Essie In Stitches Fall 2010 Nail Polish

I chose In Stitches from Essie's 2010 fall collection because it's not just a great transition color but also has a classic "go anywhere" look. I know some consider this warm blush/rose pink too conservative and boring, but for me, as much as I love Sew Psyched and Merino Cool, sometimes (=often) I don't want my nails to be the focal point of my look. Maybe it's because I wear a lot of purple or red lipsticks and most of my wardrobe consists of DVF print dresses that have a lot going on in them. In any case, Essie's fall collection is so satisfying because it gives enough options from edgy to classic.

Essie In Stitches ($8) and the rest of the  Fall 2010 nail collection is available from shopessie.com.

All photos are mine.

Essie Fall 2010 Mini Collection

Essie's 4-packs of seasonal minis make it very easy for us, addicts. Between the cuteness of the packaging and the option to have four mini bottles (makes much more sense for those of us who rarely wear the same color two weeks in a row), this is an easy choice. I also got a full size of In Stitches, which I'll show you on Friday and only passed on one color, Velvet Voyeur, because I get my dark purple fix from last year's Chanel.

The mini fall collection includes:
Sew Psyched- celadon? blue sage? It's hard to describe, but the color is both unique and wearable even for my conservative taste.
Limited Addiction- sexy and classic red
Little Brown Dress- chocolate liqueur
Merino Cool- a cool mauve, urban and sophisticated

I love the creamy opaque texture and finish and the fact I can leave the house wearing only one coat. I usually apply the second coat the next day, so I have far less chance of messing up my nails. Dealing with your inner klutz requires a little creativity, and a nail polish that looks good enough even before your manicure is fully finished.

Essie fall collection mini 4pc ($17) is available from essieshop.com

All photos are mine

The Mystery of Essie Crystal Nail File

Not all nail files were born equal. The one from Sephora, for example annoys me to no end by only having one operational side. It's a thick slub of glass and they couldn't make both side usuable? Why? Then I have and had several brandless other files from several stores, online and offline. Some are good, others are better. My favorite, though, is this one from Essie. It's the perfect size, perfect weight and does a superb job leaving my nails smooth with no rough edges.

Recently I wanted to buy a secod one for my travel bag, only to discover it's no longer available on Essie website. You can still buy it from various other online sources, but it seems Essie has stopped making/selling them and that's a real shame.

Photo by me with the help of Kosh.

Essie Nail Polish Summer Collection

I had to get myself out of the beige nail polish rut and do something summery. Essie Summer Collection looked too adorable to pass. The colors are happy, beachy and spell "Vacation". Or maybe it's just my imagination. I decided I could live without the tomato red of Vermillionaire and Miss Matched, a pale lavender, so I opted for the 4 piece mini set. I love mini nail polish bottles, especially since it's been a while since I used any one color so often I actually finished it (or even came close).

Knockout Pout is the hottest pink (cream texture) and I really wanted to love it. But it was too loud and looked borderline trashy against my skin. I don't know why. The color is pretty and summery but my hands looked rather awful wearing it. I ended up removing the polish within less than an hour. Next came Haute As Hello, a pink coral cream. I felt it was much better and something I'd definitely wear on a hot summer day. Then I noticed it made my skin look yellow and sickly. I still like it a lot, but it might have to be relegated to my toes.

My hands weren't too happy with all dips in the polish remover. They required some serious TLC before I could go on, so I took a break, applied Lush Full Of Grace serum and finished with Kanebo Sensai hand cream  (best thing ever. I think I'm down to my last sample and that scares me).

Pretty Edgy is as green as it gets and should thrill any green nail polish fiend who likes shiny, creamy textures. It looks nice on my hands and I can actually see myself wearing it when I'm feeling...edgy, I guess. It's not an everyday color for me and I'm a bit too conservative nail-wise to feel completely comfortable with it, but I've been staring at the bottle so much  it has definitely grown on me.

Is anyone surprised to learn I've been wearing Demure Vixen for the second week in a row? A muted mauve with a very pale rosy/brown tone it doesn't stand out or calls any attention to itself, but I like it best for everyday purpose. It's beautiful, very chic and always appropriate. Demure Vixen is the one iridescent color in the (almost) all-cream collection, but the iridescence is mostly lost by the time you apply the third coat (necessary for a full coverage). It's the only color that was easy to apply without fighting streaks (I think the mini brush is not ideal). The other colors were very streaky for the first two coats but settled nicely by the third one, so it's not a big issue. You need three coats to get the full effect of the color as you see it in the bottle.

The 4 piece mini set of Essie Nail Polish Summer Collection ($17) is available from essieshop.com. Individual full size bottles ($8 each) are available from select nail salons and online.

All photos are mine.

Sephora by OPI Under My Trench Coat & Essie Jazz

I've been having a nail polish crisis. All of a sudden I got tired of super bright colors and ultra shimmer. Everything looked off, too much, overdone and just plain wrong. I also got tired of the three coat ritual to get that perfect utterly unnatural finish. So I dug out my namesake, Gaia by Zoya, which is a white with gold flakes. I used it as a wash of color more than a full coverage manicure, but even that was not quite what I wanted because Gaia looks better mid-summer. I have several beige options but somehow none made me happy, until a quick shopping excursion for other items led me to these two colors.

Sephora by OPI Under My Trench Coat is a taupish nude beige with very light shimmer. It's not quite as mushroomy as Chanel Particulier and other colors in that range, but it has a cool undertone balanced by the almost gold shimmer. Essie Jazz is a bit warmer, more opaque and creamy- there's no shimmer there.

Texture-wise, The OPI is much thinner and dries quickly. It's perfect as a quick one coat, not-quite full manicure look, though with a second coat and a clear top it's as elegant and sophisticated as any color can be. Jazz is very creamy and a lot thicker, which means streaky, so I must take more time to let it dry properly and apply a second  coat . It's worth it, though, because the result is quite refined and looks effortless and very chic.

I bought Under My Trench Coat ($9) at Sephora Union Square (also available online) and Essie Jazz ($8) at a J. Crew store.

All photos are mine.

It's a fish eats fish world

We know it's the way of the world. I'm happy for both Essie Weingarten and Liz Earle who have accomplished something every entrepreneur hopes for: build a successful multi-million dollar business, make a mark in the industry and then sell it to a bigger company for a legendary amount of money. But I can't help feeling a little disappointed that from now on Essie Cosmetics and Liz Earle Beauty Co. will no longer be independent brands. The former is being acquired by L'Oreal and the latter by Avon, neither one gives me the warm fuzzies.

I guess it's time for a new wave of small indy companies to make it big.

Image: Fish Eat Fish by Michael Rossiter

Yellow

Yes, I know bright yellow is one of the hottest colors for the comming summer, but even Natalie Portman doesn't convince me that having yellow nails is a good thing.

But for those who are interested in getting the look, here are a few options for yellow nail polish(click to enlarge):



Would you wear it?

Photo of Natalie Portman: A socialite's Life

She's Just That Into Purple

Still talking about the movies, even though not exactly Oscar material: I watched He's Just Not That Into You (and enjoyed it quite a bit. Then again, my street cred must already be gone considering how much I liked Mamma Mia!, and that I've found Pierce Brosnan's attempts at singing to be quite endearing). They put fashion and makeup to a very good use where it came to defining the different characters, but the real star was purple nail polish.

While almost all the women had either a French manicure or a simple clear polish, Ginnifer Goodwin's character, Gigi, had metallic purple nails. If I'm not mistaken, there were two different shades: one lighter and more on the lilac side, the other dark and very purple, maybe with a bit magenta in it.

Purple polish is not the easiest to pull off, especially on skin with yellow or olive undertones. Personally, I'm more into mauve, but you just can't deny how pretty it is- in theory and on Ginnifer's hands. Here are some options for this look:

Essie It's genius (left) and China Doll (right):


Zoya has a great selection of purples with different levels of shimmer. Several of their colors could have easily been the one(s) from He's Just Not That Into You, but I have a soft spot for Juno, though I probably shouldn't wear it:

Different than the purples in the movie (and not entirely wearable for the olive skinned), but interesting and worth mentioning is Purple Rain from the Lippman Collection, originally created for Zac Posen's Spring 2009 collection:

Do you have a favorite very purple polish?

Essie Vermouth

I've had the bottle of Essie Vermouth (#366) for a while, but I was distracted by other, shinier colors, so the pearly rose/plum/mauve was left untouched in a glass bowl on my dresser with other pretty colors, while the ones I actually use often reside in a drawer with other nail paraphernalia. But the other day I was in the mood for something less trendy, feminine but sophisticated. A quick look-around has ended with me finally cracking open the almost forgotten Vermouth.

It was prettier than I expected. It's one of those universally flattering colors, a bit on the cool side but perfectly balanced. It's dark enough to be noticed against olive skin, but not too much to steal the show from a pretty outfit, and always appropriate. The photo doesn't do justice to the color which is richer but not as dark.

It would have earned a permanent place among my go-to bottles if not for one thing: No durability.

I usually get good results with most Essie polishes, but this one was a disaster. It chipped on the first day. It cracks when you just look at it funny, and it started peeling the day after even though I used an Essie base and top coat and applied two layers every time I tested. Vermouth just wouldn't stay on. Shame, really. This could have been true love.

While I can't find this color on Essie's website, googling shows it's available from many places online for less than $5. I got the bottle as a PR freebie.

Essie Nail Polish Fall Collection

There are several innovative new nail polish collections for fall, but the one from Essie is not one of them. Don't get me wrong: it's very pretty, the quality is great, they all have a nice glossy finish and look great. The colors are very classic and would be a great addition to the permanent line instead of a limited seasonal edition. Who doesn't need great reds and rich pinks?

But compared to other offerings this season, the Essie collection is just not inspired enough to get one excited about fall colors. I got the mini pack that contains Forever Young, Lacy Not Racy, No Boundaries and Tomboy No More (I wish every company would sell a mini version of every collection. It's the best deal) to replace some old bottles of classic reds and pinks that are way past their prime, and a regular size bottle of Swept off My Feet which is a beautiful warm rose because I recently ran out of a similar color from Lippmann Collection and couldn't be bothered to pay $15 for a new one.

Not that every color needs to be a bold fashion statement and I'm a big advocate of classic looks, it's just when I'm looking at seasonal special editions I want to be surprised and excited and not to feel like I've seen it all before.

Essie nail polish is available locally at many nail salons and from Essie.com. The mini pack of four color retails for $18 and a regular size bottle is $8.

All photos are mine.

Katie's Nails Speak Volumes

The interesting thing in this photo of Katie Holmes is her nail polish (you'll need to click on the picture to see it full size). While I'm not a fan of blue nails, there's something fresh, fun and even rebellious in her choice of an aqua color. It's as un-Stepfordish as it gets.

I've looked around and found a few options for a similar color, all with a decidedly island getaway theme:

1. Essie Barbados Blue
2. Zoya Southbeach Ice
3. China Glaze Passion In The Pacific

Tom/Katie photo from I'm Not Obsessed

What Have You Been Doing with Your Hands? Essie Bordeaux Nail Polish

I was doing my nails the other day and chose Essie Bordeaux. As I was applying it and looking at the cute color (a deep, rich red, not as dark as the picture would let you think), I wondered why I haven't used it in so many months. A few hours later I was reminded of the answer: It chips and peels like crazy and for no good reason. Maybe it hates my OPI base color, but that's no excuse. Other Essie colors (not to mention Chanel, Zoya and Sally Hansen) take well to the OPI base and top. It's just Bordeaux that makes my hands look like I just finished scrubbing the kitchen and calls to mind that Gone With The Wind scene, where Rhett asks Scarlett what she's been doing with her hands, because all the feathers and velvet curtains can't hide her hands, ruined by field work.

For the Pink-Challenged

Spring might not be in the air just yet, but beauty spring fever most certainly is. I can't do away with my coats, but springifying my nails is a good way to cheer one's soul. The problem is that the ultimate spring nail color is girly pink, but way too many of the obvious hues and tones tend to look awful on my hands.

My olive skin looks better in either very warm pinks (with a touch of coral) that are more summery, or in mauve-based tones. Essie has a perfect one: Spritzer (#365) is a muted warm mauve-pink. It's a great everyday shade, always aproppriate and very pretty. One coat is good enough (and looks more pink and bright), a second coat gives the exact color you see in the bottle.

Speaking about the bottle: The color is less pearly than it looks in the bottle, especially when a second coat is applied.

Into the Dark

October is nail polish month at Blogdorf Goodman. We all seem to be going darker and darker, though I'm still not caving in for anything black. It looks like I'm not the only one who was seduced by the powers of Essie's Wicked. I've blogged about it last week and have been sporting it since, just like the Beauty Addict. It's the darkest color I've ever worn on my nails, and I absolutely love it. It's definitely more elegant than goth, which is a very good thing once you're of a certain age. I second Kristen's advice about keeping nails short. The color has more than enough personality by itself, no need for milage.

The other color I bought last week was Essie's Double Dip. I was hoping for a chocolate, but the color sample on the site was misleading. It's a pretty metalic medium red, that today looks very nice on my toes. But it's definitely not what I was looking for. So in my quest for that perfect brown, I'll be trying next Estee Lauder's Dark Chocolate.

Nailed

The goth guy who bagged my groceries at Whole Foods the other day had something in common with many beauty obsessed ladies these days: He was wearing black nail polish. I doubt that he shelled a hefty sum to bid on a bottle of Chanel Black Satin on eBay, but nevertheless, that was shiny black polish.

Nails haven't been this dark since Chanel made everyone crazy with Vamp (also sold out everywhere, albeit temporarily). The first hint of this was back in July, when Bobbi Brown's limited edition Chocolate Cherry polish was sold out even before the chocolate eye palette. A look at drugstores in my area confirmed that those deep browns were gone even from the less hyped brands. I couldn't find even one bottle of anything dark enough for this trend.


Thankfully, we'll always have online shopping. Earlier this week, beauty.com still had a nice selection of very dark colors. I bought Double Dip and Wicked (very similar to the infamous Vamp). By now they're already out of many of these colors (including their black, Licorice).