Essie Merino Cool Review + Swatches!

Essie describes Merino Cool as a sensuous autumn mulberry. Personally I'd describe it as a purple-greige. Shopper Drug Mart was having a sale on Essie polishes last week from $12CAD to $8CAD so I picked up a couple of shade and this is so far my favorite.

This applies like all Essie polishes, a bit thinner than OPI or Julep and you definitely need two coats to achieve the bottle colour. I found that this turned out darker than what the bottle appears and more purple toned than I thought. When I was in the store it looks more like Smokin' Hot does in the bottle.

I do however love this colour, it's fantastic for fall/winter, not too dark like some polishes but not too bright either. I'm really loving neutral-ish nails lately and merino cool fits perfectly.

Review and Swatches: Essie's Cute as a Button

I picked this colour up on a whim, as I really really don't need more nail polish (thank you Julep Maven) but when these went on sale for $7.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart I couldn't resist. Normally these retail for around $12 depending on where you buy it from and this is the cheapest I've see it (other than buy one get one deals around boxing day).

This is a really cute summery pink/coral colour. Perfect for summer days by the beach or pool. This is definitely going into my regular rotation of nail polish colours. I think I'll turn to this when I want a less intense pink than OPI's Strawberry Margarita.

The one thing that bugs me about buying these at Shoppers is that the packaging is slightly different than if I get this a beauty supply store. There's a sticker on the top with the name (most times it comes on the bottom) and a white Essie sticker on the side that I always peel off because it looks tacky.

Rating:

Packing: 4/5 There is nothing wrong with the packaging per se, it's just nothing to write home about.
Pigmentation: 5/5 I got the bottle colour with two coats
Texture: 5/5 This is a nice creamy polish
Longevity: n/a*
Application: 4/5 I prefer OPI's larger brush, but nothing particularly bad about the smaller brush.

Overall I would recommend this colour, it's a perfect summer polish. This would look great on toes as well. Overall Rating: 4.5/5

* I can't wear nail polish to work so I only wear polish on the weekends. Sorry I can't test this for wear time. 

June 2012 Favorites

Here a some of my favorite products I've been loving in June.

1. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion $24
I got this before my trip because I was tired of my makeup creasing and a friend (as well as pretty much everyone else) highly recommended this primer. Wow were they all right! This kept my eye makeup looking flawless for the whole day (I'm talking 8am till 2am) with no touch ups or creasing. While it's a bit pricey, you only have to use the tiniest amount of product on your eyes and it really does work wonders. I've used this everyday since early May and I still have over half the tube left.

2. The John Frieda Luxurious Volume collection
I have used this lines root booster for years and love it. I decided to try out the shampoo and conditioner (as it was way smaller than my bottles of tresemme) while I was in Italy and I love them. They made my super fine hair feel thick and luscious all day and even allowed me to wear my hair down with second day hair. This is something I have never been able to do because while I have a ton of hair, it's all really fine. Definitely will be buying this again in the future.

3. Essie nail polish in Sugar Daddy
This is the perfect nude pink nail for me. It doesn't have a ton of colour payoff but it makes your nails look perfectly polished without being in your face. I wear this colour a lot because I'm not supposed to wear nail colour to work but with this no one notices that I have some on.

4. St. Ives Triple Butters Creamy Coconut body wash
Love the smell of this super creamy bodywash, it turns my shower into a tropical beachy paradise! It doesn't leave my skin feeling tight after I get use it either which is always a plus.

5. Pretty Little Liars
PLL is back finally for its summer debut and I am so happy! I'm loving Hanna's new short hair and the fashion this season is just fantastic. I've loved this show since the first season and never disappoints in the drama department. 

Italy Packing: Nail Polish

I took a small selection of nail polish to Florence. I ended up leaving the glitter top coat at home as it's a pain to remove. I brought my sally hansen top coat, OPI's Strawberry Margaretta (the perfect Barbie pink), Essie's California Coral and their Sugar Daddy (my go to pale pink colour). I kept the colour selection simple to make it easy to match to my outfits while away. I ended up buy a really pretty purple and teal colour from an Italian cosmetics line called Kiko, which I'll be posting a haul of what I got soon!