Essie Wedding 2012 Collection Review & Swatches

For anyone that doesn’t know me, I LOVE Essie.  Essie the brand that started this wonderful addiction.  I actually have more than seventy bottles of Essie nail polish, by far the majority of my collection.  So for today I have a review and some swatches of Essie’s Wedding 2012 Collection.  I wasn’t super excited about this collection at first, but then I saw them in person and had to have them immediately.  Plus, they are the perfect Easter/spring colors!


First up, Like to be Bad.  I adore the sweet color.  It has a shimmer in the bottle that doesn’t quite translate to the nail as much as I would like seeing as I really have to look for it, even in direct sunlight  (obviously you can’t see it at all in the picture), but the color is still a great pastel pink to have in the collection.  Formula-wise it applied easily, but was a little thin, so I did three thin coats to get it even.
Second, Instant Hot.  This is the color that surprised me the most.  I wasn’t going to get it at first, but decided that I should get the whole collection.  It is a slightly blushed white with a shimmer.  Again, the shimmer doesn’t translate well to the nail compared to the bottle (again imperceptible in the picture).  But, I will definitely use this color as a background for some nail art that I don’t want a super stark white for.  This one was also a little thin, so I did three thin coats here to get it even.  I definitely recommend a ridge filler if you have any notable ridges.  You can see mine peeking through a little near my cuticle because I just used a regular basecoat.

Next, Who’s the Boss?.  This might be my favorite of the collection (it’s a VERY close race between this one and Love & Acceptance).  Who’s the Boss?  is a pastel blue green that looks more blue or green depending on the light.  I did three thin coats here, but I think I will just do two regular coats next time I do a mani with it.

Finally, Love & Acceptance.  As I said above, this color is battling for my favorite of the collection.  It is definitely my favorite formula-wise.  This took just two coats, slightly thin.  (please excuse the line in the center of the nail in the picture, I had to patch it after I dinged it and didn’t realize that it showed so badly in the picture until it was too late to take another :( )
Another great collection from Essie overall.  I must say the formula isn’t as nice as it usually is on a couple of them, but nothing too frustrating or not worth dealing with.  My only real complaint is not with the polishes themselves, but the brush and handle of all Essie polishes.  I did not know how much they bothered me until I started trying other polishes and was like, “Wow!  That brush is awesome!”  The Essie brush is definitely not unmanageable or annoying enough that I stop using it, obviously since I have more than seventy bottles lol, but it is not my favorite.

I liked the skittles (well, more like Easter M&Ms swatch so much that I decided to add a fifth color and wear it as a mani.  I ended up adding Orly Spark as my thumb color.  For the record, I got Spark to do a rubber ducky mani and am not in love with it as a base color.  I ended up with four very thin coats and it was still uneven and had bald spots.  On the upside, I love Orly’s brush and handle :).



I was planning on doing some stamping over this on day two, but when my fiancé got home he noticed my nails almost immediately (pretty uncommon, also for the record) and wasn’t a big fan.  So I changed it lol  That made four manicures in four days!

Thanks & Gig ‘em!
Jessica

They're Different, Not Broken - Autism Awareness

 

I know in today’s society many feel that people that don’t function “normally” must have something wrong with them.  There must be a cure or solution.  A pill or treatment to fix the problem.  Well I’m sorry if I offend anyone or lose any of my few readers, but… Autistic child/people are NOT broken!  They do not need a cure or solution.  They need to be understood.  I’m not saying that research shouldn’t be conducted to find a cause (if we even can, human biology is extremely complicated and sometimes things just seem to happen.  I know, I know… another foreign concept in our society that we, including myself, really struggle with if someone says it) or attempt to find ways to improve the quality of life that many with autism are thrown into.  But, I am saying that we should not put autistic people in a box with a pill and ignore them or treat them as incompetent.  Many, if not most or all, are HIGHLY intelligent people.  The general public fails to discover, let alone understand, this because they don’t take the time to learn a new communication style!  In my experience, autism really boils down to a communication disorder, not a disease that must be contained and cured immediately.  Much like someone that has lost their ability to speak coherently after a stroke, autistic people usually know what they want to say but have difficulties getting it out.  Yes, they tend to have what seems to be certain quirks that throw some people off, like generally preferring not to be touched and structured schedules.  But, heck, my sister hates to be touched and she is far from autistic.  These are also preferences that change with culture!  In some cultures there is nearly zero physical contact generally speaking; and, some cultures value a rigorous schedule closely adhered to, while others adhere to a very loose schedule.  I find that people believe autistic people incapable of emotion.  This is LUDACRIS!  All the autistic people that I have met and/or spent time with are highly sensitive to both your emotions and how they feel and are treated.  They just express these emotions differently.

My point is I think instead of the general public focusing on what’s “broken,” they should be educated on, or by in many cases, what autism really is and what those special people we call autistic really deal with.  In my experience, they are often some of the sweetest, most sensitive, most loving, most caring, highly intelligent, curious, creative people you will ever have the honor of meeting and spending time with.  Learn their “language,” spare a minute to be blessed…

Ok, so now I will get off my soapbox and show you my nails for Worldwide Autism Awareness Day today.  If you missed out on fun and educating today, don’t worry this month this Autism Awareness Month so you can participate as much or as little as you like :)

I started with Orly Snowcone as my base because I felt it to be the closest match to the Light Up Blue Campaign Logo I’ve been seeing.  I then used a dotting tool and Essie Blanc to create a puzzle piece on my ring fingers (I will try to persuade my camera to work properly and make a tutorial for my version of a puzzle piece soon).  And since like I said I feel like many autistic people are misunderstood and are actually very loving I stamped a heart from Konad plate m18 with Konad White Special Polish on my thumbs.  I layered “A”s going all different directions from Konad plate m17 over this with Konad Blue Special Polish.

 

Thanks & Gig ‘em!

Jessica

ASPIRE to Reach the Stars

So I am Executive Chair (President) of an organization ASPIRE (Aggie Scholars Promoting Incentives, Resources, and Encouragement) at my university and we had our Annual Awards Banquet and Parents’ Luncheon today.  Normally I would have done a blue mani with gold or yellow stars to match our logo, but I ended up with a new blue shirt to wear instead.  Sooooooo, I decided to be bold and wear bright red shoes with my blue shirt and black pencil skirt and of course I had to complete the outfit with a stunning manicure… luscious red with gold stars.

I used China Glaze Ruby Pumps as my base color.  Then I stamped the ring finger with Orly Luxe and Konad plate m42.  (Please ignore the date stamp on the photos.  My camera decided to change it’s settings… :/)  For any that have never seen or used Ruby Pumps, let me just give you a little advice… RUN, don’t walk to your nearest beauty supply and get it NOW!  This is an AMAZING, INDESPENSABLE color.  I love the formula, too.  The more layers you add the deeper and richer the color gets.  The top two pictures were taken in direct sunlight, but inside (the last photo) the color is a bit darker and the glitter flashes and dances in and out of sight.  I find myself staring at my nails anytime I wear Ruby Pumps – walking to class, sitting on the couch, knitting, driving (not such a good idea), everywhere.  And, I get tons of compliments.  It’s very eye catching :)

Sadly, I will be changing it tonight.  But!  It is for a great cause – Autism Awareness.  Tomorrow is World Autism Awareness Day.  Therefore I will be sporting blue nails and with any luck a white puzzle piece.  I’m hoping to get the regular blog post up tomorrow and then make this manicure  my first tutorial, hopefully, and have it up shortly :)

Keep an eye out!

Thanks & Gig ‘em!

Jessica

World Autism Awareness Day, Monday, April 2, 2012-...

I know a super special little boy that also just happens to have autism, and I hate that people think that he's stupid or something.  He is HIGHLY intelligent, he just communicates differently than we do.  I will be doing this, will you?

Ashley is PolishAddicted: World Autism Awareness Day, Monday, April 2, 2012-...: This coming Monday, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day. This is a special cause for me because I know a VERY special little boy who happens to have autism. Those of us in the polish community have pulled together before for other causes and I fully believe we can do it again. 

On Monday make sure to paint your nails blue! It's as simple as that. Is it going to change anything? Maybe not. But it might just help raise awareness, even if it only opens one person's eyes, it's worth it.  Someone else suggested adding in puzzle pieces with the blue. I think this is a wonderful idea! I will attempt it, even though we all know how I fail at nail art. I want to see YOUR blue manis! If you paint your nails blue on Monday, with or without the puzzle pieces, I want you to upload a picture to my Facebook page. I will share it on Facebook, make sure to link your blog if you have one! 

From Autism Speaks: "Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 88 American children as on the autism spectrum–a ten-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years. Careful research shows that this increase is only partly explained by improved diagnosis and awareness. Studies also show that autism is three to four times more common among boys than girls. An estimated 1 out of 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States." 

My First Water Marble!

I know that it isn't perfect, but for a first time...  I am so proud of myself!  I must thank Collete from My Simple Little Pleasures for all of her wonderful tutorials.  I must say that she the queen of water marbling, IMHO at least.  You can check them out on her You Tube page.  

When I was working on this manicure I noticed a few things.  First, borh work well in the water, Shine especially, but Goth dries more quickly and can leave bald spots when you draw your design. So, I would recommend possibly finding a different black, or letting Shine be your primary color, like Collette did here. If you really want to use these colors as I did, go for it! Just know that you'll have bald spots in your design where you draw your petals and you might struggle to get your flower drawn in time depending on how quickly you work. On my first hand, my left one, I used Shine as my base (like Collette) and you can see the "holes" in my design. In some of the nails I sort of liked the effect, but not all. So on my right hand I used Goth as my base color and LOVED the effect. The colors were bolder and NO bald spots :D  It really just depends on the look you want.

So overall:  a fun and educational mani!

Some Old NOTDs - Beware Pic HEAVY

I thought I would do a quick post with some of my previous manicures.  Not that any of them are very advanced, but would you like to see any of these made into tutorials or some tips on them?

My first attempt at nail art lol  Essie Sexy Divide and Essie Blanc

This was done with China Glaze Ruby Pumps and Essie Blanc.

China Glaze Stone Cold with Essie Play Date and Turquoise & Caicos

Essie Play Date, Bachelorette Bash,
Fruit Sangria, Blanc, and Orly Blue Collar.
Inspired by Creativenailart

China Glaze Fast Track stamped with
Orly Rose Radience and Konad plate m63
(one of my fave manis EVER)

Orly Goth and Forever Crimson

Tip to cuticle:  China Glaze Spontaneous, Orly Dazzle, Butter London Marrow

Sponged glitter gradient done with OPI Vampsterdam and Essie Carnival

OPI Extravagance stamped with Orly Luxe and Konad plate m36

Orly Steel Your Heart and Essie Tour de Finance
stamped with Orly Dazzle and Konad plate m3

Essie Eternal Optimist
stamped with China Glaze Unplugged and Konad plated m16

China Glaze Strawberry Fields
stamped with Orly Glitz and Konad plate m59

OPI DS Reserve (one of my fave colors)
stamped with Konad White Special Polish and Konad plate m71

OPI DS Reserve stamped with Orly Luxe and Konad plate m18

Pre-clean-up:  Essie Raise Awareness
stamped with Orly Steel Your Heart and Konad plate m63

Zoya Dannii with Butter London Henley Regatta
layered on the accent nail

What do you think?!

Howdy!

Howdy and welcome!!!

I am so excited about this endeavor.  Some of my friends have been encouraging me to start a nail blog, but I didn't think that I my "art" is good enough.  But what the heck, I'll share and if no one likes it than so be it :)  Please leave me comments and feedback about anything that you like or don't like, want to see or don't want to see, and I'll do my best.