Swatches, review and nail art Essence Trend Edition Rock Out!!

Things are going to get musical in october and november 2014 with the new Essence trend edition "Rock Out!!"

Essence is once again an official sponsor of the MTV European Music Awards (EMA). 

Glasgow is ready to welcome the who's who of the international music scene on the 9th of november and fans can look forward to a breathtaking show.

It's showtime...with Essence!

This trend edition features 4 lacquers and a glow-in-the-dark topcoat.

From left to right:

- 01 Best rock

- 02 Best hip-hop

- 03 Best pop

- 04 Best female

- 01 Biggest fan (glow-in-the-dark)

Swatches

01 Best rock

Picture taken in light box without flash

Picture taken outside without flash

01 Best rock is a very sheer grey/silver jelly that contains green and pink micro flakies (glass flecks).

Building it up to opaqueness is dreadful.

I've used 2 thicker coats for the swatches above and noticed that a third or fourth wouldn't make a huge difference and decided to leave it at two.

This polish is probably best used as a topcoat IMAO.

02 Best hip-hop

Picture taken in light box without flash

Picture taken outside without flash

02 Best hip-hop is a sheer black that contains multi colored and holoraphic micro glitter.

Too sheer for my taste. 

Pictures above show 3 coats but in the future I would probably layer this over a black,

03 Best pop

Picture taken in light box without flash

Picture taken outside without flash

03 Best pop is a pink crelly containing gold and pink micro flakies (glass flecks).

This polish shows a lot more pigment than the others and therefore was beautifully opaque with two thin coats.

04 Best female

Picture taken in light box without flash

Picture taken outside without flash

04 Best female is a very sheer purple jelly containing silver and pink/purple micro flakies (glass flecks).

Again best to use as a topcoat.

Pictures above show 2 thicker coats but 3 or 4 won't make a huge difference.

01 Biggest fan

Bottle shot in the dark

MTV EMA nail art in the dark

01 Biggest fan is a glow in the dark topcoat.

In the light the polish is like a milky jelly containing holographic star glitters.

The amount of star glitters is good and fishing and placement is at the users taste but not required much.

Good glow...picture however is taken after charging it with a bright light. 

Black light gives an immediate strong glow. 

01 Best Rock, 04 Best female and 03 Best pop layered over black

As I mentioned these polishes are all kind of sheer and I really wanted to know what they would look like layered over a black.

The pink (03 Best pop) was almost too opaque so I did a very very thin coat.

Review

The lacquers are all very sheer...too sheer for my taste.

I'm also not a huge fan of the jelly like consistency. 

Drying time of the first coat is okay but as your building it up, it takes more and more time.

And with at least 3/4/5 coats...I simply don't have the time!!

Layering them over other colors is the perfect solution, especially over black is really something I love.

The glow in the dark topcoat is better than the previous one by Essence. 

Consistency is easier to work with, the glow is better and I also like the addition of those cute holographic stars as it spices up the 'day' look.

I was pleasantly surprised by the glass flecks, they are more subtle than glitters in my opinion and I love the color shifts that they give.

Personal favorites: 03 Best pop and 01 Biggest fan (glow in the dark topper)

Nail art

What else can I do as taking this edition as my inspiration?!

I chose to use the bottle print as my design.

I started with a white base.

After this I randomly sponged 01 Best rock, 03 Best pop and 04 Best female over the white base.

Then I used black acrylic paint to cover the nails, leaving the letters out and showing the white sponged background.

I finished by covering the black acrylic paint with 02 Best hip-hop.

The thumb design is the same as the glow in the dark nail art from above but then in daylight :D

Swatches, review & nail art Essence Trend Edition Hello Autumn

Essence just came out with their new trend edition called "Hello Autumn".

With this collection Essence welcomes the autumn season with its beautiful golden sunshine and rustling leaves.

BeautiFALL!

The nail lacquers featured in this collection are all thermo nail polish and change color depending on the temperature.

But how many lacquers are in this collection?

The blog promo I received and the website as well show 5 lacquers.

So far I could only get my hands on 4 and haven't seen the 5th one anywhere.

The 4 lacquers I could get, are:

- 01 beauti-FALL red

- 02 meet my pumpkin

- 03 charlie seen in green

- 04 keep calm & go for a walk

And this would be the 5th lacquer:

- 05 autumn & the city

Well, you know me, if I can get my hands on the 5th lacquer anytime, I will update this post with it.

Review

I'm finally starting to love a good thermo polish. Especially with long nails cause it gives a perfect French manicure without any trouble.

These nail lacquers are so perfect for the fall season; great fall colors and the color change like fall leaves couldn't be found better.

I'm starting with the review so you won't be shocked when seeing the swatches :D

I had a lot of trouble catching the color change on camera. It was there in real life but subtle.

I experienced that my body temperature was low and it was a cold day as well...leaving me with mostly the "cold" color.

Holding my hand under warm water and resting my tips at some ice did show a bigger color change.

In the swatches you will see a subtle color change around the tips which was just slightly more visible in real life.

Now, if the bigger color change can only be achieved by holding your hand in hot water or a bucket full of ice...it isn't a strong thermo but my problem is that I can't really tell for sure.

Leaving you with my experience, I do have to say that even this subtle color change and simply the fall colors itself make this a beautiful fall collection.

For me all 4 are keepers!

Application was easy and these creme polishes were opaque with 2 coats.

Swatches

01 beauti-FALL red

02 meet my pumpkin

03 charlie seen in green

04 keep calm & go for a walk

Nail art

The first fall nail art is a fact.

And I tried something new for you!

Material:

- White nail polish

- Nail art brush

- Nail polish in fall colors (I of course used this collection)

- Scotch tape also known as magic/removable tape

- Pen or pencil or marker

- Scissors (preferably small and used for crafting)

- Tweezers

- Topcoat

Step 1:

Start with applying a white nail polish on all the nails. 

Let it dry completely and use a topcoat to speed up the drying time.

Step 2:

Place some pieces of tape (10 if you're going to do all 10 nails) on a flat surface. 

The pieces of tape can be as big as you want but around nail size is most handy.

Use a pen to draw fall leaves on the pieces of tape.

To prevent smudging and to make cutting easy, place another piece of tape on top of the drawed ones.

Step 3:

Use the scissors to cut out the fall leaves. 

And place the fall leave like a sticker on your nails.

Step 4:

Get your polishes and the nail art brush.

Paint small fall leaves around the outline of your sticker.

Wait for it to completely dry!!!

Step 5:

Use the tweezers or your nails to remove the stickers from your nails.

Step 6:

Apply topcoat to seal your design.

Swatches, review and nail art Essence Trend Edition Wave Goddess

Essence recently came out with their new trend edition which is called "Wave Goddess".

Essence writes: "Body boarding, stand-up paddling and surfing are the trend sports of the summer! and "wave goddess" offers the ideal products for fun times at the beach or in the water!

On top, the absolutely stylish beauty pieces have a gorgeous hibiscus blossom design to create a true summer feeling!"

This trend edition features 4 lacquers and a thermal top coat (changes the color of your nail polish depending on the temperature).

Each bottle comes with a flexible rubber ring matching the color of the nail polish.

I didn't get the top coat yet because it was already sold out. 

If I can get my hands on it I will post about it later.

Swatches

01 Loose your heart on the board

Loose your heart on the board is a hot pink creme.

It applies heavenly and could easily be a one coater.

I used two thin coats for this swatch.

02 Wave down the lime

Wave down the lime is a color which I find very difficult to describe.

With the color lime I'm expecting more green.

However I do feel this banana yellow has some green undertones.

Wave down the lime is a creme polish with silver shimmer and has a satin finish.

It dries very quick and with the warm temperature I had some trouble applying this; uneven and a bit streaky.

Nothing a top coat can't fix but I wanted to show the polish without.

This is 2 coats.

03 Have a break

Have a break is a light blue creme with silver shimmer.

Again very fast drying but better to apply than Wave down the lime.

This is 2 coats and it dries to a satin finish.

04 Crush on blue

Crush on blue is a medium blue creme with silver shimmer.

This is 2 coats and again with a satin finish.

Review

Let's start with what I think of this edition color wise.

I love it!

When it's summer I don't want to be reminded of Fall yet...the year already goes fast enough.

Finally an edition with bright, summery colors.

The blues a little less but the shimmer makes totally up for it.

Application and formula.

Fast drying. Perhaps due to the hot weather but it was almost too fast for an even application.

I swatched all colors with 2 thin coats but you could get away with one thicker coat which is of course great!

The satin finish suits the beach look but I love the diversity of being able to make it glossy as well.
With the blue colors you should be careful and use more than 1 base coat. It tends to stain the nails.

Overall I like this edition. 

The colors aren't very unique but they are summery.

I love the bottles with the flowers and the fresh look.

I don't really give about the rings but I think it's a clever idea and fun for the younger public (the size is small too).

Nail art

Sometimes it's really hard to get inspiration for a nail art.

The fun thing about the Essence and Catrice editions is that they always come with images and bottle designs that can easily be used for a fun nail art look as well.

I actually wanted to stick with the hibiscus blossom but eventually decided to challenge myself with the promotion image which is on top of this blog post.

I think I could have done a better job on the surf chick but I do consider her as one of my better human beings nail art.

All hand painted using this trend edition and a detail brush.

Swatches and review Essence effect nail polishes (new collection)

Like many other brands Essence too came out with a new Essence nail polish collection for spring 2014.

Not only does this collection feature new Colour & Go nail shades.

It also came with a complete new collection of effect nail polishes.

"The effect nail polishes offer great coverage and are super easy to apply for a 3D wow-manicure you can touch!"

Available in 14 colours with four different effects.

All these beauties will be joining the permanent Essence collection.

 

 

And, oh my, I have swatched this whole collection of effect nail polishes for you :D

 

01 Pixie Dust

Pearly base filled with multi colour micro glitters.

It's hard to find out which colours because the pinkish micro glitter is very dominating.

It says holo shimmer on the cap but for me this is not holo.

It looks more like a duochrome or iridescent shimmer.

Nothing wrong with this polish but not what I expected.

I'm pretty sure this would make a beautiful shimmer topcoat.

 

02 Baby, you're a firework

Clear base filled with white sand, pink micro and small glitter.

A drop dead gorgeous soft pink sand polish.

Subtle texture.

This polish can't get opaque enough to not have any see through but my nails are a bit yellow and this polish makes the pink pinker and the white whiter.

My nails looked very femenine and healthy.

Definitely a keeper.

 

03 Glitz & glam

Up front: this picture doesn't do this polish any justice.

It's a clear base filled with green/gold almost teal micro glitter and small and larger (antique) pink hexes.

It's hard to get it opaqua and it does require fishing and placement for the largest hexes.

However this doesn't really seem to bother me as it's just such a perfect and unique color combo!

 

04 Skyfall

A teal base filled with silver sand.

Subtle sand texture and two coats is enough for good coverage.

How can you not like a teal sand polish?

 

06 Party in a bottle

Clear base filled with teal micro glitter and larger teal hexes.

If you're already a fan of Model's Own Emerald City this could be a nice cheap dupe for you.

It needs the dabbing method to be opaque but so does Emerald City.

I love it, I love it! This will need to be forever in their collection!

This is the most perfect color/polish for summer.

 

07 Blue-jeaned

Dark blue base filled with silver sand.

Two coats gives good coverage.

I think it does give a jeans look and the subtle texture is fine by me.

Definitely a keeper.

 

08 Heart explosion

Red base with white sand and larger gold hexes.

One coat makes the polish look more like a pink.

More coats builds up the colour.

Two coats is enough for good coverage.

To my surprise it had a kind of jelly effect and the glitters got a bit sandwiched and still there is sand texture as well.

I'm not sure if the textured finish suits this polish. I would probably even things out with a topcoat.

However I do like that this polish is different.

 

09 Hey mister sandman

Pink base filled with white sand and larger silver hexes.

Good coverage with 2 coats.

What can I say: It's bright, it's pink, it's glitter, it's girly, nothing wrong with this polish.

 

10 Glitterbomb

Clear base filled with antique pink micro glitter, a bit larger round glitters and larger hexes.

The polish needs more layers to build up for opaqueness  and I found the dabbing method working best as the bigger hexes needed some fishing and placement on the nail.

I believe antique pink will be a colour much seen this spring.

 

11 Party crasher

Clear base filled with lavender micro glitter and just a bit larger purple glitters.

Needs more layers to build up for good coverage.

Purple is my favorite color but this polish didn't really wow me.

It's a quite common glitter polish.

 

12 Bejeweled

Pearly watery base filled with holographic micro, small and larger glitters.

I've used the dabbing method to get it this opaque.

Perhaps it works better as a topcoat.

 







13 Laser show

Clear base filled with teal and pink micro glitter which gives it a holographic look.

One size bigger white hexes and larger black hexes.

Up close you can really see the beauty of all the glitters, however on a distance it looks more like a pearly glitter base filled with black hexes.

Sadly I couldn't get this polish opaque. Perhaps it works better as a topcoat.

Although it looks like the polish didn't cover the whole nail and leaving open spaces (image), this is not the case. Where sunlight hit the nail my camera just happened to catch that part the best.

 

14 Flash powder

Clear base filled with black sand and silver micro glitter.

Dries fast and 2 coats is enough for good coverage.

Surprisingly I really liked the edgy and still classy look it gives.

 

101 Jewels in the pool

A blue watery base filled with small round blue glitters.

I could only get the polish this opaque by using the dabbing method.

This polish would work better as a topcoat.

Although I didn't like applying it...it is a gorgeous polish.

 

In conclusion:

I think Essence did a very good job with this collection.

Beautiful shimmers, glitters, sands and colours.

Some unique, others less unique but still desirable.

I do think they could have done a better job with the coverage as they claim to "offer great coverage". Especially with the glitters as most of them required the dabbing method.

Personally this collection isn't that interesting for me as my priority is still with nail art and nail arting on textures like sand and glitters isn't really easy.

But looking at the low budget price of these polishes and the fun finishes, it offers lots of opportunities for people who like to paint their nails with one polish but still want something fun to look at.

Very appealing towards the younger public I think.

 

My keepers:

- 02 Baby, you're a firework

- 03 Glitz & glam

- 04 Skyfall

- 06 Party in a bottle

- 07 Blue-jeaned

- 08 Heart explosion

- 14 Flash powder

- 101 Jewels in the pool

 

Day 86) Stamping nail art Essence

Day 54) Essence nail art magnet pen

Day 13) Magnetic nail art

      Saffron

                                         
                                                 Essence

            Saffron

               Saffron