Valentine's cut-off "Hearts" and FOTD

Happy Valentine's Day!  It really sucks that Valentine's Day is during the week, but I took the opportunity to make it feel special anyways.  I tried to do some hearts on my nails and at least a few people could tell what I was going for.  For this I did a base of 2 coats of Essie Navigate Her.  Navigate Her is a pastel lime creme polish.  Make sure you let the first coat dry all the way, because it is easy to mess up to first coat.  The first coat is super patchy but it looks lovely after the second coat.

Cut off hearts! artificial light

I used China Glaze Millennium for the base heart shape because it does a great job of disguising the imperfections in real life.  I topped it off with OCC Grandma, which really is that perfect classic pinkish red creme.  It didn't turn out perfect, but I am satisfied for a holiday mani!  I actually reallllly loved my makeup today, so you guys get to see that again.  I know I have no expertise, but it's definitely becoming a new hobby.

Valentine's FOTD

I hope you all had a lovely day and got to spend it with someone special (Even if that means family or friends!)
~Shbecky

Essie Lady Like

 Hey guys!  I may have enough internet to post right now - it's a miracle.  I return to DC Saturday morning, so internet won't prevent regularly scheduled posting any more.  Thanks for being patient with me.  I knew the internet would be spotty, but I didn't realize it wouldn't work at all most of the time.  Anyways, I told you that I went outlet shopping yesterday with my mother (jackpot!).  We stopped at CVS which is generally not that exciting since I live right next to one in DC.  Up here, however, CVS is an hour away.  Another big bonus is that polishes aren't so picked through.  I got all 4 of the Fall Essie's that drug stores carry.  I think that there are 2 others that will only be available in salons.  I'll get back to you on that one.

Today I have Lady Like for you.  Lady like is a dingy faded pink creme.  That sounds a bit gross, but it really isn't.  As usual I can't seem to capture the pink or edit it into the picture, so it looks like plain tan.  I promise it isn't, and there is actually a tan in the collection that looks entirely different from this.  It's impressive that this looks like mannequin hands in the picture, because IRL my skin and the polish are nothing alike.  I did snag a shot outside this AM, which looks a good deal better than the ones I got last night.  Natural lighting is my friend.

2 coats Lady LIke + Seche Vite, artificial light

2 coats Lady Like + Seche Vite, Natural Light

I'm normally not much of an Essie fiend, but I love the fall colors, including this one, and am excited by the upcoming winter collections!  While I find some Essie's too thick for my taste, this was spot on.  Lady Like is highly pigmented and almost completely opaque in one coat.  As an added bonus, the polish dried REALLY fast.  It's a keeper for me.  I will get pictures up of the remaining 3 ASAP, but I can tell you that the other 2 I have tried have great coloring, formula and are major wins.  I used them on my mother and aunt, so I still need to swatch!

To make up for the sporadic posting, I have another image of Charlie.  He has more energy than most other 1.5 year old Goldens (I know they ALL have a lot).  He also only behaves if he has a toy in his mouth.  TO burn off energy we have him play fetch off of our dock.  Originally he would run around to the shore and jump off a rock.  Now he just launches off the dock, managing to get about 6 feet away from the dock before crashing into a full on doggy flop.

Charlie "Chunk" diving off the dock after a ball

More fun photos to come!

~Shbecky

Deborah Lippmann: Glitter in The Air over Essie: Sweet Talker

Hey everyone!  Hope you all survived Monday alright!  I just wanted to give a quick thank you to all of you for following us and reading our blog.  I know that SonyT and I are used to doing lots of work in school to feel very average and unaccomplished, and the new viewers make us feel like we are actually achieving something at least in the nail polish world.  This morning I have Deborah Lippmann Glitter in The Air over Essie Sweet Talker.  Like all Lippmann's polishes this comes in the beautiful cube bottle with a top and brush that match up with the 3 Free formula like a dream.  I'll admit I was REALLY trying to avoid jumping on the GITA bandwagon.  I didn't get what all of the fuss was about.  Obviously it is a great color and the glitter is lovely, but compared to Across The Universe it seemed kind of blah.  I'll be the first to admit that I was sooooo wrong.  This is gorgeous!

1 coat Sweet Talker topped w/ 3 coats GITA, artificial light

You get two pics because I couldn't pick one :)

1 coat Sweet Talker topped w/3 coats GITA

It's a virtually translucent but cloudy baby blue jelly with a slightly brighter blue and pink multisized glitter throughout.  This was inspired by a performance of Glitter in The Air by Pink.  That alone should have made me buy the polish, as that song really struck a note with me.  I had read that the polish really wants an undiepants coat to avoid layering on too many coats.  I just reorganize my polishes, so I grabbed the first polish that seemed to be in the same color family.  Note that this is a lot brighter blue than the base in GITA.  I'll review Essie Sweet Talker on it's own at some point, but I just threw on one patchy coat.  GITA evened out the patchiness in 3 thin coats.  It applied smoothly and like I said, it's really spectacular.  In fact, even though this seems to scream "not work friendly" I am going to rock it anyway.  It's just that lovely.  I would not recommend trying to get this opaque on its own without a base color.  It applies thin, but it has a very subtle color that would force you to apply too many coats. 

Verdict? I'm a convert.  I love it! 

On another note, I'm feeling a polish purchase coming on...any suggestions?

Don't forget to enter our Nfu Oh 61 Giveaway!  I have some nice surprises that will also go out to the winner!

Essie Chinchilly + Nubar 2010 = LOVE

Happy Sunday fellow polish fiends!!

Today I have for you a match made in work-appropriate-polish heaven: Essie Chinchilly topped with Nubar 2010. As Eisenbrat mentioned a while back, Essie Chinchilly is the absolute perfect mauve-brown-gray concoction. It applies like a jelly creme and has great coverage after two average coats. On its own, it is spectacular. But I've had a pretty great weekend, and wasn't prepared to rock just an opaque solid polish. I had to add a little something.

1 coat OPI Natural Nail Base Coat + 2 coats Essie Chinchilly + 2 coats Nubar 2010 + 1 coat Seche Vite, natural light

Nubar 2010 is the "something" that everything needs. If you don't have a bottle, GRAB ONE! This bottle is well worth the $7.49 on their website. This polish is a clear with iridescent glittery flakes. Depending on the lighting, the flakes take on different colors - anywhere from orange, to pink, to gold and even a metallic green. They are unreal. You can throw on as many coats as your polish-loving heart desires over just about any polish and it turns your mani up about 10 notches. But as fabulously sparkly as it is, there is also a modesty to Nubar 2010. It is discrete enough that it can be worn in chambers or any office environment.

Also, because you are my extended family - I had to share with you the exciting news about MY family! About a month ago, my beau and I planted some marigold seeds. And finally - after a ton of TLC (well, I forgot to water a few times but can you blame me? I'm a busy gal!) - our FIRST bud bloomed!!!!!!! So below is a picture =)

What do you think?? (About the polish and the plant!) I can't wait to buy some more pots and fill them with other flowers - any advice on some low-maintenance flowers?

Sony T

Essie: Pretty Edgy

Sorry for the hiatus (if any of you have noticed, that is). I was in Dewey Beach, DE for the weekend and it took awhile to recover. Growing up 10 minutes from a beach, it baffles me that people here in DC drive almost 3 hours to go to the beach. NO BUENO.

It's not secret that I love Essie. I've never owned this color before because I would just borrow my sister's. But I saw it on the recent Ulta spree and had to have a bottle of my own. It's the PERFECT shade of green. I'd even go so far as to say it can be worn all year round.

[Beauty, even in the bottle!]

As with most Essie's, it reached opacity with 2 smooth coats.

[Blurry, sorry. 2 coats Essie Pretty Edgy, no topcoat]

[Same thing, less blurry]

[Closer shot]

Verdict: Obviously, stash. I love this color and formula!

Bonus: Since Shbecky posted a picture of her cat, here is the lovely Romeo, doing his WTF face.

-Eisenbrat
Don't forget to enter our Nfu Oh 61 Giveaway!  

Essie: Sew Psyched

Hey everyone!  I'm finally back to DC.  Of course there was miserable tourist-activity-prohibitive weather the entire time I was in Chicago until today when we left.  I also only painted my nails twice, per the boyfriend's restriction.  Tonight I have a swatch of Essie Sew Psyched which I think came out in Summer 2010.  It's an army olive green and leans more creme than most of Essie's jelly-creme hybrid polishes.  Essie polishes are 3 Free and by now I am sure you are familiar with the bottle.  Sew Psyched was more opaque than most Essies and only took 2 coats for full opacity.  It is shiny alone, but I have it here with OPI top coat.

2 coats Sew Psyched + OPI top coat, artificial light

In general I don't tend to be a huge Essie girl like Eisenbrat.  They make beautiful colors and they are lovely and squishy looking.  However, I find they don't dry well because they are pretty thick.  They also don't apply as effortlessly as I like my go-to polishes to do. This polish, as I mentioned above, was not so squishy and I do really like it.  It's pretty easy to apply and fills the army green void in my collection.  The most similar polish I have is Zoya Gemma and that is not anything like this.  It's a lighter green with a purple shimmer.  This polish has no shimmer at all.  

Verdict? I've kept Essies that I like far less, so how could I justify getting rid of this one?  Yea - I'm a polish hoarder.

-Shbecky

Essie: Absolutely Shore + Burst Crackle: Four Rolling Hills

If Eisenbrat weren't soundly snoring in her bed right now she'd probably want to kill me for posting Absolutely Shore.  However this polish fiend got it first and it happens to be the perfect undie coat for my new favorite crackle brand.  I'm sorry, OPI, but Burst has shocked me with their great formula.  It just doesn't get thick like the others.  It covers in 3 perfect swipes and even if you use 2 coats it shatters pretty darn well.  I'm getting ahead of myself, back to Essie.

2 coats Absolutely Shore, no top coat + artificial light

Absolutely Shore is from this Summer's collection and is quickly becoming hard to find.  All Essie's are 3 Free these days and tend to have a squishy jelly-creme hybrid texture.  This minty green is no exception and is opaque in 2 coats.  The bottle and brush need no introduction at this point.  If you have any questions I will gladly answer them!  Be aware that the photo makes this look like it leans blue way more than it does.  It is definitely a good bit greener IRL.

Now for what you were really interested in, the crackle effect.

1 coat Four Rolling Hills over Absolutely Shore, naturally matte/no top coat + artificial light

The bottle shape for these seems to be almost identical to a Seche Vite bottle.  The top is just about half an inch taller.  It actually makes it easier to hold.  As far as I can tell these are 3 Free.  They are available for $3.75 at both TransDesign and Victoria's Nail Supply!  They even beat the other brands in price.  My guess is Color Club's upcoming collection of crackles will be in this price range, but I'm not optimistic on the ability of any other brand to compete with this.  WARNING: your base polish needs to be completely dry.  I know other brands tell you that it needs to be dry, but realistically it just needs to be mostly dry.  I thought my black polish on my wheel was totally dry, but I was wrong and the polish pulled apart intensely. Bonus - they work over top coat.  I have not really had much of an issue with this in other brands, but there is a dirty blog rumor saying no crackles over top coat. 

1 coat Four Rolling Hills over Absolutely Shore + Seche Vite top coat + artificial light

As you can see 2 pics up, the crackle dries matte.  It is also really lovely with a top coat on it as shown right above.  It looks like its patchy almost/has uneven application, BUT this is just something that shows up under my super bright artificial light.  I also am aware that I have plastic stuck on my thumb...I'm a mess!

Verdict? This afternoon I placed an order for 5 more of these!  I also already got a pink and will show you soon :)  Can you tell what I think?  I know I hide it really well haha.

Check back tomorrow for info about our 100 follower giveaway!  Hint: It's NEVER in stock these days!  Any guesses?

-Shbecky

P.S.  @DailyNail - you need this!

Essie: French Affair

Much like Eisenbrat, I too am an Essie fiend. When I saw the French Affair collection, I almost died. I am ALL about the pastel opaques and luckily for me, so is Essie. The first polish I have swatched for you from the collection is the namesake - French Affair. This color is the perfect pastel pink. My camera INSISTED on making this polish look whiter than it really is. The cool pink in this beauty really comes through on my nails. French Affair is like a super soft version of Barbie pink - hence the reason why I adore it. It is totally appropriate for judge's chambers, but is still a fun color to wear. I had to use three coats to ensure coverage, as is the case with a lot of pastels. But I also am very anti-VNL (visible nail line), so that may explain why I prefer to go with the extra coat under most circumstances.

1 coat Seche Ridge Filling Base Coat + 3 coats French Affair + 1 coat Seche Vite Top Coat, artificial light

1 coat Seche Ridge Filling Base Coat + 3 coats French Affair + 1 coat Seche Vite Top Coat, natural light

Oh and here are some pictures of the view from balcony! Not sure anyone out there cares to see these, but the sky was such a pretty blue when I took pics of French Affair and had to snap a few shots.

Any whoooo.. I can't wait to swatch the rest of these Essie's and many more!!! Any requests?

Sony T

Essie: Braziliant

As soon as I saw Essie's new summer collection online, it was love at first sight, even without seeing the polishes in person. I literally want EVERY SINGLE ONE. But for some reason, they have eluded me and I can't find them anywhere (which only makes me want them more). One glorious day at work last week, Shbecky called me and informed me she had spotted a few of the new Essie's. I got so excited, my coworkers must have thought I was nuts. Shbecky picked me up some love Braziliant and Absolutely Shore. Since Braziliant looks so much different in person than online, I decided to swatch that one first. In the bottle it is a lovely coral-y/orange with a definite shimmer to it. That's really the best explanation I can give.

[Why hello there]

It applied very evenly (like I have come to expect from my Essie's) and looked the same on nails as in the bottle. Unfortunately, the shimmery effect is almost impossible to catch on camera. Any tips from the seasoned point and shoot users out there?

[2 coats + Seche Vite topcoat]

[Sad attempt at capturing the shimmer]

Verdict: Obviously, stash. Chinchilly is to winter as Braziliant is to summer. A definite staple.

-Eisenbrat

Comparison Post: Butter London Diamond Geezer and Essie Loophole

On Saturday, Shbecky and I drove deep into Virginia (OK, it really wasn't that far) to shop at Ulta, a nail polish hoarder's dream. I ended up spending $160! $110 on nail polish alone, and $50 on my new favorite product, Liquid Keratin. Anyone else out there use a Keratin treatment??

Anyway, I picked up 2 polishes that looked completely identical in the bottle, but yet I HAD to have both. I'm talking about Butter London's Diamond Geezer and Essie's Loophole. This is my first Butter London purchase, I can't believe they're $14/bottle!

[Foil-y heaven]

The Butter London formula is amazing and I don't regret paying $14. I applied 2 coats that came out very evenly, and the end result was a silver foil with some sparkles that catch the light.

[Artificial light]

[Better shot when it catches the light]

Up next, Essie's Loophole. To be honest, there is no comparison. I don't even want to post pictures of this one because it came out so clumpy and uneven. I didn't even bother to clean up the edges but here you go:


Verdict: There is NO comparison. Butter London FTW! Will definitely be using this polish often, and I will probably give the Essie version another chance at some point as well.

Essie: Carnival

I recently picked up this polish while buying some shampoo/conditioner. Saw it out of the corner of my eye sparkling at me and couldn't resist. I'm like a child (or puppy?), attracted to shiny objects. My first attempt using it was over 2 coats of Essie's Chinchilly and it was GORGEOUS. However, those were the aforementioned disgusting cuticle pictures. Last night, I decided to try this polish on its own. It applies pretty easily, as long as you apply LIBERALLY. Pictured below, I have used 2 coats. The sparkles look way more dense in the bottle, but I'm sure saturation can be achieved with more coats applied.

[2 coats Essie Carnival]

[Much more realistic shot]

The last 2 photos show the holographic nature of the sparkles a little better. After this polish dried, I decided to experiment with silver shatter on top. Alas, major fail. I guess shatters don't work on top of sparkle polishes.

Verdict: Will most definitely keep this one in rotation. However, from now on, I will only use it on top of other polishes. It looks especially beautiful on top of OPI's Mermaid Tears!

-Eisenbrat

Essie: Splash of Grenadine

All of my saved posts that hadn't published are temporarily MIA while blogger works out some kinks, so for now you just get a quick shot of yesterday's mani.  On another random note, I ALMOST had the holo version of OPI's My Private Jet.  It was in my hand, a half filled bottle of rainbow heaven, but the lady would not sell it to me.  It was the one color she had no backup for.  She kindly offered to order me another one, and I dramatically explained that the new version wasn't what I was looking for.  I hoped that if I looked at her long enough she would hand over the goods, but no such luck.  People in the salon may have thought I was insane.  Oh well...that was the first salon I had ever tried to look for HTFs and I suppose that's the incentive I needed to actually give it a try more often.  Any ideas in the Maine Line Philly area?

Update: Random posts are missing at the moment as well.  :(  Hopefully they are returned shortly.

Back to the mani. . . I hastily slapped on Essie's A Splash of Grenadine yesterday as I rushed to leave for a long weekend in Philly.  I managed to mess it up within 30 seconds of these pictures, and it wasn't exactly something to be proud of in the first place.  The formula was that typical slightly thick jelly/creme that Essie is known for.  I had a little trouble with the thickness due to my hasty application, but patience would remedy any formula issues.  The color is great, even though it looks nothing like grenadine.  Nope, not even a splash.  It's more of a light purpley pink color, and I'm thinking it's work friendly (YAY!).  This was 2 coats of polish + a coat of Seche Vite.  Sorry, I know the pic is a bit dark. 

Charlie Chunk and Warren outside Rita's Waterice

As a bonus I leave you with a picture of the bf and my family's Golden who we took for a little field trip this AM.  His name is Charlie (After the "Charlie bit me" video on youtube), but I prefer to call him "Chunk."  











-Shbecky