ESSIE - Mamba NOTD

Mamba by Essie is one of the nail polishes I picked up when I was in New York but have to say I am still a bit undecided about this shade. Part of their 2011 Spring collection, Essie describes Mamba as a “shimmering café au lait” but I personally think it is more of a warm peachy nude colour with a brown undertone. The polish has a very slight shimmer and the formula is creamy and goes opaque in two coats.

Mamba is a great natural polish that is suitable for every season and appropriate with work or casual wear. However as the shade is quite peachy and a bit similar to my skin-colour I actually think Mamba would look best on people with either really fair or darker skin tones. Overall I’d say it is a good every day nude polish but at the moment OPI’s Tickle my France-y remains my holy grail nude nail polish!

What do you think – do you like the look of Mamba?

Totally Fort Worth It?

When I was in America I picked up a new OPI nail polish that's described as “A shimmery lavender grey that’s so worthy of you.” Its Totally Fort Worth It is from their 2011 Texas collection.

In the bottle the polish looks like a grey with quite a strong pink shimmer through it but unfortunately when on your nails the shimmer hardly shows. This polish has quite a sheer formula meaning that it takes minimum 3-4 coats to get opaque cover. This is after 3 coats...

I found this nail polish a little underwhelming because I just was hoping for a grey with bit more oomph because of the pink shimmer but it turned out to be more a sheer shimmery silver.
So I thought what can I do to make my nails a bit more exciting? I know, add a Essie LuxEffects topcoat! Shine of the Times is a gorgeous multichromatic flaky glitter topcoat which shifts to every color except purple, but the most dominant colors are red/orange and green. There's a heavy amount of flake in here and it provides very good coverage with only one coat.

Tadaaa much better. What do you think?
It's even more gorgeous in real life but the shine was hard to capture on camera.

I think Shine of the Times is a must-have top coat. It looks fabulously pretty on top light polishes or fun and edgy over darker shades. Have you tried any of these two polishes or can you recommend a great Shine of the Times combo? Xoxo

Essie manicure: Demure Vixen & new Essie purchases

During London Fashion Week I popped by the HandPickedMedia LFW Lounge at One Aldwych to catch up with their lovely team, check out some cool brands and products on display and get a little pampered! Well they were offering Essie manicures... so how could I say no to that? I'm a big fan of Essie polishes because they are great quality and they offer a fun and large range of colours!

The hardest thing really was what colour to choose.....

After a lot of ummming and ahhhhing and with the help of the beautician, I decided on this pretty lady!

Demure Vixen is a iridescent cocoa mauve shade.

I really like this nail polish because it is modern whilstchic and goes with pretty much everything. I like its complexity because insome light it is more of a subtle taupe/nude shade but in bright light thelittle purple sparkles shine through to make it more of a vibrant lavender shade.Great long lasting formula and all you need is 2 coats to get an opaque evenfinish. You can see more (and better) swatches of Demure Vixen here.

 

As much as I love Essie nail polishes I do find that they are a wee bit pricey in the UK. So when I was in the States I took advantage of the fact they were only $8 (about £5!) there, to stock up and get a few new additions to my nail polish collection.

L-R: Luxeffects; Shine of the Times, Mamba and Mademoiselle

I can't wait to try these lovely new shades. What are your favourite Essie nail polishes?

 

Essie: Mint Candy Apple nails %

As you know I am loving anything in the colour mint at the moment so this was something that I just HAD to add to my nail polish collection....

Yep we are talking MINT nail polish!

I think Essie's Mint Candy Apple is the perfect shade for spring 2012 or just imagine it on feet with sand between your toes, while on the beach..... oh yeah baby bring on summer :)This could have been just my bottle but the formula of Mint Candy Apple was a little thick for me which made application a bit tricky. You definitely need 2-3 coats for smooth/opaque cover.

Oh and my lovely flattie also got me a little gift from her recent holiday trip to Dubai.... .....in the form of a mini mint nail polish from Sephora....oh she knows me SO well :)

Teeny Bikini nail polish by Sephora (link) is a lovely mint shade. 

It's a little more green than Essie's Mint Candy Apple. 

It has a great, non-streaky formula and the mini size makes it super easy to just pop into your handbag for a quick mint fix anytime, anywhere :) xoxo

ESSIE Chinchilly at NYC Fashion Week '12

Here is a quick trend report from Essie at NYC Fashion week.
This is what they spotted backstage at 3.1 Phillip Lim Fall/Winter 2012....

♥ Trends:
Short oval nails
Romantic yet edge makeup
Neo-noir, comic inspired clothing and nails

♥ Colours: One coat of licorice, topped with a thin stripe of chinchilly and highlighted with blanc for a shadowed, crescent-moon effect.

♥ Heard: “This graphic nail design is dramatic, yet incredibly wearable. Women of any age can wear this look to make a super modern statement that is still totally chic.” – Essie Weingarten.

Love this funky nail look! Essie in Chinchilly is one of their best selling shades. 

It's a 'sleek granite grey' that flatters many skin tones.

Normally Chanel Particulière is my go-to elegant taupe nail polish but at the moment am loving the whole greige look. Chinchilly is a darker version of my OPI's Skull & Glossbones but this has slightly more mauve/purplish undertones. It is creamy, chic and natural yet a little sexy and very versatile!

The formula of this nail polish is fantastic. Not too thick, very smooth but not streaky which meant opaque nails after only two coats. The brush is also makes applying a breeze. This is definitely a new favourite of mine and as it seems right on trend....So are you loving the greige nail look? xoxo