Twinsie Tuesday: Monochrome Nails

When I picture a monochromatic manicure, the first thing that comes to mind is all-white nails. So that's what I did! :) Somewhat ironically, I used two polishes to create this monochrome look. I started with Barielle Enduring, a white creme from their new keratin-infused Prosina line. Then to make my nails extra squishy-looking, I layered Essie Marshmallow, a white jelly, over top.

It's a simple look, but I thought the mix of jelly and creme finishes gave a little extra visual interest.
Please excuse the bits of bubbling. I need a new bottle of topcoat!

Not too much more I can say about this one--like I said, it's pretty simple, but I think it fits the theme.

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Disclosure: The Barielle polish in this post was provided for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Twinsie Tuesday: Essie Hot Coco

This week's TT has us doing coffee-inspired manis. Personally, I'm not a coffee fan. I don't like the taste and it hurts my stomach. I'm much more of a tea drinker. I'm also not much a fan of brown polish, which is what this prompt made me think of. However, one of the few browns I really like is, coincidentally, named after another beverage (and one that I love): Essie Hot Coco. This color could pass as coffee with creamer, yes?

Hot Coco is so creamy and cool-toned that is almost verges into taupe territory. I think that's one of the things I like best about it is how it straddles the line between the two shades. I wear Hot Coco often during the cold weather months. Something about it just seems so cozy to me! I received this beautiful brown from the lovely Rach over at Stuff I Swatched, so a huge thank you goes out to her! :)

So that's my coffee/quasi-hot chocolate-inspired mani, hahaha. Hope you enjoyed and be sure to take a look at what my fellow Twinsies are up to this week!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Essie Resort 2016 Preview

You guys seem to love the Essie resort collections. Year after year, they're consistently one of my most popular preview posts, even more so than some of the major OPI releases. They're a favorite of mine as well.

So without further ado, let's take a look at this year's colors! For 2016, Essie is taking us on holiday to India with four new shades.

Nama-Stay The Night

 

Going Guru

 

Delhi Dance

 

Taj-Ma-Haul

 

 

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Essie's bright blues are serious business (check out Strut Your Stuff if you need further convincing) so I've definitely got my eye on Nama-Stay The Night. I'm liking the look of Going Guru, but I'm pretty sure I'll have a dupe for it already. :-/ 

I was pretty disappointed by the preview pics for Essie's spring polishes, but I think this is a step in the right direction. I'm not sure of an in-store date for these, but I'd guess we'll see them in late March or early April.

Essie Spring 2016 Preview

I'd thought Essie's Retro Revival set (where they brought back popular shades from past years) would be their spring collection, but I shoulda known better. We're getting a proper release of six all-new shades too!

L to R: High Class Affair, Lounge Lover, Sunshine State Of Mind, Poolside Service, Off Tropic, Shade On

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Eh, I feel like we've seen all of these colors from Essie before, several times over. Essie's spring releases tend to be my favorite from the brand each year, but this one just isn't doing it for me. Here's hoping this year's resort collection looks better!

Twinsie Tuesday (On A Thursday): Ms. Marvel-Inspired Nails

I know, I know, I'm two days late (getting over a bad cold), but I didn't want to miss this week's theme: inspired by a favorite fictional character! I've mentioned on here many times that I'm an avid comics reader. One of my favorite books right now is Ms. Marvel. This comic received quite a bit of mainstream attention when it launched, as the heroine, Kamala Khan, is a Muslim teenager. While religion is an important part of Kamala's identity, the comic isn't about religion. It's just awesome stories of a smart, brave and somewhat awkward teenage girl trying to figure out her place in the world while kicking some major ass.

Also, there's a giant teleporting dog. If that doesn't sell you, then I dunno what will.

Seriously, it's an adorable and funny read that I can't recommend highly enough. Even if you don't normally like comics, give this one a try. The writing is very contemporary and accessible, with lovable characters and fresh storytelling.

Now, y'all know I'm not super great at nail art, so I stuck with a simple mani inspired by Kamala's costume.

                           

The blue is Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like and the red is Essie Geranium. I added in one of my Born Pretty superhero nail decals for the lightning bolt. Here's how it came out!

It's nothing fancy, but I like it just the same. Sorry it was so late, but hopefully you enjoyed it too! :) And remember to check out my fellow Twinsies' manis!

                        

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Jamberry Accent Nails: Review & Swatches

I've got a couple different manis to share with you guys today, all of them incorporating Jamberry nail appliques. Nine times out of ten, if I'm wearing nail wraps and someone comments on them, they will ask me if they're Jamberry, so they seem to be pretty well known. But if you're not familiar with Jamberry, they're kinda different from other nail wraps, so here's a quick crash course for you!

Jamberry is sold through individual consultants. This time around, mine was Maureen. She was super sweet and willing to help troubleshoot if I had any questions or application issues. Consultants offer their appliques through their own websites, which feature a TON of designs. Click HERE if you want to check out Maureen's.

The biggest difference between Jamberry and other nail wraps in that you have to heat the appliques.  After you peel them off the sheet, you have to expose them to heat for 3-5 seconds to make them more flexible. I always use my blow dryer and that works perfectly. Next, apply the wrap to your nail, trim and file the excess, then hit them with a little heat again to fully bond the wraps to the nail.

These are a little more time consuming to apply than traditional wraps, since you have to involve a heat source, but I've found them to be extremely sturdy on the nail so taking a little extra time with them typically equates to long, worry-free wear. I also like that if you get a crease or a bubble when applying, you can smooth it out with a little patience and an extra blast from the blow dryer. To remove, soak them in acetone for 30 seconds to break down the adhesive, then gently peel them off.

Maureen sent me a selection of different Jamberry accent nails to play around with. These little sheets feature six different wraps, each with a different design, so that you can see what patterns you like and get a feel for how Jamberry wears and applies. I'm obsessed with nail wraps, but I've never tried them as accent nails. Here's a couple quick and easy combinations I came up with using these designs!

Grey: Barielle Feathered Slippers

Green: Essie Chillato

Red: Barielle Blushing Beauty

There's a bit of a learning curve with Jamberry, but I've found I can get the hang of it pretty quickly. It's been a while since I used any Jamberry wraps, so my first attempt (the flower wrap with Barielle Feathered Slippers) wasn't perfectly smooth, but this was due to user error rather than a flaw with the product. After that though, I got back in the groove and didn't have any issues applying the rest of the wraps.

My favorite of these was the overlay wrap I wore over Essie Chillato. I believe the name of this design is Island Energy. It adhered really well to the polish already on my nail and added a fun bit of depth to my existing manicure.

Have you tried anything from Jamberry before? I'd love to hear how what your experience with them was like in the comments!


Disclosure: These products were sent for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Essie Chillato

Hey all! Hope you had a good weekend and that you are keeping cool. Our air conditioner decided to break a couple days ago and we are still waiting for it go get fixed, so we are really sweating it here! :-/ Earlier today, we decided to go grab some fresh lemonade to cool off and my polish was almost the exact same color as the lemonade! I'm a dork, so I get excited over stuff like that.

Then here it is, sans lemonade:

Chillato is a really interesting color. I guess I'd described it as a yellow-based pastel green creme. It's pretty unique. The closest polish to it that I have is probably Deborah Lippmann Almost Paradise, but even that is visibly less yellow.

When applying, I had to be careful not to overload my brush, as Chillato does tend to pool around the cuticles. I wouldn't describe it as runny, but it's something I had to be mindful of. Overall though, it's got a nice enough formula that's not too streaky for a pastel. Above is three coats.

What are you drinking today? Other than the lemonade, I've become completely obsessed with Naked and Odwalla brand fruit juice smoothies, so I'm downing a ton of those lately to help keep cool! The fact that they're crazy yummy doesn't hurt either!

First Look: Essie Luxeffects 2015

In what's becoming something of a winter tradition, Essie is bringing back Luxeffects again this year. But don't get too excited--this latest batch seemingly features only one new polish: a pewter bar glitter called Fringe Factor.

The rest of the promo pictures floating around the net about this collection are super grainy-looking, but from what I can tell, the other shades are all re-promotes from past Luxeffects collections: Rock At The Top, Set In Stones and A Cut Above. Stroke Of Brilliance might also be in there? Again, this is just my best guess from looking at the picture and none of this info has been officially confirmed by Essie.

And then I've included one of the blurry pics here so we can all speculate together!

 

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Honestly, I feel like each subsequent Luxeffects release has been increasingly underwhelming. We've gotten one new shade each in the 2014 and now 2015 collections. I don't mind re-promotes when they're polishes that are rare or were only available for a short time, but all of these other Luxeffects are still readily available in-store. The original Luxeffects Collection was beloved by many (including me), but we've been missing those standout polishes like Shine of the Times in these follow-ups. Just my two cents!

I'll have more info for you guys as soon as it's available!

Essie Virgin Snow (Winter 2015) Preview

I've got some preview shots of Essie's upcoming winter collection to share tonight! All of Essie's collections share a name with one of the polishes and it looks like this one will be called "Virgin Snow." In addition to Virgin Snow itself, there'll be five other new polishes. Let's take a look!

 

 

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Well this is pretty underwhelming, huh? Essie has had some amazing collections this year, so this one strikes me as sort of "low effort" by comparison. But last year Essie had several wintertime releases, so hopefully this is just a first taste!

I'm not sure of an exact release date, but judging by past years, I'd say mid-October is a safe guess.

Twinsie Tuesday: Essie Hip-Tide

For this week's Twinsie Tuesday, we were tasked with doing a matte and shiny combo. I've gone on record as not being a huge fan of mattes, but I do love me a good satin. So I thought a satin polish, which is sort of in between shiny and matte, would be a nice way to showcase both finishes.

I went with Essie Hip-Tide, one of the shades from the new Cashmere Matte Brights Collection. Hip-Tide is a perky satin pink with iridescent pink shimmer. (The former copy editor in me feels compelled to point out that the hyphen in the name here is completely unnecessary, but I digress...)

The overall consistency was nicer than with its collection-mate, Yespadrilles, but unfortunately I was still less than thrilled with the formula on Hip-Tide. It's sheer (what you see above is four coats) and I had a ton of bubbling. I'm sure you can see in the picture how bad it is. I don't recall have any bubbling issues with the original Cashmere Mattes, so I'm not sure why it seems to be such a problem with the Brights. I can work around a sheer or streaky formula, but bubbling is frustratingly difficult to conceal. A lot of times you just have to start over, but honestly the bubbling was so bad with Hip-Tide that I really didn't think it would make any difference.

I was also hoping the shimmer in this would be a bit more prominent like it was with Yespadrilles, because it's so stinkin' pretty in the bottle, but sadly that was not the case. This polish was just one big "nope" for me.

What do you think of Hip-Tide? And don't forget to take a look at what my Twinsies are doing today too!

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Lisa at The Polish Playground

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Kristine at Pink and Polished Nails

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Essie Yespadrilles

I wrote a little while ago about the surprise Cashmere Matte Brights Collection from Essie and today I've got my first swatch from it to show you! This is Yespadrilles, a blue-based mint satin. Compared to the original Cashmere Mattes, Yespadrilles has a more visible shimmer to it, although it doesn't show up on camera as much as it does in real life.  I absolutely adore the base color; reminds me of mint candies.

The color is to die for, but the formula was not so hot. It was super patchy and I had a couple issues with bubbling as well. I will say that it self-leveled well enough and it wore nicely for a mani without topcoat (no chips after two days), but it was still a pain in the butt to apply. This was three coats, although a couple nails needed four to cover up patchiness.

The formula may not have been my favorite, but the beautiful color was worth it. This is a fun twist on a spring/summer pastel and completely unlike what we've seen in the Cashmere Matte line before. If you're a fan of classic Essie colors like Mint Candy Apple, definitely check out Yespadrilles!

Essie Fall 2015 Preview

Can you believe it's almost fall?! I can't believe how fast this year has gone and that we're already talking about fall collections!

Today we're checking out Essie. While I love Essie's spring/summer polishes, I must admit I rarely buy anything from their fall collections. They're not bad, but they just don't seem to be as exciting as, say, OPI's fall polishes usually are. But I was really surprised by these colors--in a good way! They might not scream "autumn" in the traditional sense, but it looks like they've got some beautifully rich, saturated shades here.

 

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As I'm sure you've noticed, all of Essie's collections share a name with one of the polishes in the collection. Some of the promotional info floating around online about this particular collection seems to suggest it'll be called Leggy Legend. I couldn't find anything on a release date, but I'd expect these to start popping up in stores sometime next month.

Bell-Bottom Blues and Frock 'n Roll are the ones I'm most looking forward to seeing swatches of. How about you? Ready for fall colors yet or still clinging to your summer brights?

Essie Striped Mani

I saw this adorable striped mani on Essie's Instagram account last week and I just had to put it on my own nails!

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Cute, right? I love the bright, summer-y shades they used. I busted out the exact same Essie polishes used in the original mani (Geranium and Bikini So Teeny) to re-create it. I didn't have the white polish, Essie Blanc, but honestly white is white, so Illamasqua Scorch was a perfect substitute.

This is one of my favorite manis I've ever done! It was my first time working with striping tape and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was. The design came out very crisp and clean and I love how the colors play off each other. I wore this all weekend as my 4th of July nails and it could not have been more perfect for the occasion!

Twinsie Tuesday: Essie Vibrant Vibes

Man, it has been a craaazzzyyyy week! I've barely had time to do my nails but I did manage to squeeze in a mani for Twinsie Tuesday. This week we're doing neon nails, so I decided to wear one of the newest additions to my stash: Vibrant Vibes, from Essie's 2015 neon collection. It's a bright green with yellow undertones. Love this color!

The consistency of Vibrant Vibes was spot-on, but application was still really patchy. Maybe this is something that could be helped by layering a white base underneath? But I chose to wear Vibrant Vibes all by itself, so I wound up needing four coats in all. Like most neons, it dries down to a satin finish, so top coat is a must for shine.

While this color isn't super neon, I still think it's bright enough to be a part of a neon-centric collection. It's also completely unique and my stash and that says a lot coming from someone with as many green polishes as I have!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kristine at Pink and Polished Nails

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Essie Cashmere Matte Brights Preview

It's been a long time since I found out about a new collection just by seeing it on the store shelf, but that's exactly what happened with the Essie Cashmere Matte Brights Collection. I had no idea this even existed. But I did a little digging on the internet and came up with some preview pics to share with you guys!

 

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This is a limited edition Ulta-exclusive collection. I have no self-control, so I wound up with three of the four polishes. It's not often you see satin polishes in more vibrant colors, so I couldn't resist! Soft as Sand is the only one I didn't get. It was pretty but it seemed the least unique of the set.

Essie Gel Setter Preview

Let's face it: "gel-like" top coats are the thing right now. It seems like every brand, from drugstore to high-end, has one. Now we can add Essie's Gel Setter to the mix.

Like all the other gel-substitute top coats, this one promises high shine and long wear. To me, formula is EVERYTHING with gel top coats. Someone who changes their polish as often as I do doesn't necessarily care about extra-long wear, but if the top coat goes on like butter, I'll be sold! I just know I'm gonna wind up trying this one, because I am a sucker for new top coats...

Look for Gel Setter in stores next month, with a standard retail price of $10. Essie had it on their website for a hot second, but it's already sold out!

I've never tried any of Essie's top coats, although I am a big fan of their Feed Me Base Coat (full review HERE). Are they any good?

Twinsie Tuesday: Inspired By Your Favorite Cup/Mug

I am a tea fanatic, so I own quite a few mugs. Most of them are superhero/pop culture-themed, but not all. One of my favorites is this cute balloon mug:

The inside of the mug is painted a creamy shade of turquoise, so using that as my inspiration, I started with Essie In The Cab-ana. Then to play off the colors of the balloons, I layered Rainbow Honey 20% Cooler, a flurry of rainbow hexes with a sprinkling of iridescent blue microshimmer, over top. They play off each other perfectly!

I'm super happy with how this combo turned out. It's very fun and colorful, plus I think it represents my mug pretty darn well.

What's your favorite drink? I used to drink a TON (like, probably majorly unhealthy quantities) of Coca-Cola, but tea has really helped me cut back a lot.

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Lisa at The Polish Playground

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Kristine at Pink and Polished Nails

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Essie Neons 2015 Preview

I posted preview pics of this collection a while back, but since there weren't any color names and I didn't have any official release information, I figured it couldn't hurt to share the latest with you all.

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I feel like we've seen all of these colors (or at least, one's very close to them) from Essie before...and they don't really look like true neons, either. OPI just calls their summer collection "Brights" and I feel like these would fit better under that type of label.

There are some pretty colors here, to be sure, but I feel like I already have these from Essie, so I don't know if I'll be picking anything up from this collection. I might get Vibrant Vibes, because I have exceptionally poor impulse control when it comes to green polish, but we'll see. 

Do you plan on getting anything from this collection? Does the lack of true neons here bother you?

Essie Hubby For Dessert

The name of this polish irks me so much. I don't even know why, but it does. I felt like I had to get that out of the way before I say anything else about Essie Hubby For Dessert. (*shudders*) As for the polish itself, it's a lovely pale lavender jelly from this year's bridal collection.

As expected with jellies--especially a pastel jelly like this one--Hubby For Dessert is on the sheer side, but overall it's not too bad. I started with a coat of Barielle Natural Nail Camouflage underneath to help disguise any VNL and I was able to get away with just three coats of polish! The consistency is nice and this is a polish that also self-levels very well. It's also super shiny! I used Hubby For Dessert as a base for a jelly sandwich for this week's Twinsie Tuesday, so what you see here is just Hubby For Dessert by itself, sans topcoat. Just look how sleek it is!

I wasn't planning on picking up anything from Essie's 2015 bridal collection, but something about this polish called to me when I saw it in person. I'm really glad I did decide to get it, because it's adorable! I'd even consider wearing it on my own wedding day. :)

Twinsie Tuesday: Jelly Sandwich

This week's Twinsie Tuesday theme is easy enough: a jelly sandwich. Yet I still screwed something up with it, which I'll get to in a minute. Let's start with the basics here. My base was Essie Hubby For Dessert, a light lavender jelly from this year's bridal collection. Then in the middle part of my sandwich, I used Butter London Doily, a milky pink base filled with matte white bar and hex glitters.

So I dunno if it was the fault of Doily or my OPI Infinite Shine top coat, but I had some pretty noticeable bubbling here. It's not as visible in pictures, but it's there. So I think I put one of those two on a little too thick, but what can ya do?

Other than the bubbling issues, I'm pretty pleased with this mani. It looks light and airy--perfect for spring! I know it's supposed to be summer, but with the rainy weather we have here in Michigan today it sure doesn't feel like it!

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Lisa at The Polish Playground

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Kristine at Pink and Polished Nails

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Alaina at The Little Canvas