Essence Cotton Candy and French Glam

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! As you probably know by now, I am obsessed with Essence cosmetics. I own so many of their polishes (nearly an entire drawer in my melmer) and a ton of their makeup. I just love them. So is it really a surprise that today's manicure is all Essence?

A rare peek of my right hand. :) Essence Cotton Candy is a sheer very light pink creme. This is three coats. It has a delicate feel to it, and would be perfect for french manicures. I added French Glam Nail Stickers from Essence to glam this polish up a bit. The stickers are black (some with clear stones) on clear.

Colorful Leopard Print

I'm back! If you want to know why I was gone, see this post. Its too much to summarize again. Oh my goodness, I missed you guys so much! To all of those who stuck with me during my absence, thank you! To those who left, I hope you come back soon. And to those who are new, welcome!

So many of the upcoming posts are old-ish manicures. However, this one is brand new. I hit the blogs for inspiration and ended up wanting to recreate this gorgeous leopard print by Chalkboard Nails. For mine, I used Zoya Pippa, Essence Let's Get Lost, and Sally Hansen Black Out. Leopard print is an easy design, even for the nail art challenged. I love it!

I'm trying out a new watermark technique. Let me know what you think.

Sunshine and Bows

I hope you are enjoying what is left of your Tuesday, most likely Wednesday by now. I know I've absent recently, but I'm back and ready to blog.

Today, I have a cute design to share with you featuring some 3D nail bows.

Very 3D nail art. I started with China Glaze Lighthouse then added a full nail design with Essence Stamp Me! Black and stamping plate BM-310. Finally with a little nail glue, I added these cute black bows from the  Born Pretty Store. How cute are these?!

The bows come in twelve different colors with a rhinestone in the middle of each. Each set comes with ten bows. The bows stay on well when applied with nail glue. The bows (Item ID: 1675) retail for $2.38 on Born Pretty Store. They have a ton of other fun nail art related items as well. Shipping is always free worldwide. You can also use my coupon code AHL91 to save 10% on your order.

Disclosure: The product (bows) in this post were provided to me for consideration. All opinions are mine and honest.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, and I hope you are enjoying your Thursday! I am single on this particular Valentine's Day, and while I usually playfully do anti-Valentine designs, I decided to dive into the hearts.

My backdrop for the stamping is a watercolor marble. I have seen it everywhere, but never attempted it until now. Rebecca Likes Nails has a great tutorial. I started off with one coat of Pure Ice Super Star! as my white base. My watercolors are Barielle Grape Escape, Pink Quartz, and Life of the Party. Finally I stamped on hearts and love with Essence Stamp Me! Black, stamping plate BM02, BM-317, and Essence stamping plate. All plates are listed for designs index to pinky. The Essence plate has no number or label (it was used for the last two designs).

I love the look of the watercolor. And I think the black really pops off the soft color background. What do you think? And did you do anything special for Valentine's Day? 

Essence Ticket to the Show & Front Row or Backstage?

I hope you are enjoying your Thursday!

Essence Ticket to the Show and Front Row or Backstage? are one of the Colour3 duos. A double ended polish. Ticket to the Show is a black jelly like creme base filled with rainbow shimmer. The shimmer was hard to capture on camera, and rather subtle. Front Row or Backstage? is a grey brown filled with gold flakes. It is the layering polish and while meant to be used over a base, I decided to showcase it on its own. The application on both is perfection. Ticket to the Show is opaque in two coats, while Front Row or Backstage? took three.

Essence Jacob's Protection

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday! I meant to post this polish weeks ago. It has been sitting in my folder waiting to be seen.

Essence Jacob's Protection is a blackened blue jelly filled with blue and green glitter flakes, along with a sparse sprinkling of holo micro glitter. The application was not as good as I've come to expect from Essence, but not bad considering all the flakes. Definitely worth the beautiful outcome, and opaque in two coats.

Essence Colour 3 Boys Are Back in Town & It's Just a Little Crush

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! Its almost the end of the year. Can you believe 2013 is almost here?!

Ulta is having a huge clearance event (it started Wednesday). The majority of the Christmas stock is on clearance along with other goodies. I grabbed several Essence polishes that were shipped to Ulta specifically for the event. They are all from collections seen earlier this year, even late last year. To give you an idea of what there is (if you have an Essence obsession like me): Colour 3, Special Effects Top Coats, Colour & Go  (original discontinued small sizes), Magnetics, nail art stickers, and press on nails. Selection may vary by store. I scooped up several goodies and backups for almost all of them.

Essence Colour 3 polishes are a duo sticks. The name Colour 3 comes from the notion that you can have three polishes from this one stick. The two polishes, plus a third shade if you layer them. Boys Are Back in Town is a very dusty grayed purple creme. The application is perfection. Almost opaque in one coat; I used two for good measure. It's Just a Little Crush is the layering polish. A clear slightly milky base filled with purple and blue-toned violet shimmer micro glitter. As you can see, just one coat makes it seem like a different polish. I love this duo stick! I cannot wait to try out the other two I found.

Essence A Piece of Forever

I hope you are enjoying your Tuesday! These pictures have been sitting in my folder for nearly a month. Not sure why I have not posted them before, but here they are now. :)

Essence A Piece of Forever is a metallic gold frost. Ignore the bubbles, its just top coat plus fan. The application was okay. Basically what you would expect from a frost finish polish. I've used three of the four from this collection so far, and none of the applications are up to par with the rest of the Essence polishes I own. Its odd. But it does not stop them from being pretty.

The Essence Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2 Collection is limited edition. There is a variety of makeup, including four polishes. I purchased all four at $1.99 each.

Essence Gorgeous Bling Bling

I hope you are enjoying your Saturday! 

Essence Gorgeous Bling Bling is a burnt orange jelly like creme with gold flakes. Ridiculous name, but absolutely gorgeous. The formula is perfection and goes on completely smooth. Opaque in two coats. The flakes distribute evenly and each coat is just sheer enough for the flakes from the underlying coat to be seen, giving the polish depth.

The Essence Colour & Go line is available at Ulta for $2.

Essence Edward's Love

I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday! I have a pretty polish to show you that I picked up last week.

Essence Edward's Love is a black jelly filled with small silver glitter flakes and a sparse shattering of holo glitter. I'm still debating whether its holo or iridescent. Its hard to tell. The application was not up to par with the rest of my polishes. I blame the insane amount of flakes. Though it was not bad. It took two coats to be opaque and cleaned up very well for a black polish with glitter.

The Essence Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2 Collection is limited edition. They finally hit the US recently. I purchased mine last Friday at Ulta. There is a variety of makeup, including four polishes. I purchased all four at $1.99 each.

Essence Modern Romance

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday! I do not feel well enough to attempt any nail art or you would be seeing poppies today for Veterans Day. I deeply appreciate each and every individual who has fought for our country. My grandpa served in World War II. He died in 2005.

Essence Modern Romance is a very light peachy pink shimmer. The formula is a bit streaky, but does even itself out. It is opaque in two coats. This particular polish is from the old Colour & Go line, not to be confused with the new line that has a polish of the same name, but not the same color.

No H8: Eradicate Hate in the Nail Polish Blogger Community

I hope you are enjoying your Thursday! My post today is about important. Bullying. I am so unbelievably happy to see so many blogger participating in the movement today. This post is not just about bullying in our little nail polish polish community; its about all bullying. Its wrong. Imagine how much better the world would be if people would be kind to one another.

I've been lucky and have not had any bullying result from my blog, aside a stray Pinterest comment. However, I grew up being bullied. It still happens. So raising awareness about bullying and showing support is something I care greatly about.

So today, in support of eradicating bullying, I have a purple manicure to share.

For my manicure, I chose Sally Hansen Lustrous and Essence It's Purplicious. I used one coat of the former then two coats of the glitter.

"Bullying is not funny. It is not cool. It is not right. And more importantly, it is not okay.

Most of us are, thankfully, residents of countries that support tolerance and many of our families have settled in these places simply for that reason. Generations later, it is our responsibility to perpetuate that message of tolerance across our new social platforms, including the internet.

As members of the nail polish blogging community, we all share a love of beauty, color, and lacquer. Other than that, we are remarkably different: from our race to our religion to our hair color...even to our polish application techniques. To marginalize anyone because of those differences is completely unacceptable and today I take a stand against that. I refuse to allow other people's view of "normal" dictate how I behave, believe, and blog.

In solidarity with a multitude of bloggers linked below, my purple manicure represents my proud commitment to the No H8 movement. Today, November 8, I dedicate my post to ending bullying of any kind and to encouraging diversity and imperfection among our colorful community."

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Jack-O-Laterns

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! I have another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge. Today is jack-o-laterns.

For my pumpkin orange, I used Essence No Better Way to Sky. The light burnt orange creme is a perfect pumpkin color. Next I drew on faces with a tiny nail art brush and black acrylic paint. I think they're kind of cute. But the next time, I'd like to try something a bit more intricate. Possibly realistic.

Polish Poptart

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! Today I have a cute layering experiment to show you. After looking at them for awhile, it occurred to me that this manicure reminds me of a poptart. Hence the title of this post. :)

I started off with two coats of Essence Sweet as Candy then one of Jordana Gemstones. Finally a coat of Sweet as Candy to make a jelly glitter sandwich. I love the look of sheer polishes over glitter! It gives depth. Its a very easy look to achieve.

Jordana Specialty Glitters retail for $3 at Jordana and Kmart. Essence Colour & Go retails for $1.99 at Ulta, H-E-B, and FredMeyer.

Essence Grey-t To Be Here

I hope you are enjoying your Thursday! If you do not know already, I am obsessed with Essence polishes. I buy practically every single one that is sold in the US. And I stare longingly at the foreign ones, wishing they were easier to obtain. So its no surprise that I was thrilled when Essence launched a new Colour & Go line. Some are repromotes, some are new. The bottle shape and brush are different, plus the amount is larger. I have bought four so far. I posted about Sweet as Candy already. Now its this beauties turn.

Essence Grey-t To Be Here is a light gray creme with pink shimmer that shifts to rose gold at the right angle. Its gray with a little something extra. Sorry for the lack of very close shots. The application is great and opaque in two coats. It took a lot to push me into even trying gray polishes. So if you are not a fan, I urge you to at least give them a try. 

Essence Colour & Go retails for $1.99 at Ulta, H-E-B, and FredMeyer.

Essence Sweet as Candy

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! Essence is redoing their Colour & Go line. New bottle shape and bigger bottles. I will have a post about them soon. 

I was able to purchase two of the line. Neither are exactly new, but I did not own them already. Essence Sweet as Candy is a sheer baby pink jelly. The application is great. It is rather sheer as you would expect from a jelly. It gives a soft feminine look. This is two coats.

The new bottles should be available soon at Ulta.

Essence A Lovely Secret

I hope you're enjoying your Saturday! Today I have a gorgeous color to show you that I've been dying to own for awhile. How satisfying is it to finally find something you've been wanting.

Essence A Lovely Secret is a lavender creme with subtle purple shimmer that flashes bright purple. It is hard to describe in one sentence. At first glance, it appears to be a light purple creme. Then you see it almost looks marbled, rather than filled with shimmer. The purple is matte and does not shimmer. Instead it adds amazing depth. Its not really visible in the picture until you click on it. The larger version gives you an idea of what I mean. On top of this unique depth, when the light hits this polish, the purple suddenly flashes bright and shimmering. Its very visible in the bottle and harder to capture on the nail. 

The application is great, as I've come to expect from Essence. This is two coats and completely opaque. 

Essence Colour & Go retails for $1 at Ulta, H-E-B, and FredMeyer.

Essence Choose Me!

I hope you're enjoying your Thursday! Its almost Friday! I have a very pretty polish to show you today.

Essence Choose Me! is a dark aqua with teal green glass flecks. The flecks shift from teal to a gold tinted green depending on the angle and lighting. It reminds me of a mermaid. Gorgeous and opaque in two coats. If this polish looks familiar, it is a dupe for Zoya Charla and Orly Halley's Comet. I own Charla and personally am happy to own both. They are both so pretty that an extra bottle is a good thing.

Essence Colour & Go retails for $1 at Ulta, H-E-B, and FredMeyer.

Essence Irreplaceable

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! Do you ever buy polish and it sits there waiting for you to wear it for months? I have quite a few bottles that have been sitting around for months and I have yet to wear them yet. The polish I have to show you today is one of them.

Essence Irreplaceable is beige with gold shimmer. Its not exactly a creme, jelly, or even a sheer. I would say its a cross between a creme and sheer; slightly sheer, but practically opaque in two coats. In person, you cannot see any visible nail line. The application is perfect, as I've found is a given with Essence. Irreplaceable is simply gorgeous. A nice neutral with a little something extra.

Essence Colour & Go retails for $1 at Ulta, H-E-B, and FredMeyer.

Essence Legends of the Sky Collection

I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday! Today, I have four of the new Essence Legends of the Sky Collection polishes to show you. I noticed the display at Ulta last week (Nouveau Cheap has a great post about the entire display). The displays in the U.S. only seem to have four of the six polishes. I grabbed all four.

From index to pinky, they are I Wear My Flying Goggles at Night, Like Leo's Pilot Jacket, No Better Way to Sky, and I Am a Viator. Two coats each. I was honestly a little weary of all but the orange. But I could not pass up a limited edition Essence collection. Once painted on, I fell in love. They seem a bit more suited for Fall, rather than Summer, but are beautiful nonetheless.

I Wear My Flying Goggles at Night is a dusty khaki green creme with gray undertones. Excuse the bubbles. I smudged the polish and topcoat. My attempt at smoothing gave slight bubbles. Like Leo's Pilot Jacket is a dusty army green creme. I assume this is a reference to The Aviator, though I'm not sure why. No Better Way to Sky is a light burnt orange creme, almost dusty instead of burnt. I Am a Viator is a milk chocolate creme. The application on all of them is perfect; what I've come to expect from Essence.

The limited edition Legends of the Sky Collection retail for $2 at Ulta.