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!

Essie Holiday 2013 Collection - "Lots of Lux"

Here I am again with another brand new Essie polish from her Holiday collection dubbed the "Belugaria" collection after the sandy & incredibly thick, nearly-impossible-to-work-with-looking black sand polish with big glitter flecks. I've seen some swatches & from what I've read, nobody actually likes the collection, especially not "Belugaria."

But, here is the polish from the collection that was positively reviewed by most (the only one people liked): "Lots of Lux."

In normal daytime room lighting, no flash:

With flash:

Under direct sunlight:

Close-up under direct sunlight - you can see the sparkle in this one!

"Lots of Lux" is a sapphire blue sand finish polish with small bits of gold & blue glitter throughout. It is very shimmery-looking in the bottle, and it is just as pretty on the nail. Of course, as with most glitter-based polishes, it takes sunlight to bring out its true beauty.

I don't personally like using top coat with these sand polishes because, well, they weren't meant to be worn that way. They're supposed to look sandy and gritty, so I like to wear them like that. Though I might try some Seche Vite on top sometime in the future..

Look for more posts on a few OPI "Liquid Sand" Bond Girls polishes coming up. See you next time!