Tag Archives: essence

Sunday Spam: essence love

Posted on June 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

I have accumulated quite some essence swatches, so I’m going to show you these today!

Let’s start with the reloaded essence nail art twins. First up is Edward, a periwinkle blue creme. I don’t know what the reloaded part is supposed to be, except that they changed the bottles (I liked the old ones better, but ok) – that’s fine by me, in my opionion it didn’t need reloading anyhow.
essence edward_1

essence Bella, shown here over Edward. Finally a woman on top!
essence bella over edward_1

essence carrie - everyday pink creme, all good here.
essence carrie_1

Mr. Big on top of Carrie. No wonder one doesn’t see much of carrie anymore!
essence mr big_essence carrie_1

essence Romeo, a dark purple creme. A good solid purple creme. Not as romantic as I imagined Romeo to be!
essence romeo_1_1

essence Julia over Romeo. Super sparkly and definitely my favorite glitter topper from the nail art twins!
essence julia_essence romeo_1_1

essence colorbration. I wore this some time back and I had forgotten how green and sparkly and cool it is. Definitely under my favorite essence polishes!
essence colorbration_1_1

essence copper’ize me (over Love&Beauty light blue) is a sparkling mix ov multicolored tiny glitters that look different over every polish. This is my favorite nail art special effects topper (quite a mouthful!).
essence copper'ize me!_love & beauty light bue_1

essence it peace is from the urban messages collection, still my favorite essence collection. The strong blue shimmer that you can see in the bottle is less visible on the nails, but this is never the less an amazing coral – even more so because it works with my skin tone!
essence it peace_1_1

essence street styler, also from the urban messages collection, is one of the best turquoise/aqua polishes I have. it has tiny silver specks in it and it amazingly vibrant. Plus it applies super nice.
essence street styler_1_1

Now, did you expect so many good words about essence from me? There are so many nice polishes from essence, but lately their TE’s haven’t been so amazing. I’m sure it will turn around again, and you’ll read more happy posts from me.

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Ninja Polish Alexandrite, Eye Candy and Zultanite

Posted on May 21, 2013 | 7 Comments

 

Hope you all enjoy your (long) weekend! Today I have some Ninja Polish polishes to show you which I have been trying out over various colors other than black.

First up is Alexandrite. Its a fine glittery duochrome nail polish that can be worn alone if you’re willing to waste this beauty on layers, or it can be worn over other colors. The duochrome effect is very strong and evident on this one. It sparkles turquoise to purple, sometimes a bit pink, gold and blue too. I used one coat over MAC Peppermint Patti.
Ninja Polish Alexandrite_5
Ninja Polish Alexandrite_4Ninja Polish Alexandrite_3

I tried Alexandrite over various other colors, but I like it the best over mint. I also thought it looked cool over a vivid medium blue, such as essence shopping @ portobello road.
ninja polish alexandrite_essence shopping@portobello road_

With Eye Candy, I had some difficulties finding a good base color. It is a very colorful tiny glitter mix consisting of blue, purple, green, gold/orange, and most probably other colors, but that’s primarily what I see. Unexpectedly, I liked this best over purple (p2 cool plum)…. ninja polish eye candy_p2 cool plum_2
ninja polish eye candy_p2 cool plum_1

… and blue (p2 wintry blue). 

ninja polish eye candy_p2 wintry blue_2ninja polish eye candy_p2 wintry blue_1

 

 I’m a big fan of polishes with a gold-greenish color, so Zultanite looked the most fun to me from the beginning on. It has this unusual color shift from copper to olive but an intense golden glow (it is never, ever, brown.) I love colors like this! I decided to layer it over a similar base color – obviously the color shift is stronger if layered over black, but I think everything looks so alike if layered over black! – but it looks the most “natural” over Revlon Spanish Moss.
Ninja Polish Zultanite_Revlon Spanish Moss_1
Ninja Polish Zultanite_Revlon Spanish Moss_4
Ninja Polish Zultanite_Revlon Spanish Moss_5

 

Did you find any other layering combinations you could share? I’m always interested!

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essence – new show your feet polishes

Posted on May 16, 2013 | 6 Comments

Hi there! You know what the best is about today? Tomorrow. Fridays. Full of hope and expectation what the weekend may bring. (lots of sleep in my case…!)

Anyhow, essence released new “toe nail polish”. I have zero idea what the difference to “finger nail polish” may be, but what shall I say, it is a marketing trick. So I decided to exercise some civil restistance and show them on my fingers, not toes.

The gladiator (they are all named after certain shoe types, cute I think) is a lime green creme, very vivid and a color I really like. I used two coats, the application was ok.
essence the gladiator_1

The peeptoe is a very vivid almost neon coral. 2 coats again, application ok.
essence the peeptoe_1

The pump is a chalky barbie pink. The application was a bit streaky but ok to handle. 2 coats.
essence the pump_1

The stiletto is a shimmery medium purple, it has a blue shine which is more apparent in the bottle than on the nail. I don’t like this color at all. Application was ok, 2 coats.
essence the stiletto_1

The wedge looks like a very vivid medium blue creme, but there is just a hint of shimmer in there, so it looks more glossy. I don’t wear blues like this on my nails, but I like the color itself. 2 coats, it was a bit difficult to control while applying it.
essence the wedge_1

All in all this collection has really nice colors, but nothing breathtaking. I assure you my nails felt fine after wearing this polish, so it’s safe to say it isn’t toe nail polish only!

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essence guerilla gardening TE

Posted on May 7, 2013 | 8 Comments

Hi everyone! Hope you’re having fun with the giveaways. You can still enter a few!

Anyhow, I thought, why not take a break and show you something else today. This essence LE came out recently, it is asomewhat spring-y mix of colors and pink and green flocking powder that I chose not to show you – I have tried blue flocking powder and found that quite something else, and to be honest, it’s enough of an experience for now.

Floral Glam is a tomato red creme. It has just the slightest bit of a jelly consistency, but it covers completely in two coats. It’s a red essence does well, so if you have one, you won’t need another.
essence floral glam_1

I’m the moss is a fir-tree green creme. It’s pretty solid, except for the name. 2 coats.
essence i'm the moss_1

Mission Flower is your rather standard pink creme. It had just the teensiest hint of a blue shimmer in the bottle, but it looks rather plain once applied. 2 coats. 
essence mission flower_1

Plant the Planet is my favorite color, but the application wasn’t good. I needed three coats and a somewhat loose hand in applying it and more or less hoping that if I just put on enough polish, the bald spots would dissappear. In effect it worked, but there are so many other great lime/chartreuse/light green cremes out there, that you’d easily find an alternative. 
essence plant the planet_1

Anything that you liked from this TE?

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How I wore it: China Glaze Love’s a beach

Posted on April 15, 2013 | 4 Comments

Get ready for some eye-searing uber-neonity! Today I am showing you one of the polishes I absolutely adore, but can’t look at too long: China Glaze Love’s a Beach.
China Glaze Love's a beach_1

What you see here (do look away every couple of seconds, for your retina’s sake), is a super pink neon shimmer polish.
China Glaze Love's a beach_2

It applies well, is neon, is pink, has shimmer. What more do I want? A matching lipstick. Oh, wait, I have one: Bobby Brown Neon Pink.
China Glaze Love's a beach_3

I also have sunglasses, just so you know.  And a matching ring with neon pink and neon yellow glass stones (from Pieces or something like it). Check out how that pink pops in the shadow! Amazing!
China Glaze Love's a beach_7
China Glaze Love's a beach_4

And of course, I have pink Converse, and this slightly big pink cashmere pullover (from Nice Connection, well, whatever, I didn’t choose their brand name). 
China Glaze Love's a beach_5

The pants are, as most of mine seem to be, from WE. So, either  I make a lot of advertising for WE, or I keep on wearing the same pants. You can pick :)
China Glaze Love's a beach_6

And last, but definitely not least, here’s a piece of very useful information for those of you that like stamping! The essence polishes of their color changing line are amazing for stamping. Thank you M. for telling me, I tried them all: they all stamp amazingly. And they do slightly change their color if you add topcoat! (all of the 4 available polishes stamped over Love’s a Beach, no topcoat added).
china glaze loves a beach stamped with essence color change polishes_!

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essence Floral Grunge TE

Posted on April 9, 2013 | 2 Comments

essence releases TE after TE again, it seems to be a spring-thing. Today I’m showing you the Floral Grunge TE.

It seems more and more that essence focuses on a target group of girls aged 7 to 13. I am not at all interested in the TE’s they put out if I’d only judge by theme. I mean, what’s floral grunge? Dead flowers? The ghost of a rabbit in a flower bed? Grunge music to which hippies dance? A happy emo? The cyber goth movement? I can’t answer any of this, but I am certain that puberty-ridden girls will find something as undefined as this interesting. For a fact I know that I would have, and I am ashamed to admit it. Luckily, growing up is inevitable.

essence Be flowerful. 2 coats. A shiny coral-orange pastel polish. 3 coats. I assume this is part of the “floral”?
essence floral grunge be flowerful

essence Black to the roots. Ah, the word joke. So funny. Black (…) polish with silver glitter in there that dries gritty and matte. It has a sticker saying that this is supposed to be textured, but it really isn’t. It looks more like a lab accident (aka the whole jar of silver glitter fell into the matte black nail polish! Oh no! What shall we do! How about we call it texture. No one will notice.). 2 coats.
essence floral grunge black to the roots

essence Grunge me Tender (no comment on this name. I mean, really.) is a pale mint shade with some shimmer-adding particles. It dries rather anticlimactic to something between shiny and matte, but definitely not to a suede. It is also amazingly patchy, you can see that even at 3 coats.
essence floral grunge grunge me tender_1

essence Lily Bloom, a white polish with a little bit of shine that doesn’t transfer on the nail all too well. Less patchy than the mint, but still not amazing. 3 coats (and no idea what “the pearl” means – a sticker on top of the bottle – this doesn’t look pearly to me).
essence floral grunge lily bloom

essence Madly Purpled – now finally, this is a success. Medium dusty purple, dries matte, with shimmer, so it doesn’t look flat. Easy to apply, dries quick, 2 coats. If you pick one from this TE, pick this one.
essence floral grunge madly purpled

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Sunday Spam: essence polishes

Posted on April 7, 2013 | 2 Comments

Welcome to another edition of Sunday Spam, featuring essence polishes.

EDIT: Something happened here with the text. As I don’t remember the witty comments I made, but I assume it was a hilarious read, let me just tell you what the polishes are called.

Essence Bioho Chic, 2 coats.essence boho chic_1

essence chic reloaded, 2 coats.
essence chic reloaded_2

 essence cookie love, 2 coats. (HATED this on me.)essence cookie love_1

essence cool breeze over date in the moonlight. generic, if you ask me.  1 coat
essence date in the moonlight_cool breeze_2

essence date in the moonlight, 2 coats.
essence date in the moonlight

essence glitter on me over that’s what I mint. 1 coat.
essence glitter on me_that's what I mint2

essence love’s recipe. 3 coats. WORST FORMULA EVER.
essence love's recipe_1

essence pom-berry. 2 coats.    essence pom-berry_1

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essence Sun Kissed TE

Posted on March 26, 2013 | 12 Comments

 Perfectly timed for the easterly snow-fall in Vienna, essence released a new Trend Edition called sun kissed. I absolutely love this Trend Edition, because it is the most funny TE ever.

essence my sunny side is a very warm gold metallic/shimmer nail polish. I associate the sunny side of something with a smile, or a soft sunny hue, or plainly something that makes one happy. This polish is the opposite of all of that. It doesn’t make me happy (it’s much too thin and runs everywhere), it’s not a soft sunny hue, it’s like the light at sundown in a 50-year-old Polaroid picture.
essence my sunny side_1

essence Wild Summer is an orange creme polish with a tint of yellow. Is it wild? hmm. It’s orange. If you consider orange wild, then yes. Is it summer (aka summer of 2013)? no. Orange was not only the Pantone color but also the summer color of 2012. I don’t really want to spell it out, but this might be another great ___ of essence when it comes to naming their polishes (the word we’re looking for here starts with an “f” and ends with “ail”!). About the formula: not the best, a bit too sheer, a bit streaky too.
essence wild summer_1

essence soak up the sun – a very dark aubergine creme polish, with a strong brown hint – is a really pretty polish. I think the color would be great for many occasions, but the name? Soak up the sun? If you have this color (and you didn’t start out with a dark skin color, obviously), you have soaked up the sun too much! By far! So consider this: if this is your go-to nude, you might want to see a specialist (and by specialist I mean both an oncologist and a psychiatrist).IMG_5757 

essence sunset paradise is a darker blue creme. The color itself is nice, very calm and all, but sunset paradise? Trust me, if the sky has this color, you have missed the sunset. This is just your plain, old, regular nightfall.IMG_5781

 

Well, tell me, did you find the names of this collection as absurd as I found them?

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Sunday Spam: new essence, green & blue

Posted on March 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

Finally I managed to put together another Sunday Spam for you!

In the last month, I swatched some essence colors from their new and renewed color & go line. Today I have 8 of the blues and greens for you!

essence I love bad boys is a medium blue shimmer. 2 coats, formula was fine.
essence i love bad boys_1

essence I’m bluetiful – one of the colors I hoped would be the most fun, as it is a periwinkle creme with tiny silver shard glitters. It was a pain to apply, much to thick, and if you don’t wait for one coat to be completely dry, there will be dragging. 2 coats.
essence i'm bluetiful

essence I’m the boss – same idea as I’m bluetiful here, but a much darker base color. The glitter shards look more golden in this polish, but I’m not sure if it is the dark dusty purple that makes them appear that way. Same formula issues as above. 2 coats.
essence i'm the boss_1

essence L.O.L. is a lime green creme. I love lime green cremes, so that’s that. This one makes my skin look horrible, but I like the color. 2 coats – surprisingly, this one applied nicely.
essence L.O.L._1

essence that’s what I mint – let me not get started on the names again, just know that the new Catrice names are so much better. This polish is not really mint colored, it is more of a turquoise. 2 coats, formula was fine. essence did manage to improve the formula with cremes, if you ask me.
essence that's what I mint

essence upper green side – gorgeous color. Reminds me of a less intense version of Illamasqua Nomad – formula was good, 2 coats.
essence upper green side


The worst to photograph was essence Walk on the Wild Side. Dark greens and my skin tone do not like each other. I liked the green specks in there, but otherwise the color did nothing for me. It was a bit sheer and totally weird to apply: when it dried, it seemed to shrink, so I got tip wear from applying it. 3 coats.
essence walk on the wild side_1
essence we rock the green – this was also in my top picks, it is just so vibrant! It’s a medium grass green with intense gold shimmer and what looks like teensy green glitter specks within. 2 coats, formula was good!
essence we rock the green_1

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essence Oz – The Great and Powerful TE

Posted on March 5, 2013 | 2 Comments

essence is trying its best to be the OPI for the small purse lately. They announced a collaboration with Justin Bieber (…), they released a Snow White TE and now they put out a Wizard of Oz TE. I wonder what will be next?

Let me start off by saying that all these polishes are crackles. We know that crackles aren’t necessarily a new thing, but as they say, good news travels fast, and logically, bad news travels slowly, so no wonder that a year after the crackles were cool, essence releases a whole collection.

good witch is a super new absolutely innovative gold crackle. I layered it over flormar M12. It crackles nicely, and to be honest, gold crackles are the ones I liked the most. So this one gets a pass!
essence good witch_flormarM12_1

delicate but determined is a navy shimmer crackle. The color in this picture is true to its real color, even though my fingers aren’t. I layered it over flormar M04. I wish this wasn’t a crackle polish, the color itself is beautiful.
essence delicate but determined_flormar M04_1

winds of change is mainly a song, if you ask me. Taaaaaaake me to the magic of the moment…etc, etc. Great song to sing along falsely and overly loud. The polish though is the opposite: red crackle. Never understood the benefit of red crackle. It looks horrible over pretty much any color. I layered it over flormar M03.
essence Winds of Change_flormar M03_1

master of illusion can’t fool me. The illusion of it being a nice turquoise/aqua creme shatters just like the polish itself. I layered it over flormar M09.
essence master of illusion_flormar M09_1

winged wonder is a peach/coral creme crackle. It crackles the least good of the bunch. I layered it over flormar M10.
essence winged wonder_flormar M10
 

Do you still like crackles? Or would you just get them because they are a Wizard of Oz TE?

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