Polka Dot Mani Fail with Essie Foot Loose

Edited to add: Get 10% off your Born Pretty Store purchase with coupon code MH10K31 - expires Oct 31, so you can purchase happily til then! (Note: I don't profit in anyway from the code. I'm just sharing it with interested readers.)

After seeing all those awesome cool manicures featuring dotting tools, I decided that despite my lack of hand-eye coordination and general clumsiness, I just HAD to try one out. That, and I wanted to bring on a summer colour on my nails. That's how I ended up with this monster of a manicure. I have to admit, while there wasn't anything wrong with the tools I used, my dotting skillz are teh suckz. Seriously.



I got my dotting tools from Born Pretty Store, which has been popular lately among bloggers and nail polish lovers for its ready availability of cheap and cheery nail art suppliers, including crackle polish, stickers, rhinestones, etc. The dotting tools I got were just under US$5 for a set, and are available here.

These dotting tools are of good quality, and quite handy to use. You get a set of 5 dual-ended dotting tools. All five have two ends.



One end is all the same size, a standard size that would be handy for most designs:



The other end of the tools is more interesting for girls who really want to dot in all sizes. The ends of the tools range from really big to positively tiny, and would definitely satisfiy any dotter's needs.



For the dot manicure below, I used Essie Foot Loose because it was such a lovely summer colour - girly, bright, and still a little spunky. And since it's in the colour family of pinks (in this case bright purply-pink), it's wearable to the office! And unlike other Essies which tend to be sheer and streaky, this is a one-to-two coater, depending on thickness of application.



For the dots, I used the dotting tools and Wet n Wild White. One of the best white konading polishes ever, now used for dotting. FOr the variously sized dots on my nails, I used the large end of the green dotting tool, and the large end of the pink dotting tool. I also, for smaller dots, used the white dotting tool.

I know the dots don't looks as nice as they could be, but that's realy due more to my lousy application than anything else. After all, all dotting tools are the same right? But looking at these photos makes me feel like from far, they aren't THAT bad, right, right? *Crickets chirp*



Anyway, I love the colour of my mani, even if my dotting skills suck. It kind of reminds me of summer - bright, and polka dotted, and just generally cheery!

(Dotting tools were sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Nail Art Fun: Essie Chinchilly and Viva la Nails!

I love nail stickers and nail gems, because they can really dress up a manicure, and they accommodate people of all sorts of inclinations. If you don't have much time, simply slapping on a sticker will do. On the other hand, if you want to do intricate little designs with nail gems, that's also perfectly possible!

For this NOTD, I wanted to make a girly, yet not all pink-and-swirly NOTD, so I dressed what was otherwise a boring grey NOTD. I used these nail stickers and nail gems from Viva la Nails. Aren't they absolutely adorable? I used a pack of nail stickers that had teeny tiny little rhinestones on some of the stickers, and a pack of black gemstones.



For the base I used Essie Chinchilly, which by the way is the most gorgeous grey creme I've seen. It's grey, but it doesn't have much blue in it, and in fact it does seem to have a tinge of green compared to other greys, so it's perhaps the most ideal grey I've seen for warm-toned people. I love this one because it's not too cool-toned. And application and pigmentation was excellent, to boot.

Then, using a pair of tweezers, I picked up the black gemstones one by one and stuck them along my smile line on the nail, parallel to the free edge. Or at least attempted to, since not all my lines were perfect. And then I stuck on some flower nail art stickers for interest.

This is the final result:



I don't know about you, but I'm absolutely in love with it! I loved how the Viva la Nails art stuff totally glammed up my grey mani. And I love how it's fun and feminine without being OTT, you know? It's a very happy medium as far as nail art is concerned.

I wore these for a good while before I finally decided to remove them, and I didn't have any problem with them falling off or peeling off my nails. I applied two coats of topcoat (one slow-dry and Seche Vite on top of it), so I think that really secured them.



I'm totally enjoying the Viva la Nails nail art stuff, I have a bunch of their stuff, and it's really good quality - no tacky stuff that falls apart here! I love that they have individual gemstones, stickers, and even some less conventional items like feathers! (I'm still trying to figure out what to do with a feather on my nails, but if I ever do, you can bet you'll be hearing about it!) They're UK-based, and shipping is cheap (2.95GBP and up) and fast when I placed my order, so if you want to get anything from them, I highly recommend it!

Chanel Particuliere Dupes: Do They Exist? Comparison Swatches

I never bought Chanel's famed nail polish, Particuliere. I just couldn't imagine spending 16GBP on a polish, especially when Orlys, Nubars, OPI, and China Glazes go for less. But I was curious to know if there was a dupe, and to see for myself if any of the other taupe-brown-purple polishes were close enough. So I borrowed my friend's bottle of Particuliere, and made a few swatches. Mind you, these are very messy swatches, because I wanted to return Particuliere to her immediately (I'd feel bad hogging a 16GBP bottle of polish!), so I didn't really have time to be as neat as I wanted to be, and we all know haste makes a mess of nails!

First up of course, are bottle pictures.



L-R: Asos Paints by Ciate Sienna, Rimmel Steel Grey, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Chanel Particuliere, Essie Mink Muffs.

Nothing seems to be an outright dupe for Particuliere. Essie Mink Muffs does look similar, although deeper, in the bottle.

And here's how they fared in swatches. Once again, please excuse the terrible state of cuticles and my messy swatches. Like I said, they were done in a hurry because I wanted to return Particuliere ASAP. The swatches show two coats of each:



L-R (Thumb to Pinky): Essie Mink Muffs, Chanel Particuliere, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Rimmel Steel Grey, Asos Paints by Ciate Sienna

Application-wise, I had no complaints about any of the colours. They all applied like butter, although the Nails Inc, Essie, and Chanel were better than the other two. And as you can see, nothing is quite a dupe for anything else.

I know Essie Mink Muffs and Chanel Particuliere look like dupes for each other in this photo, but in reality they aren't that close. The Essie is a little darker, and a little more brown than the Chanel. I don't think most people would notice, but if you're a nail fanatic like me, if it's not an exact dupe, it isn't a dupe! :P

Here's a photo that exaggerates the differences between the two. Essie Mink Muffs is on my thumb, while Chanel Particuliere is on my pointer finger. The differences aren't as massive as they are in this photo (stupid camera), but you get the idea:



L-R: Chanel Particuliere, Essie Mink Muffs

And I remembered reading somewhere that Essie Mink Muffs is a dupe for Chanel Particuliere, if you lighten it by wearing it over white. So of course I HAD to try that. So I applied Essie Mink Muffs over GOSH Snow (a sheer white), and here are the results:



L-R: Chanel Particuliere, 1 Coat Essie Mink Muffs over 1 Coat GOSH Snow, Essie Mink Muffs

Similar, but no dice. It's a tad lighter than Particuliere. The purple in Mink Muffs really shows up when you layer it over white. It's really cool.

So, I added on another thin coat of Mink Muffs on top of GOSH Snow, and the results were better:



L-R: Chanel Particuliere, 2 Coats Essie Mink Muffs over 1 Coat GOSH Snow, Essie Mink Muffs

As you can see, it's close, but not identical. Mink Muffs is now the same depth of colour, but just a tad browner than Chanel Particuliere, while Particuliere is a hair more grey than it's Essie counterpart. I think someone might be able to franken a dupe of Particuliere using Mink Muffs, white, and something to make it more grey.

So, which of these should you choose, if you only had to go for one of them? All the colours applied well, so your choice would depend on your colour preferences, and your skin undertones. Although all these colours are pretty neutral, in general, colours with a stronger purple/grey tinge to them look better on cooler skintones, while colours with more brown tend to look better on warmer skintones. And it also depends on your preference - do you want more grey, brown or purple in your colour? If you want more brown, Essie Mink Muffs or Chanel Particuliere are good choices. If you want something that's more grey, Rimmel Steel Grey is a good choice. And if you want something that leans more purple, Nails Inc Jermyn Street and Asos by Ciate Sienna are your best bets.

Nail Polish Haul: OPI, Essie, China Glaze, and Orly!

Awhile back, to reward myself for getting through a particularly stressful period of school (believe it or not, despite all my professors' assumptions about the "copious free time" we have, us grad students are actually a relatively busy bunch), I decided it was time to place an order of my lemmings. Hey, don't judge me - my groupmate bought himself a camera, so I figured it was perfectly reasonable for me to buy nail polish. And so I did. And these babies arrived all the way from the great USA, the land of cheap Chinaglaze, etailers of nail polish, and buy-1-get-1-free drugstore makeup promotions. Oh, just thinking about it makes me so jealous!

Anyway here is my amazing haul. Please pardon the crappy pictures, they were taken at night under my yellow lamplight, and I suck at using photo-editing software:



Ooh, China Glaze Khromes! I've been wanting these FOREVER for konading purposes! I got China Glaze Sci Fi, Robotika, Millenium, and 2030, in that order from left to right. I'm going crazy just imagining the konading possibilities! Oh, I also got Essie Chinchilly. Mmmmm, grey. But this is not any ordinary grey. This is grey with the slightest green tinge, so chic and unique.



Ooh holos! And duochromes! And my favourite nudey greige mushroomy colour! In order it was Orly Golden Halo (this one is supposed to be sheer though, darn), Orly Country Club Khaki (my favourite! I know I have enough greige nudes, but I can't help it...I need to collect them ALL), and OPI DS Signature and DS Extravagance. I kind of prefer Extravagance, because it has that jewelled quality to it in the base colour, but DS Signature shows more of the holographic "rainbow" in the bottle. I can't wait to try these on my nails - I just KNOW they'll be amazing!

So that's my stress-induced haul. I know I can't be the only one hauling during times of stress, and hey, I figure at least getting a few more pretties is a better way of coping with stress than smoking pot, gambling or drinking :P Yeah, yeah, I know I'm full of excuses...But I can't help it, they're all so pretty!

Essie Aruba Blue NOTD

An unfortunate accident has befallen my fingernails, so while I grow out the damage, I probably won't be taking NOTD pictures for a little while. Fortunately, I do have a backlog of NOTDs. Not a lot, and they're not very good, because they're from the days before I learnt about shaping my nails and cuticle cream, but they'll be sufficient to tide us over til my broken fingernails grow out again.

Anyway, today's featured NOTD is Essie Aruba Blue. Ahh, how I love this one. I know it's nowhere near summer yet - not here at least - but this is the perfect encapsulation of summer in a nail polish. It's a perfect blue, and I don't even normally wear blues! It recalls beaches, pools, and tans (not that I'm a fan of tanning, fake or real, due to the skin damage it causes). Just wearing Aruba Blue kind of makes me feel like the weather is warmer already!



The thing I really like Aruba Blue is that it's a good cross between a darker navy blue, and a brighter jewelled blue. I think it's a happy medium. And of course, how can you not love that glowy, reflective shimmer?

Application on this one was also good - it was pigmented and covered in one coat, although I did two out of habit. Wear time was also good, about 3-4 days before chipping. I usually don't like Essies because they're synonymous with boring pinks, sheers, and blahs, but when Essie decides to get a bit more creative, she does produce some really nice stuff. Come on Essie, we know you have it in you to give us something more than yet another ripoff of Ballet Slippers and all its sisters, brothers, cousins, half-cousins, and uninvited uncles, aunts, and in-laws. Will you now expand the family of Aruba Blue, please?