Brown for Fall - Essie Little Brown Dress

A very pretty and shiny classic dark chocolate lacquer...but I'm not sure chocolate brown polish is really my thing.

Essie Little Brown Dress:

What do you think? I think something a little murkier like OPI Get in the Express-o Lane might be more up my alley.

kittytokaren

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Vamps for October: Essie Lacy not Racy

I think Kitty2Karen's getting to me. I am becoming an Essie convert.

I've had this and Rock the Croc in my storage for a year or so, and have reached for the latter as a pedi a few times. (Love it!). But I think this might be taking over in the preference stakes, it's gorgeous. Super dark red, that doesn't lean burgundy. It's like a bloody good Shiraz.

Aside from the fact that it's seriously hot, the application was amazing. Three coats, and the Essie brush is so little and perfect that I was able to get away with hardly any clean up. It's so shiny, even before seche vite (but with the magic top coat, I went from bare nails to dry mani in less than half an hour). I still had it on to teach my classes a full week later with barely any tip wear. It's fantastic.

So, as a new Essie fangirl, what else must I have? I just cheated on my no-buy (which has been going really well, thanks to the fact that I'm broke anyway) by ordering Geranium.

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Essie Winter 2011 - Part 2

I showed you the first half of Essie's winter collection, Cocktail Bling, here. I'm excited to show you the rest of the collection today! This is the first time in a looonnnggg time that I've purchased a whole collection - and wanted to keep it all! This will definitely be a workhorse collection for me, not just in winter, but in all seasons.

First up, School of Hard Rocks:

I'm not quite sure how to describe this colour - it's somewhere between a dusty teal and a slate green. Love it. Very wintery and definitely adds a pop of colour, but because of the amount of grey it manages to be a little more subdued and wearable. I think this one will be very popular!

Now, probably my favourite of the collection - Size Matters:

First of all, hilarious name. Love it. It may seem like a boring red, but it is much more than that. I have a hard time with reds. I really do. But this one is more berry than red. (My pics are deceiving on that front...but trust me, it is very berry in real life.) This colour reminds me of Rachel Zoe - on her show she is always wearing a red, burgundy, berry or plum concoction and it always looks great!

Since I loved this one so much, I had to take another pic with my purse...

And lastly, Bobbing for Baubles:

Completely on trend with blues for winter (thanks to the Jeans de Chanel - one of which I will show you very soon!), this has something a little different when compared with other navys in my collection - it's dusty! Yay! I love dirgy grey colours and this is the navy take on that. I think dark blue is one of the most elegant colours on the nails, so expect me to wear this a lot this year.

So that's Essie Winter 2011 - Cocktail Bling! Which ones will you be picking up?

kittytokaren

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Late Start - Essie Over the Top

I first bought this over a year ago when Chanel released a bunch of dark polishes with shimmer for Fashion's Night Out 2010. This one reminded me of Chanel Steel in the bottle, so instead of splurging the price of 'ridiculous + ridiculous shipping', I opted for this.

Then, it sat in my collection. Waiting, longing to be worn. And when I finally did...let's just say I owe it an apology.

Essie Over the Top is a charcoal with pearlescent, but never brushstroke-y, multi-coloured shimmer that just GLOWS. I've seen reds that do this, but never something this dark. This is just flat out gorgeous and I can't believe there isn't more hype surrounding it!

I'm sorry Essie Over the Top - you are my new winter staple. I definitely regret not pulling you out last year. Shame on me.

kittytokaren

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Nail Shape Experiment Failed

So I went on vacation to Central Europe for a few weeks. My general rule for vacations is to not wear polish at all. Bring a nail file and some cuticle cream and call it a day. I love nail polish, but not enough to lug around all the equipment and chemicals I need to keep my manis looking presentable.

Still, that means that my nails come home looking worse for wear. Cuticle cream is not enough to protect my forever weak talons from the elements, peeling, my teeth/mouth.

Upon my return home, inspired by

1. a lady on the subway with THE MOST PERFECT almond shaped nails I have ever seen (so elegant; I swear the look was flawless),
   
2. Adele's nude nails at the VMAs, and
   
3. the peels going on in the corners of my nails,

I decided to try almond shaped nails.

First came the round phase, which I quite liked. Then, as my nails grew away from the nail bed, I tried ever so slowly to fashion them into a more pointed shape.

This is what they looked like after 3 weeks.


(1 coat Essie Waltz, 1 coat Essie Vanity Fairest)

Yikes. It was even more insanely creepy and weird in person. Turns out, VNL does have the ability to sicken me.

I also hated wearing dark colors with them, drawing attention to these monstrosities. But the nails looked better all hidden away.


(2 coats BBCouture Erotic Night)

My most obvious problem is that my nail beds are too short and flared for this look to work after just one month of trying.

The fact is, I would have needed at least another 3-4 weeks of unbroken nail growth (impossible) to properly pull the look off, and I wasn't willing to deal with the ugly duckling phase in between. Especially since (i) I didn't know if the end result would look good on me and (ii) it would have been impractical anyway, given my keyboard-focused job.

Oh well, back to normal squoval nubs. (And back to regular posting!)

Maybe I'll go oval like K2K. I did quite like it.

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Clean Slate - Essie T-Bills Putty

I'm struggling in my relationship right now, so I needed a "clean slate" polish. Something neutral that wasn't sugary sweet and pink. Essie T-Bills Putty has rapidly become one of my favourite nudes - I used it previously as the base of my new French mani.

A beautiful neutral creme...just perfect. It is quite similar to my old stand-by - Essie Jazz. It is a bit lighter and a smidge pinker than Jazz, which you can see here:

(L: T-Bills Putty, R: Jazz)

The formula was old-school. Runny, watery, chemical-laden, but buildable. This was 2.5 coats.

Pretty, but not enough to mend a broken heart.

kittytokaren

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Berry Yoghurt - Essie Neo Whimsical

Trying to sneak one last summery polish in before I go full-on fall!

Essie Neo Whimsical - it really reminds me of multi-berry yoghurt - my favourite!

This borders on "not really working for my skin tone" as it makes my hands look a bit dirty, but its such a cute little colour, I can forgive it!

Are you ready for fall or still holding onto summer?

kittytokaren

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Essie It's In the Bag - solo this time!

Previously shown with Mademoiselle on top here.

I just love this one - amazing application.

kittytokaren

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Surprise! Essie Winter Sneak Peek!

I have something really exciting to share with you today! I was lucky enough to get my hands on three out of the six polishes from Essie's upcoming winter offering entitled Cocktail Bling!

Without further ado, the polish the collection is named for - Cocktail Bling:

Alone, it seems like your standard grey...but when you put it next to a more true, neutral grey, you can see that it in fact as purple undertones! My photo doesn't demonstrate it perfectly - purple undertones (they look more blue in the pic) being among those most hard to capture, but the colour is really special and interesting and it feels very wintery to me.

Below is Cocktail Bling with Orly Mirror Mirror on the middle finger:

Next up is Bangle Jangle - a lavender colour that I didn't think really fit into a winter collection. BUT, it seems as though someone at Essie reads my thoughts and/or posts... Remember last winter when I was looking for a wintery lavender/purple? I thought OPI Done Out in Deco was the answer...but it wasn't quite what I wanted. Bangle Jangle is *precisely* what I was looking for last year - a saturated lavender purple with enough grey undertones to keep it cold-weather appropriate and not tropical!

I tried to capture the difference between Bangle Jangle and Done Out in Deco, but again my camera was far too temperamental today for purple. The difference is much more obvious in reality - Done Out in Deco has much stronger pink undertones and is brighter.

OPI Done Out in Deco on the middle finger below:

And finally, a surprise winner of the collection for me - Brooch the Subject. This is a lovely opaque nude polish that I just adore on me (if I do say so myself...*preens*) - it is more flattering in reality than the photo indicates. It is only a bit darker than Essie Jazz, but has much warmer undertones akin to Essie Milky Way. Being super yellow, I think that this really suits me.

The formula on these was lovely - but I am a big fan of the Essie formula in general. I found them all to be nicely opaque without getting chalky and the shine is amazing even sans top coat. I feel so lucky to have these in my collection already! I think they are nice for winter, but are also good transitional colours, i.e. for right now between fall and winter, as well as between winter and spring. I plan on picking up the other three colours in this collection as soon as they are released!

Many thanks to the lovely lady who hooked me up with these! You are simply fabulous.

What do you think of this as a winter collection? Which colours are you looking forward to?

kittytokaren

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Pink Glazed - Essie Mini How High

I've had this polish in my stash for a while, but I've just never reached for it! It's basically the same formula as Essie Mademoiselle - lovely and streak free - but pinker!

Keep in mind though that it is fairly sheer - this was 3 coats. I can see myself wearing this as a base for a delicate sparkly polish. This polish feels sticky sweet and sugary - like pink donut frosting! Mmmm....anyone have a recipe for dairy-free donuts that they are willing to share?

kittytokaren

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Hellpolish - Essie Barbuda Banana

I don't have many HTF (hard-to-find) polishes in my stash. This one was fairly recently acquired, and I was so excited! I've always wanted a soft yellow, and you know how much I love Essie...so I thought this would be perfect!

Alas...

Looks nice, eh? Lies!! It's a beast!! This is by far the rougest time I've ever had with a polish. I struggled. It was epic. It manages to be runny and streaky, but chalky. Thick and gloopy, but no pigment. Hellpolish. I suppose it is the nature of yellows though right? Even though I had to battle with it, I am still debating keeping it - Essies are so special to me, and I adore the colour so so much. Rumour has it that Essie is coming out with some easter-egg brights for next spring - perhaps my perfect yellow will be in that bunch?

Have you had any experience with pale yellows - good or bad?

kittytokaren

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Pinky Perplexity - Essie Lion Around

Remember how I went on my Hunt for Red (by) October last year? I may have to consider doing the same thing to find my perfect pink - opaque, not too sugary sweet, but not too fleshy either. This came close, but didn't hit the mark...and it's driving me bananas. (B-A-N-A-N-A-S.) I think the winner might have been Chanel Mistral, but I missed out on that one. :(

Essie Lion Around is from this year's Resort collection, and I wasn't planning on picking it up. I was quite happy with my picks - Da Bush and Your Hut or Mine. However, I was in Ulta one night, and through a complicated issue with returns and coupons, it somehow managed to work out such that they paid me to take it out of the store...yeah...I'm still looking over the receipts on this one. It was the one polish that spoke to me in that 15 seconds I had to decide!

I actually expected to hate the finish of this polish...and I do. But not as much as I thought I would. It isn't apparent in my photo, but there is subtle pearly shimmer in the polish, giving it a satin appearance on the nail. I don't know why, but somehow the combo of that finish and this particular colour makes me feel queasy - like when I think of pork that is a few days expired. The effect isn't as strong as I anticipated though, so that's good.

What I was genuinely surprised by was the colour - it was much peachier on me than I expected! I'm not sure why I thought it would be cooler-toned. I normally like a little peachiness in my pinks - it keeps them from being overly saccharine - but the orange-y yellow tones in this are a little strong and kind of...blends...with my yellow-toned skin a little too well.

In the end I don't totally hate this polish - I appreciate it not as my perfect pink, just for what it is. I like that it's a pink that isn't 4-year-old-with-a-My-Little-Pony pink. (Although MLP is pretty kickass. I had one when I was a kid. I called it "Balls". I kid you not. How my parents kept a straight face I will never know.) However, I don't think I'll be keeping it. I'm trying not to keep polishes I'm not excited to wear!

Any suggestions for my perfect pink? Would you like to see a pink "Hunt"?

kittytokaren

read more "Pinky Perplexity - Essie Lion Around"

Addendum - More Essie Fall 2011

Here's the additional polish pics from Essie's fall collection that I promised! I ended up picking up two more from the collection - Glamour Purse and Case Study. Et voila!

Glamour Purse

A couple years too late, but I don't care. THE perfect taupe. PERFECT. Probably super close to Chanel Particuliere - I don't have that anymore, but I have Barry M Mushroom and this has a titch more grey to it. Again, my perfect perfect taupe. I am going to hunt down a back-up. Oh and it wore like a champ!

Case Study

For the last couple of years, taupes and neutrals with a hint of purple (like Glamour Purse...ahh it really was born too late...) were all the rage. But now we are seeing rash of camouflage-style green-tinted neutrals come on the market. I'm liking the trend! And I'm liking this polish - it looks much more flattering on me in person than this picture shows. Many, many, many of you have already pointed out that I was wrong about this being a Milky Way dupe. (So many. All over the internet.) I get it. I was wrong, this is much more green. Remind me never to speculate again...

The only polish I haven't picked up from this collection is Very Structured. If you've tried that one or even seen it, let me know what you think!

kittytokaren

P.S. I ended up parting with Lady Like, for those that were curious!

read more "Addendum - More Essie Fall 2011"

My lame nail art.

For some reason, I had the urge to engage in some nail art recently. Little nail art. Nail art is usually way, way, way out of my comfort zone, but I felt a burst of creativity! My mani at the time was Essie Geranium (which is actually much more orange-toned that this pic would suggest). I added three little dots of Essie Turquoise & Caicos on each thumb using a bobby pin.

Essie Geranium + Turquoise & Caicos

I thought the result was fairly cute and went well with my turquoise jewelry!

And yes, I took this picture in my car...I wasn't going to share it at first but then I felt like snapping a pic at the wheel. However, I was parked in a parking lot! Don't ogle your nails and drive ladies!

Please don't judge too harshly - nail art is not my thing! Have you tried any nail art lately?

kittytokaren

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My Top 5 Summer Pedicures (2011 edition)

I started a tradition last year of sharing with you my favourite pedicure colours of the summer...without showing you my feet of course! (See Piff's picks from last summer here as well!) In observation of this tradition, here are the top 5 pedicure colours that I've been loving and wearing this summer!

Thumb to pinky:

OPI Gift of Gold

Last winter, I almost always had a gold glitter pedi on my feet. Something about taking my socks and boots over and seeing gold glimmering back at me made me happy. I decided to try it out in summer and well, and my fav gold glitter for the warmer months has been Gift of Gold - for two major reasons. (1) It has fine, fine glitter, which I think looks really great and makes for easier removal, and (2) the tone of the overall polish is much warmer than the other golds I own, which I find very summery.

OPI Cajun Shrimp

A classic OPI, sent to me by the very sweet and amazing ilexica! This is just a punch of colour for the toes that I can't get enough of...and it seems to go with everything.

OPI Done Out in Deco

Before I broke up with RBL, Purple Haze was one of my favourite pedi colours. While DOiD is definitely not a Purple Haze dupe, the idea remains the same. A pastel-ish, but saturated purple on the toes looks great with metallic sandals, but remains feminine and summery without being in-your-face. I might like this better on toes than on tips!

Essie Watermelon

Exactly the colour you think of when you think of watermelon. Such a fun summer colour for tips or toes! It's a perfect hot pink that leans red instead of blue (like Bachelorette Bash), and it's just...cute!

Essie Midnight Cami

One of my all-time favourite pedi shades, and it is actually my current pedicure. Yes, dark is maybe not the way many ladies want to go in summer, but I think it's a really elegant counterpoint to the lighter fabrics and colours women are wearing. It seems to coordinate well with many other polish colours for tips, and the shine is amazing. I adore this.

What are your fav pedi shades for this summer?

kittytokaren

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Essie Fall 2011 - Retail Release

I always eagerly await fall collections, and Essie collections more than is normal! (Gahhh I am such an Essie fangirl!) I stalked my drugstores for the early release of the fall collection, Carry On. Drugstores only get 4 out of the 6 polishes of particular collections (however, they seemed to get all of Brazilliant...) , and they seem to be getting them early, like we witnessed with French Affair. This new Essie distribution system post-L'Oreal takeover is...complicated.

Anyways, after spastically running around town, I managed to grab the following at my Walgreens:

Power Clutch

Already my favourite polish of the fall. No joke. An amazing slightly dusty grey-green that comes out darker and more green on the nail than it looks in the bottle. This to me is the green version of Smokin' Hot - where SH was purple, PC is green. It reminds me of the slate stone my parents have in their house. It's flattering on my pale yellow skin, looks chic and elegant, while remaining modern and a bit edgy. To me, this is perfect. Brava, Essie! (Oh and the formula was TDF!)

Lady Like

In the bottle this reminded me of OPI Steady As She Rose, but once I got it on the nail, the differences were evident. Lady Like is more mauve than SASR - still pink with purple thrown in, but darker and warmer. Cool-toned ladies beware! I'm super yellow-toned, but I still think this polish would work better on someone with darker skin. You know what this is? It's Demure Vixen sans shimmer - almost identical base colour. It kind of makes my hands/fingers look dirty...I'm not sure about this one. I'm going to have to drag it around a while to mull it over.

Carry On

At first I thought this was dumb. Lame. Another dark vampy purple. I was kind of right. This is *extremely* close to last year's OPI William Tell Me About OPI. The OPI is just ever-so-slightly browner and darker. The difference is extremely hard to detect, even with flash photography on a dark background. I like that this polish has some dustiness to it, which makes it difference from my beloved Essie Sole Mate! (Oh, and application was amazing again!) Of the two, I'm keeping the Essie.

L: Essie Carry On; R: OPI William Tell Me About OPI

Without flash:

With flash to see the undertone:

Case Study

Now...I didn't pick this up. Only because I believe I already have it. I haven't been able to directly compare, but I believe that this is just the J. Crew "exclusive" - Milky Way - renamed. And I *love* Milky Way. If I didn't have it, I would have picked this up. Even though I'm pretty sure they are nearly identical, I was tempted to grab it off the shelf just to see.

There will be an addendum to this post at a later date, because I still plan on picking up Glamour Purse (one of the two polishes along with Very Structured - a burnt sienna - that is not being released in the drugstore micro-collection). It looks to be in the delicious taupe-y vein, but lighter than past offerings. In other words, it looks back-up worthy, even from badly Photoshop'd company visuals! Let's hope it lives up to expectations...

Are you hyped for fall yet or still feeling the summer heat?

kittytokaren

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Hints of Marimekko - Essie Silken Cord

Essie Silken Cord is really from Essie's most recent winter collection, but I see it more as a summer colour.

It's a juicy pop of red-pink with a hint of orange that for some reason reminds me of Marimekko fabrics, which are my absolute favourite. (My baby blanket was even made out of Marimekko!) I love anything Marimekko, and I love this polish! I've been really enjoying brights this summer far more than I usually do. They seem perfectly suited for sitting back with a cocktail and watching some tennis...

kittytokaren

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Essie Smooth Sailing and OPI Navy Shatter

I never thought that eBay would be my preferred outlet for buying any nail polish but gotta say, it does me well for Essie. (The trick is to, um, buy a lot and order from a seller who has a great combined shipping deal.)

Essie Smooth Sailing

Photos just don't do this justice. It's actually a kind of chunky iridescent shimmer that sparkles blue and pink and purple and is so very, very, very pretty. Great application, two coats. This is the third day of wear.

Closeup of Smooth Sailing

You can sort of see the great shimmer in this photo. Just imagine it all over the nail...

Essie Smooth Sailing and OPI Navy Shatter

Am loving the jelly crackles. Some people might be annoyed that there's such a difference between one and two coats of the polish -- the discrepancy is most obvious on my middle finger -- but I kind of like the variation it gives to the polish. At one coat, it's obviously a blue jelly; at two, it turns more into dark navy (almost black but not quite).

Closeup of Smooth Sailing and Navy Shatter

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Nubar Baby Sprout and Essie Kisses and Bises

Despite its imperfections (umm, I don't know why my Poshe has developed black lint... wtf??) I loved both of these NOTDs.

Nubar Baby Sprout

A little bit on the stark side, Baby Sprout is a light pastel green with very fine pearly shimmer. It does appear creme in lower lights but as soon as the sun hits it, the pearly finish comes out. This was three coats (on the second day of wear, I believe).

Nubar Baby Sprout and Essie Kisses and Bises

And I was just OBSESSED with this manicure. I had read that Kisses and Bises was really a very neat layering polish but I didn't think that this pink/purple shimmer in a mostly clear base would wow me as much as it did. It added such depth and interest to Baby Sprout! It's subtle and playful at the same time. Love it. I used one coat of Baby Sprout.

Closeup of Baby Sprout and Kisses and Bises

See! The fabulous! shimmer. :) Ignore the freakin' lint. :(

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