looks nothing like it on the nail, maybe next time I will skip the Seche Vite as the two reacted really badly. Also, application on the Tart Deco was pretty atrocious as well. I have read on Makeupalley that other girls have had these problems too with the colour going yellow with Seche Vite. Essie polish and I do not get along, the colours are pretty, but do not translate well in application for me anyway. 

China Glaze Up and Away, Essie Spring 2010: Spring Nail Polish Colours from Transdesign!

China Glaze and OPI both put out some lovely spring, eastery colours in their new collections. I picked up some early through the etailer, Transdesign and received them a few days ago, they are sooo pretty. ♥♥♥♥

From Left to Right:
OPI Pinking of You, OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy, China Glaze Light as Air, China Glaze Something Sweet, China Glaze Refresh Mint, China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Essie Van D'Go, Essie Tart Deco, Essie Mint Candy Apple

The China Glaze collection, "up and away" is not even out yet, so it's pretty cool having it already. The essie tart deco and van d'go are from the new spring line, the OPI's are oldies, but goodies. Mint candy apple is from the winter, I was wanting this one for the longest time.