Reviews and Other Stuff

chanel le vernis le gel

Favorite Essie Nail Colors

essie nail polish favorites

Essie is one of my favorite go-to nail polish brands of all time. Apart from loving their range of gorgeous eye-popping nail colors, I also like the fact that their products are pretty much easy to find. Whenever I’m at my local drugstore or grocery store, I always make it a point to drop by at the nail polish aisle and look for what’s new in Essie nail colors. I must have collected a ton of Essie nail polishes already, but I do have some colors that I tend to reach more often and I’ll be showing their swatches in this review.

 

best essie nail colors

 

As you can see, I’m a fan of reds and pinks when it comes to nail colors, that’s because these shades tend to always look great on me, and I guess it also applies to most of us, but I still have some favorites in blues, nudes, and even a green. Lately, with the introduction of the newest Essie Gel-Couture nail polishes, I kinda stopped collecting the original Enamel shades as I find the Gel ones to be a lot more long lasting and less prone to chipping, although the Enamel ones have really good longevity as well. I’m still at my early stage of collecting the Gel-Couture shades, as of now, I only have some reds and mostly nudes, but I plan to expand my collection to some shades of blues, violets, and some other colors hopefully soon, and I’ll do a separate post for my favorite shades of the Essie Gel-Coutures only.

 

Here are my favorite Essie Nail Colors

essie nail polish review

Enamel ($9) – Original, lots of beautiful shades to choose from. Lasts about two weeks on me with some chipping. The brush applicator is a miss for me because it’s so thin and it takes a careful maneuvering to apply the shades.

essie wicked, aruba blue, big spender, splash of grenadine, a list, angora cardi, stylenomics, mrs. always right, dress to kilt, hide & go chic, scarlett o'hara swatches

 

Hide & Go Chic – teal

Big Spender – plum

Wicked – vamp

Mrs. Always-Right – terracotta rose

A List – classic red

Aruba Blue – metallic sapphire

Dress To Kilt – deep red

Splash of Grenadine – pink magenta

Angora Cardi – deep dusty rose

Scarlett O’Hara – shimmery ruby red

Stylenomics – rich dark green

 

essie nail polish brush

essie gel couture nail polish

 

Gel-Couture ($11.50) – Very long wearing, lasts about three weeks on me with very minimal chipping and I love the brush applicator since it’s wider than the enamel and kinda tapered/rounded towards the tip. However, the color range has not been completely expanded yet and there are some inconsistencies with the shades, like the Pinned Up color having two different intensities; one being lighter and the other being darker. On the other hand, these nail colors are great to use with the Essie Gel Top Coat to set immediately and for a brilliant shine.

essie gel couture nail polish in sew me, all dressed up, spiked with style, bubbles only, pinned up swatches

 

Sew Me – cream caramel

Bubbles Only – creamy burgundy

Pinned Up – nude pink rose, there’s an inconsistency with this color. One bottle may be lighter than the other. Lighter shade looks very close to Sew Me, while the darker one is closer to All Dressed Up. Love both tones though.

Spiked With Style – wine red

All Dressed Up – medium rose pink

 

essie nails review

Bottom line, it’s hard to tell the Enamel nail colors when compared to the Gel ones, especially at eye value. They both pretty much smell the same, feel the same, and look the same. The only difference between them is the lasting power, which the Gels obviously are ahead at with barely any chipping. The nice thing about Essie is that they tend to have beautiful bold colors that are easy to find, not that crazy expensive, and reliable. Perfect for all your nail polish needs.

 

Are you an Essie fan? What are your favorite Essie Nail Polish shades?

 

The Essie Nail Colors can be found at most local grocery stores and drugstores everywhere, as well as at Ulta, Target, Dermstore, Kohl’s, Walgreens, and Macy’s

 

 

Chanel Le Gel Coat Longwear Top Coat Review

chanel le gel coat top coat review

 

What’s up coconuts? For a long long time I’ve never really bought the Chanel Top Coats because I thought they’ll never be like my favorite holy grail top coat (clue: 2 words, starts with letter S and V). Well tahday, that belief proved me wrong. I think I’ve found my new HG top coat, at least for my gel nail polishes, specially for the new Chanel Le Vernis which was reformulated in gel form not a long time ago. It’s the newest Chanel Le Gel Coat Longwear Top Coat. It’s created to enhance and extend the life of the new Chanel Le Vernis, and is meant to create a glossy and strong nail polish that will last for 7 days. Now that’s what I want!

 

chanel le gel topcoat

 

The moment I applied this, I knew it’s going to be a keeper. The top coat itself has a slight strong odor but it fades away immediately. It has a nice wide brush which was surprising for me because the brushes found in the Chanel Le Vernis are usually thin and rounded, which makes them kinda tricky to apply. But this Chanel Le Gel Coat is so easy to apply and the formula spreads evenly around the nail polish. Best thing about it, is that it dries immediately upon application. I highly recommend this.

 

chanel le gel top coat long wear

 

When I was thinking whether I should purchase the old Chanel Top Coat or this new Chanel Le Gel Coat, the S.A. at the Chanel beauty counter said without hesitation that the Le Gel is the better choice to buy, and yes, she’s definitely right.

So, I really really recommend this Chanel Le Gel Top Coat. I get a real 7 days of wear on this with minimal chipping and tip wear, while my nails stayed glossy and rock hard. I suggest using this with your favorite New Chanel Le Vernis Longwear Nail Colour (reviewed HERE) or any gel nail polishes. Not sure whether this top coat will work with the non-gel polish, haven’t really tried. But to be safe, just use it with your favorite gel nail polish. For the non-gel ones, I still like to use Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat, which is also loved by a lot of beauty junkies.

 

To purchase this top coat, click HEREFor my review of the new Chanel Le Vernis, click HERE, and to purchase the new Chanel Le Vernis, please click HERE as well.

 

Happy Nail Painting!

 

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