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Stamping Saturdays #2

Posted on 18 January, 201418 January, 2014 by Cynthia

Hey friends. Welcome to our second edition of Stamping Saturdays. I’m strangely proud of myself for not flaking out because that would have been pretty lame considering I started this up. ha! I really loved how my stamping mani came out today so let me show you the base color I started out with…

Nicole by OPI Better after dark (press sample), called out to me for this week’s mani. I absolutely adore the color and the shimmer is crazy gorgeous. If you didn’t read my initial review, click here because you still have a chance to enter this polish (and a second one) along with a coupon for some free chocolate!

I then used Essie As Gold As It Gets and Konad plate M73 to stamp this image on my nails. I totally love this! All the polishes from Essie’s Mirror Metallics collections stamp really well so I recommend them highly.

So what do you think about this stamping design? I hope you like it as much as I do! I wish I had a little more time today, but I am going to be babysitting my nephew for the first time today! Wish me luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Essie Resort Fling Collection 2014

Posted on 13 January, 201413 January, 2014 by Cynthia

It may still be cold and dreary in many parts of the country (not in my area since we’re getting up to the 80’s!!!), but it’s that time of year when we start to see Spring collections pop up. While I love the sizzling allure of Summer collections, I also look forward to the more restrained and delicate colors that inevitably pop up ever Spring. I always get excited about new collections because, frankly, that’s what polish addicts do. Today I have something new to share with you: the Essie Resort Fling Collection for 2014. I think I saw some promo shots late last year and I was a little underwhelmed. Since then I have seen some swatches, and I warmed up a bit towards the collection. Let’s take a look at my swatches, and I’ll let you know what I really think.

First up is Resort Fling. Ahhh…Resort Fling. I was really looking forward to this polish because it’s such a pretty sorbet type of color: like a creamy cantaloupe! Sadly, my excitement soon fizzled because of the formula. This polish is very sheer. Very, very sheer so the application was…difficult. I figured that it would be a 3 coater after I saw how sheer and streaky it applied, but I soon realized it would take more than that because it was still an uneven mess at 3 coats. I ended up applying 5 thin coats to get this polish to look nice. I am not ok with that.

Cocktails & Coconuts looks really pretty in the bottle, but I ended up not liking it on myself. I don’t think this is a particularly flattering shade on my tan skin. You can see some lovely shimmer in the bottle, but sadly it does not translate well on the nail. Because of the aforementioned shimmer, the consistency of this polish is somewhat grainy. Fortunately it covers a lot better than Resort Fling and I was able to achieve full opacity with 3 thin coats.

While I do feel that Essie has plenty of similar shades, Find Me An Oasis really grew on me. I love wearing white/off white polishes because they contrast so well on my skin tone, so I was very excited to try this one out even though I fear light colors such as this because they formula is usually streak city. Well, this polish was streaky, but it wasn’t as bad as I had feared. The first coat was very uneven, but it builds up nicely. Just make sure that you give ample dry time between coats and you shouldn’t have a problem with it. My swatches above show 3 thin coats.

And lastly we have Under The Twilight which is the best polish of this collection—consistency-wise. This baby is crazy pigmented so you could get away with one coat if you’re carefully with your application. This dark indigo polish leans a little more blue than purple in my eyes, but I would still call it a deep blurpe type of color. Is it just me or does it seem out of place in this collection?

Well, after the Essie high I had going on after their Fall and Winter collections, I am sad to report that I am not happy with this collection. The sub-par formulas really kill me because I’ve come to expect a lot from Essie. I also don’t feel that this collection is very cohesive nor am I a huge fan of the colors individually. Oh well! They can’t all be winners, right? In case you’re interested in these, I have made them available in my blog sale. Let me know what you think of this collection; are you as underwhelmed as I am? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Essie Luxeffects 2013

Posted on 13 November, 201313 November, 2013 by Cynthia

My arm hurts. It’s very sore. You want to know why? From carrying around my nephew! That sounds crazy to me since he’s just under 8 lbs, and it’s not like I held him all day–just an hour or two yesterday and now my arm hurts? I’m still totally smitten with the cutie pie so I’ll take a little soreness any day! I feel like I have completely neglected my usual blog stuff like swatching, responding to comments and reading my usual favorite blogs, but I’m sure you’ll all forgive me. Well, I’ve had these swatches done for a while now and I just kept forgetting to write up the post. Today I have the Essie Luxeffects 2013 offerings to share with you. I don’t always have the best color pairings, but I actually like how these look on the base colors I chose. I’ve seen some other really cool parings that make these top coats look very awesome.

First up, I have Essie Sparkle On Top. I applied this over a dark maroon polish and I like how it looks…kind of icy and winter-like. It applies very smoothly and it’s a combination of shard and flaky glitter.

Essie Jazzy Jubilant is a typical multi-colored hex glitter polish topper. It’s very easy to apply the glitter evenly so that’s always a plus.

Am I super jazzed about these two new additions to the Luxeffect line? Nope. They’re nice but nothing I’m excited about. It should come as no surprise that they are now on my blog sale, right? Anyway, I hope you’re enjoying your Wednesday, and I will talk to you soon!

Essie Encrusted Treasures Collection – Holiday 2013

Posted on 26 October, 2013 by Cynthia

Yay it’s Saturday which means that I have slept in until 8 am and it felt DELICIOUS. I am happy to report that after sleeping for 7-7.5 hours each night, I don’t feel completely horrible the next morning so I think that I have found my ideal amount of sleep. I know I have heard people say that it’s possible to oversleep which then makes you feel tired and sluggish, and I think that was happening to me. Anyway, I’m feeling less exhausted in the morning so I hope that continues to work well for me. Another thing I’m excited about today is finally getting my hands on the Essie Encrusted Treasures Collection! I don’t know why I’ve been so obsessed with getting this collection, but I think it’s mainly because I thought it was so hideous that I couldn’t wait to try it out. Does that sound weird? Well, let’s take a look at the Essie Crusty…errr…Essie Encrusted Treasures Collection.

Essie On A Silver Platter is a gold/silver glitter bomb with blue glitter of various sizes. The application is challenging because it’s hard to use this on its own and get even coverage. This could look interesting layered.

Essie Hors D’Oeuvres is another gold/silver glitter bomb that I didn’t care much for either. There is a very cool multi-dimensional feeling to this polish but I just don’t like anything this metallic.

The glitter in Essie Ignite The Night is a lot more fine than in the 2 previous polishes so I like this one slightly better. The formula and application was a lot easier on this one because it was a lot easier to get full coverage. Still, I’m not really a fan, but I can definitely see people liking the look of this polish.

I know that I’ve said a million times how much I hate bar glitter, so imagine my surprise when I kind of liked Essie Peak Of Chic. I don’t know it it’s the holographic bar glitter combined with matte white bar glitter, but I really like how this turned out. The application is pretty typical for bar glitter in that you have to do a lot of dabbing to get the glitter where you want it.

And here is the polish that started my obsession with this collection. Essie Belugaria is one unique polish–I can give it that. This is a textured polish on crack! Not only does it have that black grainy textured finish, but it also has holographic hex glitter that really pops at certain angles. The application is kind of a nightmare because it’s so chunky that you have to use a dabbing method. I applied one coat and then had to dab the second coat on to fill in any bald spots. I know what you’re thinking, but I actually really like this. If you are totally OCD about a rough finish, I cannot recommend this polish because it will probably drive you nuts.

And for the star of this collection, this is Essie Lots Of Lux. The blue. The sparkle. Be still my beating heart. This is without a doubt the most gorgeous polish that Essie has put out all year. I am a huge fan of blue polishes in general so this one really blew me away. Not only is the color amazingly bright and bold, but it is also a breeze to apply. The formula is very dense so it is easy to control, and it spreads evenly without much effort. If there is one polish that you must get from this collection, it is this one. Now. Don’t wait.

I feel a wave of relief now that I have gotten to play with this collection. Yes, I know that sounds a little psychotic, but I think this is pretty normal when you’re dealing with a polish obsession. Do I have any final thoughts on this collection? Overall I feel it has a lot of originality and is bold. My favorites are Lots Of Lux, Belugaria and Peak Of Chic…the other three can be banished as they don’t interest me in the least bit. What about you? What do you think about these? I know Belugaria is very polarizing so I am wondering what you think about it and about the collection as a whole. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you are enjoying your Saturday.

Essie Shearling Darling Collection – Winter 2013

Posted on 7 October, 20137 October, 2013 by Cynthia

I had such a bummer day today. There are certain days when I can tolerate my job better than others, and today was one of those days when I was just incredibly sad about being at a job that slowly kills my soul every day. After work, I decided to go get my newest lemming: Tom Ford Black Sugar. When I stopped at Bloomingdales, they didn’t have the Fall collection yet so I went to Saks. They didn’t have it either. I was totally defeated and decided that it wasn’t meant to be. I guess I saved myself the $32 for now, but I can’t guarantee I won’t be back there next week. I am instead consoling myself with some Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.

Anyway, today I have the Essie Shearling Darling Collection for Winter 2013 to show you. Before I get into the swatches, I wanted to remind you that these are three finger swatches due to the breakage of my pointer finger nail.

Oh the humanity! That is a total nubbin, and I pretty much lost the entire free edge. I won’t really get into HOW i broke the nail but let’s just say that a very hard chicharron was involved. Ok, I know that sounds super dumb so let me elaborate: If you don’t know what a chicharron is, it’s basically a pork rind. It was a special chicharron with the meat attached, and I was trying to break off a piece. When it snapped off, it also snapped off my nail. Nice. My gluttony has once again punished me. So now that that I have shared that dumb story, let me show you my swatches of the Shearling Darling Collection.

Haven’t we seen tons of these darkened blues this Fall/Winter? It doesn’t matter to me because Essie Mind Your Mittens is absolutely gorgeous. I can’t get over how glossy this looks–and this is without top coat!!! The formula was nice and opaque so I only needed two coat for full opacity.

Where to start with this color? Essie Parka Perfect is a beautiful greyed dusty blue with hidden shimmer that only becomes apparent at certain angles. The formula was a little streaky so I used three very thin coats which worked out well for me.

I think that Essie Sable Collar is the absolute winner in this collection. It’s so beautiful!!!!! The microshimmer really comes out in sunlight and depending on the angle, you see some brown, grey and burgundy. Seriously gorgeous! The formula was nice and needed two coats.

While being the collection’s namesake, Essie Shearling Darling is nice but not exactly exciting. The reason why I really like this polish is because it is amazingly shiny and smooth and as we all know, I can’t resist a gorgeous creme. It almost has a squishy crelly quality to it. The formula is great and it just SCREAMS Fall.

Essie Toggle To The Top is a unique polish in my collection–I don’t think I have anything similar to this. At first I thought that this polish was pretty close to Essie Leading Lady, but there are some differences. I think Toggle To The Top has a darker jelly base but the glitter is pretty similar. The formula was kind of gritty which is to be expected. I got some dragging when I didn’t let each coat dry. I ended up applying 3 thin coats for even coverage.And lastly, here we have Essie Warm & Toasty Turtleneck which is the token lilac/purple in so many Essie collections. This one, however, is one that I can get on board with because it’s more of a gray purple which makes it look dusty and absolutely gorgeous. The formula was nice, and I needed two coats for my swatches above.

Overall, I am very happy with this collection. After a few disappointing collections, I am glad that Essie is bringing us interesting collections again. Best of all, I feel that the formula on their polishes isn’t so problematic anymore nor so hit and miss. This is a solid collection with beautiful colors that perfectly go with the cooling temperatures. One thing I did want to mention is that there seems to be some confusion about two polishes and that they might be mislabeled. Apparently the labels on Mind Your Mittens and Parka Perfect are switched on some polishes. I have no idea which is the correct labeling so I guess we will just have to wait and hear the official word from Essie.

Let me know what you think about this collection. Do you have any favorites? Thanks for stopping by today!

Essie For The Twill Of It Collection – Fall 2013

Posted on 29 July, 201328 July, 2013 by Cynthia

How are you on this fine Monday morning? I’m barely able to keep my eyes open today since I got to bed later than I should have. Story of my life. I am still waiting to hear back on a change of schedule request that I submitted a few weeks ago. I just feel that if I had more normal work hours, it would go a long way to helping me not hate my job so much. So on this bright Monday morning, I have something new for Fall to share with you: the Essie For The Twill Of It Collection.

Essie Vested Interest reminded me of a more grayed out School Of Hard Rocks which is one of my favorite polishes but because it is a lot more green, I get insane lobster hands with it. I pretty much love this color and the formula was amazeballs: smooth, creamy and opaque.

Ahhh…reds. Yes, I love red nails because they look classy and fun at the same time. This does not apply when nails are very long because super long talons and red nail polish look kinda of bad to me but that’s just my personal opinion. Essie Twin Sweater Set is a classic magenta-type red that has some jelly qualities too is so it looks shiny and squishy. It reminded me a bit of my favorite red of all time: OPI Vodka & Caviar.

I wasn’t that excited about Essie The Lace Is On when I first saw bottle shots, but this color is on fire! The way it glows really makes this a gorgeous choice for fall. The thing I didn’t like is that it looks a little brush stroke-y.

Essie Cashmere Bathrobe is a nice gray creme–not too interesting but definitely a nice color with some great shimmer and glitter throughout.

I really wondered about the silly name of Essie After School Boy Blazer, but I didn’t dwell on it since this darkened navy blue is freaking gorgeous. This one is pretty similar to OPI Incognito In Sausalito but maybe looks a tad darker and more black.

Essie For The Twill Of It was my photography nemesis. This polish is one of those multi-chrome polishes with a gorgeous color shift with some gray, green/teal and purple. However, my lighting and camera would not capture all the beautiful color shifts. Oh well. I did try to take some pictures in different lighting below which barely start to show the different flashes of color.

Now that the fall collections are starting to pop up, I am super excited about getting my hands on them. My thoughts on this collection as a whole is that it’s nice. Yes, nice. I mean, that in the way that it’s not bad, but it’s not that exciting either. However, I do want to say that the formula on all of these polishes is superb. If you have read my posts on the last few Essie collections, you might have noticed my complaints about the difficult formula. These polishes completely redeemed Essie polish formula in my eyes. Seriously–these babies are all smooth, pigmented, self leveling and only needed two coats for full opacity. If the colors had excited me more, I might not be putting these up on my blog sale. Yes, ladies, these are up on my blog sale now so check them out here along with a lot of other polishes.

So, let me know what you think of this collection–do you have a favorite? What have you thought about Essie’s previous releases this year? Thanks so much for stopping in today and have a great day!

Pssst! Did you already enter my giveaway for a mini set of the OPI San Francisco Collection polishes? No?! Go enter here now! 🙂

Essie Summer Collection 2013

Posted on 31 May, 20131 June, 2013 by Cynthia

Remember when I started crying because I didn’t find the new Essie Summer Collection? Well, today I am crying because I did find it. Ok, I won’t be so dramatic, and I will leave the polish commentary for below. I can’t tell you how excited I was when I first saw the promo pictures for the Essie Summer Collection. I was picturing brightly painted nails and flashy pedicures for a hot beach day–ok, not really, but I was still really really looking forward to it. I called my nail guy this morning, and he informed me that they had the new collection so I rushed over there after work to pick up a set. As soon as I got home, I immediately proceeded to swatch them since I just couldn’t help myself…womp womp. Let’s dive right into the swatches, and I will tell you what I thought of each polish.

The color of Rock The Boat is really pretty. I don’t think I have too many similar blues and the shimmer really makes it somewhat unique in my collection. Too bad the formula spread like diarrhea. Seriously. The formula on this is atrocious. Maybe I am exaggerating a little, but I found the formula so incredibly hard to work with. It was super streaky and I did my best to apply super thin coats and left plenty of time in between to make sure that I didn’t create any bald spots. Well, what you see in my swatches is 4 coats and it still looks uneven. Major sadness.

Why does Essie always have to throw in some lilac/purple color like Full Steam Ahead in every single collection? While the shimmer in this is nice and the polish color is pretty, it’s so yawn-worthy. Additionally, the formula on this polish was just as bad as on Rock The Boat. This is also 4 thin coats and I am not too happy with the end result.

Sunday Funday is a color that I imagined as a perfect pedicure color. The formula on this one was also streaky, but I felt that it covered a little better than the previous two polishes. I still wasn’t very happy with it even though I really like the color!

All I could think of when I saw The More The Merrier was pea soup. The fancy people call this chartreuse, but I just call it radioactive pea soup color because that’s how I roll. This polish was a little easier to work with, and I felt it leveled out a lot better than the previous three. I applied 2 thickish coats here.

The Girls Are Out (OMG how does Essie know about my UPS man mishap??) is a pretty color that I don’t find too unique but the formula was everything that I had hoped the other polishes had been like. It was smooth, very pigmented and leveled out perfectly after two coats. As soon as I applied the first coat, I knew this was going to be a winner.

And here is the very Naughty Nautical. This is the clear winner out of this 6 polish collection. The color is to die for. The shimmer adds that extra something to it AND the formula was immaculate. This is by far my favorite polish from this collection because of the color and formula. I just wish all the other polishes had been as easy to apply. I applied 2 coats for the swatches above.

Well, overall I am kind of disappointed with this collection. I’ve read a few reviews already which make me feel like I’m maybe doing something wrong with these polishes since they didn’t seem to have too many application issues. Is it me again? Are you there, God? It’s me, Cynthia. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? Another thing that I noticed is that the brushes on a few of these bottles seemed “fluffier” than usual so I think that also threw me off a bit. To sum up my feelings on this collection in a few words: blog sale. Yep, these are all going on my blog sale so check it out before they are all snatched up. I’m really curious to see more reviews for this collection because I keep wondering if I’m the problem (kind of like with the China Glaze Summer Neons!). It’s really too bad because I really do like Naughty Nautical, The Girls Are Out and The More The Merrier–those are my recommendations if you’re going to be getting any colors from this collection. And lastly, I did pick up a mini set to give away to one lucky reader. Make sure that you enter for your chance to win this mini set by using the rafflecopter widget below. As usual, this is open internationally.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please let me know what you think of this collection! Good luck and thanks so much for stopping by today.

Essie Summer Neons 2013

Posted on 9 May, 20139 May, 2013 by Cynthia

So my life is really sucking big time lately, and it’s all due to my crappier than crap job. Have you ever had a job that literally sucks the life out of you? That’s what I’m going through right now and it seems that it just keeps getting worse and worse. I’m doing everything that I can to really continue to motivate myself so I can keep looking for something else, but even that is hard right now. It’s basically a vicious cycle where I hate my job and get really depressed and then can’t muster the motivation to look for something else. I have been sending out resumes, but I think I need to be a little more aggressive with my efforts. I just wish the job market and the economy wasn’t so bad so that there were some decent opportunities out there. Ugh…I hate that I keep talking about all my job issues because I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing about it so I hope that the next time I write about work, it will be to say that I’ve quit because I found something way better. Dare to dream, Cynthia…dare to dream. So what did I do today after a particularly horrible day? I came home to play with pretty polish. Since I was in a dark mood, I ended up finishing up my swatches for another neon offering: Essie Summer Neons 2013. Are you ready for these pretties?

The sheerest of them all is Shake Your $$ Maker. I was so excited about this color just because I love this kind of green polishes, but boy is it sheer. I applied 5 coats here–some of them thick–and you could still see VNL. Visible nail line doesn’t bother me as much as it used to, but that is a whole lotta polish on your nails and as Sweet Brown would say: Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat!

This polish definitely gets the Cynthia seal of approval. As you already know, I love hot pink polishes so Bottle Service is right up my alley. I think this polishes was the most pigmented of them all: it looked pretty good after two coats but I applied 3 just to make sure I couldn’t see any VNL. If I had to pick a favorite from this collection, it would be Bottle Service.

You know I love me some orange polish as well, so I really liked the finished mani here. Of course this one was pretty sheer but definitely not as sheer as some of the other polishes in this collection. Saturday Disco Fever makes me think of a beautiful radioactive sunset that we see here in So Cal on particularly bad smoggy days. haha!

DJ Play That Song is another rather pigmented color. Despite me being a magenta/purple lover, this one wasn’t as interesting to me. Yes, it’s a beautiful color but I wasn’t totally in love with the color. It did however make me think of one of my favorite childhood shows: The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air.

I couldn’t find a clip of Ashley singing “Hey Mr. DJ” but this clip is from the same episode and I was snorting water out my nose when I saw Will and Carlton as back up dancers. hahahaha! Is it weird that I can still sing the whole theme song from The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air?

Boom Boom Boom is pink. Very pink. It’s a girlie neon baby pink if that makes sense. I really like this color, but I would much prefer it with a pigmented creme formula like Dior Rosy Bow which this kind of reminds me of. If you’re looking for a bright jelly pink, look no further.

Call me crazy, but I think that I may have finally had my fill of these blue polishes. Doesn’t it seem like every single new collection seems to have a version of this color lately?? Bouncer It’s Me takes the prize for the second most sheer polish from this collection. I had to apply 4 thick coats of polish here and you can still see VNL. This really is a beautiful and vibrant blue so I don’t blame you if you love it.

Before I forget, I do want to mention that these polishes are all jellies that dry to a satiny finish so I top coated them all with Seche Vite for an extra squishy look. Also remember that Essie recommends that you use Blanc as a base coat (or any other smooth white polish) which will make these colors pop and will also decrease the number of coats that you will need to get even color development. So my final thoughts is that this collections is really fun and bright–not necessarily NEON but bright. If you’re a jelly polish lover, than you will definitely like these. As for me, I am not really a jelly polish lover…give me creme polishes and I’m all over them. I do have a special fondness for crelly polishes because they are the best of both worlds. Anyway, as you can guess these are going on the blog sale so check them out before they’re gone.

Thanks so much for stopping by despite my Debbie Downer posts–I promise I’ll work on not being such a complainer because ultimately, that doesn’t get me anywhere. I must charge forward and continue on my job search before I go completely nuts. I’ll talk to you later!

Essie Bridal Collection For 2013

Posted on 1 May, 20131 May, 2013 by Cynthia

Wedding? Barf. I’ve got to admit that I am a sort of wedding hater. I mean, if a friend or loved one is getting married, of course I’m happy for them and I will happily go to their wedding celebration, but personally, I just think they are a big waste of time and money. Now, don’t get your bridal panties in a bunch if you disagree with me; this is just my personal opinion and I am not telling you that YOUR wedding is a waste of time/money. Just wanted to clear that up. If it were me, I would rather go on a crazy and amazing vacation or put that money towards buying a home or something more practical, but that’s just the part of me that hates planning parties and such. Anyway, this past weekend I went to a wedding and the bride looked gorgeous and I’m sure it was worth all the stress and money that they spent to get that day to be as perfect as possible. Since I was thinking about weddings, I decided to pick up the new Essie Bridal Collection for 2013 even though the colors aren’t exactly the kind that make my heart skip a beat. Before I show you some swatches, I couldn’t get this song out of my head while I swatched them:

I don’t know about you, but I think Muriel’s Wedding is one of the funniest and saddest movies I’ve ever seen. I’ve been a Toni Colette fan ever since this movie came out. I also couldn’t believe that Rachel Griffiths played Rhonda in this movie! Not only is the acting superb, but the ABBA music is killer. Yes, I am an ABBA-maniac.

No Baggage Please is the color that screams “bridal” to me the most. It’s such a light and delicate color with a beautiful faint shimmer that unfortunately was captured in my pictures. Being that it is such a light color, I did have to apply 4 coats for full coverage so be forewarned. The formula is definitely a little streaky, but it does build up nicely. I do like delicate colors such as this, but they definitely have a time and a place. This is not a color that I would ever swoon.

Next up is Meet Me At The Altar which is No Baggage Please’s flirtier cousin. This polish also has a faint shimmer that isn’t showing up in my pictures. The formula was also a bit streaky, but I got away with 3 coats on this one. For lilac lovers, I think this is a very conservative choice.

My Better Half screams bridesmaid to me. I’ve been seeing so many of these bright pink polishes lately, but I don’t really get tired of them. It has a glowing quality to it, and I’m glad to report that the formula as nice and pigmented so I only needed two coats.

Last but not least, here is Using My Maiden Name. I think that this one is my favorite of the bunch and not just because I am a purple fanatic. I just love the beautiful shimmer in this polish and the formula was really great.

What do you think about the Essie Bridal Collection For 2013? I like these colors and they certainly are wedding appropriate, but they aren’t all colors that I would say I’m excited about. Since I’m not anticipating getting much use out of these colors, I will be putting them up in my blog sale so check that out if you’re interested. Do you have a favorite from this collection? Thanks so much for visiting today and catching up with me. Talk to you soon!

Essie Resort Collection For 2013 – Swatches & Giveaway

Posted on 31 March, 201331 March, 2013 by Cynthia

The products featured in this post were purchased by me.

Ahh…happy Easter, my polished peeps. I haven’t been doing much today after my Easter brunch with the family. It was actually really nice, and I’m proud to say that I didn’t overeat to a point that I felt sick. Lately my stomach has been really sensitive–especially because of stress–so everything makes me want to vomit. Lovely, right? Anyway, I hope that you’re having a great Sunday whether you celebrate Easter or not. So what do I have for you today? I have my three picks from the Essie Resort Collection for 2013.

I decided not to get the 4th color just because I wasn’t feeling like adding ANOTHER red to my collection. I almost passed on the purple/pink one as well, but ended up getting it just because I couldn’t help myself. Before I get into the swatches, I want to mention that I had a hell of a time getting these to look nice. I am not sure if it was me or the formula. I’ve read on a few other blogs that I really trust that the formula was really great, so I don’t know what to think. It could be all me to tell you the truth. I’ve been feeling kind of blah about my blog lately to the point where I’m thinking about just stopping altogether. It takes such an enormous amount of effort and sometimes it just feels like no one even cares. Now, don’t get me wrong–I appreciate all the wonderful people who always follow, read and comment but there are just times when I feel people think this is frivolous–just nail polish, you know? Anyway, I hope it’s just a temporary slump for me. Let’s get on to the swatches!

Ok, Under Where was my absolute least favorite of the three because it is so freaking ho-hum. I mean, we just came off the Madison Ave-Hue Collection (my review here) where there were two pink/lilac/purple colors which I felt was overkill and now here is another one? Ugh…this is going to become one of those colors that I’m going to start to dislike out of pure over-saturation. The first coat of this was super streaky so I applied a second coat which caused some bald spots–most likely because I just didn’t give it enough time to set. The third coat seemed to fix it up.

Dude, First Timer took my breath away. I just love greens like this. I am wondering how this one compares to Mojito Madness which I unfortunately got rid of a while ago so if anyone has both, let me know! I’ve been thinking about re-purchasing Mojito Madness so maybe I won’t have to. The formula on this one was a little less problematic for me so two coats were sufficient for full coverage.

At first glance, In The Cab-Ana was the color that I went gaga for when I first saw the promo pics. While it is that perfect robin’s egg blue that I adore–maybe a little more turquoise than say, Illamasqua Noble. This particular polish flooded my cuticles pretty badly, but again, I think that was mostly my crappy application. I applied 3 coats for the swatches above.

Now, if you want a chance to win a mini set of all 4 colors in the Essie Resort Collection for 2013, enter using the widget below. As always, this giveaway is open internationally but make sure you know your country’s customs regulations before entering. I will not be responsible for any lost or confiscated prizes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, my Nailtiques giveaway ends in one more day so make sure you enter that one too! Click here to enter. Overall, I think that I could have done without Under Where and I would have been perfectly happy with just First Timer and In The Cab-Ana. Let me know what you think of these shades–are you over the pink/purple/lilacs like me? Thanks for stopping by today and catching up.

P.S. I’ve put some of these polishes up on my blog sale since I bought back ups thinking to do a giveaway with them but I opted to by a mini set with all the colors instead.

The products featured in this post were purchased by me.