There was a time in my life I was all about the nail art. Not elaborate drawings, but details and ombrés were my favourites.
Fast forward and I am now all about the plain colours and when they come with a differential, I’m all for it.
Meet the essie leathers collection, created by their colour designer Rebecca Minkoff, and inspired by her best selling leather handbag colours.
There are six amazing shades and they come in two sets of minis: one with very autumnal, deep colours and one with winter bright pastels, all reworked.
The finish is not glossy, but not totally matte, with a discreet metallic sheen. Some shades even have a slight texture that can barely be seen.
My favourite has to be the super pale grey lilac Push The Envelope. It’s super versatile, so close to white with a silver glimmer but not harsh. And easy to apply. Love.
The greens are divine – be it minty turquoise Bucket List or viridian Back in the Saddle.
Then there is the lavender shining mauve Cross-Body Heat, blood red Tote-ally In Love and indigo blue In Hot Purse-uit.
I used them without a topcoat (not to spoil the finish) and durability was way better than I expected – a week, no chips.
You will all know how much I love essie nail polishes: the formula, the fabulous brush, the great colours, limited edition collections and even the quirky names, so no surprise I have used each polish for a whole week!
They are available only until the 24th October at Boots for £12.99 a set (3x5ml), so hurry if you fancy a bit of leathery love on your talons!
Nails nail nails. I went from a through and through red nail polish gal who could never picture a nude on her nails to a lover of all colours, shades, finishes and art.
The new shades are inside scoop, a pretty sheer tea rose pink with a slight blue undertone, v.i.please, a deep, berry violet hinted with red, style stunner, a super bright orange with an underlying red, sizzling hot, an opaque saturated hibiscus red with a pink undertone and finally, my eye-catch shade, front page-worthy, a dark royal blue with a pearl overcast.
First of all, I feel I have to explain the month long absence: I have moved houses. Bought a flat and been like a maniac between closing the deal, moving and furnishing and now I’m starting to settle. Although I have no wifi yet, tethering to my mobile has been useful. And the means to this post!
Second, I cannot see a better way of going to back to blogging than essie‘s retro revival 2nd edition limited collection nail polishes. The six shades embody the flawless chic vibe from the beginning of the brand in 1981 Las Vegas – in fact the caps have the original Stardust Casino gold star sign.
My favourite has to be the stunning sweet tart (oh how appropriate!) a pearlescent nude with mauve undertones. Just gorgeous.
That doesn’t mean I am not in love with the other shades: pure chiffon is the perfect warm beige which will suit most skin tones; flawless is a delicate pink that feels quite neutral; chastity is a lively cherry blossom pink and bold beauty is a fabulous and seductive mid-century deep red. All sorts of love for this collection.
Apart from the neutrals and a killer red, that never goes out of fashion, pinks were all over the catwalk for the new season.
As a lover of all colours on my nails, I am not one to say there are summer and winter colours, but let’s agree that some colours for better in certain season.
Six extremely wearable shades (it’s not always that a full collection feels like that to me) will take you through the new season.
They are gorgeous alone or mixed. Follow that up in your season timeline with a shade I fell in love with: Now and Zen, the perfect safe grey.
On the warmer spectrum, a classic berry shade, quite vivacious, Maki Me Happy and the biggest surprise for me, Playing Koi, an almost vibrant bold orange rust colour, which looks amazing on my nails.
After the Olympics opening ceremony last night, the essie Rio Collection makes even more sense: and explosion of colour and shine to get you well into the mood of the wonderful city.
Not only that: apart from essie’s six boldest shades, the collection counts with essie’s 1000th VIP shade: a Brazilian charged bright metallic yellow called aim to misbehave. Quite a scandalous colour, it looks so hot on the nail.
The vibrant tangerine coral, sunday funday also has a lovely shimmer; aruba blue is a frosty metallic sapphire; bahama mama a deep, creamy and warm plum; naughty nautical a gorgeous shimmery blue-green, pure pearlfection, a delicate topcoat the create instant iridescence and jazzy jubilant, another topcoat with hexagonal blue and pink glitter in various sizes, that looks like carnival confetti!
And because it has green, yellow, blue and white, it matches the country’s flag! Being Brazilian myself, I approve!
You can get essie nail polish from major retailers nationwide.
I am a huge fan of colour and my nails are usually the place this love manifest itself fully.
To be in with a chance, just enter the competition by the 28 April – it’s easy:
There was frenzy. Media outlets around the world covered the spray nail polish Nails Inc. announced, only a few days before the big launch. You could even pre-order!
A couple shakes and a nervous me sprayed the silver – I went for Shoreditch Lane – on my talons. Instead of doing the “one-press-move-around-all-fingers”, I pressed individually on each nail, which I think helped minimise the mess. Overall, that was less that I expected.
It might be that using the Nails Inc 2 in 1 base and topcoat, which is recommended by the brand would improve that, but, although that product is very good, it doesn’t seem to be new and exclusive for the Paint Can, and probably on the same quality to the one I used.
Could a spray change it all?
Application is simple: spray and done. Obviously there will be some mess, but according to the instructions, after applying a base coat to the nails (a must), you just spray it on and wait until it is all dry and to remove the excesses you just wash your hands with soapy water or use wet wipes. Eh?
So Many Lovely Things 