Essie - Neon (Summer 2013)

Essie Switzerland sent me the Neon 2013 collection as well and I didn't swatch this one until now because I wasn't very excited about this one. I read that a lot of people are disappointed with the formula of these six shades and I have to say that I am as well. Essie suggests that you wear a white base for all colors because it's going to make them brighter. It does indeed make all of them brighter and I personally don't like them without the white base. The only shade that I would wear without white is Boom Boom Room (light pink). But the thing is: white nail polish is the most annoying nail polish when it comes to formula. So why would I want to use a white base every time before I paint my nails? I don't want to! Also in my opinion this collection isn't a neon collection because the only shade that appears as an actual neon color to me is Saturday Disco Fever (orange). And most of the colors were quite thin and streaky and not a pleasure to work with. Nonetheless I found a way to enjoy this collection by combining all of them in a nail art design, which you can find at the end of this post. This is a long post again, so you can find all of the swatches after the jump.

Essie Girls 4: Polka Dots

It's been quite some time since I uploaded a design for Essie Girls but I planned to add this design a while ago, so I will do that today. I chose three colors that I like a lot together and started my dotted design with the lightest color: Essie - Eternal Optimist. I just love this one, because it's a rare thing that a color like this fits my skin tone. On top of two coats I added the dots with Essie - Smokin' Hot and Essie - Chinchilly. To finish my design I used one coat of Essie - Good To Go.

You can find all my Essie Girl designs on this page.

Essie - Repstyle Collection 2013

From left to right: 1. Sssssexy, 2. Snake It Up, 3. Lil' Boa Peep, 

4. Snake Rattle And Roll, 5. Repstyle, 6. Crocadilly

For today I have the complete Essie Repstyle Collection for you, sent to me by Essie Switzerland. This collection includes six shades inspired by reptiles and each comes with a nail art magnet, that will create the matching snakeskin pattern on your nails. To keep this long post as clear as possible, I will sum up the important stuff first and then just leave you with the pictures.

To start with, I wouldn't have bought a bottle of this collection myself because it combines two things I dislike (most) in nail polish: metallics and magnets. I tried magnetic nail polish once, it didn't work and I put it away. So the swatches here are made by a complete beginner! But I have to say that Essie did a good job convincing me of this collection. 

I used two coats for each shade and while the second coat was still wet I held the magnet over each nail. This was pretty easy because of the small plastic edge around the magnet that I placed on my finger. What I didn't like is that the pattern only covered the middle of my nail, because I wasn't able to move the magnet to the sides without destroying the previous pattern. And my thumb and index finger nails are not as flat as my other nails, which is why the pattern didn't completely transfer onto the nail. 

Apart from that I love the colors and you could also wear them without the pattern. I didn't use a top coat in any of the pictures, but if you wait long enough you can add a top coat to extend the durability of your design. My favorite shades from this collection are Sssssexy, because it is an unusual color for a reptile (and I love the name!) and contrary to my expectations the weird muddy bronze color Repstyle, which turned out to have the most realistic looking snakeskin effect. If you're not sure which color to pick, I would definitely recommend Repstyle because the effect is awesome! Now, enough with the babble, here are the swatches!

Essie - Sssssexy

a striking, scintillating sanguine

Essie - Snake It Up

a pewter pavé python

Essie - Lil' Boa Peep

copperhead titanium

Essie - Snake, Rattle And Roll

a venomous oxidized silver

Essie - Repstyle

a hypnotic desert bronze

Essie - Crocadilly

a croc hunter green

Essie Girls: Water Marble Video Tutorial

About a month ago I created a video tutorial for Essie Girls Switzerland. I decided to make a tutorial for Water Marble Nails which is one of my favorite techniques! If you're part of the Essie Girls app on Facebook you might have already seen my article. I used Essie - Snap Happy as my base color and then did the water marble with Snap Happy, A-List and Luxedo. On top is one coat of Essie - Good To Go. 

Tutorial in progress :)

You can subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you always want to be up to date with my videos. 

Essie Girls: Pink & Lilac Leopard Nails

It's been a while since my latest Essie Girls design, but finally it is here. You might have already spotted it on the Essie Girls Facebook Page. If not, here's the full posting! I used two coats of Essie - Nice Is Nice as my base color and then added the leopard spots with Lovie Dovie and Bahama Mama. The spots are outlined with black acrylic paint. On top is one coat of Good To Go. 

Stay tuned on Facebook or here on my blog for my next Essie Girls contribution, it's going to be a little surprise! ;) Also I've added a special page just for Essie Girls stuff, so you can find all in one place.

Essie Girls: Pink & Mint Watercolor Nails

If you follow me on Facebook you've probably already seen my first Essie Girls post. But I know that a lot of you are not on Facebook and don't want to join or you don't want to use the Essie app. So I will be posting my Essie Girls articles on my blog as well, just with a few days in between. I chose to do Watercolor Nails with a plastic bag once more. I've already done two versions of these, one in pastel and the other in black and white. Of course I used only Essie colors this time and I decided to go for pink with a tiny bit of mint. I used Mint Candy Apple, Lovie Dovie, Watermelon and Bahama Mama on top of Blanc and then one coat of Good To Go on top. 

Thanks for reading!