Monday, January 13, 2014

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!

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