essie

Heya, ladies. 🙂 It’s official: we defeated Wednesday, WOOT! And to celebrate our victory, I plan to enjoy a glass of wine while I watch Burn Notice and paint my shaved toes with one of the colors from Essie’s new Art of Spring collection.

Can you help me decide which color to use ?

[Continue reading…]

“This season, I wanted to create a new set of classic, yet fun colors that are wearable on every skin tone.” – Essie Weingarten, Founder and President

YOU GO, E-Money, with your “I’m every woman” approach to nail color.

The shades in Essie’s Sweet Time of the Year Collection for Winter 2009 ($8 each) should flatter a rainbow of skin tones and appeal to a range of colorful personalities.

Which ones suit you?

• Classic dames: If pearls, little black dresses and patent leather pumps speak to your soul, then try two rich coats of Lollipop, a creamy, candy-apple red.
• Trendy types: Do you like life on the edge? Take a bite out of creamy Mint Candy Apple. Go for three layers with a base coat to avoid streaks.
• Subtly sassy: A whisper of sheer, creamy pink’s just *so* quintessentially Essie. Wear Rock Candy when you’re in the mood for a dash of color. Try two coats for blinding shine with a hint of pink.

[Continue reading…]

Chicas, can I borrow you for a second?

I’m suffering from a little bit of post-dental visit brain fart. No shots were involved (thank gawd!), but I was on edge the entire time and have yet to fully decompress from the experience.

Painting my nails always chills me out, so I’m gonna take it easy tonight and do an at-home mani/pedi.

Will you please help me pick a polish? I can’t seem to decide on a color, but I’d like it to be one from Essie’s fall collection ($8 each).

The six-piece collection comes in shades of gray, taupe, pink, blue and orange…

Chinchilly

Angora Cardi

Mink Muffs

Midnight Cami

Bright Tights

Pink Parka

Please let me know which color you heart most in the poll or the comments. My paws thank you!

What are you up to tonight? Will you be chilling at home too?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

For summer 2009, Essie’s delivering some non-traditional colors in their two new collections — one focusing on blues and the other on brights.

Coming soon: Neon 2009

I’m *really* looking forward to the April 15 (the wait is taxing my patience) arrival of Neon 2009.

The release looks like an extension of last summer’s jaw-dropping Neon collection (LOVED IT!), which was all about bright and funky.

Neon 2009 introduces four colors: Flirty Fuschia, Funky Limelight, Perky Purple and Punchy Pink ($8 each). I cannot wait for these colors to drop … especially the YELLOW!

Now available: North Fork Collection

Neon won’t be here for a few days, but there’s no need to wait for Essie’s North Fork Collection because it’s out now. Somebody pass me a little black backpack, a spaghetti-strap dress and a white baby T because North Fork has me feeling very 1995.

The hot polish that year was Hard Candy’s Sky. A creamy baby blue nail, Sky looked unlike any other shade available on the nail scene, and women went NUTS for it.

And while none of the three blues in Essie’s North Fork ($8 each) are an exact match for Hard Candy Sky, I bet they drew a little inspiration from it.

• Shelter Island: a creamy, light azure blue
• Sag Harbor: a shimmery light grayish blue
• Greenport: a creamy, light cerulian blue with hints of green

[Continue reading…]

UPDATE: The contest is closed, and I’ll be notifying the winners shortly. Thanks for entering!

What do ya get when you mix sassy red with nude pink, add a dash of Smurfy blue, and pour in *lots* of cream?

Answer: a recipe for Essie’s spring 2009 color collection.

From left to right: Mesmerize, One of a Kind, Status Symbol

From left to right: Eternal Optimist, Flawless, Lacquered Up

The six sweet and spunky $8 nail colors go on sale next month, and aren’t they cute?

Compared to winter’s dark purples and deep reds, these nudes and classic reds (and the surprise blue) have spring written all over ’em, and I dig the vibe. It’s dreamy and playful — like a warm, lazy afternoon in the park.

I’m new to blue — nail polish (aka Le Club du Blue). Creamy, royal Mesmerize caught my eye because I don’t have anything like it in my nail polish stash. And for some odd reason when I look at Mesmerize I feel patriotic, go figure!

I can see it looking great well into summer. Could you imagine having her on your toes and wearing a pair of cute, strappy sandals? Hot!

Status Symbol, a creamy and bright pink coral, looks like food. By that I mean it looks good enough to eat, LOL! It makes me want to suck on my fingers, as if I’m sporting strawberry-flavored candy nails, and like Mesmerize it should look great worn well into August.

I think many of the collection’s other pinks and reds look somewhat similar but have subtle differences.

The creamy reds — One of a Kind and Lacquered Up — could be twins! But a hint of orange makes One of a Kind just slightly warmer.

And Lacquered Up looks more like a true red to me. I like both of these crimson divas, but I think I prefer the way One of a Kind cooperates with my skin color.

Creamy Eternal Optimist a peachy-brown and pink, looks warmer than her sister Flawless, a cool and pale pink.

I think I’m drawn more to Eternal Optimist, though. She just seems a little more natural, but it’s a tough choice. Flawless is one of those sweet pinks that pops!

Despite the nudes that make this feel like a traditional spring release, I love how the collection adds some funner shades to keep things interesting, particularly Mesmerize and Status Symbol. They’re my favorite stars of the show.

The Essie Spring 2009 Giveaway

Are your current nail polish colors giving you the blahs? Get a fresh nail look this spring. Enter the Essie Spring 2009 Giveaway!

You can enter to win by signing up to receive my updates by email or by leaving a comment on this post (or both!). If you’re already signed up for the updates, you don’t have to do anything else to be entered to win — you’re already entered — but you can double your chances by also leaving a comment on this post (a comment about anything at all).

The Prize

Four lucky winners will slip into new nail colors this spring with a complete set of all six polishes Essie’s Spring 2009 collection ($48 value).

How to Enter

There are two different ways to enter, and you can do both of them to double your chances.

1. If you haven’t already signed up to receive Makeup and Beauty Blog daily email updates, then enter your email in the pink box below (or click this link).
2. If you have already subscribed to the email updates but want to double your chances, add a brief comment at the bottom of this post (be sure to use a valid email address). 🙂

Enter your email address:

I’ll choose the four winners at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 PM PST on Saturday, January 17. The contest is open to all US and international readers. Good luck!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen