Essence A Lovely Secret + Doctor Lacquer Stubs & Movember

Self-purchased

Cold State

Transition State

Warm State

Essence A Lovely Secret (index and middle fingers) is a pretty periwinkle creme with red and purple shimmer. Except at certain angles, the shimmer gives off a speckled effect because of the way it immerses itself in the creme base. I really love the speckled effect, but it's a shame that it isn't a popular or well-known finish. I used 2 coats. The formula was pigmented and wonderful, as per Essence, but I had some trouble applying the polish because of the small handle and brush. It dried shiny, but I still used top coat.

Doctor Lacquer Stubs & Movember (ring and pinky fingers) is a thermal jelly with royal blue, teal, and silver holo glitters. The base is grey when warm, but black when cold. I'm really late at swatching this one because this was released around TWO Novembers ago! (So sorry!) I used 4 coats. The formula was nice and thin, but not runny or streaky. However, I found application a bit tricky because of the long brush wand, of which I'm not a fan. It dried satin so I used top coat.

Unfortunately, both A Lovely Secret and Stubs & Movember are long since discontinued. However, you can purchase other Doctor Lacquer thermals from her store.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Revlon Cloud + Essence Julia

For the next two weeks (with the exception of today), I'll be posting some of my indie polishes. I really loved them, and I hope you guys will too! :)

Revlon Cloud

Cloud is a pale periwinkle creme. 3 coats. I don't know why it was in my untrieds mountain for so long because it's such a pretty color! However, the formula left much to be desired. It was watery, but was neither thin nor thick. The first coat was a bit sheer; opacity built up with each additional coat. To top it all off, Cloud didn't level well either. However, I bought this about 2 or so years ago. I think Revlon might have improved the formula because my replacement for Jaded (also from the same Top Speed line) had a much better formula than my first one, which I bought at the same time as Cloud. I bought the replacement a week ago. Anyway, contrary to the fast-drying claim, Cloud dried in an average to slow length of time. It dried with a nice gloss.

Essence Julia

Julia is an enchanting mix of holographic silver small square and small and fine hex glitter. I layered 1 coat over Revlon Cloud. The combination was SO pretty and delicate! I didn't want to remove it, but I had to for swatching purposes. :( Anyway, the formula was really nice. Fishing for glitters wasn't necessary. I did have to dab a little though. It also dried slowly. As far as I know, the Essence Nail Art Glitter Toppers were never released in the U.S. I'm so lucky I got Julia from a blog sale! If I can find another bottle, I'll definitely purchase it. Julia is back-up worthy!

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Essence You Belong To Me

In direct light:

Essence You Belong To Me

You Belong To Me is a powder blue creme, is opaque in 2 coats, and dries with a nice gloss. Many bloggers have described this as a mint with a hint of blue, but for the life of me, I only see powder blue. The formula was thick and almost gooey (almost!) and did not level out well, but was still alright to work with. Dry time was slow because it was thick. Please keep in mind that I had You Belong To Me for several months now and, if you remember from my first Essence polish swatches and reviews, I find that many of my Essence polishes tend to thicken over time. 

If you like You Belong To Me, act fast!  Essence has a tendency to discontinue shades (like Irreplaceable, one of my favorite polishes... still trying to find a dupe). But as of right now, it is still on Ulta's website (not sure about in-stores). The glimmer of hope is that I generally find a larger selection of Essence polishes in-stores than online.

By the way, did anyone else think of Taylor Swift's hit song, "You Belong To Me"? XD

What color would you say You Belong To Me is?

See you guys on the other side of the day!

- M

Essence Gold Rush

In more direct light:

Essence Gold Rush

Gold Rush is a slightly warm champagne with multicolored shimmer and takes 3 coats to become opaque. At 2 coats, it is still relatively opaque, though there is VNL (visible nail line). Gold Rush dries relatively fast; though it is part of Essence's dry-fast line, the dry-fast formula is a hit or miss sometimes. Some polishes tend to dry slower, thicken up quicker, and/or separate in a short (a couple of months) while. Unfortunately, the multicolored shimmer does not translate well onto the nail (it even hides itself when close-ups were taken) and there will be visible brushstrokes if Gold Rush is not applied carefully.

On a happy note, this swatch made me appreciate Gold Rush. I did not know that it had multicolored shimmer (which flashes green and pink and maybe some yellow and orange). I've always viewed it from a distance, which makes it look like it had silver shimmer. I originally bought Gold Rush because I just wanted a cool-toned gold (though it really wasn't) and it was cheap. Gold Rush needs to be seen in real life and up close in order to admire and appreciate her beauty. Surprises definitely come in small packages!

Close-ups of the shy shimmer:

P.S. I really need to learn how to tone down the redness of my hands! Bleh!

See you guys on the other side of the day!

- M

Essence What Do U Think?

Essence What Do U Think?

What Do U Think? is a melon/salmon orange creme with gold shimmer, very much different from what is pictured. I guess the camera freaked out because of the orange pigmentation. :( It took 3 coats to become even and opaque (though I think it could be a 2-coater provided that you're very careful) and dried pretty quickly with a nice shine. Unfortunately, the gold shimmer is very shy and that really disappointed me; it was what enticed me to purchase the polish. You have to look pretty closely to see some of the shimmery goodness.

Here is the beautiful shimmer up close (Now you can understand how disappointed I am...):

See you guys on the other side of the day!

- M

Essence Lime Up!

Essence Lime Up!

Lime Up! is a very yellowed green creme. The formula was very nice and took about 2 medium coats to become opaque. Dry time was average and Lime Up! dries to a nice shine. Essence polishes tend to thicken up after a short while so they need to be shaken up well so the formulae can become thinner. Unfortunately, this can induce bubbling. Nevertheless, I am happy that the yellow tone in this green polish cancels out the redness in my hands. Some greens tend to amplify the my hands' redness and that makes me so sad. :( Green is one of my favorite polish colors to wear.

Essence polishes are available at ULTA and ulta.com. They retail for $0.99 each.

TGIF!!! This week has been so exhausting! I had a qualitative analysis lab that lasted two lab periods and my labs are scheduled at 8:00 - 11:59 AM. If there's one thing you never do, it's giving a pre-health major an early morning class! x__x And I had a chemistry exam today (well, now yesterday) too. Enzyme kinetics, nuclear chemistry, and induced dipole moments. Fuuun.

I hope you guys had a great week and even better weekend!

See you guys on the other side of the day!

- M