Battle of the Greiges

Hey there once again. Today I'll be reviewing some greige (or, gray-beige) polishes. This color became a major trend a few years ago and still remains pretty popular. Essie has stayed particularly on top of this trend.

"Chinchilly," which I've reviewed before, is Essie's quintessential first greige. She believes that this shade started the greige trend. 

A quick reminder of what "Chinchilly" looks like.

In my view, "Chinchilly" is actually a darker greige than what was really "the" greige shade when it first hit the scene. One popular greige that comes to mind is Deborah Lippmann "Waking Up In Vegas," which was substantially grayer than "Chinchilly." Essie's "Master Plan" is said to be a very close dupe for "WUIV."

Essie "Master Plan" (2 coats each)

Even though flash was used for this shot, you can see that "Master Plan" is quite a bit grayer than "Chinchilly," which has a lot more beige to it. And, if you were to compare "MP" to "WUIV" (sorry I don't have swatches for that one!), you'd probably see that they are extremely similar as well. 

Comparison shot: From L to R (all 2 coats except DL, 3 coats) - Essie "MP"; Deborah Lippmann "Putty In Your Hands"; Essie "Miss Fancy Pants"

Above is a comparison of "MP" with Deborah Lippmann's "Putty In Your Hands," which was another very popular greige a couple years ago. "Putty" is also a very common term used to describe the color of greige polishes, and while one can see that it is visibly darker in tone than "MP," it is still a great example of a classic greige. Are you sick of me saying greige yet? Lol.

Essie "Miss Fancy Pants" is a shade from her Fall 2012 "Stylenomics" collection. It is only slightly darker than "MP." 

Some Brown-Gray Polishes & Why They Really Are All Different!

OK, so brown-gray polishes (not totally sure what to call them. Not really "greige" - greige is more, well, beige.) Greige polishes have been all the rage the last couple of year, but what about the, shall we say, brays?

Yea, I really can't do this new word inventing thing very well. Anyway, I've been going through a bray phase lately, and so here are some comparisons & swatches of some popular (including 1 non-Essie! Ha) brown-gray shades:

From left to right (2 coats each): Essie "Mink Muffs"; Sinful Colors "Nirvana"; Essie "Merino Cool"

Essie is one of the catalysts of the greige trend with other shades like "Chinchilly" (which I've also reviewed). She also ushered in her new spin on greige: purple-greige, as seen in "Merino Cool." "MC" has clear hints of beige to it, but stands out from other greiges with its mysterious purple aura (nice wording, huh? Lol.) Below is "MC" beside another comparable Essie shade: "Don't Sweater It" from her Fall 2012 "Stylenomics" collection:

Index/Middle Fingers: Essie "Don't Sweater It"; Ring Finger/Pinkie: Essie "Merino Cool"

In the bottles beside each other, these two polishes appear quite similar. On the nail, they appear even more so. But, if you look closely, you can see that "MC" has that magnificent purplish tone, and "DSI" stands as a true brown-gray.

From left to right: Essie "Don't Sweater It"; Essie "Mink Muffs"; Essie "Merino Cool"

I actually just got "Don't Sweater It," so that's really why I decided to write this post. I also just got "Mink Muffs" and became fascinated with the subtle differences between each polish. When really, "MM" is much browner than any of the other shades, with just a touch of gray to it. Sinful Colors "Nirvana" came closest to "MM" but it has an olive-greenish tone that sets it apart from "MM."

All of the polishes took 2 coats each. And of all these brown-grays, I think that "Mink Muffs" is my favorite.

'Til next time!

Random Essie Review: "Meet Me At Sunset"

Hey there again! Here I am with another Random Essie Review. Today is "Meet Me At Sunset" orange.

With camera flash

For the swatch, I used 3 coats of polish (although there might only be 2 on my ring finger - you can really see VNL on that one!), Essie Rock Solid base coat & Orly Hi-Shine top coat. The top coat is new to me, I just got it. I've been wearing this color for almost 24 hours, though, and it's still pretty shiny & not much tip wear. This one's also 3-free (unlike Seche Vite...), so that's nice. Thing is, I picked it up on sale for $5, about $3 cheaper than SV. 

Pic of my new Orly top coat. Pretty bottle, looks like one of their new ones.. Wonder why it was on sale?

Now, as for "MMAT", to me, it's just OK. I really want to be super excited about this one, especially since I can't seem to get into orange polishes. The last orange Essies I tried, "Fear or Desire" and "Orange, It's Obvious!" also left me disappointed. 

What bugs me most about "MMAT" is its thin jelly quality. I don't like seeing so much VNL on my hands, and honestly, the only time it actually looked appealing to me was in shaded light around the time of, ironically, sunset. It's a deep orange with strong red tones, so the name definitely fits the polish. It's like I love it and hate it at the same time!

So, conclusion: I wish it weren't so see through (all jelly, no cream), but I adore the name, and it makes the ugly orange seem fun for some reason. Um, sorry? Lol :)

MOTD ( + an Essie dupe!) - "Splash of Grenadine"

Well, this is one of those polishes that I've heard a lot about but had decided it was out of my reach (that is, of course, unless I wanted to get it on eBay..) Until I once more randomly fell upon a rare Essie shade - "Splash of Grenadine."

"Splash of Grenadine" is a blue-toned deep pink color. While it is described by Essie as "a playful magenta pink," I find that to be a total understatement. This is not what I think of when I think of magenta pink. Magentas are usually darker pink, more like "The Girls Are Out." "SOG" is a medium creamy pink with purplish overtones.

Bottle Comparisons  L = "Splash of Grenadine" ; R = "The Girls Are Out"

As you can see, "Splash of Grenadine" (or, as i'll call it from here on, by the acronym "SOG") is a lighter, more flowery shade than "TGAO." Anyway, I just wanted to illustrate the medium color of "SOG."

Index/Ring fingers = "SOG"; Middle/Pinky = Sally Hansen "Pinch Of Punch"

And here we have what appears to be a total dupe for "SOG": Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear "Pinch of Punch." Gee, they couldn't even be subtle about naming, could they? Lol. As you can see from my middle finger in the above photo, "POP" is a little lighter in tone than "SOG." Sorry, my pinkie is pretty much hidden behind my ring finger, but since it's shaded, "POP" looks just like "SOG." 

So, depending on lighting, Essie "Splash of Grenadine" and Sally Hansen "Pinch of Punch" are essentially dupes. Each polish took 2 coats for opacity.

Random Essie Comparison: "Bobbing For Baubles" vs. "Mind Your Mittens" (+ 1 more!)

If you've taken a look at my blog before, then you'll know that this blog is essentially dedicated to Essie polishes. I do get in some time with other polishes, OPI being the only other brand I've reviewed so far. But I'm also partial to brands like Sally Hansen's X-Treme Wear line, Sinful Colors, & a few others.

I'll share those polishes sometime in the future when I'm able to pull myself away from my precious Essies. For now, here is a Random Essie Comparison between 1 of the new shades from the Winter 2013 "Shearling Darling" collection & 1 from Winter a couple of years back: here are "Mind Your Mittens" and "Bobbing For Baubles."

*no top coat use for any of the photos 

Ring/Index = "MYM"; Middle = "BFB"; Pinkie = "Stylenomics" (taken w/ flash; 2 coats of each - 1 coat of "BFB")

No flash; under bright white lighting

Did you like how I just suddenly put "Stylenomics" in there? Haha. I thought that "Stylenomics" and "Mind Your Mittens" looked really similar to each other when I saw them. But, I saw that when put together, "Stylenomics" is much darker than "MYM." It really brings out the teal in "MYM."

And now, "Bobbing For Baubles"!! This one's a rich, dusty navy blue. I have come across this shade several times over the last couple of months at a few CVS stores that hadn't updated their displays in a while, & was getting mildly fascinated with it. 

For some reason, it reminds me of "MYM" as well. I guess because of the "dusty" qualities of these shades. "MYM" is a dusty dark teal, "BFB" is a dusty dark blue. So, they're kind of cousins, right?

Under direct sunlight, no flash ("BFB" = middle/pinkie; "MYM" = index/ring; "BFB" in hand)

So, there you have it. They do look remarkably alike under shade and bright white lighting. In sunlight, however, the true colors really come out. "BFB" is navy blue, and "MYM" teal. If you wear them both at the same time, though, likely nobody will be able to tell they're different colors

1 other big difference: "BFB" only needs 1 coat for full opaque coverage. "MYM" can have full coverage in 1 coat, if your hand is steady enough. But, it most likely will come out a little streaky on the first coat. 2 is recommended for "MYM."

As far as clean up goes, neither leaves stains! Which is always good news for polish. 

Final verdict: I really can't justify having both in my collection seeing as I'm not a huge fan of dark colors, although I only have 1 other navy shade in my whole collection (Essie "Midnight Cami"). So, if you're someone who already has "MYM" or vice versa,  and think you can live with the very minor color difference, then you're set. Thanks for reading!

Random Essie Review: "Chinchilly"

I can't ignore my Essie polishes for very long, so here's another Random Essie Review. I just painted my nails this color and am trying to see how long I can go without changing them, haha. Here's "Chinchilly."

Normal daytime lighting, no flash. With Essie "Good To Go" topcoat:

"Chinchilly" is from Essie's fall 2009 "Cuddle With Color" collection and is now considered one of Essie's "classic" colors...apparently. As you can see, I have the mini bottle of "Chinchilly" that I got in the newly-released for the holidays Essie Holiday Set that features 5 of Essie's "classic" shades, including "Chinchilly," "Forever Yummy," "Turquoise & Caicos," "Wicked" & "Ballet Slippers."

I will probably review the rest of the set at some point on here as future Random Essie Reviews. But, as for "Chinchilly," this is one of the smoothest Essie polishes I've tried so far. It is a bit similar to "Merino Cool" formula-wise, but in a lighter, more gray tone. It still possesses some of that mild purplish (in this case, lavender-ish) intonations, too, like "MC."

I'm not quite sure that I like one shade better than the other. I suppose that if I had to pick one, I'd prefer "Merino Cool" because my skin is light and the deeper color looks better on me. I'll also post about my thoughts on "MC" soon..

So, while "Chinchilly" is a completely lovely polish, for lighter skin tones, I might suggest "Merino Cool." See you next time!

Some OPI Swatches & Why I'm Not Really A Fan

A lot of nail polish enthusiasts are fans of OPI. They are popular because...well, to be honest, I really don't know why this brand is so popular. They are apparently on the higher end of the polish spectrum quality-wise and generally are what many consider to be expensive for polish (at least $9 for a bottle, typically. They're the kind that don't necessarily go on sale. Even at Nordstrom Rack they cost $7.99 each.)

But, OPI must be famous for a reason, and while I don't really see it, let's take a look at some shades and I'll explain why their polishes don't appeal to me much:

OPI "Gargantuan Green Grape"

This color is probably my favorite OPI that I have tried thus far, and oddly, there are 2 different versions of this shade. This one is apparently the more elusive of the 2. I have both versions. Here is a bottle shot of the 2 side by side:

L - "GGG" in light blue   R - "GGG" in pale green

I don't yet have swatches for the pale green version of "GGG" but maybe will have one soon. That said, although the 2 are distinctly different colors, they are essentially the same formulas. Both, while finishing extremely glossy and drying fairly quickly, take at least 3 coats to make opaque, unless you're able to keep a thick amount on the brush and are lucky enough to get it on in 1 swipe. I was able to do that with my pinkie, but I think it was just dumb luck, lol.

You should probably work with thin coats on this one, and be ready to do at the very least 2 coats, though, as I said, you will probably need 3.

That is one of my problems with OPI polishes. Maybe I've just picked the wrong shades to base on judging the brand, but most of the ones I have got, like "GGG," take at least 3 coats to make the color opaque. Take, for instance, "Did It on 'Em," (seen in photo of my OPI collection group bottle shot below, though in the back. Sorry about that - no time to retake right now!). A semi-pretty color, sort of like a muted neon cactus green, but can take up to 4 coats due to the thin formula. OPI, why so many coats?

From Left to Right - Front Row: "Swimsuit...Nailed It!"; "Got A Date To-Knight"; "Call Me Gwen-ever"  Back Row: "GGG" (blue); "GGG" (green); "Did It On 'Em"; "Do You Lilac It"

These polishes, with the exception of the 2 "GGG"s, are all just OK shades at best to me. The "GGG"s, "Did It On 'Em," and "Got A Date To-knight" all have lackluster formulas, thin and just too much of a hassle to deal with. Not too spectacular to make all that time spent painting worth it.

"Swimsuit... Nailed It!" is a shade I just can't forgive after it stained my toes quite badly when I wore it as a pedicure back in summer for about a week. I used base coat, too. I dared to try it on one of my fingers today, and after hardly 1 minute of wear, I tried to remove it and it stained my cuticles. Granted, most deep blues do generally stain, but this one seems even worse than something like Essie "Midnight Cami," which in my view, stains very minimally compared to this. So, no, don't like this one.

"Call Me Gwen-ever" seems like the quintessential November color, I suppose because of Thanksgiving. It's a burnt orange creme. It reminds me a combination between Thousand Island and Catalina salad dressings when I look at the bottle, kind of in between those 2 colors. Anyway, this shade is too muted and boring for me.

"Do You Lilac It" is one of the better shades of my small OPI collection. I believe it was one of the first OPI shades I purchased, and I do like the color of this polish - a blueberry yogurt sort of color, like a light purple, but not lavender. It's not even really a lilac though the name says otherwise. Lilac suggests a softer, more delicate lavender. This has too much deep blue at its base to even qualify as lilac. It's kind of unique, so this one's pretty good.

Swatch of "Do You Lilac It"; accurate color portrayal

I'll stop rambling about OPI here, at least for now. We'll see if I happen to pick up anymore of their polishes. They pop up at TJ Maxx a lot, and that's really the only place I'm likely to find them. They come in sets of 2 for $8, so 2 for 1. 

I will have posts about some of their Liquid Sand polishes (which I actually like) soon, and one more shade that sadly got left out of this post. Thanks for reading!