Purple Jade Nails

My doctor is moving to Utah next week; she's always loved seeing what kind of nail art I come up with, so I wanted to do something special for my last visit with her.  Originally I'd thought about roses on a gray background, but then I saw the beautiful green jade nails done by Sarah at Chalkboard Nails and that was that.  While I could have done green, though, I wanted to try something different and purple seemed like just the thing.

This nail art is a little more complicated than what I've shown on here in the past, but it's still fairly easy.  You'll need three polishes: a jelly, a darker but complementary color, and a white; a makeup sponge torn into small pieces; tweezers; and a very thin nail art brush, paintbrush, or toothpick.

L'Oreal Colour Riche Lilac Coolers, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Wet N' Wild Megalast On A Trip, torn-up makeup wedge, tweezers (paintbrush not shown).

Step 1: Clean nails and apply base coat.  When base is dry, apply one coat of Lilac Coolers.

 

Step 2: After first coat is dry, dab On A Trip randomly onto nails using tweezers and a bit of makeup sponge.  Sponge lightly and only cover a portion of the nail.

Step 3: Using the same technique (but a new piece of sponge), dab Snow Me White onto different areas of the nail, but make sure some parts are left uncovered.  Because the white was thicker and more opaque, I found it was helpful to blot the sponge gently on a napkin to take off excess before applying it to my nails.  You don't want thick blobs, just sort of faded splotches of white.  Let dry.

Step 4: After the sponged-on colors dry, apply another coat of Lilac Coolers.  The milkiness of this polish gives depth, but it won't completely cover your sponging.  Let dry.

Step 5: Repeat steps 2 and 3, but sponge Snow Me White on first, then On A Trip.  This will help soften the white a bit, plus it adds a little more depth. Let dry.

Step 6: Add a final coat of Lilac Coolers and let dry.

Step 7: Using your fine brush or toothpick, draw on a few very thin "veins" with Snow Me White.  Obviously I didn't take my own advice here; you can see how chunky my lines are even though I used a 000 74 Round brush.  Don't overdo it - this is just an accent.  One or two lines should be enough.  Once your lines are dry, add topcoat, clean up, and you're done!  Pretty, no?

This wasn't as successful as I hoped it would be (and not nearly as nice as the original), but it's definitely unusual.  I'll have to try it again with the green sometime.

Essie Fall 2013, "For The Twill Of It"

The days are getting shorter and the weather's getting cooler, so you know what that means...time for summer brights to give way to deep, sophisticated fall hues.  Essie, no slouch when it comes to collections - so far in 2013 we've seen Spring, Summer, Bridal, Resort, and "Best Of" - has released their Fall 2013 Collection, a clothing-themed group called For the Twill of It.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the complete collection - haven't been able to find the display at any of my usual haunts.  For the Twill of It includes six colors: Twin Sweater Set, a classic dark red creme; The Lace Is On, a lustrous magenta shimmer; After School Boy Blazer, a deep midnight blue creme verging on black; Cashmere Bathrobe, a charcoal gray with silver shimmer; Vested Interest, a slate-blue creme; and For the Twill of It, a gray-green duochrome.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this collection; it wasn't especially ground-breaking.  After School Boy Blazer is so dark it will probably read black on most people.  The Lace Is On is pretty but unoriginal, and Twin Sweater Set is something we've all seen a bazillion times before.  Three of the polishes did grab my attention, though: Cashmere Bathrobe, Vested Interest, and the collection's namesake, For the Twill of It.

Left to right: Cashmere Bathrobe, For the Twill of It, Vested Interest

Vested Interest is a murky slate-blue creme with no hint of shimmer.  There's a slight greenish tone to it, so it's not a "true" blue.  The formula went on smoothly and self-leveled well.  Shown is two coats and one coat of Nutra Nail High Gloss Top Coat.

Cashmere Bathrobe is a deep charcoal gray with tiny, very subtle silver flakes.  This is becoming a signature finish for Essie; we've seen it in just about every collection this year, and Summer 2013's Naughty Nautical collection was made up almost entirely of silver-fleck shades.  The shimmer shows up better in the bottle than it does on the nail, but on the nail it's just visible enough to keep this from being a boring gray creme.  Again, the formula was very good and was opaque in two coats.

 

And here we have the centerpiece of the collection, For the Twill of It.  Essie describes this as a "rich maple with reflective olive shimmer", but to me it was more of a grayish green with a blue and fuchsia duochrome flash and the faintest shading of brown.  However you describe it, it's a beauty.  It's also an exact dupe for Peace & Love & OPI from OPI's Fall 2013 San Francisco collection, so if you have one you really don't need the other.  I don't own the OPI version so I can't say how the formulas compare, but I did like the Essie - it was opaque in two coats and not very brushstroke-y as so many metallics are.

What will you be wearing on your nails this fall?

*All polishes were purchased by me; all opinions are my own.

Essie "Best Of" Collection (Summer 2013)

In addition to Essie's usual collections, Essie fans were treated to a special display in some drugstores this summer.  The Essie "Best Of" collection featured six colors, all cremes, as well as First Base base coat and Good To Go top coat.  Here it is at a local CVS:

The colors left to right: Cascade Cool (Summer 2012), Go Ginza (Spring 2013), Boxer Shorts (Fall 2012), Where's My Chauffeur? (Winter 2012), Mojito Madness (Summer 2012), and Topless and Barefoot (Spring 2011).

Out of this group I already owned Cascade Cool and Mojito Madness.  Go Ginza didn't appeal to me; it's a very pale whitish-pink (Essie calls it a "cherry-blossom pink") that I know from experience doesn't look good at all on my pale skin.  Where's My Chauffeur? was similar enough to another Essie blue I own (In The Cab-ana, Resort 2013) that I decided I didn't need both.  Topless and Barefoot is a pretty pinky-beige neutral, but again, I had a couple of others that were close to it (the perils of being a polish fiend) and I don't wear this kind of color often enough to justify adding another one.  I fell in love with Boxer Shorts, though, so that joined my collection.

Cascade Cool, Mojito Madness, and Boxer Shorts.

Cascade Cool is a carnation pink creme with a whitish undertone.  The exact color was a bit difficult to capture; it looks to be on the purple side in photos but it's really not.  Above is three coats with no top coat, and you can see just a hint of the nail line.  The formula was good, and it dried fairly quickly.

Mojito Madness is a bright, cheerful kelly green creme.  This one leans a tiny bit more yellow in real life.  Again, three coats with no top coat, and look at the shine.

Boxer Shorts is a beautiful deep periwinkle blue creme, perfect for fall.  In the bottle it looks like it might be a dupe for OPI's You're Such A Budapest.

Essie Boxer Shorts, OPI You're Such A Budapest

Side-by-side swatches, though, show that while both are muted purple-blues, they're not dupes.  Left to right, OPI, Essie, OPI, Essie.  (Pardon the messy cuticles - I didn't feel like cleaning up just for a quick swatching.)  You can see here how much darker Boxer Shorts is compared to You're Such A Budapest.  The formula for Boxer Shorts was better too - I used three medium coats here, but I could have gotten away with two thicker ones. You're Such A Budapest went on patchy and needed almost four coats to achieve opacity.

So which Essie classics are your favorites?