Essie comparisons

Here's a comparison of some Essie whites: Marshmallow, Waltz, and Allure! I bought them all on separate occasions, because I thought I was getting one level of opacity by looking at the bottle and then it turned out when I got home that I was completely wrong! So if you're in the market for a sheer white polish, hopefully this will help you decide which you want!

One coat

2 coats

Clearly Marshmallow is the one to get if you want something that can be an opaque white. Waltz is sheer but much more opaque than Allure, which is really just a wash of color. They're all fairly streaky; since Marshmallow becomes opaque it wasn't too big a deal, but the other two need fairly thick coats to even themselves out.

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink: OPI Cozu-melted in the Sun

I'm really not much of a dainty, pink, office-appropriate nail-color kind of person. I like greens and blues and bright colors, things that will cheer me up and get people to notice them. But every now and then I need something slightly more demure. Apparently for me, "demure" is something like this...

OPI Cozumelted In the Sun. Husband is a diver and loves Cozumel, so I mostly bought this for the name. But it's also really pretty! It's pink and silver, shimmery/foil, and when I need a break from brights, this is a great place for me to turn. It's what I wore last time I had a really bad break and didn't want to draw attention to my mangled nail.

What's your go-to Neutral-But-Not-Boring color?

Flip Flop Fantasy

I don't think it's possible for a camera to accurately capture Flip Flop Fantasy. It wants to show up like this first picture: peachy.

But that's not accurate in the slightest! This polish is practically radioactive. I wore it on my toes last summer. I got in the pool one evening, and after my feet were deep enough I couldn't see them, I could still see my toenails! It's seriously BRIGHT.

This next picture is in dark of my apartment late at night, lit just by the tv and maybe a computer screen. The polish still stands out!

Zoya Charla

I love Zoya polishes. They're so lovely. And they do this sparkly, glass-flecked, almost-foil-y finish better than anyone else. It's pretty much my favorite thing. Ivanka, Apple, Kimmy, Charla... yummy goodness.
Charla is well-known. She's pretty much the same as OPI Catch Me In Your Net, Orly Haley's Comet, Essence Choose Me...

And an extreme close-up for your viewing pleasure!

Hard Candy Beetle

We all love a good duo chrome. These aren't the most amazing pictures, but I did what I could.
Hard Candy Beetle. I've heard it's a dupe for Orly Space Cadet? The pictures I've seen of Space Cadet do seem pretty similar, but I can't make any promises as I don't have it to compare! But Beetle is still easily available at Walmart. This is... 2? maybe 3? coats, no top coat.

 Brownish-pink that sometimes looks purple and has an incredible green duo chrome. Yes please.

Easter Roses!

I wanted to do an Easter mani, but I didn't want to go all out with bunnies & eggs & the lot. So I went with something still season-appropriate but less holiday-themed: roses!

The base is China Glaze Refresh-mint. I hadn't used in in a long time, and I think I'd forgotten just how pretty it is! It's not the easiest in terms of application, but worth it. The roses are a generic white (Confetti brand, I think?) and Essie Your Hut or Mine. I just put two little dots right next to each other and swirled them together using a bobby pin (as I don't have a dotting tool). Then the leaves are acrylic paint, done with a tiny striper brush.

One of my uncles-in-law actually pointed them out and said they looked lovely! Then he said, "My daughter had to have the Hunger Games polishes... I ended up buying her two of them!" I laughed and said, "Yeah, my mom bought me all 12..." Now his daughter hates me forever, I think, but I don't care because someone noticed my nails! That's all I ever want from life, really. :)

Skull & Glossbones fail

A short post today. This is Skull & Glossbones from OPI's Pirates collection. I bought this one a couple months ago and hadn't gotten around to wearing it yet... and I'm not sure this really counts. I had an afternoon where I absolutely could NOT choose something to wear. I think I tried 3 different polishes before I found something I could at least tolerate. This color just does not work for me; it makes me feel like I have corpse hands. Plus, the formula was weird... even though I'd mixed it up, it was like the pigment had separated from the base. The first coat was really streaky in the weirdest possible way. I had to super mega shake it up & use a thick second coat to get it to smooth out.

Maybe at the end of the summer when I'm not (as) ghostly pale it will look okay on me, but I don't think I'll be trying it again soon.