Essie and Julep Show down!

L to R- Essie Ole Caliente, Julep Maven Natasha, and Essie Meet Me at Sunset

I decided to swatch my three orange-y polishes. Obviously, Essie Ole Caliente is much more of a reddish pink than the others who are a little more "true" orange. I haven't tried out my Julep Maven Nail Varnishes just yet, so I'm not sure what their wear time is like. The Natasha shade was pretty opaque with one layer and went on smoothly. 

In the picture below, Natasha is a little lighter than Meet Me at Sunset. Natasha is more like the color of an orange traffic cone.They are very, very similar shades, almost dupes, but I'm not sure I would categorize them as dupes for sure. I think that Meet Me at Sunset has a little more depth and shine and Natasha might be redder, but only by the tiniest amount.

 Soon, I'll do a long wear test on Julep's Natasha, then we'll see who the winner is! Since, Ole Caliente is much different than the others, it already wins for being a gorgeous orange red. 

L to R: Ole Caliente, Natasha, Meet Me at Sunset

  

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Essie Pink-A-Boo

 

So, I don't think my camera really captured the shimmer in this polish all that well and truthfully, it seems a little more pink in real life. Not sure why all my photos look so washed out! Essie's Pink-a-Boo is a glittery, sheer baby pink that isn't too sheer. In the photos, I only used two layers, I thought about doing three but my laziness overtook me. I think three would probably look about the same as two.

The micro glitter in the formula catches the light easily. I see mostly pinks, but occasionally catch a cool blue from the glitter. This nail polish is great for those who like baby pink colors. I'm not usually one of those folks, but I could see myself wearing the color again. It is classy without being too "old". The shimmer and the tone of the pink really bring out a young girl vibe. I think my niece will enjoy it.

Essie To Buy Or Not To Buy

 

In contrast to my lost post in which I very much disliked Tour de Finance, I adore To Buy or Not To Buy. The pastel lilac color is perfect for an Easter manicure. If I had a steadier hand I might trying drawing a little yellow baby chick on my ring finger. 

In my swatch above I used three thin layers, although two thicker ones would probably suffice. Also, in real life this manicure is much shinier and maybe a little bit more saturated than my camera let on. 

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Essie Tour De Finance

Okay, I have to admit, I'm a huge Essie fan. However, I'm not the biggest fan of Tour de Finance. The pink reminds me of an 80s themed Barbie color (which by its self is just fine, don't get me wrong). The application was smooth and two coats did the job just fine. 

Skip to this afternoon, not even a full 24 hours after the application and my right hand's pointer finger already has a massive chip. Luckily, I usually take a photo of my left hand, which is above, but you can still see small chips on my middle finger. Other Essie Spring 2012 and Resort 2012 polishes seemed to last forever. And, I mean annoyingly forever. I would be rubbing away at full manicures six days after I painted it. 

I should give Tour de Finance some credit. The color is great, the application is smooth and it fits well into a summer polish collection. I can also see my little nieces and cousins wanting the polish applied to all their little toes and fingers. Which, truthfully, is probably what I'll save it for. 

 

Essie Ole Caliente

 

Ole Caliente is a perfect red orange. It is bright and fiery and reminds me of summer sunsets choked with smoke from near-by wildfires. If you've never seen one of those sunsets, I can tell you the sun goes blood orange, just like this nail polish. Other than the threat of your home burning down or not being able to breathe the air, wild-fire sunsets are very beautiful. 

Like most Essie polishes, this formula is thick and one coat gives almost full opacity. However, I recommend two coats for the best application. The polish went on slightly sticky and streaky, but dried smooth and without flaw. I imagine myself wearing this color on a hot summer night, in a flouncy, yet elegant LBD salsa or flamenco dancing (if I could even dance like that!).

Ole Caliente might just be my favorite polish from Essie's Spring 2012 collection. It is very similar to Meet Me at Sunset, but I'd say this color has much more a pinkishness to it. Meet Me At Sunset is a deeper, darker orange, without any pink undertones. You may not be able to tell in my pictures, but the two polishes are noticeably different in tone and shade. So, I'm excited to wear this color all summer long!

Essie Navigate Her - Just in time for St. Paddy's Day!

I just barely got my nails done for St. Paddy's! A little late and with a little less flair than I was going to do but Essie's Navigate Her fits the American-Irish holiday quite nicely. The soft pastel green isn't so obnoxiously green that I would feel weird wearing for the next few days. It is a perfect creamy Spring pastel.  No wonder Essie put it in their Spring 2012 collection.

Normally, I'm pretty hard on pastel colors. They are not my favorite. I tire of "baby" colors, like baby pink or baby blue very easily. But, not this pastel green. I keep thinking up combos to pair this shade with . . . maybe a lovely lilac for some geometric color blocking? 

Well, enough of the holiday crap, when it comes down to it, Essie's Navigate Her fits right in with my nail polish collection. I have no other pastel greens and, of course, like other Essie formulas, this polish goes on streak free and only needs two coats to reach full opacity. Safe to say, I'm a little in love with this color. 

Essie Resort and Spring 2012 Swatches

This picture makes me long for my Nikon DSLR! Soon, I will have that bad boy back and the quality of my photos will be much better!

So, the picture of above shows the swatches from the Resort Collection. From top to bottom it goes: She's Picture Perfect, Pink-A-Boo, No More Film, and Sure Shot. I thought this not so great iPhone shot of the colors really did not do No More Film justice. It is much more of a dark navy than is shown on my ring finger. My shoddy photography skills also seemed to miss the shimmery sparkles in Pink-A-Boo!

Below is a shot of just the bottle. Imagine those two colors mixed when you apply the color in real life. It isn't black, but it isn't a purple-y navy either. However, I can say that I absolutely adore the color and have now painted all ten of my digits with it. Better shots will be taken, I promise!

Below this text are the swatches for the Essie Spring 2012 collection, minus two colors that do not come with the minibox foursome. From top to bottom: Navigate Her, Tour De Finance, Ole Caliente, and To Buy or Not To Buy. 

All of these colors are great additions to my polish collection. Once again, I'd say my iPhone's camera distorted Tour De Finance, like it did to No More Film, it has much more shimmer and is not as flat as it seems in this photo. It reminds me of a color you'd wear on a tropical vacation. I can't wait to paint my toes with it this summer. Ole Caliente is similar to my previously mentioned Meet Me at Sunset. However, I'd say it is more of pinky tangerine, versus the reddish orange of Meet Me at Sunset. 

Essie Minis: Resort and Spring 2012 Collection

(From left to right) Resort: Sure Shot, No More Film, Pink-A-Boo, and She's Picture Perfect.                                   
Spring: Navigate Her, Ole Caliente, Tour De Finance, and To Buy or Not To Buy

 My mother just dropped off some mini nail polishes for me to try out! How nice is she? She picked up the mini box versions of Essie's Resort Collection and their minibox of the 2012 Spring Collection. The full collection for Spring actually has two more nail polishes in the set. The colors missing A Crewed Interest and Orange, It's Obvious! 

I'm excited to eventually swatch them for Laptops and Lipgloss! But, for now, I must finish some homework.