Essie Your Hut Or Mine

Essie Your Hut Or Mine is from Essie's 2011 Resort Collection. It's not a color that would normally have appealed to me, but I saw one picture of it somewhere along the way that piqued my interest. When Cilucia and I did our swatch swap, I borrowed this one so I could see how I felt about it in person, and I was surprised to find that I like it very much!

I was struggling with how to describe this color. I couldn't decide if it was coral, or pink, or orange. Then Cilucia pointed out to me that the color is actually Honeysuckle, which just so happens to be Pantone's Color of the Year for 2011.

Sure enough! Your Hut Or Mine is Honeysuckle, which I guess makes it medium pink. I'm not usually a fan of pinks, but for some reason this one just really grabbed me.

See the shimmer? To die for.

The sun peeked out today, so I was able to snap some pictures of this beauty in the sunshine too.

Great Essie formula on this one. Two easy coats, no pulling, no dragging, no sheerness, no nonsense - and that definitely contributes to how fond I am of this baby. I couldn't be more pleased with having picked this one up!

Happy Tuesday, y'all, and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Essie Shelter Island

I always feel kind of bad when I post a picture of a creme. They just don't inspire to me take as many pictures or to blah, blah, blah quite as much as I do with other finishes. It's not that I don't love cremes. I do! I really do! But with shimmers and glitters, different angles can show the polish differently. But a creme looks pretty much the same no matter what I do. Of course, I have no idea how many people actually read my drivel anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter! =)

Essie Shelter Island is really quite beautiful, a bright blue that is halfway between a creme and a jelly. It's got a lovely squishy finish that I'm quite fond of.

I have lots of light blue cremes in my collection, but I'm happy to say this one is unique. No dupes that I've found so far! I'll try to do a comparison picture with some of my other blues in a future post, I just didn't have time today. The formula on this one is good, though a little thin. I needed three coats for full opacity, and it's still got that jelly squishiness around the edges. Dry time was good, though, so I'm not complaining.

Hi to all the new folks! My little blog is really growing, and I love that you guys want to look at my pictures and (maybe) read my words! =D I'm working on a surprise for when I reach 100 followers, so be sure to stay tuned!

Barry M Dupe Check - Blueberry Ice Cream & Blue Moon

I ordered some Barry M polishes from the UK a few weeks ago, and they came in today. After I placed my order, I was concerned the Blueberry Ice Cream was too close to Zoya Robyn and Orly Blue Collar and their cousins. When the polishes came today, I was very happy to see that it wasn't close to Robyn at all, but it was suspiciously close to a couple of others I had. The contenders were China Glaze Bahamian Escape and Nicole by OPI Baby Blue.

They are all very similar in the bottles, but I was pleased to see at least some difference on my nails. Between two of them, at least. >.>

Nicole by OPI "Baby" Blue is quite a bit lighter than either of the others. But Bahamian Escape and Blueberry Ice Cream are virtually identical. Sure, if I squint and try to kid myself, I can pretend that the Barry M is darker. And it is, but only by a hair. I truly think that if I put both of them on in alternating skittles, by the end of the day even I wouldn't know which was which. The formulas on all three are very similar - two easy coats, very non-fussy. Now I have to figure out which one to keep and which to send to live with someone else. *sigh*

I fared much better in the dupe department with Blue Moon. The dupe contenders were Essie Sweet Talker (which I didn't really believe was a dupe, but it was worth comparing) and Hard Candy Sky. 

These actually even look more different in the bottles than the former ones did. On the nail, they are much different.

As I suspected, Sweet Talker was a good bit darker than the others. Sky is actually much brighter and more chalky than Blue Moon, and its formula is the pits. It's hard to work with. It's streaky in that way that lots of pastels are. Blue Moon is much, much better in that respect. Plus I bought Blue Moon to kill my lemming for Chanel Riva, and that's exactly what it did. (Stay tuned for pics of Blue Moon as a full mani as well!)

And that's all I have for tonight. Hope these comparisons help someone! As always, thanks for stopping by! =)

Question of the Day - Can I Wear Orange??

After swatching several oranges, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. Apparently there are some oranges that I can wear! (Yes, Cilucia, you were right!)

Essie Vermillionaire. This was the first one I tried. I figured if I was gonna go for orange, I'd REALLY go for orange. This is bright. This is probably the brightest polish I've ever worn. It's not as awful as I thought it would be, but it's really not me.

OPI Ecuadorable Coral. Now this is an orange I can get behind. This is love.

Sally Hansen So Poppy. I forgot I had this one. It was a swap extra, and I actually really like it!

Essie Your Hut or Mine. Okay, I know this isn't really orange, but wow, I really love this. Buying this ASAP. =D

Essie Splash of Grenadine. Yeah, this one isn't orange either! But this is the last one I borrowed from Cilucia in our swatch swap, and I absolutely adore it! I wanted to make sure I posted pics, and it didn't really fit anywhere else.

So there you have it. Within limits, I guess I can wear orange!

Trying to De-Dupe My Stash - A Bunch of Comparisons

I've been working on my stash a bit lately, getting rid of the things I'll never wear again, and my project tonight was to actually swatch some of the polishes I have that look so close to each other in the bottle. I found doing this really, really helpful, and I hope it helps you guys out too! =)

China Glaze Tree Hugger vs. China Glaze Entourage

My verdict:  They are close... very close. Tree Hugger has more straight out shimmer, while Entourage is more of a glass fleck. Entourage also has a little less yellow, so it's more flattering on me. It gets to stay.

CND Eclectic Purple vs. Zoya Kieko

My verdict:  I really struggled with this one trying to convince myself they're different enough to keep both. They're not. The CND stays.

OPI Jade is the New Black vs. Ulta The Jungle Look

My verdict:  These might as well be the same polish in different bottles. I'm leaning towards keeping the OPI, but I really do like Ulta's brushes more. I dunno. One is definitely going though.

OPI Malaga Wine vs. Zoya Stacy

My verdict:  I thought these were much closer than they actually are. They both get to stay.

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise vs. Sinful Rise & Shine

My verdict:  I've seen a lot of people call these dupes, but in real life, they're actually not dead on dupes. The China Glaze is brighter with more shimmer. Having said that, though, they are too similar to keep both. Turned up Turquoise stays.

Orly Sapphire Silk vs. American Apparel Peacock

My verdict:  These are closer than I thought. Peacock is a little more vibrant, plus it's a one coat wonder, which makes it better for layering. It's hard to part with the Orly because I really love Orlys so much, but I really think Peacock is staying and Sapphire Silk is going.

OPI Yoga-ta Get this Blue vs. FingerPaints Artist's Sapphire

My verdict:  Much more different than I thought. They both get to stay. I'm sure they're thrilled. ^.^

China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic vs. Essie Dive Bar

My verdict:  I saved this one for last specifically to show how deceptive the bottle color can be. In the bottles, these look completely identical. They even both have the purple flash in the bottle that doesn't translate to the nail. But as you can see in the comparison, they are really not that close. Rodeo Fanatic stays for sure. I'm on the fence about Dive Bar. I think it's a smidgen too dark.

Essie Sweet Talker

This polish has been in my, "Please try me again before getting rid of me," box for months now, and I finally got around to trying it again. Not all polishes are love at first sight. The ones that I detest immediately get put up for swap right then. But if I suspect that the color needs another chance, I'll put it on the side and try it again another time.

The first time I tried to wear Sweet Talker, it took me three coats and it still wasn't even. I was disappointed because the shimmer that's so evident in the bottle died on the nail. I removed it in a disgusted funk and almost put it up for swap right then, but a little voice told me that it deserved a second chance. That second chance came last night, and I'm happy to say that my first application of Sweet Talker must have been largely the fault of user error. The formula is really not bad at all for a pastel, and I was able to get full coverage in two coats with no spots or streaks or dragging, using a light touch and medium coats.

I took one flash picture to try to capture the shimmer. It's there, but it's very, very subtle.

All in all, I'm glad I gave Sweet Talker a second chance. I still wish that the shimmer was more evident, but I'm quite happy with the shade of blue that it is and the application on my second go round really wasn't bad at all.

Sweet Talker is an online only retail exclusive. I got mine from Walmart's website, but I've also seen it on Walgreen's and CVS's websites.

As always, thanks for stopping by. I hope your Sunday is a good one! =)

Now, let's see if I can actually post some pictures! - Essie Smooth Sailing

My goodness, it looks like it worked! This is from Essie's summer 2011 collection, Brazilliant. Anyone who knows me knows that it is impossible for me to resist a blue polish, so this one had to be added to my collection.

She really is lovely. Deep periwinkle just packed with shimmer. Wonderful, creamy formula, which I've really come to appreciate from Essie.

I heard over at MUA that this beauty can be a devourer of top coat, so I topped off two coats of Smooth Sailing with two coats of the top coat I'm testing, Pro-FX. I'm not sure if it would have been gritty with one coat, but it's smooth as glass with two.

If you like blues or periwinkles, I'd say this is a must have. Simply lovely! =)