Essie Summer 2011 Sneak Peek!

*****Don't forget to enter my Spring Things GIVEAWAY with Essie and Pradman Jewelry! Check out the post here or just enter in the sidebar!*****

OK so I managed to score a couple of the Essie Summer colours - no, Essie didn't send them to me *cough*wouldlovetoreviewResort*cough* - but I was really excited to get them! I first saw a picture of the Essie Summer colours on Musings from Manhattan and I was lucky enough to get my hands on bottles of the three that I was most interested in. Check it out!

Meet Me At Sunset:

I unexpectedly LOVED this one! I've always kind of wanted an orange polish - but one that I could still pull off with say a grey suit and not look like a crazy person that just came from a kids birthday party. I think this is it - it is a little more subdued in person than in the picture. It has quite a few drops of red in it, which I think make it more wearable.

Brazilliant:

And I unexpectedly HATED this one! I thought this was going to be my orange winner, but no. I thought from the initial photos that this one was a cream, but it actually has pink shimmer running throughout that you can see on the bottle, but is quite imperceptible on the nail. I am just not loving this with my skin - it looks like carrot paste. I can see this looking *fabulous* on someone with darker skin though. This needs to find a new home.

Absolutely Shore:

I saved the best for last!!! I've never done well with minty greens - they give me lobster hands and tend to look really garish. This one however, is a total winner! It is the palest of pale mint greens with a dab of blue and a touch of grey. It is so delicate and pretty and I love the way it looks with my skin. I can't wait to wear this over and over! Heck, I'll even be sporting it in winter!

The collection drops in June - any of the Essie Summer colours speaking to you??

kittytokaren

read more "Essie Summer 2011 Sneak Peek!"

Sally Hansen Burgundy Child

Despite being one of my older polishes, I had never worn this one. Actually really like!


(2 coats)

Formula was really great. Nicely pigmented, flowed nicely, and dried nicely. Honestly, I think Sally makes some pretty legit polish. I'd have so many more if they picked one bottle, one brush, and just went with it. There's nothing I like more than my army of matching bottles.

read more "Sally Hansen Burgundy Child"

Essie Wedding 2011 Sneak Peek!

*****Don't forget to enter my Spring Things GIVEAWAY with Essie and Pradman Jewelry! Check out the post here or just enter in the sidebar!*****

The Essie Wedding 2011 collection will be appearing in stores shortly, but I was just so excited to find two polishes that I really really love in this collection that I decided to share them now! Last year's wedding assortment left me cold, but this one has two gems in it - including *drumroll please* my PERFECT RED!

First up, Borrowed & Blue:

A real departure for Essie in terms of what they usually offer to the bridal set. I have to say, this is the first pale blue I've tried that didn't look horrific with my skin - it has a touch of periwinkle in there, and is paler than most baby blues on the market. Application was surprisingly non-chalky for a colour with so much white in the base, and I think it's just adorable and will look great all through summer! I absolutely love this one, and the name is cute to boot!

And here is First Dance:

Finally!! After all the searching (including my Hunt for Red by October), I found it. My perfect, classic red polish! First Dance is quite jelly-ish, but applies absolutely beautifully. I can't tell you how happy I am to find this - I will be getting back-ups for sure. The first coat appeared quite pink, but the overall colour of the polish is warmer, so it seems that there are both cool and warm pigments in it, giving it a great neutral balance on the nail. As I've learned, finding the perfect red can be really difficult, and now that I have, I don't want to ever be without it!

This collection also includes a sheer pink and a sheer peach - pretty, but definitely things I already have in my stash. I highly recommend both Borrowed & Blue and First Dance - both of them are complete winners in my book!

kittytokaren

P.S. Stay tuned...I have a preview of some of the Essie Summer colours coming up!

read more "Essie Wedding 2011 Sneak Peek!"

kittytokaren's Spring Things GIVEAWAY - Pradman Jewelry & Essie!

It's that time again, lucky readers!

Pradman has offered to do a giveaway with me again for spring, so of course I said yes! Like in winter, I wanted to pick out my favourite coordinating combination for the season. So without further ado, here is my favourite spring combo - Essie Milky Way (J Crew exclusive) and the Pradman Green Chrysophase Bangle!

Here is the nice little set of goodies the winner will receive...

Here is the combination on me - I've been loving Essie Milky Way as you can see in this post. (My Michael Kors watch is not included! This is how I wear it though, so I wanted to share.)

And a close up of my favourite spring things together! I love how the neutral polish sets off those beautiful stones...

The bangle is 65mm in diameter and is set with three large green Chrysophase stones. I know some people might want to pair a punch colour on the nails with this bangle, but I think the warm tones of Milky Way harmonize beautifully with the gold of the bangle - the combination really lets the spectacular chrysophase stones be the star of the show! Can you imagine this with a crisp white ensemble paired with a khaki blazer? Or even further into summer with a long print dress and a tan? Mmmm....

So if you like my favourite spring things, please enter our GIVEAWAY! The winner will receive 1 BRAND NEW bottle of Essie Milky Way and 1 BRAND NEW Pradman Jewelry Green Chrysophase Bangle.

GIVEAWAY RULES:

- One entry per person.

- Anyone in the world is allowed to enter.

- If you win, you will be contacted the next day for your address. If you do not respond after 7 days, a new winner will be chosen.

- Giveaway closes April 13 at 11:59 PM EST.

The entry form is below, and will be in the sidebar of Polish or Perish for the duration of the GIVEAWAY! All you need to do is fill out your name, email address, and tell us what YOUR Pradman pick for spring would have been. (Check out the Pradman Etsy store for reference.)

Pradman have all sorts of giveaways via their Facebook and Twitter sites that are independent of PoP - I highly suggest checking it out!

Thanks again to Nicole of Pradman Jewelry for partnering with me again for this giveaway! Good luck & happy spring!

kittytokaren

read more "kittytokaren's Spring Things GIVEAWAY - Pradman Jewelry & Essie!"

Essence Ultimate Pink

I'm telling you, Essence and Ulta are fighting it out as to which one should receive all of my love.


For 99 cents, how do you pass these little buggers up?

This is Essence Ultimate Pink, a pure bubblegum pink if I ever saw one. Think Barbie... lots of Barbie. It was a tad bit sheer and took maybe three coats to build up, but it dried like a champ and wore really well. And for 99 cents, I'll slap that third coat on with a smile.

Now if only I could get my hands on more interesting colors of Essence. My Ulta seems to roll out the same colors all the time and never dabbles in collections. Does anyone else have that problem?

Happy day, all!

read more "Essence Ultimate Pink"