Essie Summer 2013 1.0 and Spring Redux

By | May 5, 2013
Note: images lost in blog crash
So when I stumbled on the new Essie summer line, I squealed like the 13 year old I am when it comes to nail polish. So pretty, vibrant and perfect for summer. I’ve been busy and not caught up on my nails so I didn’t realize they were actually out already until a colleague said she had Bottle Service. Knowing I “needed” a pedi this weekend, I hoped for the best. Before I got to the salon today, I was at a friend’s place and saw a pretty, vibrant orange. I was intrigued. It was Saturday Disco Fever. Orange doesn’t tend to suit me well and it’s definitely more of a pedi color, but I gave it a try.
It’s pretty, but it’s definitely not for me. Clockwise form top left: indoors, indoors flash and outdoors. It’s very close to Brazilliant which was a summer favorite and might be OK for a pedicure, but not for me for a mani. Just doesn’t work with my skin tone. Still, nothing lost but a few cotton balls to try it.Happened to be in CVS this morning and looked to see if they had any of the colors, but they were sold out. So it turned into one of my favorite salon past times, treating myself to a color I might not like enough to buy. With few exceptions, I won’t buy a color that can’t work for manis and pedis because I rarely do my own toes. The down side, I found myself wishing for Cab-ana this week when my pedi chipped.

Was pleasantly surprised to find that my salon had the new colors. It was actually a hard choice because I was thinking about a color that might work with the outfit for tonight’s Lortel Awards. I saw and dismissed Shake your $$ Maker, (much darker and less neon than the swatch looks) and a few of my standards. Quit looking at Merino Cool, it’s summer. Without even fully planning on going all with the new summer line, I landed on Bouncer, it’s Me! and DJ Play that Song.

I’m quite pleased with both colors although I don’t think the blue looks anything like the swatch? Would I buy it? Probably not, too close to Butler Please (and Mezmerize) but it’s a great summer pedi color. I love the purple, although it’s definitely more fuschia and not really neon in my opinion. It’s a hair darker than Splash of Grenadine and less sparkly than Madison Ave-Hue (below). Bizarrely? I was initially concerned about it clashing with the coral/red skirt I planned to wear tonight and then I remembered I had a skirt that works perfectly with the purple — two actually, one a solid, one part of a multi color pattern on black. Thank you, Old Navy, and my love of all thinks pink/purple for bailing me out.

I like Madison Ave-Hue. It’s not as vibrant as Grenadine or DJ, but I love the sparkles. Also great for hiding sheet marks. Both of the above are indoors. If I ever took one outdoors, I’ve since deleted it.Haven’t yet tried Bond With Whomever. Salon has it so I’ll give it a go for next mani ped, maybe. I need to try Ginza again because my only take away that I remember was that it chipped too quickly. Overall I give the Spring lines a B. Some winners (Cab-ana, Madison Ave-Hue, Come Here, First Timer) and some mehs (Avenue Maintain, Ipanema (too close to Fifth Ave) with the purples (Bond, Ginza) still TBD.

More soon.

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