Essie Swing Velvet

Hi all,

How are you all doing? I've heard it's almost Thanksgiving, are you looking forward to it? Today I have a little gem for you that I discovered when I was shopping my stash and I totally forgot that it was so pretty!


Essie Swing Velvet, three coats in daylight. I really don't know how to label this color. It looks like a vampy red in my picture, but it has a hint of purple too that doesn't show up in my pics. I love this color. It's darker in low light, but more red in full sunlight. I was surprised that I had almost forgotten about this baby.

Application was good. Essie polishes tend to be a little thinner than my liking, but this one applied very well. It took me three to get the color opaque but the color was so stunning that I didn't mind :)

I hope you all have a great day! Thanks for stopping by :)

Stampabilities # 010: Essie

Hi all,

Another round of Stampabilities! This week I picked some Essies from my stash to see how they work for stamping.


Stampabilities 010: Random Essies. They all show up pretty good, but I was a bit disappointed with Mink Muffs. I hoped that Mink Muffs would be more visible that it is. The other three were pleasant surprises, especially Midnight Cami and Angora Cardi. I can see myself using those for future stamping purposes ;) The image is clickable, I left it bigger since I only have one image to show you this week because of the bad lighting

I still love picking polishes and seeing what they do when they are used as stamping polishes. Some polishes are colors that I would have never thought of that they would work!


If you have suggestions for the upcoming editions of Stampabilities, please let me know! You can leave a comment on this post, but you can also send me an email.

Essie Mesmerize

Hi all,

My laptop works a bit better today, but I can't run messenger or my photo programme next to internet.. No idea why but I'm sure it'll be fine later. Today I have an Essie for you: Mesmerize.


Essie Mesmerize, two coats in daylight. Mesmerize is a vibrant medium blue creme - it's a little darker than my picture shows you.

Application was great! The formula was easy to work with and the polish dried quickly. I do think the Essie brush is a little on the thin side; I prefer my brushes to be a little wider, but other than that, I have no complaints!

What's your favorite Essie polish?

New Catrice Polishes and a Comparison

Hi all!

I wanted to show you the new polishes from Catrice that they generously gave to me for consideration. I got Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans! and Absolutely Chinchilly! I swatched them both on nailwheels as well as a comparison between Absolutely Chinchilly! and Essie Chinchilly. I still owe you the real on the nails swatches, don't worry, they're coming!


Left Catrice Absolutely Chinchilly! and Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans! on the right. Absolutely Chinchilly! is a khaki creme and both the color and the name really remind me of Essie Chinchilly, the comparison between these two is below :) Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans! is a gorgeous slighly dusty blue with tiny light blue glitter flecks in it. The color is darker in low light, making it appear like a dark blue creme.

So.. Here's the comparison I promised!


Essie Chinchilly on the left, Catrice Absolutely Chinchilly! on the right, both are two coats. I have to tell you beforehand that my picture makes the difference appear to be more obvious, but it's hardly noticeable irl! Chinchilly is the tiniest amount of a shade lighter, but I can only see that when I'm looking at the wheel right under my nose, so to say. When I take more distance, let's say 15 - 20 cm, the difference is not visible at all.

I prefer the application of Catrice, since the brush is wider and makes it easier to apply the polish. Also, Catrice is thicker in formula, while Essie's formula is on the thin side.

Catrice made an affordable dupe for Essie Chinchilly! While Essie retails for € 13,49 a bottle, Catrice only costs a fraction of the price - € 2,49 a bottle.


The products in this post were given to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.

Essie After Sex

Hi all!

Have you ever bought a polish mostly for the name alone? Well, I have to admit that I had to have this one just for the name. Ain't that silly? I also have a polish with my name.. And I don't even like the color! Anyway, I'm drifting off. I actually like the color of this one so it didn't even turn out that bad :)

Essie After Sex, three coats in daylight. After Sex is a medium red shimmer with a bit of a pearly finish. It's not so strong, so you'll probably only see it when the light hits the nail. I think it's a pretty red, but nothing unique to be honest :)

Application was alright. Essie's brush is quite small and I don't really like working with it. The formula on this one was alright; it was a bit streaky at first but it all evened out in three coats.

It's a pretty color, but it was a bit boring to me, so I pulled out some konad and got stamping.

Essie After Sex stamped with China Glaze Millennium and imageplate M64. I used a silver strass stone from dollarnailart on every nail to bling up the design. Although I stamped a bit wonky, I like how this turned out! Can you believe it was the first time using this design, after buying the complete plate for this design only? I've had this plate for months!

That do you think of After Sex? Did you ever buy a polish because of the name? Tell me all about it!

Essie Lapis Of Luxury

Hi all!

Essie launched their Resort Collection this year and I picked up a few pretties. I couldn't leave Lapis Of Luxury out! Let's take a look at the blue of this collection.

Essie Lapis Of Luxury, three coats in daylight. Lapis Of Luxury is a pastel-ish light blue creme. In my eye, it's not a true pastel, but it's not a true light blue either. It's somewhere in between. I feel a little hint of periwinkle in there somewhere too..

It's such a soothing color. It's one of those colors that would never look boring on my nails, not to me at least.

Application was good. The Essie brush is a little thin for my liking, but easy to work with. The polish went on a bit streaky at the first coat, but all evened out in three coats to opacity. Drying time was good - the polish was dry when I took pictures of it.

Since I love the combination between these kind of colors and silver, I did a little stamping.

Essie Lapis Of Luxury, three coats, stamped with China Glaze Millennium and imageplate M73. M73 still has my favorite design and I use it when I can :) I love the contrast in these, although it would have looked even better when Lapis Of Luxury was a tad darker.

Thanks for stopping by!

Comparison Wednesday

Hi all!

I've had a couple of requests for comparisons and I found some polishes in my stash that were a lot alike, so Comparison Wednesday it is! I apologize for the variety in backgrounds, but some colors wouldn't be accurate on a white background and some didn't like the black background. I did the best I could with it since lighting wasn't really coorperating either..

Anyway, I have no less than four comparisons for you today! Here's a little overview.

Some colors are way darker irl, but again, that's due to the background..

Left Misa Dirty Sexy Money, right Catrice I Sea You! The colors are a little too dark, but you can see that they're pretty much identical. Dirty Sexy Money is a tad bit more blue, but I don't think you could tell these apart when I wore them together as a mani.

Left Color Club Electronica, right Nfu Oh 117. Both are deep purples with red and blue shimmer particles, but Electronica is a bit darker so I'd say these are no dupes of eachother. They are siblings though, so if you own one of these two, you probably won't need the other.

Left OPI Dating A Royal and Essie Mesmerize on the right. I would call both of them medium blues, but they are no dupes. I've read somewhere that these are deadon dupes, but they're obviously not. Dating A Royal is more intense, colorwise, than Mesmerize. The latter is a bit brighter. No, these are not dupes. If you're not really into blues, you probably won't need both though.

This one is not as faded and light as my picture let's it appear, but I couldn't get a proper shot. I will try again later this week and add a better picture when I managed to take a more accurate picture.. Anyway, left is Orly Prince Charming and right is Essie Mink Muffs. Both are taup-ey cremes, but Mink Muffs is more pigmented and is warmer than Prince Charming. Mink Muffs and Prince Charming are not dupes of eachother.

Left RBL No More War, right Pieces It's a Camouflage. They are both in the army green category, but that's all they have alike. No More War is way darker and greener than It's a Camouflage so no dupes here either.

I hope this was helpful :) Again, if you have suggestions for a comparison, please let me know and I'll see if I can do one for you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Gilda

Hi all!

Tonight I have another Zoya Sparkle for you: Gilda. Doesn't that remind you of the series that was on, years ago? Sabrina The Teenage Witch? Lol well it does to me. I used to watch it every time it was on and I loved it! Anyway, on to some pics :)

Zoya Gilda, three coats in daylight. Gilda is a bright pink that has the same sparkle finish as Ivanka and Alegra that I showed earlier. Even though I'm not really into pinks anymore, I think this one is pretty. The sparkles really look awesome!

I did a little mattification (lol, is this a word?)

Zoya Gilda with one coat of Essie Matte About You. Please excuse the white flakes, my Essie MAY appears to be developing these.. Gilda looks pretty with a matte topcoat! Well that's no surprise since the others were great as well. It look like scales of a fish, or pink dragon hide. Hm. Interesting!

Application was good and Gilda needed three coats for opacity. All three coats dried pretty quick. You can really see the sparkles build up in intensity when you add the second and third layer :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Readers Requests: Comparisons

Hi all!

There were a couple of people asking for comparisons, so here they are! If you would like to see another comparison, please let me know and I'll see what I can do for you.

All the comparisons lined up on the nailwheel :)

First up, I was asked to do a comparison between Essie Chinchilly and Catrice Clay-ton My Hero.

Left Essie Chinchilly, right Catrice Clay-ton My Hero. As you can see, these aren't similar at all. Chinchilly is a khaki creme, while Clayton My Hero is a lighter sort of khaki, almost sandy brown, that holds golden shimmer. These are not dupes.

Next up are Essence In The Jungle (from the Show Your Feet line) and OPI Jade Is The New Black. In The Jungle is supposed to be a dupe for Jade Is The New Black, as I've seen on various boards.

Left Essence In The Jungle, Right OPI Jade Is The New Black. The biggest difference is the finish that the polishes have; Jade Is The New Black dries completely smooth and shiny, while In The Jungle dries a bit weird; it's not satin, but it's not shiny either. It looks a bit bumpy, but it's not when you feel the polish. Besides that, In The Jungle is a little bit more blue and less dusty than OPI Jade Is The New Black. These two are not dupes.

Last but not least I have a comparison between Essie Lilacism and Illamasqua Wink for you.

Left Essie Lilacism, right Illamasqua Wink. Wink and Lilacism are really really close and I wouldn't be able to tell you the difference if it wasn't for the fact that I know which polish is on which side. Both are lilac cremes and similar in opacity. This is two coats on both. The application on Wink is better in my opinion though. These are dupes, so if you're looking for a cheaper alternative to Illamasqua Wink, I'd recommend getting Essie Lilacism.

A little overview of the comparisons:



I hope this was helpful! If you have any questions about these comparisons or if you have a request for one, please let me know :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Ulta Forbitten

Hi all!

How is your weekend so far? I know the US girls still have the half sunday ahead, that's why I say so far ;) Today I have a polish for you that came in a RAOK from a lovely lady from the US. We decided to swap a ton of polishes, but my package is still at customs and probably won't be released ever so she sent me a couple of beauties. Thanks Rachel, they're gorgeous!

She sent me the Ulta Glam Goth Set that's only available in the US, and since the colors are gorgeous it's a big hit :D

Ulta Forbitten, two coats in daylight. This polish is ridiculously shiny so it took me a gazillion pics to get the color right in my pics. Forbitten is a gorgeous dark brown, almost black base with tons of bronze and brown shimmer and it's absolutely stunning. This one definately doesn't need any topcoat because it's shiny as hell itself.

I thought this would make a great matte as well, but I was wrong in this case..

Ulta Forbitten, two coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You. It looks flat and dull and none of the shimmer really shows through the matte.. Too bad!

Application was good, although the brush is teeeny tiny. The structure is nice and went on smoothly so I didn't have any issues with this. Drying time was good as well, I was pleasantly surprised!

If you like dark colors and have the chance to get your hands on the Ulta Glam Goth set, get it!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Essie Chinchilly

Hi all!

Today I have a NOTD for you that I did when I was in a hurry last week, so I didn't have time to cleanup. I had this polish for a while and just didn't wear it untill a couple of days ago.. Anyway, on to some pics :)

Essie Chinchilly, two coats with one coat of Nubar Diamont in daylight. The second picture is a little more color accurate since the first one makes Chinchilly look more washed out than the color really is.. Chinchilly is a weird color; it's no taupe, it's no grey and it's no purple, but it has something from all three. I'd say it's a khaki creme, I think. It's a really odd color and I don't like it on me. I think it's because my skin has yellow undertones and that doesn't work well with this color.

Application on this was great, no problems whatsoever. Drying time was good as well, so no complaints there, only on the color. I did a little Konad to spice things up a bit and it improved my mani a bit.

Essie Chinchilly with one coat of Nubar Diamont, stamped with China Glaze Adore and imageplate M60. The blue chrome works pretty well with the blubbery color of Chinchilly! A closeup to show the design better:

It's definately better than it was without Konad in my opinion, but still no winner for me :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Essie Not Just a Pretty Face

Hi all!

A couple of days ago, I showed you a bloody manicure and today I have a review for you of the basecolor that I used: Essie Not Just a Pretty Face.

Essie Not Just a Pretty Face, four coats with one coat of Nubar Diamont in daylight. Not Just a Pretty Face is a pinkish peachy-ish jelly and needs four coats for opacity. It's a pretty color, definitely office appropriate is you ask me. Well, that's it for the good news.. Now the bad news: I hate this polish. Application was bad, the structure was a bit thick but still runny so there was polish flooding my cuticles. I needed four coats for opacity and those coats just would not dry. Never! I used Nubar Diamont, but still the polish wouldn't dry. Yugh! Plus, if you look at my nails in the pictures.. It looks like I have an enormous layer of polish laying on my nails. Bleh!

No, this is not even a pretty face.. *sigh* What do you think of Essie's Not Just a Pretty Face? Do you own it yourself? If so, am I doing something wrong or is it just the polish? It looked so nice on all swatches I've seen!

About the Nailart contest: The winner will be announced tonight!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Bloody Manicure And World Blood Donor Day

Hi all!

A little while ago, I saw an awesome mani on MUA that I liked so much, that I wanted to do it myself. I gave it a show last week, and this is the result!

A Bloody Mani.. I'm not perfectly happy with the outcome, so I'll try this again somewhere in the near future. I used Essie Not Just a Pretty Face as a base color (review on this one will follow in the next couple of days) and Essence Hot Red from the Show Your Feet line as the color for blood.

There's a reason that I chose to do this manicure now. I received some info about World Blood Donor Day a little while ago and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to both post about nails and about something important. I'll include the information that I received, as well as some pictures of the bandages that are named in the article.

World Blood Donor Day is tomorrow, June 14th 2010. I'm not an American, but I know we have the same issues with donating blood in The Netherlands. There is never enough blood. If you are in good health, please consider giving. It takes only a little time and you might save more than one life with the blood you've donated.

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ABOUT THE “GIVE” DONATION INITIATIVE:
Many Americans consider giving blood to be an important act of community service, however, less than 10 percent donate on an annual basis. Incredibly, if just one percent more donated–less than four million Americans–the nation’s blood shortages would disappear for the foreseeable future. To help close this gap, Nexcare Brand and America’s Blood Centers are partnering on the second annual give program, a nationwide blood donation initiative kicking off on World Blood Donor Day, Monday, June 14th, and extending through Sunday, June 20th.

With the support of hundreds of participating local blood centers, the give program inspires Americans with a message of hope, and helps them to spread the word by distributing limited-edition Nexcare Bandages marked with the word give.

World Blood Donor Day comes at an important time each year. As local blood centers face “summer shortages,” the nation’s blood supply comes under strain due to less donations because of increased vacation schedules and other seasonal distractions that tend to take place in the summer months. World Blood Donor Day reminds Americans to donate and enables them to help make a impact in reducing these shortages.

The 2010 give Bandages are inspired by both the patriotic act of giving blood as well as Flag Day, which will also be recognized on June 14, 2010. This collection of three Nexcare bandages are designed to represent the American flag signify the everyday hero in each American who commits to saving lives by donating blood.

Additionally, there’s a dedicated website, www.nexcaregive.com, where visitors can share their story, get directions to our local blood center and register to receive coupons and a free sampling of bandages.

Finally, timing couldn’t be more perfect since this month marks the release of the third Twilight movie “Eclipse,” so it’s a time to think about giving blood, while the vampire craze is all about taking it!


Did You Know? Facts About Blood Donation
· One pint of blood can save up to three lives
· Every two seconds, someone needs blood
· Most Americans will require a blood transfusion at some point in their lives
· Less than 10% of Americans donate blood on an annual basis
· If one percent more Americans gave blood, all national blood shortages would disappear for the foreseeable future
· There is no substitute for human blood
· Donors can give whole blood up to six times a year


Thanks for reading :)

Zoya Ivanka

Hi all!

So today I have the second polish from the Zoya Sparkle Collection for you: Zoya Ivanka. Let the pictures do the talking..

Zoya Ivanka, three coats in daylight. For the second picture I adjusted my camera settings a bit to show you how she really looks, since my camera makes her look a bit dull with the regular settings.. Ivanka is a true stunning green with golden sparkles. Whoa. It's no coincidence that this is the color of money with a name like hers..

This one easily makes it to my number one green, bumping China Glaze Emerald Sparkle from it's throne. Damn, this is gorgeous. Of course, I had to mattify her as well..

Zoya Ivanka with one coat of Essie Matte About You. This glows! It looks like dragon hide.. Hm. Maybe I'm reading too much Harry Potter. But look at her!

Is that gorgeous or what? I can't stop saying how awesome this is.

I did a little Konad on her as well. Of course, I used a gold to stamp with..

Zoya Ivanka stamped with imageplate M73 and China Glaze 2030. The colors play really well together! In the closeup you can see that Ivanka just won't stop sparkling underneath the Konadicure.

See? What else can I say.. This is a great color!

Application was good. The polish is a bit watery, but easy to work with and opaque in three coats. Drying time was good as well.

What do you think of Zoya Ivanka?

Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Alegra

Hi all!

Did you miss me? Our internet provider decided to cut us off internet, television and phone last wednesday, so I haven't been able to get back online ever since.. I'm at my boyfriend's house at the moment so I'm able to upload and write some posts. Internet will be off till at least monday, but I'll try to upload a couple of posts so you still have enough to read and look at.

However, I don't know if I have time to answer all emails and respond to your comments.. I hope you will understand :)

Recently I got the entire Zoya Sparkles Collection in and I don't have any regret that I bought all six polishes. They're all beautiful and today you will see the first of six: Zoya Alegra.

Zoya Alegra, three coats in daylight. The weather was really bad when I did this one, so please bear with me. Alegra is a bright fuchsia sparkle; not really glitter, not really shimmer either. I'd say the finish is somewhere in between large shimmer and glass flecked. It's really pretty! As always - when there's an interesting finish to look at - a closeup shot:

Pretty huh? Zoya really does know how to do sparkles.

This polish was just screaming at me to be mattified, so of course I put a coat of Essie Matte About You over it.

Zoya Alegra, three coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. Woah! Damn. It glows! look at it!

Pfew.. This is the kind of pink that I can actually see myself wearing every week, either sparkly or matte.

And to finish it off, I did a small konadicure with one of my Bundle monster plates.

Zoya Alegra, three coats stamped with Bundle monster plate BM05 and China Glaze Millennium. I didn't want to put too much over it because it looks so pretty.. (the color is a lot brighter than shown in this picture!)

Application was good. The polish is a bit runny and thin, but it was easy to apply. Drying time was good, even with three coats of polish. I think you could do with two coats for opacity, but I did three out of habit. I love the sparkles..

Stay tuned for more swatches of the Zoya Sparkles Collection!

Thanks for stopping by!

PS: I haven't had the time to count the votes in the nailart contest yet because I couldn't get online till now.. I hope I will be able to post the winner somewhere this weekend. I won't forget to announce the winner!

Essie Decadent Diva

Hi all!

How are you doing today? The working week is in half and I believe there's a ton of sunshine on the way in the weekend (25 C this weekend!) so that's something to look forward to! I'm feeling a little better than I felt yesterday and monday, but still not the old me.. It should be fine in a couple of days though. Anyway, today I have one of my latest acquisitions for you: Essie Decadent Diva! I made this post a long one, so beware ;)

Essie Decadent Diva, three coats in daylight. Decadent Diva is a gorgeous brown shimmer. In my opinion, this is a true stunner. The shimmer in Decacent Diva is a lighter sort of brown and cherry colored, which makes it look like it glows on your nails. I love it!

Decadent Diva is a part of the 2007 Essie Glamour Girl Collection and is in my opinion by far the best color in this collection. I bought this polish without being sure that I would like it, but I sure do.

Application was a bit tricky since the structure of the polish is a bit watery at first, but all evens out in two coats. I did three because of the macro settings on my camera. Drying time was alright, not too quick even though I waited a bit between coats.

Since the polish had a glowy vibe over it, it was screaming "Mattify me!", so of course, I did.

Essie Decadent Diva with a coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. Essie MAY makes Decadent Diva look purely matte, without it looking flat. I actually really like this..

But of course, making this polish matte wasn't enough.. I had to stamp something on it! I decided to use one of my new Bundle Monster plates that I got in just a couple of days ago.

Essie Decadent Diva with one coat of Essie MAY, stamped with China Glaze Millennium and Bundle Monster plate BM15. Whew, that's a whole lot! I LOVE this image! I didn't notice it when I was ordering, but I saw it when I got the plates in.. Look at the details of the tail of the peacock! Isn't that amazing? Let's see it closeup:

Whoa, I think I found a new favorite stamping image! Millennium makes a great contrast between the base color and the image. Yes, this combination is a winner for me!

What do you think of Essie Decadent Diva - Do you like her more when she's shiny or when she's matte? And what do you think of the Bundle Monster image? Do you own them yourself?

Thanks for stopping by!

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

Hi all!

So, first day of the week is over. Did you all survive? I'm going back to work tomorrow so I'll just do a short post before I crash into bed. Short, in text that is. I have lots of pictures of this pretty! I'm late to the party, but since Emerald Sparkle was sold out almost everywhere, I got my bottle just a couple of weeks ago from eBay.

Emerald Sparkle, three coats. I could have done two coats, but I did three because I had to take pictures and the macro mode is evil.. Lol. Emerald Sparkle is a gorgeous green glitter polish. The green glitter is in a darker green base that gives it gorgeous depth. I don't know if I own the 'good' or the 'bad' Emerald Sparkle though, from other pictures it seems to be somewhere in between. Application was great! I was so surprised. Dryingtime was quick, I didn't expect it to be dry so quick. This is definitely a winner for me!

And a little closeup of this beauty:


*insert ooh and aah here*

With so much glitter, it just HAS to be a gorgeous matte as well. So, I applied one coat of Essie Matte About You. This is the result..


This is so hot! I love these kind of polishes matte. It gives a really pretty look, although I like Emerald Sparkle better when she shines :) This is a very deep, dark green. A closeup of the matte prettyness:


Oh so pretty.

And because you all know me, a little Konad to play with!


I used plate M69 and China Glaze Cherish for stamping. China Glaze Cherish is actually a light green polish, but it seems like a matte silver or something. I really like the effect it had in this Konad!

Do you own Emerald Sparkle? If not, buy it! What do you think of this gorgeous polish and the different 'looks' in this post?

Thanks for stopping by!