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!