Yarn and Polish? I might die!

So you may or may not know, but I'm quite the avid knitter in addition to being a polisher. So when I saw these posts on the Soak blog, I got seriously excited! My two loves, brought together in one cute package.



Soak is releasing what it calls a Soakbox: a bottle of Soak woolwash and a bottle of hand cream in the same fragrance, a bottle of Essie polish, and a fingerless gloves kit with yarn dyed to match the polish!
What a neat idea and what a great gift it would make (hint, hint ;).

So the polish is Essie, the yarn is Lorna's Laces, and the patterns are no slouch either - they're each really cool and different in their own way. What a great project!

The Soakboxes can be ordered direct here, at 50 Canadian dollars a pop.

Nailgirl

NOTD: Essie Chinchilly

I got this polish ages ago, but I hadn't tried it out until now. (PS: I've got a new camera! Images should be sharper and colors should be truer to life now. Yay!)

Chinchilly is a fairly popular Essie shade - it's a nice neutral 'greige' suitable for a variety of situations. Application was fine - it's a decent two-coater.

The color appeals to me but I think it's a touch too cool to suit my skin. It's a hard color to describe - a grey-ey brown, with a touch more brown than its chinchilla namesake.

Nailgirl

NOTD - Essie Coat Azure

Here's a beautiful ocean blue - Essie Coat Azure.

This was my first time using Essie (I got a few bottles on my trip to the US), and I don't totally love it. The brush is narrow, and the formula is thin. I prefer thick, gloopy polishes that do the evening out for you. One coat was streaky, but if you're a better polisher than I then maybe you could pull it off. I had to settle for two.

The color, however, is lovely. After two coats it's nice and opaque, and it's a true medium blue with shimmer. The shimmer is fairly subtle in the bottle, but more noticeable on the nail. Application issues aside, I do like it quite a bit. I'll be wearing this one again.

Nailgirl

Hauling in the USA: ULTA!

ULTA! Oh, Ulta. I wish I had one of you anywhere near me. How amazing. On my very last night in the US, I was out with a bunch of the girls and we stumbled upon an Ulta store. I casually suggested that we pop our heads in and see what's there. I am so glad I did.

At first, I was good - I carefully selected two of my must-have polishes from the displays. I chose Don't Mess with OPI from OPI's Texas collection, and China Glaze White Cap from their nautical collection.

Then, we found the clearance section, and I had to spring for three more:

In clearance I found a polish I've been wanting for a while! From China Glaze's Vintage Vixens collection, the copper brown bottle you see up there is Foxy.
Light pink with gold shimmer is Essie Cool Lots, and the purple Ulta is called Femme Fatale. I'm not too crazy about the purple, but it was only 50 cents! So it, uh, leapt into my shopping basket.

Nailgirl

Hauling in the USA: CVS & Meijer

You girls (/guys) in the US don't know how good you have it. When you can go to a drug store and pick up Essie & Orly, or when you can go to a grocery store and see a huge wall of polish... dude, guys. Not fair. We may have Barry M, Model's Own, and GOSH here in the UK, but you guys have a whole wall of Essie colors in Meijer!

So, I hit a few drugstores while I was in the US. I'm pretty pleased with what I got.

I went and got some of my favorite moisturiser -- Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer. The one I was using in the UK, from Boots No 7, didn't have any sunscreen in it. As a pale fragile flower, I need my SPF!

I also got some Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers. You can get them here in the UK too, at Claires, but they're way too expensive. I already had a tube, but I thought I should get a backup.


I also got the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Topcoat. I already have some Sally Hansen topcoat, the Maximum Growth quick dry topcoat in a clear pink bottle, which I've really liked. This one, in the red bottle, also comes very highly recommended. They were having a sale on all SH polish at Meijer, so I picked it up.

Finally, I got some Essie polishes - these are my first from the Essie brand.

They're so cute in their little square bottles, aren't they? The two shades I picked match, too. They're Chinchilly (brown) and Coat Azure (blue). Coat Azure has a little bit of shimmer to it, which I actually didn't notice until after I bought it and looked at it in the sunlight. I don't mind! :) I love the subtle sparkle. Watch for the NOTD soon, as I've already tried it on. Such a great blue!

Nailgirl