Essie is without a doubt the number one nail polish brand for nudes; you only have to spend one second in front of a stand to know that with the copious display of bottles.
I’ve previously posted about a few polishes and compared the likes of Ballet Slippers, Fiji and Sand Tropez (you can read this here)
Almost all three of these bottle are now coming to an end so with the 3 for 2 offer on in Boots I restocked my base and top coats and snapped up a new nude to try: Mademoiselle.
I’ve never tried the First Base base coat from Essie so I was interested to see how the green/blue coloured polish would fare in comparison to others I’ve used that are cheaper.
It contains a rubber adhesive to help bond polish to the nail surfaces creating a smooth base for application, helps resist chipping and against stains created by some stronger colours.
I always try and use a base to help against staining, there’s nothing worse than weirdly coloured nails that look unhealthy when actually it’s just an orange toned red polish that is the culprit!
The base applied easily as expected with any Essie polish, the brush seems to fit my nail perfectly so I can just swipe it from base to tip and not manage to get too much all over my fingers.
It dried really fast and left a clear base with a good finish for colour application.
So Mademoiselle is a sheer light pink, its like the sheerness of Ballet Slippers with the colour of Fiji.
I wasn’t sure what colour this was going to turn out as, I can never tell but I couldn’t test on my own nails as I’d just done them in a dark red and the name sounded familiar. Next time I buy one I will have to investigate further! Not that this colour isn’t lovely but I have something similar already and would probably prefer something that doesn’t require 4 coats for a more opaque finish.
The photo above shows Mademoiselle after 2 coats. It doesn’t quite cover the tips of the nails so you can see how translucent it is; I don’t like my nails to look white but I do like the colour to show up.
I don’t think I’m a sheer polish kind of person however at work nail polish seems to be a no no, especially as my new job requires lots of hands on work with spanners – no joke.
Four coats seem to have done the trick and this is a much better colour for me. I’ve actually really liked wearing such a sheer colour on my nails this week and it seems to have been a welcome change for me.
As always Essie polishes are top notch in application and quality and the top coat is one of my favourites. The combination of all three polishes seem to have created a rock hard manicure that hasn’t budged whatsoever, even with all my new found spanner and screwdriver skills.
This is definitely a colour I would recommend for those who love all nudes and sheer finishes. I’m sure I’ll pick up more in future, Essie is just too irresistible!
What’s your favourite Essie polish? Do you prefer sheer or opaque polishes?
L xxx