Essie Too Taboo

Today we're sharing our swatches of Essie's 2014 Neon collection - the title shade is Too Taboo, a bold deep fuchsia. All of our swatches are two coats with one coat of white underneath - although some of the shades (including Too Taboo) don't really need the white. The jelly shades do require a white to truly be considered neons. We love Too Taboo, and found the shade slightly unique in our collection, which tends to be pink heavy.

Essie Chills & Thrills

Next up is Chills & Thrills, a blue-purple creme (the hint of purple comes through more in person) reminiscent of Essie's Butler, Please from Winter 2012... This colour has great coverage - however, it isn't unique in our collection. If you missed out on Butler, Please however - we definitely recommend it!

Essie I'm Addicted

 Next we have I'm Addicted, a bright blue jelly polish. This polish is closer in texture to last seasons neons - and we hate to say that this one just didn't do it for us. The colour is lacklustre, and it really isn't a neon in our books. This we would skip.

Essie Serial Shopper

Next is a love of ours, Serial Shopper. This is a bright orange-coral jelly that applies beautifully and looks amazing over white in two coats. We totally recommend this and have nothing like it - this is what we love from Essie!

Essie Sittin' Pretty

Next up is Sittin' Pretty - a 'bright' lavender (if there ever was such a thing). This applied a bit streaky for us, as can happen with some jellies. It doesn't really qualify as a neon, but its definitely a unique shade. We find certain purples difficult to find, and thats why we would recommend picking this up if you're on the hunt for this shade!

Essie Vices Versa

Finally, Vices Versa is a green jelly, bordering somewhere between neon and pastel. We actually love this shade, and are happy to report that it applies like a dream! This is definitely a unique colour, and it will be amazing for nail art!

Let us know what you think of this collection and if you pick up any shades! Happy polishing!
Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned may have been provided to us by the company/PR in exchange for our honest consideration.

O.P.I. Desperately Seeking Sequins (left), I Reached My Gold (back), and Rose of Light (front)

O.P.I. recently re-released some of their favourite glitters in a collection called 'Spotlight on Glitter' - we paired our favourite three with some of the Quo by ORLY Spring 2014 shades to show them off to you! We picked out a silver, gold, and rose gold  - the three new staple metallics, in our opinion.


First up is Desperately Seeking Sequins, a silver holographic glitter with tiny bar glitter, tiny holographic glitter, and some small hex glitters. We love anything holographic, so this is naturally right up our alley. Index and middle fingers have two coats, while the ring and pinky fingers have only one. This has great coverage and the formulation is perfect! This polish is definitely one of our recommendations if this is your thing.

O.P.I Desperately Seeking Sequins over Quo by ORLY Coral Contour

Next up is our least favourite of the three, I Reached My Gold, with large gold hex glitters and smaller silver holographic glitters of two sizes. This polish would be great, except that the hexes do curl a bit, which can make topcoat a difficulty. As you may be able to see on our middle finger, there was a bit of drag of the base polish - although it probably wasn't fully dry. The base on this polish is a little thicker, and could become gloopy if you work with the bottle open for an extended amount of time. There is one coat on all the nails with the exception of the middle nail, which has two.

O.P.I. I Reached My Gold over Quo by ORLY Sweet Blush

Finally, we have another of our favourites (who isn't obsessed with rose gold?) - Rose of Light. Our swatch shows one coat on the index, middle, and pinky fingers, and two on the accent nail (or ring finger). We love this. The small holographic squares and rose gold glitters make this a beautiful topper for almost any polish - for example, we don't love this base on it's own... but with Rose of Light as a top coat it totally works. A recommendation for any rose gold, glitter, or holographic lovers!

O.P.I. Rose of Light over Quo by ORLY Harmony

Overall, we were surprisingly satisfied by this rebrand of O.P.I's favourite glitters - let us know if you're loving these too and if you've tried any we would love to hear your thoughts!


Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review and consideration. All opinions are our own.

We are super excited to share with you the Spring 2014 Parfumerie releases from Revlon! This line is scented, so each polish has a distinct smell (as opposed to the regular polish-y smell) when worn without a topcoat... and they also last! We got our hands on a few of the Fall releases, but we are definitely more excited about these as the mix of fresh and floral scents is right up our alley. All swatches are two coats with no topcoat.

First up is Ginger Melon, a classic bright pink creme with an amazing fruity scent. We're terrible at describing scents, but found that all of these fit their name's pretty well - so we suggest you imagine or go test them out for yourselves! This polish is a pretty classic colour in any collection, but if you're looking for a fun, scented alternative - this is your best bet!

Revlon Parfumerie Ginger Melon

Next up is Apricot Nectar, a bright punchy coral. This polish is both jelly and creamy (a hybrid, if you will) and looks great in two coats. We love this, and it actually is a pretty unique colour, almost a neon peachy coral.

Revlon Parfumerie Apricot Nectar

Next up is Lavender Soap, a shimmery lilac. We don't love the application of this, and we also don't really love a soapy scent. This was a bit patchy (as you can see...) but did reach almost opacity in two coats. Not our favourite, but theres always one in any collection that just doesn't do it for you.

Revlon Parfumerie Lavender Soap

Next up is Lime Basil, and while we didn't expect to love this colour - we actually all really liked it! This is a green creme polish that applies well, and didn't stain at all (our swatch looks patchy on the outside edge of the ring finger, but its a reflection!).  This is a unique colour in our collection, and will definitely get used in some nail art in the future - a definite recommendation if you're looking for a unique but fresh spring green.

Revlon Parfumerie Lime Basil

Orange Blossom is a bright orange creme-jelly hybrid that is glossy and applies super smooth! This is two coats and we have to say that we are pretty impressed. This fills a large gap in our collection and we are loving it. Definitely a recommendation - this shade is like a juicy orange for your nails. Who wouldn't want that?

Revlon Parfumerie Orange Blossom

Next up is Pink Pineapple - this is another polish with a spot on scent! This is a great colour (reminds us of Butter London's Teddy Girl, but slightly more jelly) and it is actually a great formula somewhere between a cream and a jelly. We love this polish colour, and would wear it all summer long - an instatan shade!

Revlon Parfumerie Pink Pineapple

Next up is Sunlit Grass, a bright bold yellow creme that represents a colour that is often overlooked by polish makers, in our opinion. This really brightened up our skin tone, and we would definitely wear it. The scent is not super grassy, and smells pleasant (to us!) - this applied nicely and had good coverage and opacity for such a bright colour in only two coats!

Revlon Parfumerie Sunlit Grass

We literally saved the best for last. The scent of Tropical Rain is actually tropical rain. It's indescribable, but so amazing. You definitely need this colour - application was a breeze (a tropical one). And the scent is super amazing. If you only buy one polish from this collection, go buy this.

Revlon Parfumerie Tropical Rain

Overall, we absolutely love this collection. Our only grievance is that the lid is a bit difficult to hold... so be wary that it may slip through your fingers and keep a tight grip. Other than that, a great release from Revlon. Let us know if you are picking any of these up - and if you already have, let us know how you like them!

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review and consideration. All opinions are our own.

Any Canadian readers will know that Shoppers Drug Mart carries its own range of some polish brand favourites - such as Quo by ORLY and Ceramic Glaze. We have some swatches of the Ceramic Glaze Cosmic Enchantment collection here today (the Crushed Foil polishes) - and while we had mixed reviews based on other swatches of foil type polishes we've seen, we actually really love this look! It is super unique and really looks and wears well! All of these swatches are two coats and applied surprisingly easily! We definitely recommend all of these if you are in to the textured look. We would pair it with a feminine top or dress to complete the look. On to the swatches...

Ceramic Glaze Celestial Romance (Crushed Foil)

Ceramic Glaze Quantum Love (Crushed Foil)

Ceramic Glaze Flirting With Astronauts (Crushed Foil)

Overall, we were pretty impressed with how well these polishes applied and we actually ended up loving the look despite our hesitations! We would definitely recommend picking one or two of these up if you end up in a Shoppers Drug Mart any time soon!

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review and consideration. All opinions are our own.

As bridal season comes upon us, and Spring is finally in full bloom - we have some swatches of the essie Bridal collection! We are not brides, but pastels are super in for Spring, and we definitely recommend picking some of these up! The application of this collection as a whole is pretty impressive, as some pastels can definitely streak easily in application. All swatches are two coats without topcoat.

First up is Got Engaged! - a rosy pink with subtle shimmer. This is definitely wedding-appropriate and we love that its a creamy pastel without being super harsh against the skin. If you already have a polish like this in your collection, you probably don't need it - but this actually turned out to be quite a unique colour when we looked for dupes in our collection!

Essie Got Engaged! (Wedding Collection Spring 2014)

Next up is Love Every Minute, our favourite of this collection! This is bright without being offensive, and has a consistency somewhere between a jelly and a creme, but reaches opacity nicely in two coats. We would definitely recommend this polish, and also found it super easy to apply!

Essie Love Every Minute (Wedding Collection Spring 2014)

Next, a blue - what Essie does best (in our opinion!) - this is Meet the Parents, a muted cornflower blue. This would be the perfect 'something blue'. We love this polish, and will get tons of wear out of it in the spring months. This is definitely a recommended buy, especially if you have room for some fresh blues!

Essie Meet the Parents (Wedding Collection Spring 2014)

This final polish was, sadly, a bit of a disappointment in our eyes. This is supposed to be a shimmery, sheer white - but it misses the mark for us. She Said Yes is a bit streaky on application, probably because it is slightly too thick from the bottle. We actually used three coats here, and as you can see it is pretty difficult to notice any hint of shimmer. This would probably pair well as a subtle white under a french mani - but other than that, we struggle to find a use for this.

Essie She Said Yes (Wedding Collection Spring 2014)

What do you think of this release from Essie, and will you be picking up any of these shades?

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest review and consideration. All opinions are our own.

If you follow us on Instagram, you may have had a sneak peek at this collection! The Nicole by O.P.I. Rougles (think Ruffles chips) collection should be rolling in to stores now! This collection mixes pastel and texture perfectly, and the shades are reminiscent of a tweedy pastel blazer - we love it. The swatches are two coats with no top coat - we had no problem with opacity or application with any of these polishes! We hate when a polish looks great in the bottle but applies like a mess, so we're happy to say that these apply similar to any other textured polish. As long as you use relatively thin layers and let your previous layer dry for a minute between coats, you shouldn't have any problems.

First up is I'm Stucco on You - this is a pastel purple with blue and a few orange speckles floating around. We absolutely love this colour because it is so unique. We tend to hoard blues, but this purple is definitely one of the stars of this collection.

Nicole by O.P.I. I'm Stucco on You

Next is Rock the Look, a pastel-y pink with a hint of brightness and brighter pink and orange speckles. This colour isn't as standout as the rest for us, but if you love pink texture... this is for you!

Nicole by O.P.I. Rock the Look

On What Grounds? is definitely a polish after our hearts. We are typically mint-obsessed and On What Grounds? has us tempted to do a Monster's Inc. nail art (Sully, anyone?). This is a pastel turquoise blue with some slightly deeper blue speckles. This is another must-have from this collection!

Nicole by O.P.I. On What Grounds?

Finally, Sand in My Shoe is a pastel yellow with pink and orange speckles. This screams baby chick to us, but since we're approaching Easter it totally works! This would be great for a chicken nail art. If your collection lacks yellows (ours can always use another yellow or green shade!), this is definitely a good addition!

Nicole by O.P.I. Sand in My Shoe

What do you think of this collection, and will you be picking any shades up?

Today, as I type this in a snow squall, we have swatches of the new spring collection from Essie - Hide and Go Chic. This collection features 6 creamy shades with a focus on pastel blues and pinks. We actually didn't hate a single polish in this collection, but we are particularly enamoured with a few. So, here we go!

First up is Fashion Playground, a pastel green described accurately by Essie as 'pistachio'. This has the tiniest bit of shimmer, but if you're anti-shimmer it shouldn't bother you like past Essie shimmers have with larger silver glitter pieces. This swatch is two coats, and as you can see this polish has great opacity!

Next up is the headline polish of the collection, Hide and Go Chic. For some reason, we find this blue reminiscent of a greek vacation. This is a creme shade, and this swatch is two coats. Although this colour is unique in our collection, we love how original Fashion Playground is comparably. However, if you're missing a medium blue in your collection and feel like you need to fill that void, this is a great option.

This baby pink beauty is Romper Room, and it is literally the perfect pastel pink. We have a butter London pastel pink which was previously our go to - and it has been replaced. The formula on this is literally impeccable and we would recommend this to anyone, even if you already have a pastel pink in your collection. This will definitely get lots of wear this spring!

 

Next up is a nude marketed as 'semi-sheer' by Essie - Spin the Bottle. In three coats (in the swatch below), you get to opacity. Even with two coats however, it still has pretty good coverage for those who want to keep their nail lines private. We thought this worked well with our skin tone, but also think it would work well with a darker skin tone (however, lighter may be a no-go).

Next up is the bright of the collection - Style Hunter. This is a super bright 'crimson' (Essie's words) and the description of 'laser sharp' seems to be right on. This is definitely a statement polish, but we can see it working with spring florals really well! This is two coats, and application was flawless.

Lastly we have Truth or Flare, a 'vintage blue denim' - while we agree this polish has a vintage look to it, we wouldn't say denim. This polish fits well with the collection, but as you can see on the left edge of the pointer finger, coverage can be patchy if you haven't perfected flawless application. This is the one polish we would say to skip in this collection, but that said - in two coats, it does have a really nice shade that matches well with Hide and Go Chic for a potential two-tone mani.

Overall, we're really impressed with this collection from Essie and definitely recommend picking up a few shades. Let us know what you think!

Disclaimer: Some or all of the products mentioned in this post may have been provided by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.