I’m sure everyone is getting really sick of me going on and off hiatus, then apologizing, then disappearing again. Believe me, I know it’s annoying and I feel awful about it. Unfortunately, I’ve had very little free time since I started my new job and things don’t look like they are going to get better any time soon. So, I would like to propose a compromise? I’m still taking photographs of my nails when I do them… even though I haven’t been able to do them as often as I did before. Also, I still have a massive back log of photos that I’ve taken over the past few months. Until my schedule clears up – I’m going to post the photos without or with very little commentary. I know some of you may be thinking, “what’s the point?” Well, I think most people visit the site to see the photos anyway. I’ll try to be diligent about answering questions from the comments section that way I’m not just throwing the pictures out there in a vacuum. It’s temporary, I shouldn’t be insanely busy forever… right? (Oh man, I hope not.)

I really loved the light pinks from this collection, delicate and work appropriate. My favorite from this collection is Cubby Cheeks – it reminds me lobsters. : )

(WTH is that… ectoplasm?)

This is a pretty surprising collection for Essie, not a pink or red in sight, I love it. With the exception of Shelter Island, these colors are pretty unique and I hope to see Essie release more shades on this side of spectrum. *Channels images of green glitter a la Essie Ruby Slippers and Essie Starry Starry Nights to Essie Weingarten* (Just an aside, but has everyone gotten a load of the dark greens this season or what!?!?!?! I know all the bloggers love greens but I can’t help but to feel a little responsible since I constantly complain about that lack of greens on the market. It’s just my poor luck that I’m on a no buy now that we’re finally getting some options! Still though, it’s great to know that we’re finally having some influence over the market.)

Ah, reviewing colors is not as easy as it used to be. I’ve been away from the nail polish game for so long that my color match recall is not up to par. Greenport is a muted green toned aqua creme. I want to say that it’s similar to Misa Dirty, Sexy, Money but not a dupe, I believe DSM is moodier. I really can’t say for sure though and finding DSM in my once immaculate but now disastrously messy stash will be next to impossible. But I do plan to do swatch comparisons as soon as I can get everything in order once more. (When will I stop making excuses you say? Neeeevaaar!) In any case, the color itself is unique and I’m glad to see variations on aqua because I don’t have many in my stash. This was a 3 coater for me; not the greatest application ever but not excessively streaky either.

Shelter Island is a somewhat muted sky blue in the same vein as Zoya Yummy, OPI Just Groovy, and Misa Right Here Now, No More Later. It might be a dupe but, again, I can’t say for sure. There will be a comparison post of all four in the very near future. This was a three coater for me, but the application wasn’t horrible.

Sag Harbor is the stand out in this collection. The color is a cementish light bluish gray. Yes, I know, cement is not usually associated with attractiveness but it works here. The finish is a light frosty pearlescent shimmer that is barely visible, it casts depth to the color. The consistency was a little thick so I had to use 3 coats to even everything out. This color is a little deceptive. In my photo it’s a bit bluer than it should be, it’s more gray in real life. In the bottle it’s like a lightly blue tinted gray but on the nail (this possibly has something to do with my skin tone) the blue is a lot more obvious. So… looking at the bottle on Sunday night I thought, “hey, I might be able to get away with this at work!” Not quite, it’s waaaaay too noticeably blue. I’d say it’s okay for most office environments save for the markedly conservative offices. But I do love the color so I’m wearing it anyway.

Starry Starry Nights is another hard-to-find polish that has found its way into my heart and onto this list. I really can’t say much more about it other than it’s unspeakably stunning. I really wish Essie would kick back to the old days and create some new colors as gorgeous as the coveted SSN.

Here’s an excerpt from my original post about Essie Starry Starry Nights.

“Now that I can finally wear ‘out of the ordinary’ colors again, I went hunting in my ‘untried’ box and rediscovered Starry Starry Nights. “Wow” is all I can say. Dark blue jelly with small silver glitter makes for an amazing polish. I can definitely see what all the hype was about.

The jelly-ness gives the glitter at different coats varying degrees of visibility, which really makes this polish look the way the sky does in places where there are no lights to drown out the shining light of the stars. One of the girls on MUA said that my nails looked like they came straight out of the Van Gogh paining. Love the reference, and so very true.”

Essie’s Spring 2009 Collection is… very Essie-esque. That is, the majority of the collection is composed of neutrals, pinks, and reds. For that reason, the collection didn’t receive the greatest reception from most nail polish enthusiasts. However, a consumer who maybe does not own a lot of nail polish and randomly ventures into a Trade Secret during a trip to the mall might pick up some of these colors on a whim. I can’t help but feel like nail polish companies are targeting that crowd when they release what we consider to be ’safe’ collections.

We have to face it, I don’t think we (I mean ‘we’ as in the people who have a psychotic appreciation for nail color) are the target demographic for most companies. I don’t think anyone would disagree, these are pretty colors but most people who collect nail polish probably feel like they’ve seen it, done it, and done it some more. I’m an exception only because I’m stock-piling work appropriate colors for my legal debut in May and I’ve long accepted that the repetition of red and pink nail polish is just a fact of life (like mosquito bites and chicken pox). But, I can definitely sympathize with everyone’s desire to see Essie step outside of it’s company image.

With all that said, look at the magic that happens when Essie does decide to take a stroll on the wild side and throw collection caution to the wind:

Holy &%$#! Essie Mesmerize, in all her glory, is a  medium blue cream. (I think it’s Super Man blue but my roommates told me I have no idea what I’m talking about.) The color accuracy of the image is a bit off, Mesmerize is a slightly darker blue in real life. Oh man, this is one gorgeous, unique color. Seriously, can we get a slow clap going for this color? Mesmerize is so out of the ordinary for Essie that it almost looks kind of weird in the Essie bottle, like it doesn’t belong. The application was good but a little thicker than the other colors in this collection. It could have worked with 2 coats, but I preferred 3. I got a mega ton of compliments while wearing this polish, a testament to its awesomeness. This is definitely my favorite color of the season so far. I consider it a ‘must own’. But, beware, I suggest wearing a good base coat with this color or you will end up with smurf fingers.

Eternal Optimist is a pink toned nude. This is a great ‘work appropriate’ color. It’s a lighter, less pink version of Rescue Beauty Lounge Om. Eternal Optimist is definitely not a dead on dupe but certainly the closest I’ve seen so far and a good enough substitute. This swatch is 3 coats of color.

Flawless is a muted Barbie pink. Pretty and delicate, but probably not appropriate for ultra conservative work places – A-Okay for every where else. This is 3 coats.

Status Symbol is a mid-toned pink with a semi-jelly consistency. I wore this with Maybelline Clearly in Love layered over it as my pre-Valentine’s Day manicure (I haven’t gotten a chance to post about this manicure yet but I promise I will, even though, I guess it’s a little late now. haha.) This swatch is 3 coats but I feel like it would have looked better with 4th.

One of a Kind is a red/orange/coral cream, similar to my beloved Color Club Sexsea. One of a Kind is slightly less extravagant, more toned down. It applied well in 2 coats, but I used 3 for this photo.

Lacquered Up is a bright, bright, bright true red creme. It exudes sexiness. I wore Lacquered Up to a party and it quickly became a topic of conversation. The application was exceptional, perfect in two coats.

I don’t like shimmery reds. In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that I abhor shimmery reds. The strength of my anti-shimmery red leanings are such that I don’t even own OPI I’m Not Really Waitress which is arguably the best sold nail polish of all time. I do own several shimmery reds but they are unloved outcasts in comparison to the rest of my collection. I usually only venture into the shimmery reds during Holidays. This year for Valentine’s Day I wore Essie Love, Beverly Hills xx. It’s limited edition and infused with 24K pure gold. I didn’t expect to actually like this color, but I’m a sucker for gimmicky nail polish.

To my utter and complete shock and amazement… I freaking love this color. It’s gorgeous. Essie describes this deep red as opulent, I could not have put it better myself. The gold shimmer is very obvious in the bottle but not on the nail. Once applied, the gold is very subtle. It just adds depth to the base color and makes it glow. The overall effect isn’t sparkly, it’s more like a semi-metallic finish. The application was excellent. It’s perfect in two coats, but I used 3 for my manicure.

My usual gripe with shimmery reds is that they seem so common; Love, Beverly Hills xx is anything but common. As silly as this may sound, I felt a little chic wearing it, like old school Hollywood glamour chic. I’m trying to pin point what makes this color different from other reds that are similar to it. At least for me, I think the gold glow really complements my skin-tone. Of course, it’s also possible that I’m just blinded by my love for marketing gimmicks. (Just ask me how hard I fell for MAC’s Hello Kitty collection.)

Unfortunately, the downside is the price tag. Love, Beverly Hills retails for $18 at Nordstrom and $19 from Essie. However, it is possible to find it for a lot cheaper if you poke around on the Internet.

Honestly, this realization has turned my nail polish world upside down. Is this color just an exception to the rule? Or has my disdain for shimmery reds dissipated. Are there other shimmery reds out there that I might not hate? Dare I say it… I’m sort of lemming I’m Not Really a Waitress now. *feels forehead*

(Essie also launched a sweepstakes giveaway in connection with the release of this color. For details about the giveaway and information on how to enter visit Essie’s Win a Trip to Beverly Hills Sweepstakes. The last day to enter is February 28th, so hurry if you haven’t entered already.)

Many girls steer clear of Essie’s soft colors. I, however, compulsively buy them. I just can’t stop myself. The result is a drawer full of off white, taupe, nude, and a soft pink Essies that I only occasionally dig out for use. I’m always pleasantly surprised by how much I like these colors on myself. Essie Pound Cake doesn’t look like much in the bottle but it’s very chic on the nail. It’s a beige creme with a slight tinge of smokey muted pink. I would refer to it as a borderline mushroom-y color. The application wasn’t amazing, but not horrible. This mani is 1 coat Essie First Base base coat, 4 coats of color, and 1 coat seche vite. I really loved it.

Completely unrelated to this great color, I’m taking a small pseudo-hiatus until mid January. I’m sure many of you have noticed that I’ve been doing a lot of one-polish posts lately. I’ve been working on a few polish related side projects that, along with my internship, have taken up all my free time. I’m going to keep posting more or less in the same manner that I have been, i.e. NOTD posts, the Top 20, etc. but I won’t be able to cover large collections for a little while. I have a tone of collections to cover for you guys once things quiet down a bit, so I hope you’ll stick with me through this period of meagerly posting. I also want to apologize a head of time, many of the NOTDs for the next few weeks are going to be professional colors again. In any case, everything will go back to normal shortly.

Some people take great pride in searching out hard-to-find colors. I used to think I was one those people but lately obtaining particularly difficult hard-to-finds has lost its luster for me. I think the extra hoopla surrounding hard-to-finds takes the joy away. Essie VIP was a color I thought I would never see in real life. A MUA friend encountered 7 of them in a beauty shop and she graciously decided to pass them a long to anyone who wanted one. I got my bottle for a fairly reasonable trade but when I finally got it, this color I had wanted so much… I was sort of underwhelmed.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a gorgeous color and it’s easy to see why this is one of the most highly sought after discontinued Essies. I suppose this color is yet another casualty of my antipurpleitis.

I’m going to hold on to it until I return to my normal purple-loving self. If I still don’t love it then, I’ll pass it on to someone who really wants it.

I feel silly covering winter collections already when, in Florida, we’re still having 90 degree days. Honestly, the winter collections sort of crept up on me. In actuality, I haven’t even finished covering all the fall collections yet. In any case, here are swatches of the Essie Winter 2008 collection.  It’s a solid collection with several purchase worthy colors, but there’s nothing ultra extraordinary or ground breaking. Most of these colors dried fairly matte, and as always, my swatches don’t include a top coat. No major application issues with this collection but I had to use 3 coats with all of them in order to get full coverage.

Essie It’s Genius is a light tyrian purple with complex green to gold shimmer. Essie calls it a ‘violet quartz shimmer’. This color applies pretty sheer, so I used 3 coats for this swatch. I know I will love this one madly when I get over my purple discrimination phase. This image was taken with flash.

Essie Shift Power is a gold frost. It’s not what I would consider a true gold, to me it looks like there is a slight coppery tinge to it. Like It’s Genius, Shift Power also applied pretty sheer so I used 3 coats for this swatch. The name of this color is a little perplexing to me… is it supposed to evoke car imagery? or elicit the idea of a powerful business woman? I don’t get it. I don’t have Chanel Gold Fiction so I wonder how close these two are to one another? (Paging Scrangie.)

Essie Damsel in a Dress is a deep reddish purple (apparently the name for a reddish purple is currant – you learn something new everyday). Vampy lovers will dig this color. I probably could have gotten away with 2 coats on this one, but I used 3. This image was taken with flash.

Essie Sexy Divide is a dark purple with bright violet shimmer. We’ve had several similar colors released this season, all of which haven’t made any significant impression on me – Sexy Divide is different. It’s less flat than the others, definitely brighter. The shimmer gives this shade depth. My image doesn’t do it justice, it was taken with flash.

Essie Rock Star Skinny is a vampy brownish red with very subtle shimmer. I used 3 coats but I probably could have used two and still achieved the same depth of color. A lot of girls are not a fan of the name, but I don’t find it offensive.

Essie Bold and Beautiful is a gorgeous vampy dark red crème with a jelly-like quality. This, too, was a three coater.

This collection hasn’t hit the e-tailers yet but it’s been spotted in brick & mortars all over the U.S.

There’s been a lot of discussion surrounding the differences between my swatches of the Essie 2008 Collection and Scrangie’s swatches. The differences can be attributed to discrepancies between the colors we each received.

Both of these bottles are labeled Essie Lacy Not Racy – as you can see the colors are completely different. Girls on MUA have reported seeing both shades in stores. Two colors existing under one name actually occurs fairly often, as does one color existing under different names. I’m *still* angry that my bottle of OPI Bubble Bath is pink, instead of off-white. I’m still hunting for the off-white Bubble Bath. *sigh*

The difference between the two Essie No Boundaries is amazing. These colors aren’t even in the same color family. People overwhelming prefer the darker plum version of No Boundaries to the pink version, that shouldn’t be shocking to anyone. According to Essie, the pink version is the official version of No Boundaries. The plum version was a pre-release sample color sent to salons and the press, it’s not the official version. Strangely, the Essie Website exhibits the two versions of No Boundaries, one on the main seasonal collection page, the other on the ’shop now’ page. Not to hate on Essie but the decision to release the pink version as the official color seems to indicate, at least to me, that Essie isn’t too familiar with their consumer base. I haven’t spoken to one person that prefers the pink version to the plum version. As soon as I was made aware of the difference, I immediately knew that most people would prefer the plum version. I think Essie should consider releasing the plum version, perhaps under the different name.

So I thought we could take a break from the awesome but overwhelming 2008 fall collections and just do a simple NOTD post – something I haven’t done since the fall insanity began last month.

Essie Starry Starry Nights is one of those highly sought after polishes that has become an expensive hard-to-find. Essie did re-release it, along with Viva La Vespa, but since the retail was bumped up to $10 and the shipping was so extravagant, I’m not sure that many people took Essie up on the offer. I, for example, debated it for a while then ultimately decided against making the purchase. I’m glad because one of the amazing girls over at MUA found it for me at dusty for a great price.

Now here’s the part of the story that makes me want to kick myself: I lemminged this color for the longest time but when I finally got it, I put in my ‘untried’ box and completely forgot it even existed! D’oh. To be fair though, that only happened because I haven’t be able to wear any non-professional looking colors this whole summer. Now that I can finally wear ‘out of the ordinary’ colors again, I went hunting in my ‘untried’ box and rediscovered Starry Starry Night. “Wow” is all I can say. Dark blue jelly with small silver glitter makes for an amazing polish. I can definitely see what all the hype was about.

The jelly-ness gives the glitter at different coats varying degrees of visibility, which really makes this polish look the way the sky does in places where there are no lights to drown out the shining light of the stars. One of the girls on MUA said that my nails looked like they came straight out of the Van Gogh paining. Love the reference, and so very true.

As great as the color is, Starry Starry Nights is not without its pitfalls. A lot of people complain that Starry Starry Night is hot streaky difficult to apply mess. I didn’t have too much trouble with mine. For this manicure I used 1 coat Essie ‘First Base’ Base Coat, 3 coats of Starry Starry Night, and 1 coat of Seche Vite. The first two coats of color were semi-streaky but everything evened out perfectly with the 3rd coat. I’m not sure if the non-streakiness was due to the base coat or whether my bottle was a magical non-streaky version of Starry Starry Night.

If you love this color but don’t have access to it or don’t want to shell out the mad cash, I’ve read that Jessica Twilight is a good dupe. I can’t vouch for it myself because I, sadly, don’t own any Jessicas… yet. However, I’ve only heard good things about the brand. There are actually several known dupes of Starry Starry Night but the others are just as difficult to find as Starry Starry Night once was, so I’ll spare you the pain of lemming a hard-to-find polish with several equally hard-to-find dupes by just omitting that information from this post. <3

Like I said before, I usually don’t buy Chanel nail polish *but* Chanel Kaleidoscope was so beautiful and unique, I just had to have it. The minute I saw a swatch of it taken by MUA’s Mrs_Brightside, I called Nordstrom and put a bottle on hold. That was incredibly out of character for me but it was totally and completely worth it. Even though I can honestly say that I love Kaleidoscope, I want to show you guys some possible alternatives to it. With the economy the way that it is right now, a luxury item like a 20 dollar bottle of nail polish, is probably not the most prudent way to spend money. Of course, some colors are must-have, recession or not, but if you can settle from something less extravagant, why not do so? (I’m a hypocrite, I know.)

First, here she is (are bottles of nail polish female? hmm) in all her glory:

*Heavy Sigh* In the sunlight, Kaleidoscope shimmers with ultra bling. Indoors and in the shade, it’s more of a subtle mirrored greenish platinum color. It’s beautiful but I have no idea why it’s called Kaleidoscope, neither does Scrangie. If the other shade is Gold Fiction, why not call this one Platinum Drama.

Essie Steel-ing the Scene is the closest thing to Kaleidoscope in my stash. These are actually fairly close color siblings. The main difference is that Kaleidoscope has the greenish tone and a lot more shimmer. However, if you really want to follow this trend but don’t want to blow the cash, Essie Steel-ing the Scene is a great alternative.

Here is Kaleidoscope and Steel-ing the Scene side by side. Despite several attempts, I couldn’t get the image to show the differences between these colors. I blame the inferior camera. While these colors are very close they really don’t look as similar in real life as they look in the image. Steel-ing the Scene has a smoother finish, less bling, less shimmer and is less mirrored.

Adorée Rockport Gray doesn’t have a mirrored finish. It’s a pseudo-metallic light silverish gray with some mossy shimmer throughout. Rockport Gray is not a dupe but it’s a pretty good alternative, especially for people who don’t want to go full out metallic. This is my NOTD right now, it’s subtle enough that I was able to get away with it at work. The application and wear is excellent.

I first lemminged Milani Key Lime Shine when I saw it on FiveZero. The polish doesn’t show the brush strokes, the lines on the surface are actually my nail ridges. If I did this as an actual mani, which I will soon, I would use Camo as a base to eliminate that issue. Key Lime Shine is a highly mirrored metallic light lime green. This is the only one of the colors exhibited here that is available at drug stores, although it is rumored to be hard-to-find.

What is this collection named? I have no idea. It’s a very mysterious collection, but the colors are great. While other polish companies are doing grays, purples, dark colors, and metallics for fall, Essie stayed true to form and maintained their usual palette range. These colors are more classic than they are exciting but these are colors that should be standard staples in all stashes. Scrangie has reviewed these already and I agree with her insights. The reds are *hot* and I, too, love the jelly-like finish that these colors sport. I wouldn’t call them true jellies per se because the colors aren’t completely translucent, but the finishes definitely have a unique quality. I imagined that these colors would be ultra glossy, but strangely, they weren’t. I know some people like the finish to be somewhat matte but I like my nails to blind oncoming traffic, so I plan to top these with an ultra gloss top coat. Finally, these were all 2 coaters, excellent application. Well played, Essie. This collection should be out in August.

Essie – Big Spender is a sophisticated purple-y pink. It’s not a neon shade, but it reminds me a lot of the neon colors that were so popular this summer. For that reason, I think it would be good transitional color to wear from the switch between Summer to Fall. Even if you don’t have those sorts of seasonal concerns, it’s still a sexy color.

LOOOOOVE this red. Essie Forever Young, a tomato red, is gorgeous, plain and simple. I used top coat for this swatch because of the matte drying. I’ve noted where I’ve taken the images with top coat, notice the contrast?

In my swatches, Essie Lacy Not Racy looks deceptively similar to Essie Tomboy No More pictured below. Both are ridiculous sexy colors, but they’re very different. Lacy Not Racy is more of a true red, while Tomboy No More is a deeper more vampy red. This swatch was taken with top coat, if you look at the swatch of Tomboy No More in contrast to this swatch, the matte drying is really apparent.

I just can’t get enough of these reds. Essie Tomboy No More would be perfect to use for the half moon mani, well actually all three reds would be. Love it.

This color is just one huge mystery. Scrangie and I, apparently, have different colors both named No Boundaries. My bottle was a hot pink as you can see above, but hers was a vampy plum. I like my version of No Boundaries but I really like Scrangie’s, so boooooo. I’m a little confused as to what happened, I’ll let you guys know when I figure it out.

People haven’t been very excited over Essie Swept Off My Feet but it’s my absolute favorite from this collection. It’s a muted pink, Scrangie describes it as dusty – I completely agree. I love these muted dusty colors that been released as of late. There’s just something about them, to me they seem edgy but classic. I love it.

Special thanks to Essie.

Every once in a while I’ll see a color on someone else that will stir the addict inside me. Essie Barbuda Banana wasn’t that polish – it was actually Maybelline Banana Puddin’. I searched everywhere for it to no avail. Scalpers aren’t big on carrying discontinued drug store brand polishes, so it’s really tough to find these colors once they are off the initial market. I decided to settle for a dupe instead – that’s when I heard about Essie Barbuda Banana which also happens to be discontinued and hard-to-find, of course. I knew I would have more luck searching for this one since it’s a higher-end brand, and so I renewed my search for a pastel yellow.

Essie actually makes finding discontinueds fairly easy because they sell them on their website under Bye Buy Colors. You just have to let them know what you’re looking for and they’ll message you back if they have it. The catch, and of course – there is *always* a catch, is that Essie ups the retail price from $8 to $10 and charges you an arm for the shipping. Dejected, I turned to evilbay (from hereon – “the place that shall not be named”) where I found Essie Barbuda Banana for about 15 bucks shipped. Normally, I wouldn’t pay that much for a discontinued but I was really jonesing this color. The day after the auction ended someone put up an auction for Maybelline Banana Puddin’ at $3. D’oh.

Do I regret the purchase? No. The application, to put it plainly, sucks, this swatch is 4 hard-as-hell-to-apply coats. But what I can say, I love the color. I hear that Maybelline Banana Puddin’ has equally crappy application so it might just be a function of pastel yellow. This picture isn’t a very accurate depiction of the color, both Banana Puddin’ and Barbuda Banana are a slightly brighter, yet still pastel, yellow. If you don’t want to shell out the mad cash and you just can’t find Banana Puddin’ the easiest way to go about sticking it to the man is frankening your own. This is a really easy franken, you just need a yellow, take your pick there’s about 80 on the market right now (Color Club Yell-oh, Essie Shorty Pants, Zoya Creamy, Misa Hangin’ With the Girls, OPI the ‘It’ Color, OPI Need Sun Glasses, China Glaze Solar Power, Rescue Beauty Lounge Yellow Fever, NYC Taxi Cab and on and on and on) and a white (I would choose one from whatever brand your yellow of choice comes from.) You need roughly 2 parts yellow, 1 part white to end up a pastel yellow.

I apologize for the sloppy application – this was the first mani I did after the tragic nail breaking incident of 2008 – I’m still adjusting my application style to my new length. Length actually makes a difference in these things. I became used to using a larger amount of polish on the brush, now that my nails are shorter, the extra polish is pooling at my cuticles. Also, some of you may notice that this image looks different from my other images. I live in Florida, summer for us means constant thunderstorms in the afternoon. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to take sunlight images, so from time to time, I’ll have to make do with these indoor shots. I prefer sunlight images because they tend to give more accurate depictions of color and shade but the sun never comes out anymore. I’ll try my hardest to catch it when I can.

*Sigh* I was inspired to purchase Essie Chocolate Kisses after I saw it on Fivezero (one of my nail polish idols, that unfortunately pulled an Amelia Earhart). Essie Chocolate Kisses is a brownish slightly red vampy. This mani is 3 coats. The application was excellent aside from the difficulties I had due to my own application shortcomings. Even though this is an indoor shot, this image is an accurate depiction of the color and shade of Essie Chocolate Kisses. This one is a definite keeper, it’s pretty much the first brown that has not looked horrible on me. Yeay!

Some of you may have already heard of the tragedy that befell my nails last week. My left hand pinkie nail broke while I was doing research for my internship. This happened, of course, after I made this post tooting my own horn about the fabulousness of my natural nail strength. Hubris: it’ll do it to you ever time.

At first I was all woe-is-me-wah but now I’ve accepted my new short nails and have decided to embrace them. I’m in the nail polish school of thought that reserves darker colors for shorter nails, not per se, but just as general rule it’s my personal preference. However, I loved my long nails so much I didn’t want to cut them in order to break out my vampies. My unexpected break gave me an excuse to not only break out my vampies but also to put aside my anti-strengthener rhetoric and give some of my dusty strengtheners a try. Nailtek is 25% off right now at my local CVS and I have a brand new untried Color Club Vitabase. Might as well give it a shot, not like my nails can get any shorter than they are now so I have nothing to lose.

Without any further delay I present you the first image of my new shorties in vampies.

Although Color Club Killer Curves and Essie Wicked look dissimilar in the image, they look almost exactly the same in person. They also share deep red as a base color. They both have good albeit similar application so I don’t prefer one over the other. Essie Clutch Me if You Can looks dupish to the others in the bottle but it’s visibly a dark berry red on the nail where as the others border on being almost-blacks. I had to use 4 coats to get Essie Clutch Me if You Can’s depth of color to even out. Which is strange because I wouldn’t classify the polish as streaky. It applied well but for whatever reason it took 4 coats to get the color to even out to be the same shade throughout the nail. The big disappointment here is Essie Material Girl. I had HORRIBLE cuticle drag with it even though I waited ages between coats. To get it to look normal I had to battle the application to an unheard of 6 coats. That’s right, 6 coats.

Now, my Essie Material Girl isn’t a full size bottle, it’s a mini. I’ve heard a lot of people complain about mini bottles (particularly OPI minis) being of a lower quality than their full size counterparts. I’ve personally never had that problem with any mini I’ve tried. I’m hestitant to blame my application troubles on the fact that this was a mini Essie. Especially since Essie is notorious for its streakiness and difficulty of application anyway. The simple fact is that I think minis are the best thing that ever happened to nail polish (with the exception of Seche Vite.)

To be honest, I just don’t know what the issue was with Essie Material Girl. I plan to eventually give it a shot using a good base coat like Barielle Camo. Do any of you guys own Material Girl? Have you had similar results? Do you feel like minis are defunct in comparison to full size bottles? Anyone had bad luck with a particular brand’s minis?