NOTD: Haute As Hello

I had alot of comments on my nails last night via Instagram & Twitter so decided to share it here.

This is Essie in "Haute As Hello"

The colour is hard to describe, it is a creamy orange with a hint of pink, but I wouldn't call it a coral

I love the colours that Essie releases, I just wish I loved the formula and brush as much.

I bought the Summer 2010 Mini Collection to try and win myself over.

This polish dries to a satin finish rather than a shine, which is disappointing for a "Summer" inspired polish.

Pros: 

The colour

Cons:

Everything else?

The formula is streaky and 2 coats looks uneven.

Three coats [and spare time] is definitely required for a decent application

I broke a golden rule with this one - Usually I photograph after 2 coats and before a top coat.

I couldn't do that with this polish, its a high maintenance little thing.

This is THREE coats, still no topcoat, however it photographs shiny.

It's not.

I haven't given up on Essie yet, I have another 3 polishes in this range and I am hoping they redeem this brand.

What has your experience been with Essie?

Haul: Adore Beauty

Just a mini-haul on one of my favourite beauty websites Adore Beauty.

Shipping is fast, prices are cheap and their service is fabulous.

Clarisonic Replacement Brush Head

Clarisonic Replacement Brush Head for Normal Skin.

I bought the Clarisonic Mia from Miss J Shopaholic's blog sale a while ago and kept forgetting to buy a Brush head.

Now I have one, and I can't wait to try it out.

Essie Summer Collection

Essie's Summer Collection.

Haute As Hello, Knockout Pout, Demure Vixen and Pretty Edgy

I will do a swatch post in the next few days - but these colours had me at hello.

Spend over $50 online and you get to choose 2 free samples - how awesome is that?

I chose:

Dermalogica Clean Start Matte SPF15

&

Jurlique Herbal Recovery Night Cream

I had been wanting to try both these products but couldn't justify the cost without trialling.

And whilst I didn't purchase this through Adore Beauty, I do have to share this purchase with you:

Yep - I finally got Naked!

I purchased this 4 weeks ago from Beauty Bay which is located in the UK.

Follow them on Twitter for their next Urban Decay Naked release.

The Perfect Colour [Photo Heavy]

Different colours ignite different feelings in different people.

Pantone PMS 1837 strikes joy into the heart of girls everywhere.

"Tiffany Blue" is the perfect shade of blue, similar to the blue of a robins egg, it symbolises so much more.

Image from Google

Breakfast At Tiffany's is my favourite book [and one of my favourite films] - "That's right. I'm just CRAZY about Tiffany's!"

So, for the past 3 months I have been on a mission to find THE perfect shade of Tiffany Blue for my nails.

There were 2 polishes that I wanted to obtain for this purpose

Chanel in "Nouvelle Vague"

and Nfu Oh in "#394"

However, due to high cost & custom issues I was unable to obtain them.

China Glaze "For Audrey" 

RRP at $11.95 from here

Sportsgirl Nail It in "Blue Lagoon"

This was purchased on sale for $4.95 from Sportsgirl

Essie in "Mint Candy Apple"

RRP $18.95 from here

L'Oreal in "Waters Edge"

I actually bought this on eBay for $15.01

Usually I stay far away from purchasing cosmetics/nail colours on eBay due to high fake risk

But I wanted this colour and couldn't find it anywhere else.

BYS in "Sky's The Limit"

RRP $3.95 from here

Miss Frou Frou in "Aqua"

RRP $24.95 from here

OPI in "What's With The Cattitude?"

RRP for around $19.95 from Myer

AND THE WINNER IS:

Orly in "Gumdrop"

RRP $7.95 from here

There are many other brands and colours that dupe this beautiful blue. However, after researching I decided to stop at 9 polishes. Only 8 are pictured as OPI in "Sea Ya Later, Sailor" is not an opaque colour, it is a glitter polish.

All of these polishes were purchased, or gifted to me, none were sent for review purposes. All were photographed in natural light, with 2 colour coats and without a top coat.

NOTD: Cracked Matte

I LOVE Matte nails, I also love White nails and I am trying to love crackle polishes.

This look is a more subdued crackle.

The crackle black doesn't come in a matte formula, so to make it tie in with the white matte, I used Essie "Matte About You" as a top coat for the black shatter.

I love this look, I was worried on purchase of the White Matte that it would look too much like "White Out" fluid on my nails, but I don't think it appears that way at all.

Base Coat: Revlon Quick Dry

Coloured Coat: BYS Matte White

Crackle: BYS Cracked Finish Black

Top Coat: [On ring finger only] Essie Matte About You

** Edit: I used 4 thin coats of Matte White on four non-cracked nails to avoid streaking