Essie Borrowed & Blue Review + Swatch (I'm In Love!)

Guys, I am so excited about this nail polish, I actually can't believe how much I love it. It was love at first sight when I saw it on the absolutely gorgeous Annabelle from Vivaluxury, and I knew it had to be in my life ASAP. When I finally got my sticky little hands on it, I knew this would be the start of a full blown affair with this polish.

How appropriate that my first ever Essie nail polish is one that I absolutely adore but is a limited edition? It's from the 2011 Wedding Collection and it's just the most gorgeous pale blue colour I've ever come across in a bottle. It reminds me of that really pale blue colour that you see when you're looking at the sky on a clear day, and it's peaking off into almost white. That's the sort of colour this nail polish is; basically a sunny day's sky in a bottle. It tends to look bluer inside and outside it washes out to an almost white, as you can see from Annabelle's photo.

Now, this nail polish can do no wrong by me in regards to colour, but formula-wise...it makes for one very frustrated blogger. I imagine because it's an older polish that's the reason why it's thick and gloopy, and it's just a nightmare to apply. I've read a few reviews by other people who've complained how crapola Essie's formulas are; they tend to chip immediately and not last very long. Unfortunately I've found this is very true with this polish, even with a top coat, it lasts a day max without very obvious chipping. Day two, goodbye nice looking nails.

We're going sky high, baby, you and I.

 I didn't get the chance to take a photo of my nails as soon as I'd painted them, so here they are in their couple of days old glory! Keeping it real for y'all!

...I seriously love this nail polish way too much. I've been reapplying it, that's how much I love it! And I can never be bothered to reapply the same colour so soon after I've taken it off!

I bought mine here but if you're living in the States, I bet there's a seller on eBay who's selling it for less. International beauties, this is the cheapest I've found it on the internets.

What do you think of this colour? Are you dying to have it in your life right now? What polish have you not been able to take off?

Canmake Colorful Nails #10 Lavender Milk Swatch + Review

I've never really been the girl that was into nail polishes. Sometimes a certain colour took my fancy, but very rarely did I buy them. 

Until now.

Of course, living in Japan, it's all about the long eyelashes, big eyes and pretty nails, so there are many different brands of nail polish available to the average Japanese girl. After lusting after many a pastel coloured nail polish featured on various beauty blogs, RosyChicc's post on Essie's Lilacism polish really was the last straw for me. I was going to have a beautiful purple pastel coloured nail polish in my life, if it was the last thing I bought!

I went to Daiwa, a big department store, as I recalled them having some Essie nail polishes, but unfortunately the selection was teeny and Lilacism wasn't there. Before I caught the train back home, I went to browse in a beauty shop in the big mall next to the station when, lo and behold!, a beautiful pastel purple polish twinkled out amongst the other non-pastel polishes! At under 400 yen, it was an easy and quick purchase.

 

I am really not with it when it comes to popular beauty brands in Japan, but I've seen the Canmake Colorful Nails a few times, so I imagine it's a well-known brand. They had an array of other colours, and I may have to go back for the pastel green and yellow that I also spotted.

 

The colour is called 'Lavender Milk' and I believe it to be quite an apt name for the shade; a very light and creamy lavender colour. Not so sure about the description of it:"A gentle, sweet lavender like the Little Mermaid." 

Oh Japan. It sure is like the Little Mermaid...

I am sorry about the light, in the late afternoon light, it looks a lot darker than it actually is. During the day time it is a very light colour. The application wasn't bad, I found that I didn't get enough polish often, and because it dried so quickly, I'd get angry at the obvious horrible layering I'd done. It was still very streaky with 2 coats, so 3 coats it was. Even with 3 coats, I still felt a bit underwhelmed with the formula, but I love the colour.

 

So, I've got myself my first spring nail polish, how about some of that spring temperature, ay, Japan?

What is your spring nail colour this year? Any recommendations? Should I be worried that my nail polish addiction will get worse?