Essie Wicked... I think?

Ocean State Job Lot is a store in New England that is just like a small discount store with a... dingy kind of feel? Don't picture TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross, or something like that. It's like a little less nice than Big Lots. There's no dressing room but they sell some clothes. They literally sell everything. Cosmetics, books, food, clothes, kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff, toys, everything. But anyway, they're constantly getting new, random stuff. This is where I get polishes from collections that have just been discontinued. For example, Revlon Carbonite was here, Wet N Wild Bloom polishes, and they sell Chi polishes as well as OLD Maybelline polishes. I don't know, a ton of random stuff.

Anyway, wandered myself in and found a whole box of Essie polishes for $3!! Oddly enough, 90% of the bottles were labeled "Clambake", and I don't think any of the polishes were actually Clambake. The rest were labeled "Geranium" and "Downtown Brown" (which I think was legit). Some where salon bottles, some were retail bottles, some were in between. So I picked some colors I like and ultimately determined this one was probably Wicked.











2 coats Essie Wicked
1 coat Poshe

Wicked is a gorgeous deep dark blood, maroon-y red creme. Not so dark that it looks black. It's a pretty sexy red, actually.

The formula was great thankfully, as I tend to have bad luck with Essie's formula. This polish is SUPER glossy without top coat I also didn't want to put one on! I did not have problems with cuticle flooding. It's on the thinner side, but a good thinner. Very happy with it.

Pink Syrup

So maybe you wanna call this a gradient, but I'm calling it syrup because of the method I used, but mainly because this was the STICKIEST thing ever!! I don't know if it was the polish, or that I have 10 freakin' coats of polish on my nails but holy crap!! Legit like I was painting syrup on my nails.

So I had heard mention of syrup nails and started to search around to see what this was all about. Seemed very interesting. I used the method similar to this post by Nihrida. Had my jelly been as sheer as Butter LONDON Stroppy from this post by Polish Insomniac, I think the process would have been much better.
*For the record, my cuticles aren't actually dry and gross. They look a little icky because of all the polish that kinda got on 'em.







Total of 10 layers (two nails have more because they needed one more coat at the tip to make it fade better).
Started with Essie Mademoiselle and then with Revlon Take Two in Wild Garnet, alternating the two down the nail. I'd do complete coats of mademoiselle, but kept doing shorter coats of Wild Garnet.

Every 10 minutes I repeated the process. For example, at 11:30 I painted a layer. It takes me 3 minutes to paint both hands. Then I wait 7 minutes until 11:40 and do the process again. Ultimately topped with 1 coat Poshe.

What a terribly tedious process!! Worst part about it? I'm just not that happy with the way it came out. It bothers me that the lines are visible. It looks more apparent in the photos, but it unfortunately is still noticeable when you look at my nails closely in real life. I need to practice this a bit more. Looking on the bright side, since I don't like it, I won't mind taking it off despite the fact that it took over an hour and a half to do!!

Edit 8/16
I decided to add glitter to the tips to see if that helped at all. I used an absolutely ancient Sally Hansen Hard As Nails called Glisten. I actually think it did make it look a little better. I figure if you're going to have nails like this, you might as well slap some glitter on it!! Haha.







The problem is you can really see that there is WAY too much polish on my middle finger. Look how it is so raised and kinda distorted. My middle nail is already a little different shaped than my other nails, but wow does 10-12 layers of polish accentuate that!!

French Affair with Sticker Decal

Yesterday's mani was just simply Essie French Affair, and I wanted to do something simple to it today. I considered Konad, but wanted a bit more. Nothing flashy, though. I wanted to keep it fairly simple. So I ran down to Walmart and picked up some Nail Art stickers by Kiss for less than $2 and figured I'd give them a shot.





3 coats French Affair
1 coat Poshe
Sticker from Kiss

Well it's a good thing I got those few photos before I put a top coat on the sticker. The photos aren't the best because I had just gotten out of the shower, so my nails were a little swollen.
My first experience with the sticker was decent. It has a clear backing so even though it looks noticeable in the photos, it's not noticeable when you look at it in real life. The instructions mention using a Nail Art Applicator. I didn't use that, just used my fingers. The only problem I had was once it's down, it's down. One of them got about halfway stuck and I realized the placement didn't quite match my other nail. I tried to pull it back up, but it tore off the piece I was holding, so I just stuck it down where it was. I suppose that's a good thing when it comes to lasting, though. Maybe that would imply that it won't peel up within a day.

So, here's where things went wrong. I didn't initially use a topcoat, even though the instructions state that you should. I got home from the dentist and realized the little silver balls looked dingy and not really shiny at all anymore. I was going to say I used lotion, but I used it BEFORE putting on the sticker, so I really don't know why they became dull.
Once I got home (about 2 hours after application), I decided to use a top coat to make the silver balls shiny before I took better photos once my nails de-swelled... what a horrible mistake.





This is with 1 coat OPI Top Coat. The silver color from the balls smeared ALL OVER and left portions of the balls just clear. Wow I'm not impressed.

Here are the stickers I bought


Here are the instructions

Essie French Affair

I'm mad at myself for not painting my nails on Sunday. After work on Saturday, I went over to a friend's house for dinner and then woke up early the next morning with no time to paint my nails. I went to the Chief's Show, which I'm sure will interest no one who reads my blog!! Haha. But it's basically a fire expo with lots of fire trucks, ambulances, vendors, etc. Way more fire than EMS based, and I'd prefer it the other way around, but I had a nice long talk with the rep from the company who makes our stretchers, so that was entertaining. Saw a few ambulances up there that I have personally worked in, which was also neat.

Anyway, back to nails. So I had intentions of doing something really awesome and fire/EMS related. Didn't happen at all. I went with naked nails :(

So when I went to paint my nails last night, I knew exactly what I wanted (something that hasn't happened for a while). Generally I tend to go for more flashy, bright, non-typical (not work appropriate) colors with awesome finishes. For some reason, I just wanted to wear a simple light pink creme and French Affair was that.

**Please note that even if my photos look a little wonky, the polish looks perfect in real life**













3 coats French Affair
1 coat Poshe
*Another side note:
My pinkie had been out of commission due to a horrible, horrible break a few weeks back. It finally grew out enough for me to silk wrap, and is back in my photos!! Woo!! And if you paid attention the the green blob on my palm, that's the reflection of the 50% off sticker I didn't take off the bottle.

Good GOSH this application was terrible. I don't understand how Essie manages to repeatedly put out pastel cremes like this. It was streaky, too thick, dried quickly on the brush, and had awful cuticle drag. This polish is a mess, I am so disappointed. The photos you see are actually a re-paint because the first one I stared at closely and realized would look horrendous in Macro photos. I lost a lot of patience dealing with this polish. This is one that you need to be prepared for. Because Nice is Nice was from the same collection and the formula was fine there, I was really hoping it would be great here, too. Nope. It followed in the footsteps of Mint Candy Apple (which I was prepared to deal with having worn it plenty of times, so it wasn't that bad) and joins with the application of Topless & Barefoot, also from the same collection.
Please don't get me wrong. Don't let the application deter you from this polish. Just be aware that it requires some babying and it won't be a quick out-the-door polish.

The color on the other hand, is gorgeous, and is why you really shouldn't be so weary of the formula. It's a cool-toned pastel pink that gets totally opaque, looks beautifully creamy, and has a brightness to it that doesn't make your hands look dead. It's a creme that keeps me staring at my nails. I've found some lighter pinks can look messy and childish. This is not one of them. It's so gorgeous. I love the contrast of the cool-toned polish with my warm/olive/yellow skintone. I think it's so lovely and as of now, will be my go-to baby pink. I would also say that it is in the realm of being one of those perfect Barbie pinks, just the light version as opposed to the bright, fun version that is Orly Fancy Fuchsia.

Bonus!!
My amazing little pup dog, Paisley, chillin' in the sunshine!! Caught this photo mid-sniff lol. She was lying out while I was taking photos this morning. Her nickname is Small Dog.

Spring Wedding Nails

This was from my friend's wedding yesterday!! This is actually the same friend whose wedding I went to in NYC. So the night before the wedding I water marbled one of my friend's nails and it was super fun! She was totally into it and loved doing it!! They came out awesome, I'll try to get a picture.

So I had to decide what to do for my nails. I slowly started to piece together my ideas to create a cohesive look. All of my friends know I'm a nail fanatic (I was with the bride and the wedding party last night when I water marbled our friend's nails), so I know they're expecting something awesome. My dress is not a solid color, so I didn't want to do anything too flashy. I was contemplating doing a complete water marble, but decided that was too much for me to do today, and I knew I wanted to wear Essie Mint Candy Apple. So the game plan became MCA on all nails but my ring fingers, which will be water marbled to match colors in my dress. I was going to water marble my thumbs, too, but one of my thumbs is getting a fake nail, so I decided not to bother. I'm actively doing my nails as I'm typing this, so I'm also considering possibly Konading some or all of my other fingers. If I do it, it'll be in white and something subtle, not a full nail design. So let's see what I ended up with...















Close-ups of the Water Marbles



2 coats Essie Mint Candy Apple
Water Marble:
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White On
Essie Mint Candy Apple
Essie French Affair
1 coat Poshe
Konad:
Konad White with Essence stamping plate (design also on Konad plate m4)

I had been reluctant to use MCA because it tends to be difficult to work with. This time, though, it really wasn't that bad. Probably because I expected it so I was careful. It's one of those that tends to get dry on the brush so it becomes difficult to apply. I find if you frequently let it rest back in the polish, application is much better. It did have a little drag, but I was able to get around that the majority of the time. It was somewhat uneven (not streaky, just uneven), but that was resolved with a top coat.
MCA is a pretty well known color, and despite the application problems, I still think it's worth it. It's such a bright, fun turquoise that leans more blue than green. When I think "Mint", and I think green, but this is definitely more blue.

The water marble was great, but there were bubbles. Luckily only one on each nail is actually visible when you look at the nails in real life, and even then, they're so subtle. The colors spread perfectly and easily in the water, even though MCA is pretty thick. I did not expect it to spread NEARLY as well as it did, which further proves each polish is different when it comes to marbling.

I decided to go with a simple Konad design on my thumbs just to add a bit more, and so you could notice it when I text on my phone.

What was awesome, though, was my friend whose nails I marbled the night before. She was at the pasta station getting food and the servers started asking her about her nails!! She told them I did them and they asked what salon I worked at because they LOVED them... heehee. That made me feel kinda awesome lol.

Here's what I wore that was the inspiration for my nails:

Esse Nice is Nice ... and not Nice weather

UGH!!!! I hate New England. I've been dying to wear an untried holo, but I really want it to be sunny when I do. Yesterday was kinda chilly, but it was sunny. At some point during my 16.5 hour work day on Saturday, my thumb nail which was silk wrapped, broke through the silk wrap. So I need to repair it again. I just left my nails unpainted yesterday because of that. So today, I'm all excited to wake up and do my holo nails... and it's grey, cold, and rainy outside. According to the 5 day weather, rain today, rain tomorrow, rain Wednesday, and FINALLY a nice day Thursday, then right back to rain on Friday.

I picked up Nice is Nice at CVS for 50% off. I don't really own any light purple/lavender/lilac polishes, so I figured why not pick this one up? And if you hadn't already heard, 4 polishes from the French Affair collection are 50% off at CVS. That includes Sand Tropez, French Affair, Coat Azure, and obviously Nice is Nice. Topless & Barefoot and Kisses & Bises were NOT 50% off at my CVS. They were still full price.













2 coats Nice is Nice
1 coat Poshe

The formula was fine, a lovely creme that's opaque with 2 coats, no streaking or goopy-ness. I like Essie's brushes because they're smaller, though this one didn't seem as stiff as other Essie brushes.

So, this is not a particularly easy shade to photograph, but regardless, I'm not loving this color on me. I don't like the pinky undertones of lilac colored polishes like this one with my skintone. I have a pretty neutral skintone, but it tends to lean more olive/yellow, though I'm pretty pale (the second to last photo shows my olive/yellowness). I don't get why these colors don't work for me, but what are ya gonna do? So now I understand why I don't really own any light purples (except ELF Lilac). However, this means a challenge! Finding the perfect light purple/lavender and stay away from lilacs. Any suggestions?

Simple&Sheer Essie Mademoiselle (edit) and A "Royal" Wedding

Today I am attending a Royal Wedding... ish. A close girlfriend of mine was one of three couples chosen by TLC to get married in Times Square at the same time the royal wedding is taking place!! I am so excited for her and her fiance.

We have to be in Times Square at 0400, which is disgustingly early. Haha! We were instructed (by the producers) to dress as if we were actually attending the royal wedding. I may end up posting a photo of my whole outfit, but we will see! I wanted to keep with a low key, classic nail. I didn't want to do french, I didn't want to wear mannequin hands, and I didn't want something very flashy or striking. If I had nubbins, I might be more apt to do that, but I don't. So subtle it is!!









3 coats Essie Mademoiselle
1 coat Poshe

Sorry for the not so dynamic photos. I know it's not super exciting. As a huge chunk of Essie's collection, Mademoiselle is a sheer color and great for frenches if you don't like the look of just sheer. As you can see by 3 coats (and not 3 thin coats mind you), that this is not really a buildable sheer. This is one of the first polishes my wonderful boyfriend ever bought for me, and since he cannot be at the wedding (due to his schedule), I thought it was perfectly appropriate to wear this.
I love this color for something simple such as this. It gives just enough that shows there's something on your nail without being a defined color. It's a very polished *snickers* look. And because of the sheerness, it goes on with no problems, no streaking, and the brush should work fine for anyones nails. The only complaint I could imagine someone having with this polish is the fact that it's sheer and maybe they expected it to be more opaque. But that's not the intention of this polish, and therefore, I think it's lovely!!

Haha!! And I just realized what a complete 180 this is from my previous NOTD yesterday, which was my bright pink/orange/yellow water marble!

Edit -
I was going to do a new post, but because this is a nail blog, I figured it'd be boring to read a post that would otherwise be totally unrelated.
So I just got home from NYC a few hours ago (the train ride was only an hour!!) and I am completely exhausted. I got 2 1/2 hours of sleep before I had to be up and getting ready for the wedding, and some of the girls I was with didn't even bother to sleep!! It was a long day that started with watching the entire Royal Wedding before seeing our gorgeous friend, Lindsay, get married.
I mentioned I might post my dress, and while it's nothing exciting, at least you all will get to see!! I know I love seeing who is behind their blogs and a random photo of the blogger every now and again makes me feel more apart of the blog. So, here's my outfit (these are all iPhone pictures, BTW):



I don't know how "royal" it is, but I was at a complete loss about what to wear. If you're curious, the dress is from H&M and the headband/flower/fascinator is from Ulta.

Here's me and the GORGEOUS bride:



And here's a photo of the couple I took:



And a photo from the Associated Press:



I hope you enjoyed my photos!!

All Rose Lead to Rome Matte with Konad

I loved wearing ARLTR on it's own, but I had envisioned this concept when I knew I would be wearing ARLTR for two days. I had intended to use a different Konad design (it was actually an Essence plate), but unfortunately after 3 attempts to pick up the image, there was the same corner missing on a flower. I wanted the border look, so I had a Konad plate stored with the Essence plate, and just went ahead with this new design. Here it is:













And a close up of the design


2 coats All Rose Lead to Rome
1 coat Poshe (from the previous day)
2 coats Essie Matte About You
Konad Plate m36 with white Konad polish