Happy Saturday! Since the beginning of December, snowflakes have been bombarding my feeds on Instagram and Bloglovin'. So I finally caved and painted stamped some snowflakes on my own nails. Sadly, with the tropical heat wave hitting the East Coast right now, these little flakes are probably the closest thing to real snow that I'm going to see for a while...
Polishes Used:
1 Coat Fingerpaints Smooth Over Ridge Filler
2 Coats Essie Haute Tub
Bundlemonster Plate BM-H01
SinfulColors Snow Me White
1 Coat Seche Vite
So, in addition to the lack of snow, there was a lack of sunshine on the day I painted and photographed these nails. It was a gray, rainy, stay-inside-under-the-covers kind of day.
I would love to say that's the reason why Essie Haute Tub appears to look black, rather than the lovely navy blue with purple to gold shimmer that you see in the bottle. Sadly, this is just one of those shimmers that doesn't translate as brilliantly onto the nail. And without ample sunshine? Nope.
As a backdrop for stark, white snowflakes, however? It's totally perfect. I really like the contract. I mean, yes, more sparkle is always better. It's always disappointing when contrasting shimmer doesn't show up on the nails like it does in the bottle. But with these stamped snowflakes, I don't really mind as much.
In other news... Essie recently announced their newest collection Retro Revival and sent a buzz throughout the nail polish community. 2016 marks Essie's 35th anniversary, and they're celebrating by bringing back six retired favorites in the Retro Revival Collection. Due in stores January 2016, the collection is comprised of Bikini with a Martini, Birthday Suit, Cabana Boy, Life of the Party, Sequin Sash, and Starry, Starry, Night. Yep. That previously extremely hard-to-find without shelling out hundreds of dollars Starry, Starry, Night.
So, no. I really don't mind that the shimmer is a little lacking in Haute Tub. Because I'm about to be able to squash a very huge lemming that I never thought I'd be able to even afford. And it's not like the collection is priced a little bit higher than normal. Essie totally could've charge $20 per bottle and we'd all pay that. Nope. This collection will be in stores, and will sell for $8.50/bottle, just like any other Essie polish. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to order it online, or try and track it down in stores. Maybe order one, track down a backup? I do really love a good brick-and-mortar nail polish hunt!
But back to Snowflakes in the Haute Tub... I thought about adding a little more shimmer before stamping. The glitter side of my brain wishes I would've added a coat Pure Ice Busted or Iris. But then that other side really likes the minimalist, stark quality of this stamping. And then there's that voice in the back of my head that wants me to get a few more snowflake plates so I can do a snowflake version of a pond manicure. And wouldn't Starry, Starry, Night just be the most gorgeous and appropriate background for that? Definitely on my to-do list!
Yeah these dark but not black polishes are tough. For what it is worth, there are comparisons of old and new Starry that show the old is darker; I kind of like the new one a tiny bit better.
ReplyDeleteNice snowflake stamps! It got chilly here in Ohio the past couple days and tried to snow yesterday. I wouldn't totally hate a tiny bit of snow for the holidays, but won't care if there isn't much snow this winter. The past couple winters have been tough! So cold with polar vortex and lots of snow. A little goes a long way, and a lot is a pain.
Oooh... I haven't checked out any comparison posts yet. You're not kidding about the snow... winters here in PA haven't been great the past few years. But there's just something about a White Christmas that's magical! Other than that, though... no snow is the kind of snow I normally like best!!!
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