NOTD: Essie Penny Talk

Rose gold has been a hit with beauty-type people for as long as I can remember. Now, I do like rose gold, but not quite with the burning passion that many gurus do. I don't wear jewelry or anything anyways for the most part, so it does not come up that frequently in my life.

When Essie released their new mirror metallics collection (this was a while ago) I was truly blown away by the pictures I saw in swatches. Somehow, Essie managed to make these polishes achieve the foil-like finish that I had seen pictures of and wanted but wasn't sure was possible for me to do with polish alone. They were absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, I already had a silver and gold nail polish so those were right now. Penny Talk, on the other hand, was unlike anything I had in my collection and was a gorgeous rose gold color.

I was very hesitant about buying this polish. I had heard many people say that the color does not look good with some skin types and I wasn't sure if I even really liked rose gold in general. This is why I chose to "buy" it for 1 cent on Copious. Copious used to run a promotion where if you signed up, you got $10 credit on the site. I used one of those credits on this polish, one I wasn't sure I was going to like but knew I needed to try.

It's worth noting my new injury on my ring finger here. I work in a scene shop and had an accident with a tape measure. Shit happens, my hands are abused. My nail on my pointer finger also broke a little bit ago, hence its lack of length. Also I did a kind of bad painting these, apologies again...

I was very pleasantly surprised with this. I don't think it looks bad on my skin type and the color is mindblowingly pretty. I absolutely love it. The thing that blows me away most with it though is the finish. It really DOES look like foil on your nails which I've never really seen with other polishes. There is a downside to that - the polish is very good at highlighting any imperfections in your nail, like ridges or bumps. But, I've found as  they dry this effect tends to minimize.

There's something about wearing rose gold on my fingers that makes me feel unbearably classy too. I chose to wear this color when I knew I was meeting my boyfriend's parents for the first time over Thanksgiving. I wanted something that would last long (metallics don't chip as easily, generally) and would be classy enough that his parents would respect me (IE not wearing neon this time) but cool enough that his younger sisters would think I'm awesome. I think this color does a good job of doing just that - and being a bit festive for the holiday season.

I highly recommend this line of polishes, but this one is my favorite. I also have No Place Like Chrome from the collection which I found to be so much better than the other silver I had, that I just gave my friend the other.

NOTD: Essie Lapis of Luxury

Lapis of Luxury was one of those polishes that I had my eye on a long time before I ended up getting it. It was another perfect blue - kind of purple, light, bright and all around gorgeous. I finally got it thanks to the generosity of another user on Random Acts of Polish and I could not have been happier to receive it. It was one I knew I wanted for so long that finally adding it to my collection was a sort of unbearably satisfying.

Essie has also been a favorite brand of mine for a while. Before I even wore nail polish, I couldn't help but have a special sort of affection in my heart for their pretty little bottles and vibrant cremes they so masterfully put out. My collection of Essie polishes can always do to grow, as far as I'm concerned. I can't get enough of them.

A quick note as you're starting to look at the picture below - you'll notice I had a breakage recently with my pointer finger. I mentioned this briefly in a previous post, but this mani is actually from before that one so it is even shorter here. I woke up one morning and my nail was RIPPED off. It was so short and weird and sad looking. So just thought I'd update you on that. Also, apologies for any messiness. I can't be arsed to clean up and if I don't take a picture of my mani while it's fresh, I usually don't take any picture.

3 coats, natural light, topcoat and everything as usual. Apolgies for mess.

I was very happy with this polish. I do think you need three coats, even though I tend to avoid three at all costs. It helps make the polish fully opaque and bright considering it does have a bit of a sheer consistency. I love the color a lot - I wasn't sure how much I'd actually like it on my nails and I have to say...I love it a whole lot.

My hands are kind of tiny and weird looking....

I went outside right after painting my nails and noticed it was the EXACT same color as the sky so I thought I'd share with you the pic I took when I realized this. The color is gorgeous and I highly recommend this one to anyone who may be interested. I don't think I've ever seen another color quite like it, either.