Essie's 'Lady Like' Nail Polish

PROLOGUE

Have you ever been so tired that you fall asleep on the bus and your head flops forward and you wake up and you are nowhere near you stop and you feel so disorientated that you almost cry? Well thats how I have been feeling. It's been a bit of a mind-body-soul-freak-out, as a result I have had a bad case of 'Bloggers Block'. I go shopping and buy things or get sent things and I look at the little box of cosmetic goodness and I go blankety-blank. So please excuse the lack of regular posts, I am starting to feel more inspired and I spent all day playing with nail polish - My version of the most cathodic relaxing time ever!

Do you find the new wave of  'foundation' (skin tone mimicking colours) nude nail polishes wash your skin out and make your hands look pale, grey and old? Then just don't go there girlfriend!

Take it back a notch....well try taking it back about 2 decades. Essie's 'Lady Like' is a mauve based dusty pink, it would have been on every babes nails in about 1984. It is the most heavenly subtle blush of pink which warms lighter skin tones and gives fingers elegance and length, fighting trends of pop colours and glitters with classic beautiful feminine nails. 

The polish applies without fault, opaque and is seamless with 2 coats, it definitely needs a topcoat to add shine and depth.

Steal Magnolias is my favourite film....like ever! And Shelby is my most favourite bride ever, imagine having Dolly Parton give you a blow wave for your walk down the isle. In the movie Shelby (Julia Roberts) describes her wedding colours as 'Blush and Bashful' two tones of very different pink, one deep and one lighter and pastel, I would like to think that Essie's 'Lady Like' is Shelby's 'Blush'.

Essie is available from www.adorebeauty.com.au online and from Myer Stores Australia Wide

xxx Nella

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Shelby R.I.P the best bride ever!

LOVE ME DO! Valentine's Day Wish List xoxo

Maison Balzac Candle in 'La Rose' $45.00

How could you go past the scent of Rose on Valentine's Day, if your significant other didn't surprise you with a dozen pink Austin Roses don't freak out just light a fragrant candle and take a long bath.

Maison Balzac is now stocked at Colette in Paris! Congratulations beautiful Elise!

available from www.mychameleon.com.au

Agent Provocateur Novah Bra £95.00 and Brief £65.00

The fine and sweet details in Lingerie is what I find beautiful, to be honest men aren't not going to notice at all but if you feel amazing wearing luxurious silks in vibrant colours like me - then its totally worth it!

Very very exciting news Agent Provocateur will be stocked at David Jones from Friday (like tomorrow!) - Just in time for Valentine's Day. 

available from www.agentprovocateur.com and www.davidjones.com.au

Tom Ford Lipstick in 'Cherry Lush' $65.00
Wearing bright pink lipstick on Valentine's Day is a must, 'Cherry Lush' is the creamiest most flirty fuchsia pink.
available from selected David Jones stores

Essie Nail Polishes in 'She's Pampered' and 'Fun in the Gondola' $18.95
'She's Pampered' is a bold red based pink which will get any Valentines sceptic in the spirit. 'Fun in the Gondola' is a more understated soft dusty rose - an absolutely timeless pink.
available from www.westfield.com.au and Myer Stores

Laura Mercier Creme Brulee Honey Bath $46.10 & Creme Brulee Body Souffle $60.95
Valentine's Day is the worst day ever to be on a diet especially a gluten/sugar free diet because desserts are acceptable to eat for all meals. The Laura Mercier Creme Brulee products makes you smell like you have just stepped out of a Patisserie - which if you can't eat cream filled sweeties is the next best thing!
available from Laura Mercier counters and www.fragrancenet.com

Sanderson Devine Bed Sheet Set $249.95
Sheets are very important on Valentine's Day - you know why! Leave the satin sheets for sleazy Jersey Shore type scenarios and opt for a luxurious high thread count cotton in a classic white or cream. Scattered rose petal are optional.
available from www.davidjones.com.au

What's on your Valentine's Day wish list? Let me know in the comments below on Twitter @beautegazette

xxx Nella

Essie's Spring Collection : Totally Tropical

Essie Mini's $25.00 for the set of 4 or $18.95 each as single polishes

www.essie.com

Wowzers! How cute are Essie's new Spring Collection mini's!

The colours are very pretty and bright but also very wearable, and like all Essie polishes they apply like a dream. 2 coat's covers the whole nail to opacity, they dry fairly quickly too. Mini's are a great way to test out seasonal colours, and if you fall desperately in love with a colour then you can always pick up the full size.

Here are my colour descriptions:

Navigate her : Is different to a lot of the mints and pastel greens which have been coming out lately, it is slightly darker in tone and more of a pear rather than mint which will suit a variety of skin tones. 

Olé Caiente : Oh my goodness! This is a really beautiful pink based red which on the nail looks luminous and almost fluorescent. I am obsessed. To compare it to something I would say it is a bright hibiscus fusion of the brightest pink, red and orange you can think of.

To Buy Or Not To Buy : Pastel lavender with a subtle twist of really fine shimmery green, blue and purple particles. If you are usually a nude kinda polish girl then try this out for a fresh and cute summer mani.

Tour de Finance : Fuchsia fantasy colour, this colour is wild. It reminds me of cougars on a P&O cruise, who just want the brightest fingers possible to match their leopard print onsies by the pool. It is a Glowing blue based fuchsia pink with a pearlesant sheen to top it off! 

These colours are giving me a tropical beat to my step and make me want to drink Piña Colada's on the beach and go out dancing.

                                             

Just Another Manicure Monday : Essie Vermillionaire

Essie Vermillionaire $18.95 Out The Door Topcoat $10.95

Drums please.....It is all of a sudden summertime again, just like the Jazzy Jeff & Will Smith like it. I really liked that Essie Vamillionaire is a true orange, it doesn't have that powdery white opaqueness that is usually in orange nail polishes think like OPI's atomic orange. It takes two coats to get a good colour pay-off and isn't streaky at all but mehhhh. Something is not quite right, maybe it's my pasty corpse bride hands which aren't doing the colour justice? Or maybe I have jumped the gun on the whole summertime vibe and I need a spray tan and a trip to Bali to do this colour justice. Women of colour which is darker than mine, this would look really babe'n on you.

OK TA-DA! A new topcoat! Who would have thought I would ever cheat on Seche Vite? But alas I have. Seche Vite goes kind of gloopy after a month and so I thought I would try Out The Door. It is pretty good, dries super fast as the name out imply, locking in the polish underneath if it hasn't totally dried yet an the finish is high-gloss. It is a lot thinner in consistency than Seche-Vite, which I miss but that's ok. There is a glittery Out The Door Topcoat called 'Northern Lights' which looks right up my alley and I will have to get next time.

What are your favorite summertime nail polishes?

Runway Nails : Fall Couture 2012

Oh Karl! You won me over with this sequin ombré jumpsuit!  

Butter London 'Knackered'  $19.95 China Glaze 'Emotions' $10.95 Sally Hansen Gem Crush $18.70

Grab your best friend give each other french tip manicures in opposite colours, and bang out together in these matching Armani Privé outfits.

Revlon Colour Stay 'Wild Strawberry' $8.00 Essie 'Liquorice' $11.60

The Maison Martin Margelia office parties must be wild, because they totally let a model wake up with a vodka watermelon on her face go down the runway. 

OPI 'Cajan Shrimp' $17.95 Rimmel 'Green with Envy 819' $4.95 Sally Hansen Nail Pen Black $11.00

Just Another Manicure Monday : Monet Nails

Rimmel 60 second's - Sunny Days $4.95 Essie - Mint Candy Apple $16.90 OPI - Play the Peonies - $15.95 Chanel - June 539 US$26.00 ( Zip lock plastic bags ) Seche Vite Top Coat $14.95

My ultimate job would be to invent nail polish colours and come up with the completely crazy names - can you imagine how cool that would be, unfortunately I haven't found any jobs matching that description on Seek.com recently. 

So my nail polish creativity is being let out by following nail tutorials on youTube and attempting them at home. My latest obsession is 'Water colour nails' or as I have dubbed them 'Monet Nails' and they are a real piece of cake to do - Just follow Jen's youTube instructions  *warning* she does make it look alot easier than it is and it can get quite messy so put down some scrap paper and do not do this on your white carpet wearing your new white cashmere jumper. I used similar pastel colours because they blened well but you could choose which ever colours you liked.

If you do try your own version of 'Monet Nails' I would love to see them posted on instagram and tag me @nellavanveenendaal. 

'Meadows at giverny - Monet'