Crushed Candy is a red based medium purple that at times almost looks pink. The color is beautiful. Unfortunately it just didn’t work well with my skintone (it’s really obvious in this picture).

As with the other polishes I have tried from this collection, application was a breeze. I used just two coats in my swatches.

Blueberry Fizz is definitely still my favorite from the Frosted Gum Drops collection. But I still have a few more to try so we shall see!

Make sure to check out the additional swatches below the jump

Originally from Essie’s Fall 2009 Cuddle With Color collection, Midnight Cami is a deep navy packed with shimmer. The color is gorgeous but very dark. Darker than it looks in the bottle. In most lights it’s going to look black, though I still content slightly less harsh than a straight black polish.

Application is good. I tend to have a bit of a drag issue with Midnight Cami so I have to use 3 coats to even that out despite the fact it’s opaque after 2 coats.

As with most polishes in the color range, Midnight Cami will stain! Make sure to use a base coat and avoid your cuticles when applying the polish.

This is one of those nail polishes I either wear constantly or it collects dust in one of my Melmers. Recently, I haven’t been able to stop wearing it! The main reason I tend to avoid this polish is the messy removal process. I do find using my nail polish removal method prevents this polish from staining my cuticles when removing it but no matter what base coat I use it does stain my nails. At least a little bit.

Rimmel Midnight Blue is a dead on dupe of this polish and I find it stains less.

Below the jump there are comparison photos of Rimmel Midnight Blue and Midnight Cami along with additional swatches of Midnight Cami (including a swatch in the sun!).

Sunlight

Too Yacht To Handle (love the name…) is a bright aqua creme. When I say bright I don’t mean glowinthedark bright. It’s bright but not crazy. I absolutely love it!

The formula is great. This is, obviously, one of the cremes from the collection. I used just two coats in my swatches. It does dry to that weird semi matte neon finish so a top coat is definitely required!

I’m really excited to try You Drive Me Coconuts, a jelly from this collection. Hopefully it’s as fantastic as Too Yacht To Handle!

Make sure to check out the additional swatches below the jump

I pulled out one of my favorite maxi dresses and began to contemplate what I was going to do with my nails. Typically I’d do a contrasting color but this time I decided I wanted to match my polish to my dress. I pulled out a bunch of polishes and matched them up to the colors in the dress (seriously this happened…there is photographic evidence).

Finally I decided to do a manicure with Essie In The Cab-ana and OPI You’re Such a Budapest. The result was lovely. I was actually surprised how much I loved the color combination.

It’s gotten to the point where I’m either planning my outfits around my nails or I’m planning my nails based on my outfit. Sometimes I think I’m crazy! Hopefully I’m not the only one

As always, there are additional swatches below the jump!

Since I’ve had this polish I’ve done a bit of research on the brand. There’s a cute story behind it plus Cuccio is a cruelty free brand which I always appreciate.

Obviously I was initially attracted to this polish for the name. Legend has it if you throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain you are ensured to return to Rome (hasn’t worked for me yet…by the way!).

Make A Wish In Rome is a slightly dusty aqua creme. The color is really lovely and definitely reminds me of the water in the Trevi Fountain.

I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of the formula and the wear. As it turns out I was pleasantly surprised! I used just two coats in my swatches and wore this for several days with no significant chipping.

Overall I was definitely impressed by this polish and will be trying more colors in the future!

There are additional swatches below the jump (including my total swatch fail).

Yes, the label is upside down. Swatch fail!

Run The World over Revlon Royal

Y’all. I am completely addicted to this nail polish!

Run The World was part of the May 2013 PISTOL polish duo along with Nailed It. I was really excited about this month’s duo because of Run The World. It’s the first glitter polish I have from PISTOL polish and was looking forward to trying it.

Run The World is silver, holographic glitter suspended in a clear base. The glitter is large but not what I would call chunky. It is also fairly dense. I used 2 coats of Run The World in all my swatches.

This polish applies beautifully. I had no problems with the glitter clumping together or being distributed unevenly on the nail.

I’ve been using this in most of my manicures recently (it’s a problem…). I even did glitter polka dots! Run The World adds the perfect amount of sparkle (and it really comes alive in the sun). There are many, many swatches below the jump!

Pixi Fluoro Flamingo

Seriously. I’ve had that song stuck in my head for DAYS thanks to this nail polish! And I don’t even really like it!

Ok, moving on to the nail polish. Shake Your $$ Maker (which I still think is super strange to see on the bottom of an Essie bottle…) is from Essie’s Summer 2013 DJ Play That Song neon collection. Apparently neon collections for summer are becoming a thing for Essie (last summer they released a neon collection called Poppy-razzi).

I’ve seen 2 different displays for this collection. A smaller display that seems to only be at drugstores as well as a larger display at Ulta. Shake Your $$ Maker is available from either display.

Shake Your $$ Maker is a medium green creme neon with a jelly look to it. This polish is neon in the sense that it dries to that weird semi-matte finish but it’s not very bright (despite the fact that Essie calls it an “electric green”).

In my swatches I used 3 coats and as you can see, the smile line is very visible. So much so that I’m willing to say I do not like this polish alone. For those with shorter nails or those who don’t mind the visible smile line 3 coats will be perfect.

Essie recommends using neon polishes over a white base so I tried that hoping it’d make this polish wearable. I applied 2 coats of Shake Your $$ Maker over 2 coats of Ulta Snow White and while I like the color that creates Shake Your $$ Maker is far too streaker to work well over a white base.

If you’re looking for a neon green polish petites Wicked! is a better (and cheaper!) alternative. If you’re wanting to try a new green from Essie I highly recommend First Timer!

Just a note regarding the name; I hate it. Essie should have just gone with Shake Your Money Maker or Shake Your A$$!

Overall not a great experience. I also have DJ Play That Song from this collection so hopefully I have better luck with that polish.

There are additional swatches below the jump. Including Shake Your $$ Maker over a white base.

I did 2 gradients; one using a white base (Ulta Snow White) and just sponging China Glaze Of Coarse! on top. The end result looked great but didn’t have near as much of a gradient look as I was going for.

The second gradient I did I used Revlon Blue Lagoon with OPI Just Groovy sponged over the top. I then added a matte top coat (I used butter LONDON Matte Finish Topcoat). After I let that dry completely I sponged a small amount of China Glaze Of Coarse! on the tips. While this version definitely had more of a gradient look I still liked my first attempt better.

Anyway, below the jump there are swatches of both versions. Let me know which you like better!

A couple of weeks ago the Wells Fargo Championship was in town which always turns into a crazy week for me. The Quail Hollow Club (where the tournament is held) is very close to my house so my life more or less turns into a circus. There are buses, courtesy vehicles, media vans and even blimps everywhere you turn! Anyway, by Friday I was in need of a break and went to the mall. Due to the tournament I couldn’t go to my normal mall so I went to one a bit further from my house. It’s always fun browsing malls you don’t go to often!

I ended up with a new purse. The color immediately reminded me of OPI OPI…Eurso Euro. I loved how the gold hardware looked against the blue so I decided to do a manicure to mimic the color combo. (I used wet n wild Fergie nail color in Grammy Gold for the gold accent nail.)

It turned out to be a great manicure. Just proves nailspiration can come from anywhere!

There are additional swatches below the jump

Do any of you watch The Americans? I’ve been completely addicted to that show the last few months and it has had me thinking alot about OPI’s Fall 2007 Russian collection (I realize I sound crazy right now…). It was the first collection I really paid attention to and the one I blame for getting me completely addicted to nail polish!

Midnight in Moscow is deep, almost black base packed with red microglitter. The red microglitter gives the polish a bit of a brown look but in person it looks black. That being said the red microglitter also makes the black just a tad bit less harsh than your normal black creme.

Application is amazing. This could almost be a one coater but I used 2 coats in my swatches.

Sometimes I forget how much I love (almost) black manicures. I find them to be quite chic in a “I don’t really care” kind of way. If that makes any sense!

As always there are more swatches below the jump. The shimmer really comes out in the MACRO shots!