Essie Sew Psyched

 I have another Essie for you guys today. This is yet another old picture, you can tell by my paper cut! It took foreeeever for it to heal, so that is why it is on a lot of my posts. I have come to love Essie's in the short time I have known them. The brush is tiny compared to OPI's pro wide brush, but I like it because it gives me the ability to get close to my cuticles without making a mess. The formula on this Essie was really nice, I only used two coats to get it opaque. There are many army green nail polishes out there, but I love this one because of it's subtle shimmer.

You can see it better here in this bottle shot.

 I am officially in love with Essie's and cannot get enough of them. I always thought Essie only made nudes and light pinks, but that's actually only true for most of their core polishes. I was on an Essie buying binge a few months ago, so look forward to many more Essie posts! ^_^

Essie Sand Tropez

 I wanted to post today the polish I did wear for my son's parent teacher conference, but I couldn't find the pictures. I did, however, have another nude polish to show you. Essie Sand Tropez is part of the 2011 Spring Collection. It is more of a dusty nude and I really doubt that this would give anyone mannequin hands, unless you have some gray tones in your skin. This polish isn't on most people's favorites list, and I suppose it's because it's not your typical nude polish. I take it for what it is and really think it's a unique polish in my collection. It's a great palate cleanser for those times that you need a break from color. 

 Oh, and I used three coats for this polish, but that seems to be the norm for most nudes. This is the last week that I will be using older pictures as my nails have finally seemed to get their act together. The only thing is that I have had to keep filing and filing to get them even, so they are still nubs. I do love how chic they have been looking though, and I'm thinking that I might keep them nubs for a bit longer. ^_^ 

A much better comparison of SH Ice Queen and NYC Starry Silver Glitter

 I have noticed that I get a lot of hits on my comparison of Ice Queen and Starry Silver Glitter, and I'm sorry that the whole post in general isn't that great. I know I hate it when I search a comparison and it really doesn't help me out, so I have decided to redo the comparison with better pictures and side by side comparisons. Since, I was already swatching my Essie's, I thought it would be nice to show these glitters on them.

 Both Ice Queen and Starry Silver Glitter have pink and light blue hexagonal glitters mixed with smaller silver glitter suspended in a clear base. Ice Queen's smaller silver glitter leans a little bit towards being holographic, but it doesn't quite get there. Starry Silver Glitter, however, is holographic. They both had smooth application, but Ice Queen seems to have a lot less glitter, meanwhile Starry Silver Glitter is packed with it. This is why Ice Queen's coverage with one coat is very sparse. To be consistent with the comparison, I only dipped the brush once into the polish for each coat.

For French Affair, I started off with one coat of each glitter. I have Ice Queen on the pinky and middle fingers and Starry Silver Glitter on my index and pointer.

This is two coats of Ice Queen on the pinky and three coats on the middle finger. Even with three coats of Ice Queen, I still can't get a full look with it like I can with Starry Silver Glitter. I only used two coats of Starry Silver Glitter on the index and pointer, and that's all you really need.

With Nice is Nice I started with one coat of both Ice Queen and Starry Silver Glitter. The pinky and middle  fingers have Ice Queen and the index and pointer have Starry Silver Glitter.

Pinky and middle finger have two coats of Ice Queen and index and pointer have two coats of Starry Silver Glitter.

I also did one coat of Ice Queen on the pinky and middle fingers and one coat of Starry Silver Glitter over Coat Azure.

For the last pic I did three coats of Ice Queen on the pinky and middle finger and two coats of Starry Silver Glitter on the index and pointer. Normally, I wouldn't use so much glitter as there is on the index finger, but for comparison's sake I had to use the whole second coat.

 Bottom line, if you are interested in this polish, definitely go for NYC Starry Silver Glitter. It's less than a dollar and you can find it at any drugstore or superstore. Ice Queen retails for 1.99 and is available at most drugstores, but I have yet to spot it at any superstore.

My First Essie's: French Affair, Nice is Nice, and Coat Azure

 Essie is a brand that has never really caught my attention because I tend to gravitate to colors that are brighter and bolder when shopping for nail polish. Lately, I've actually been buying lighter shades and when I found this collection on sale, I couldn't resist. The only thing that kind of bothered me, was that the brush is tiny! It took me a few nails to get used to it, but it's actually not that bad.

 This is French Affair in the shade. I used three coats, but if you have short nails, you can get away with two.

French Affair in the sun. I absolutely loved how this color looked on my skintone and I am looking forward to buying more pinks like this one.

Nice is Nice is a beautiful lilac, I used three coats for this one as well.

Nice is Nice in the sun.

... and my favorite of all... Coat Azure. Even though I liked the other two colors, I still can't help but love brighter colors. However, this one isn't a bright blue at all, it's more of a shimmery, dusty blue.  Two coats on this color would have been perfect, but for consistency, I went ahead and did three.

You can see the shimmer in Coat Azure much better in the sun.

 Overall, now that I own Essie polishes I wish I hadn't overlooked them because they really are great quality nail polishes. I just wish they would broaden their color scheme, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that.