Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish Swatches

Hi everyone!

 

Essie recently launched their Gel Couture polishes and I have six to share with you today. The range is based on the couture catwalks and have fashion- related names. There is a broad range of colours so there is something to suit everyone. They have a gel- like finish and Essie claim that you can get up to 12 days wear out of them. No base coat or UV or LED lamp is needed as with true gel polishes.

Essie Fall 2015 Collection Swatches

Hi everyone!




Today I have four of the six nail polishes from Essie's Fall 2015 collection to share with you!


Leggie Legend: This polish is a true star! It is such a stand out shade and I'm sure will be very popular! Its a bronze-copper-gold shade with a metallic finish and is perfect for the festive season!


With the Band: This is a classic red shade with a hint of burgundy. Everyone needs a true, creamy red in their collection!


Frock n Roll: I love the name of this shade! It's a rich espresso shade with shimmer. This polish has a slight sparkle to it too which is stunning!


In the Lobby: This is a beautiful glossy plum shade with a crème finish.

The collection also includes two other polishes including Colour Binge which coral- red and Bell Bottom Blues which is a bright indigo blue.




You can purchase the polishes individually for £7.99 each from Boots or this mini set of four for £11.99 from Amazon




All colours apply evenly and are fully opaque in one coat! I think they are limited edition so if you want to get your hands on them be quick!


Maz x

Essie Lady Like Nail Polish

 

Hi everyone!

Essie have some of my favourite nail polishes and this one is no exception! This is Lady Like which is described as an 'elegant soft mauve'. This is the kind of polish that everyone would like in my opinion. I chose it for a job interview as I wanted a neutral opaque shade that looked smart but not too attention grabbing!

Essie She's Picture Perfect & OPI Polka.com

Hi everyone!

I decided to go for a purple, sparkly manicure today! First I applied 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base, I love this stuff, it really helps to strengthen your nails and the matte finish helps your nail polish to stick. I then applied 2 coats of Essie's She's Picture Perfect which is described as a 'iridescent, reflective lilac'. This polish is gorgeous, it applies fairly evenly and dries quickly too! I then added 2 coats of OPI's Polka.com which has a clear base with different sized purple, fuchsia and teal glitter pieces. This polish is amazing and really eye catching, it is one of my favourite glitter polishes ever! I finished off, as always, with a layer of Seche Vite Top Coat.

Essie Fiji

 

 

Hi everyone!

 

First of all I would like to apologise for the lack of posts recently! I have now finished my studies so can devote much more time and attention to my blog again!

 

Essie Fiji

 

Today I applied one of my favourite nail polishes, Essie Fiji which is a gorgeous strawberry milkshake colour. It's fairly easy to apply but is quite thick and can be a little patchy. The polish is fully opaque after two coats which is great. I love this kind of pinky-white colour as it is a great 'go-to' polish and perfect for spring/ summer. It is fairly similar to OPI Mod About You and Butter London Teddy Girl, both of which I own, in my opinion Fiji is the best of the three due to opacity and durability on the nail!

 

Zoya Trixie & OPI Disco Ball Sparkle

 

I also used two coats of Zoya Trixie with OPI Disco Ball Sparkle to create a sparkly, silver accent nail, and finished off with a layer of my favourite top coat, Seche Vite!

 

Maz x

Essie To Buy Or Not To Buy Nail Polish - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied Essie To Buy Or Not To Buy nail polish from the Navigate Her collection for Spring 2012. This polish is a beautiful lilac colour that has a purple shimmer to it in the bottle but not so much on the nail which is a little disappointing. To add some extra dimension I added a layer of China Glaze Snow Globe from their Christmas 2011 collection which is described as a sheer colour base with a multi coloured glitter in gold, aqua, green, blue and purple.

China Glaze Snow Globe

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Original Nail Envy as my base followed by 2 coats of Essie's To Buy Or Not To Buy. This polish applies smoothly and evenly and dries quickly. It's almost opaque after the second coat but there is a little bit of visible nail line. I then added one coat of China Glaze Snow Globe followed by a layer of Seche Vite Top Coat.

I love this polish and think that the colour is beautiful and perfect for a summer. The fact that the purple shimmer that you see in the bottle does not appear to transfer to the nail is a little disappointing but I thought that the addition of Snow Globe made up for it!

You can purchase Essie To Buy Or Not To Buy from John and Ginger for £9.95

You can purchase China Glaze Snow Globe from Effortless Me for £6.95

Maz x

Essie Turquoise & Caicos Nail Polish - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied Essie's Turquoise and Caicos to my nails. This polish came out in the 2010 Resort collection and I have owned it for quite a while. I really like the polish which is described as a 'Tropical aqua shade' and I think that it is an ideal summer colour!

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base followed by 2 coats of Turquoise and Caicos. The polish has quite a thick consistency but applies smoothly and fairly evenly. I finished off with a layer of Seche Vite Top Coat.

The coverage of this polish is pretty good and smooth. There is some visible nail line but it is not as obvious in real life as it is in the pictures above!

You can purchase this polish from Beauty Bay for £8.50

Maz x

Essie Cute As A Button - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied another summery polish to my nails, this time I chose Essie's Cute As A Button which is described as a 'bright and vibrant coral'.

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base followed by 2 coats of Cute As A Button. The polish applies pretty smoothly and evenly and dries quickly. There is still some visible nail line after the second coat but it isn't too noticable. I finished off with one layer of Seche Vite Top Coat.

I love this bright summer colour! It looks great and is really eyecatching! It also makes your skin look more tanned!

You can purchase this polish from Beauty Bay for £8.50

Maz x

Top Spring/ Summer Nail Polishes

Hi Everyone!

I thought that it would be fun to write a post about my pick of nail polishes for this Spring and Summer, as I did last year (click here to read that post). I went with brights and pastels, so let's get started!

(In no particular order)

1. Essie Van D'Go: This is the perfect peachy shade and was in my pick of polishes for last year. Click here to read my full review

2. Essie She's Picture Perfect: Beautiful lilac shade with an iridescent sheen.

3. Essie Borrowed and Blue: Pale, pastel blue. Click here to read my review.

4. Essie Mint Candy Apple: Gorgeous pastel mint shade.

5. OPI Do You Lilac It? This polish also featured in last year's pick of Spring and Summer nail polishes. It is a perfect lilac shade and is one of my all time favourites from OPI.

6. Nails Inc Portobello: This is a bright, neon orange shade. Click here to read my full review.

7. China Glaze Wicked Style: Bright, watermelon pink shade from the Electropop collection for 2012.

8. Nails Inc Baker Street: This is a bright blue shade that became a bestseller for  Nails Inc after it was seen on Beyonce. Click here to read my review.

9. Zoya Kimber: This is a coral-red shade with a golden shimmer and is from the 2012 Surf collection.

10. Essie Pansy: This is one of my all time favourite polishes and was featured on last year's list. It is a hot pink shade. Click here to read my full review of this polish.

11. OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia: This is a really sophisticated pink shade. Click here to read my full review.

12. Orly Passion Fruit: This is a bright, almost neon matte pink shade.

SWATCHES:

(L to R) Van D'Go, She's Picture Perfect, Borrowed and Blue, Mint Candy Apple, Do You Lilac It?

(L to R) Portobello, Wicked Style, Baker Street, Kimber, Pansy, Flashbulb Fuchsia, Passion Fruit

I hope that you enjoyed reading this post! Please feel free to share your favourite nail polishes for Spring and Summer with me in the comments section below!

Maz x

Essie A Cut Above with OPI Mod About You - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

I decided to go for a glittery, spring-time manicure today so applied OPI's Mod About You which is a solid, opaque light pink colour from their Classics Range with Essie's A Cut Above which is a clear based polish packed full of rosey-pink coloured small and large round and hexagonal shaped pieces of glitter from the Luxe Effects Collection from 2011.

OPI Mod About You

Essie A Cut Above

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base followed by 2 coats of OPI Mod About You. This polish applies so smoothly and evenly and dries to a gorgeous opaque finish. I then applied 2 coats of A Cut Above which is such a beautiful glitter top coat, it applies really well and disperses the glitter evenly. I then finished off by adding a layer of OPI Top Coat.

I love this manicure! It's so girly and pink and is perfect for Spring and Summer!

You can purchase OPI's Mod About you from Beauty Bay for £10.50 and you can get Essie's A Cut Above from Effortless Nails for £7.95

Maz x

Spring Manicure

Hi Everyone!

Happy Easter! I love watching beauty videos on YouTube and really like Miss Jen Fabulous' Channel (Click here to view it). She recently did a gorgeous, fun manicure for Spring/ Easter that I decided to try and recreate.

Here are the products that I used, some of which differ from the ones just in her video:

(L to R)
OPI - A Grape Fit! (Jen used Essie's Play Date)
Essie - Mint Candy Apple
Essie - Borrowed and Blue
Essie - Van D'Go
Revlon - Sparkling (Jen used Essie's A Cut Above)
Nicole by OPI - It's All About the Glam (Jen used Essie's Marshmallow)
Nubar Nail Art Pen - Basic White

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI's Matte Nail Envy as my base then painted my nails with A Grape Fit, Borrowed and Blue, Van D'Go and Mint Candy Apple. I used Revlon's Sparkling to add glitter to a couple of the nails. I then used a dotting tool along with Nicole by OPI's It's All About the Glam to add dots to a couple of the nails. I then used the Nubar Nail Art Pen to draw a bow on my left thumb nail and added a dot of A Grape Fit to the centre. I then finished off with a coat of Seche Vite Top Coat.

I love this manicure! It is so cute and different and fairly easy to do! If you like nail polish then I would definitely recommend checking Jen's channel out as her tutorials are brilliant!

Maz x

Essie Tour de Finance Nail Polish - Review & Swatch

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied another one of the polishes from Essie's Navigate Her collection for Spring 2012. I selected Tour de Finance which is a bright fuchsia colour with a pearl finish.

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base followed by 2 coats of Tour de Finance. This polish applies really evenly and smoothly and was opaque after the first coat. I finished off by applying a layer of OPI Top Coat.

This colour is really bright and gorgeous! It reminds me of OPI's Flashbulb Fuchsia and is the perfect colour for Spring and Summer! The polish also looks like it has a subte purple sheen to it in the bottle bu this didn't seem to really transfer onto the nail.

You can purchase this polish from Look Fantastic for £5.95

Maz x

Essie Navigate Her Nail Polish - Review & Swatches

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied Essie's Navigate Her nail polish from their Spring 2012 Collection of the same name. Navigate Her is described as a pistachio green colour with a creme finish is one of the six colours from the collection.

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy as my base followed by 2 coats of Navigate Her. The polish has quite a thick consistency but dries pretty quickly. I found the application of the first coat was a little of the streaky side but the second coat solved this problem. I then applied a coat of Seche Vite Top Coat.

I really like this colour as it's a change from the usual pastel greens that you usually find in spring nail polish collections. It has a really nice opaque, creme finish that is typical of most Essie polishes in my opinion.

I purchased this polish as part of a mini set for £11.95 from Beauty Bay.

Check out my review of the Ole Caliente nail polish which is also from the Essie Navigate Her collection by clicking here.

Maz x

Essie Ole Caliente Nail Polish

Hi Everyone!

Today I applied one of the six new polishes from Essie's Navigate Her Collection for Spring 2012. This collection has some gorgeous colours in it and I went for Ole Caliente which is described as a 'spicy scarlet' colour. I love Essie polishes as they are such great quality. I have been wearing some light pastel colours on my nails recently but I fancied a brighter colour for a change!

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI's Original Nail Envy to my nails as my base followed by coats of 2 Ole Caliente. The lacquer applies really nicely and evenly and the polish is opaque after just 1 coat, I think that the colour looks better with a second coat added though. The consistency is quite thick, as with a lot of Essie polishes, but it dries pretty quickly. I finished by adding a layer of Seche Vite Top Coat.

This colour is a gorgeous hot, coral red colour that is perfect for spring! It is really eye catching and bright but not quite neon!

I purchased my polish as part of the mini collection for £11.95 from Beauty Bay. Have you purchased any of the colours from the collection? If so let me know what you think of them in the comments section below!

Maz x

Essie Borrowed & Blue Nail Polish

Hi Everyone!

Spring is around the corner so I decided to break away from the dark, winter colours that I have been wearing on my nails recently and go for a nice pastel colour! I chose Essie's Borrowed and Blue nail polish from their Wedding Collection from 2011. Borrowed and Blue is a light, sky blue colour with a cream finish.

I began by applying 2 coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy to my nails as a base followed by 2 coats of Borrowed and Blue. The consistency of the lacquer is quite thick, which is pretty much the norm with Essie polishes but it applies evenly and smoothly. The polish is fully opaque after 1 coat but I always like to apply 2! Despite being quite thick it dries pretty quickly. I finished off with a coat of Seche Vite Top Coat.

I love this colour and think that it is the perfect soft, pastel blue and great for spring and summer. It's like a blue version of OPI's Mod About You!

You can purchase Borrowed and Blue from Beauty Bay for £8.50

Maz x

Top 10 Autumn/ Fall & Winter Nail Polishes

Hi Everyone!

I thought that it would be fun to compile a list of my top 10 nail polishes for Autumn/ Fall and winter. I put a similar list together for Spring and Summer (click to read it) earlier on in the year too. So let's get started with the pictures and swatches!

(L to R) Essie Cocktail Bling, China Glaze Below Deck, Essie Mink Muffs, OPI Black Cherry Chutney, OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

(L to R) China Glaze Ruby Pumps, OPI Diva of Geneva, Zoya Rea, Essie Sexy Divide, Orly Fowl Play

10. Essie Mink Muffs

Just making my top 10 list is Mink Muffs by Essie! It is described as 'smokey plush taupe'. I am not a big fan of this type of colour of polish but I do like this one and it makes a change from the normal colours that I wear!

9. China Glaze Below Deck

China Glaze's Below Deck is a fairly recent addition to my nail polish collection and I really like it. Click here to read my review about this polish.

8. China Glaze Ruby Pumps

As you can see, Ruby Pumps is a red glitter colour and is one of China Glaze's most famous and best selling shades. I think that it is gorgeous and the perfect festive colour for Christmas day!

7. Zoya Rea

Rea is a beautiful, metallic colour that Zoya describe as 'a silvery taupe-kissed, mauve-purple. I think that this polish is my top pick for a new years eve party!

6. Orly Fowl Play

Fowl Play is another fairly recent addition to my collection and it is a stunning and quite unusual polish. Please click here to read my full review.

5. OPI Black Cherry Chutney

Black Cherry Chutney is a classic, deep wine shade that is ideal for this time of year. I recently reviewed this polish so click here to read my blog post.

4. Essie Cocktail Bling

I really love Cocktail Bling as it is a beautiful, icy winter colour that would look great paired up with a glitter top coat for even more bling! Please click here to read my full review of the polish.

3. OPI Diva of Geneva

Diva of Geneva is a rosy, shimmery magenta colour that reminds me of gem stones! It is one of my favourite polishes overall to wear any time of the year and great for a festive party.

2. Essie Sexy Divide

If, like me, your favourite colour is purple then you will absolutely love Sexy Divide from Essie. It is a dark purple but manages to stay a true purple colour without crossing over into the black category!

1. OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

OK so this one may be a little predictable! Lincoln Park After Dark is a very dark purple colour and is one of OPI's best selling shades. This has been my number 1 polish for many years now and I have repurchased it several times.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my top 10 Autumn/ Winter nail polishes. Please feel free to share your top polishes with me in the comments section below!

Maz x