Essie Merino Cool

I wanted Essie Merino Cool from Essie's Fall 2010 for the longest but was not able to find it in stores. Is that the story of my nail polish life or what? I lust after an elusive nail polish and search for it, but I am still not able to find it. Seasons and collections go by and then wham! I magically find it in the most unexpected of places. I stumbled upon Merino Cool in Wal-Mart of all places. It was the last one too!

The Essie polishes at Wal-Mart look slightly different than what we are used to to seeing. Notice that new sticker on the bottle in the 3rd picture.This also was $7.75. Twenty five cents less than the usual $8.00 price tag I'm used to seeing.

This color is so complex to me. I see brown, purple and gray all in the one shade. 2 years ago, I would have never worn something like this. I have mostly pink Essies, so this a step outside the box for me and for Essie I think! 

Merino Cool? Check! Off the wish list...

♥ Lachelle

Just Like Candy

Yes the song by Cameo is playing it my head right now. (By the way, you might wanna watch that video if you're in need of a good laugh!) This pink polish reminds me of candy and was the perfect pick me up while rehabilitating my nails after taking off those fake nails. Lately, I've been feeling uninspired about my nail designs and last night I attempted to do cheetah print nails. Well, I failed at those and I'll spare you the pictures! It was getting late, so I did a simple stripe design on my nails.

♥ Lachelle

Essie Lilacism

 Well, I may be tardy to the party (haha, thanks Kim Zolciak ) but I finally got my hands on Essie Lilacism from Essie's 2010 Art of Spring collection! Oh I had been wanting this pastel lilac purple since the moment I saw it but I couldn't get it. Being a unemployed undergrad will do that do you. Well fast forward in time...last week I made a quick trip to the mall after work to use one of those free panty cards from Victorias Secret. (Hope that wasn't too much TMI!) Before leaving, I decided that I needed to pick up the preview lotion of Bath and Body Work's latest, Dark Kiss. Boy, do I love that stuff, I cant wait until it comes out on August 30th! So I decided to check out Trade Secret before I left. Let me tell you, it was like a dream walking into that store because that location happens to be closing. Sad for them, but great for me because everything in the store was 50% off! Unfortunately, I wish I had caught the clearance earlier because as far as nail stuff goes, they only had a ton of light pink OPIs and random red and pink Essies. While scouring the racks to see if I could find any hidden treasures, I found Lilacism! Be still my heart! Yeah, it was that crucial. :-)

So here it is in all its lilac glory:

I wore this for 4 days straight. Yup, it must be love.

♥ Lachelle

Rainbow Tiger Striped Nails!

Let me say that Twitter is awesome; if you aren't there, then you should be! The exchange of ideas on there is constant and you can really find some cool people on there. I follow China Glaze on Twitter and they tweeted about a Tumblr that showcases pretty nails. That's where I got this manicure idea from Artsy RN. She's a pretty cool girl who does some really cute nail designs. Though its not specifically a nail blog, she posts about nails a lot, so I would check it out if you want inspiration.

Here are the supplies I used:

L to R:

• Sally Hansen Blue Me Away
• Essie Pansy
• Zoya Creamy
• Wet n Wild French White Creme
• Seche Vite topcoat
• Art Deco Nail Art Polish in Black
• Makeup sponge

Artsy RN made a YouTube video tutorial which I used as my guide:

The Results!

As you can see, sponging your nails can get a little messy. So this is what they looked like before clean up:

This is Day 2. Getting a little tip wear, but I think it held up well considering the fact that I was moving. The white polish is a cheap, chip-tastic polish so when I do this again I want to use another white polish.

I used my go to topcoat Seche Vite and it kind of smeared the black stripes a bit. Next time I will use a different topcoat. Also you can reuse your makeup sponges just by cutting the used tip off.

Essie Pink Parka

Here is the other polish I received from my Twitter friend, RebeccaKaz! How did she know that I loved pink? Hot, neon, retina burning pink? Hmm, is it that obvious? I honestly squealed when I got this out of my mailbox!

This is three coats of Essie Pink Parka from their Fall 09 collection + Seche Vite. It dried quickly and matte because its a neon. I used three coats because it was kind of thin, but those three coats were absolutely worth it! I love that they released this for a fall collection, because I promise you I will be wearing this even in the dead of winter. Finally, someone gets it! I knew I loved Essie for a reason.

Essie Matte About You + My Favorite Purples

One of my lovely friends on Twitter, RebeccaKaz, sent me Essie Matte About You topcoat! So this post is possible because of her! Thanks again! I love Essie's Matte About You, I mean its a great solution to the matte nail trend. You can use it to make any nail polish you already own matte. It has a smooth velvet texture when it dries. There's nothing I don't love about this topcoat! So while looking through my stash, wondering what to try it out on first, I came across Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl. I also gathered 3 more of my favorite purples to try out. Here they are:

L to R: Zoya Hope, China Glaze Grape Juice, Hot Topic Iridescent Purple, Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl

The before picture: 2 coats of each polish with no topcoat:
L to R: Daddy's Girl, Iridescent Purple, Grape Juice, Hope

These polishes are already so gorgeous, lets see them with Essie Matte About You.

I love all of these polishes with the matte topcoat! But guess which ones are my favorite?

Zoya Hope + Matte About You. Isn't this a great purple to matte? I didn't cover all the polish with topcoat though,so a little glossy polish still remains by my cuticle. Besides that, I love this!

I saved the best for last. Hot Topic Iridescent Purple is already gorgeous. With the matte topcoat, I think it becomes even more dramatic. I love it. I'm going to do a whole manicure with this one and the Essie topcoat. You can see the purple and blue shimmer in it as well.

I'm sold on Essie Matte About You. That's coming from someone who didn't like the matte trend at first! Did you love these purples with a matte topcoat? I did!

TJ Maxx and Albertsons Goodies

It's Labor Day for us here in the US! What does that mean for me? A free day from school and work and I'm going to use it to the best of my ability. Shopping! Here are some things I have picked up or spotted last week and the goodies I got today.

First, I tweeted about Albertsons having the Wet n Wild Color Craze collection for $1.49! I even took a picture on the BlackBerry to prove it! Don't sleep on Albertson's. They always have something unexpected,( hello, CND Solar oil? ) or things on clearance in the makeup aisle.

I also picked up Sally Hansen Disco Ball there too:

Sparkly goodness! It was $2.24 I believe.

Last, but not least today I took a trip to TJ Maxx and I found Essie and Barielle goodies! Both for under 9 dollars! I'm on a college student budget so this was right up my alley! I wanted to hug the store associates!

Both of these were 3.99 apiece! They also had Barielle basecoats and topcoats there but the Growth Activator was what I was most interested in so I got that. The Essie kit has a mini crystal nail file! How great is that?! It also includes Pink is the Link nail color and Sensitivity base coat. This set was in support of breast cancer awareness and it came out in 08.

Also while I was at TJ Maxx I spotted Rescue Beauty Lounge bath and spa products! Follow the link to see which ones I'm talking about! At TJ Maxx ranged from $3.99 to $12.99 in price, which is a huge discount because their regular prices start at $20.00! I personally did not like the smells so I didn't pick any up but I'm interested in the quality of the products since they are from RBL.

So are you going to scour the aisle at TJ Maxx and Alberstons now? If you do, let me know what you find!

Essie Pansy

Today's manicure is Essie Pansy, which they describe a "tropical, hot pink for splendid days in the sun". Put simply, its a medium pink creme and I cant resist a pink creme! I just did a little nail art on my ring finger with my LA Colors Art Deco nail polishes. This three coats + Seche Vite. I could have done with two coats, but three was just my personal preference.

I know a lot of nail bloggers don't like Essie because they play it safe with their colors, but when I'm looking for a nice pink, I know I can find one with them. I think their polishes also make some of the best french manicures. To each their own I guess, I still heart Essie.

Essie Peach Daquiri

Today's manicure is one I gave to my mother! I painted her nails better than I paint my own, lucky her. I gave her the star treatment since she came up to visit me and I missed her :-) I filed and buffed her nails and massaged her hands with CND Solar Manicure. She likes coral colors, so Essie Peach Daquiri was right up her alley.

This is two coats + Seche Vite. The formula on this was very good, went on smooth. I told her she would be good to go and she wouldn't have to sit around waiting on her nails dry with the Seche Vite. I think she's a believer now! On her ring finger, I added a little nail art and she liked it. I don't think it was my best work but she liked it so I'm going to go with it!

You'll have to come see me next week for another Manicure, mom!

Essie Loves Diamonds (coming soon)

I got this in my e-mail today:

These colors are infused with diamond dust! Hmm, I'm curious to see what the polish will look like. I'm most excited about Heart My Jr Jewels, the website describes it as a sophisticated dazzling dark. Of course I cant wait to see the pink, but I think it might be sheer. I love the name too, Put a Ripka Ring On It. Check it out at Essie's website .

Essie Hard to Get

Indoor + No Flash (Above)

Indoor + Flash

This is from Essie's Spring 08 collection called In the Mood. It's a mini! Either that or my hand is gigantic! I got this in a 4 pack with 3 other polishes from that collection, they were on clearance at Ulta for 4 dollars I think. I love this pink so much, I think I may have to get it in a full size! Besides, the tiny brush is a pain in the butt! Having said that, I took these picture pre-cleanup. That small brush really sucks! Since it's a light pink from Essie I really expected it to be sheer but it's pretty opaque. I did 3 coats anyway +topcoat.

It's such a girly pink, it's right up my alley!

Here's to the start of a great week!

-Lachelle

Essie Pinking Up the Pieces + French Manicure

Outdoor + No Flash

Indoor + Flash

I've posted a picture of my a French Manicure I did before, however the picture quality is horrible. So this post and a couple of others will revisit some polishes I've posted before but deserve better quality pictures. It's dark outside today like its about to rain so the outdoor picture isn't that hot though. :-)

My experience with Essie Polish is limited. Not because I don't love them, I just haven't bought many of them. One Essie I found at Ulta, Pool Boy, I didn't like it on me so I gave it to my mother. I only wore it once and looking back, maybe I should have gave it another try. One Essie polish I did keep was Pinking Up the Pieces, an iridescent pink I found in Trade Secrets clearance bins. The funny thing was that I didn't expect it to be so sheer, but I was a polish addict newbie, so I hated it. Luckily I kept it because it makes for good manicures. This is two coats + Wet n Wild French White Creme for the tips. I did this freehand. Using these same polishes I did a pedicure as well.

When I do my own french manicures and pedicures, I feel so good that I didn't pay anyone to do them. I used to give my my money to the nail salons but no more! :-)