essence: Spring / Summer 2013

Sent for Review

Happy Sunday everyone! ^_^

I'm feeling particular exuberant today because the air in Singapore has cleared up somewhat in the last two days! The past week had been absolutely horrible. Fires raging in Sumatra caused a huge haze in Singapore with the PSI readings hitting the hazardous range for the first time in years. I have been shuffling to and fro work with a mask because the haze (oh the burning smell!) was giving me a tremendous headache. So I am really relieved that we have some brief respite over the weekends - finally some remotely breathable air! Of course, it would be even better if the government could declare a stop work order next week... yea, I've been told that I am too optimistic :(

Anyway, back to the polishes!

essence Singapore has recently brought in some new shades for spring and summer and they have most generously sent them over for me to share with you. I don't have much to say except that these colors are simply perfect springy/summery shades! Take a look:

Ice, Ice Baby! 4 thin coats.
A squishy off-white jelly that is slightly tinged beige. A little streaky on the first 2 coats but evens out to a perfect glossy finish. It didn't really need the top coat but I top-coated it anyway to speed up the drying process.

Peach & Cream. 3 thin coats.
A soft peach puff with slight pearly shimmer. The pearl finish is not that obvious on the nails after 2 coats so that's a big plus for me - I am not really a fan of that finish. I did not think the color was very flattering on my skin tone under some lighting but I wore it for a few days anyway because it went well with my new turquoise phone casing! :P

That's What I Mint! 3 thin coats.
A soft pastel mint with very very slight green shimmer (that is clearly not visible on the nails). You know my obsession with blue-greens - this was instantly my favorite. Of course, I wore it for a few days because it matches my phone casing too! ;) It is a tad lighter than China Glaze's For Audrey and they will make a good ombré manicure - I just need to find 3 more shades of turquoise / mint... See! That's why I need more shades of this color in my life. *nods solemnly*

Hello Marshmallow! 3 thin coats.
A delicate lilac with sprinkles of red and blue shimmer. The shimmers are not that visible on the nails but you can catch a few glimpse of the elusive shimmer where the light hits the nails. It is significantly less similar to China Glaze's Light As Air than I'd thought - more purple and brighter.

Flashy Pumpkin. 2 thin coats.
An eye-searing tangerine orange. It is so bright that I would even call it neon. Super summery but definitely not for the faint-hearted. Formula for this was exceptionally good. It is very pigmented and I suspect you can get away with one thick coat.

Prom-berry. 2 thin coats.
An intoxicatingly rich vampy purple with very subtle red and blue shimmers. The shimmers are not obvious on the nails but they give the nails a slight glowy look when the nails catch the light.

Miss Universe. 1 coat over black.
A sheer black base filled with intense sparkly blue and green microflakies.   It is very sheer and will need about three to four coats for full coverage on its own. Very similar to Zoya's Kotori except that it has that extra oomph from the bright green sparkles. Needless to say, I am head over heels in love with this too.






Overall, I am extremely happy with the new colors. The colors, brush and formula do not disappoint. As always, the pastels are slightly streakier than the other colors but they even out fairly nicely on the third coat so I have no complaints there. Plus, at only S$2.90 each, they are a steal - definitely one of my favorite affordable brands.

So, which colors caught your eye? :D

essence cosmetics is currently available at these Watsons stores: Ngee Ann City, City Square Mall, Causeway Point, Lucky Plaza, Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, Sun Plaza, JEM, JCube, Parkway Parade, IMM, Lot 1, Anchor Point, Rivervale Mall, Park Lane, Bedok Central, Beautyworld Centre and SMU.

The Polish Well: New Releases + Restock!

Hello everyone!! *waves excitedly*

Today, I will be officially unveiling the new colors that I have been working on! *happy dance* I have not just one but two collections this time.

Before we move on to the colors, I must apologize for not having my usual hand swatches. I had been too busy for the past few days and not to mention busy pampering my sadly ravaged cuticles from all the mixing and testing in my "lab".

First up, we have the summer collection:

This is loosely inspired by good ol' retro days and contains two subtle linear holos, two shimmers and two glitter polishes - something for everyone!

Blue Bell Bottoms.
A dusty dark blue with a subtle linear holo effect. Unfortunately, the swatch stick dulled the holo so you can't really see it in this picture. I really ought to have taken a picture of this on my nails in the sun but I couldn't find the time. ><

Tea Party.
A dusty mauve lilac with subtle linear holo effect. Again, the swatch stick dulled the holo so you can't really see it in this picture. I don't know about you but this color makes me want to have a high tea with my girlfriends ;)

Skinny Dipping.
A green-toned turquoise jelly with gold and copper shimmer. You know how obsessed I am about turquoises and gold so I simply had to try my hand at making this. To be honest, I am pretty happy with how it turned out ^_^

Pompadour.
A dusty rose pink with copper and taupe shimmer. Girly vintage.

Primadonna.
A peachy beige jelly filled with red and black glitters and subtle orange shimmer. Inspired by the song by Marina and the Diamonds - hence the heart glitter. I was sorely tempted to make a dark red color for the pin-up girls that were so popular in those days but I figured this is more appropriate for summer.

Polkie Dottie.
Grey with brown, turquoise and white glitters and subtle holo shimmer. I saw a phone cover in these colors somewhere and I fell in love. It isn't very summer-ish but the glitters remind me of polka dots so in it goes to this collection!

And now, we move on to The Jewels!
Disclaimer: I do not proclaim to be an expert in jewels and the colors are loosely named after the gems for the color and are in no way meant to resemble the real deals (or fictitious ones for that matter)!

I realized I forgot to take a family portrait for these so we will have to make do with individual swatches:

Dresden Green.
An emerald green subtle linear holo. Again, you can't really see the subtle linear holo in this picture. It is probably similar to Glitter Gal's Lizard Belly in terms of its holo. A note of caution: this color stains so do take note before you buy it!

Heart of the Ocean.
A sheer dark blue base with gold shimmer and duochrome flecks that shift from blue to green. Blue and green and gold? Yup, one of my personal favorites.

Moussaieff Red.
A sheer blackened red base filled with lots of red glitters and shimmers with sprinkles of gold. Can look lighter or darker depending on the lighting. I personally prefer it under very low lighting - dark with mysterious sparkles of red and gold *swoon*

And finally a random color that did not fit into any collection:

Concrete Jungle.
A dark grey with black and white shreds and generous sprinkles of holo shimmer. A random color with an equally random inspiration - a floor that I saw somewhere. ;p Odd as the inspiration may be, I love this combination.

PHEW! That was quite a lot of polishes!
Which ones caught your eye? :D

Before I end off this post, I have another piece of happy news to share: I am finally restocking my Etsy store and will be releasing these new colors this Saturday, 6 April at 9am Singapore Time! Details of the restock are as follows:

• All new and old colors will be available except Wrath, Envy (these are discontinued until further notice due to lack of supplies). 
• Prices are as follows: 
• US$8 for 10ml and US$4 for 5ml; 
• additional US$1/0.50 each for holos
• Sales will be on a made-to-order basis and it should take about 1-2 weeks for your package to be mailed. 
• All shipping will be via registered mail and shipping costs are tentatively as follows: 
• International: US$6 for the first 10ml / US$3 for the first 5ml (whichever is higher) + US$1 for each subsequent. 
• Singapore: Shipping to local addresses are at a flat rate of US$3.
• Any updates will be posted at the Etsy store so do keep a lookout for that.

Hope to see you there! :D

OPI: Euro Centrale 2013

Yay! I am finally done going through the pre-orders so I took some time to play with some of the pretties that I've got this week!

Presenting... *drumroll*... my picks from OPI's Euro Centrale collection!

Oh my... look at those blues!! They stole my heart the minute I saw them in the preview picture. :L

My Vampire Is Buff. 3 thin coats.
A pretty pale yellow-toned beige. A bit more beige than what this picture shows - closer to the color in the first picture. I don't usually buy shades like these (especially yellows) but I love how soft and delicate this is!

You're Such A Budapest. 3 thin coats.
A pretty periwinkle with very subtle blue and pink shimmer. You can see the shimmer in the bottle (pic below) but it doesn't show up very much on the nails (close-up on left). Oh and I absolutely love the name for this one - too cute!

Can't Find My Czechbook. 2 coats.
A gorgeous aqua blue that is both bright and dusty at the same time. It is dustier looking than what the picture shows - closer to what the swatch stick shows. Definitely more gorgeous than what I can capture. Love the name too!

OPI... Eurso Euro. 2 coats.
A vibrant deep cobalt blue - another stunner. I had a super hard time trying to photograph this - somehow my camera picks up the vibrance but couldn't handle the richness of the blue. The first picture shows how rich and deep the cobalt is.
And, yes this is almost an exact dupe of a hot favorite: Revlon Royal. Almost... but not really. I wanted to do a comparison but I realized I've used up my Revlon. I need to head out and get one asap. On the swatch sticks, Eurso Euro is slightly more red-toned and is less jelly/squishy as compared to Royal (let me know if you want a picture). They do smell the same though - probably because they used the same ingredient.

I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw. 2 coats.
Ahhh... a rich midnight blue. Another head-turner. No way I could pass it up.

Formula-wise... I did have some trouble with certain shades.
My Vampire Is Buff and You're Such A Budapest were slightly thin and streaky. I had to use three coats and even then, I am not entirely satisfied with how they look.
OPI... Eurso Euro is a crelly (creme-jelly) so application was a bit tricky as well. Too much exposure to the air and it will start to thicken up. If that happens, cap the bottle and give it a little shake before painting again.
Warsaw and Can't Find My Czechbook applied beautifully.

So what do you think of these colors? Which Euro Centrale colors caught your eye?

xoxo,
mich

Kiko: Lavish Oriental LE

A few months ago, the lovely Sam from Fashion Polish posted some gorgeous kikos on Instagram and had me swooning over them. I was about to throw my hands up in frustration when Sam kindly offered to do a swap with me! As you can imagine I nearly peed my pants - a swap with my nail crush?! I think I died and went to heaven :angel

Of course, after drooling over Sam's swatches on the kiko holos, I knew I had to grab these pretties:

Kiko 399 (Silk Taupe). 2 coats without topcoat.
A gorgeous nude linear holo. I really really love how it looks on me. So flattering! :L

Kiko 400 (Steel Grey). 2 coats without topcoat.
Another beauty. This is a charcoal with very strong linear holo. Super love! <3

The holo in these kikos are very strong and intense especially under direct sunlight and I love how they look in the shade too! *swoon*
Formula is pretty good. I wore them over my usual basecoat (NailTek Foundation II) but I skipped the topcoat because it dulled the holo slightly. I actually wore Silk Taupe to work for a week using the sandwich method (holo-topcoat-holo) and only experienced slight tipwear!

So if you ever come across them in stores, etc, don't hesitate to grab them. I highly recommend them ;)

xoxo,
mich