Essie Nail Polish Summer Collection

I had to get myself out of the beige nail polish rut and do something summery. Essie Summer Collection looked too adorable to pass. The colors are happy, beachy and spell "Vacation". Or maybe it's just my imagination. I decided I could live without the tomato red of Vermillionaire and Miss Matched, a pale lavender, so I opted for the 4 piece mini set. I love mini nail polish bottles, especially since it's been a while since I used any one color so often I actually finished it (or even came close).

Knockout Pout is the hottest pink (cream texture) and I really wanted to love it. But it was too loud and looked borderline trashy against my skin. I don't know why. The color is pretty and summery but my hands looked rather awful wearing it. I ended up removing the polish within less than an hour. Next came Haute As Hello, a pink coral cream. I felt it was much better and something I'd definitely wear on a hot summer day. Then I noticed it made my skin look yellow and sickly. I still like it a lot, but it might have to be relegated to my toes.

My hands weren't too happy with all dips in the polish remover. They required some serious TLC before I could go on, so I took a break, applied Lush Full Of Grace serum and finished with Kanebo Sensai hand cream  (best thing ever. I think I'm down to my last sample and that scares me).

Pretty Edgy is as green as it gets and should thrill any green nail polish fiend who likes shiny, creamy textures. It looks nice on my hands and I can actually see myself wearing it when I'm feeling...edgy, I guess. It's not an everyday color for me and I'm a bit too conservative nail-wise to feel completely comfortable with it, but I've been staring at the bottle so much  it has definitely grown on me.

Is anyone surprised to learn I've been wearing Demure Vixen for the second week in a row? A muted mauve with a very pale rosy/brown tone it doesn't stand out or calls any attention to itself, but I like it best for everyday purpose. It's beautiful, very chic and always appropriate. Demure Vixen is the one iridescent color in the (almost) all-cream collection, but the iridescence is mostly lost by the time you apply the third coat (necessary for a full coverage). It's the only color that was easy to apply without fighting streaks (I think the mini brush is not ideal). The other colors were very streaky for the first two coats but settled nicely by the third one, so it's not a big issue. You need three coats to get the full effect of the color as you see it in the bottle.

The 4 piece mini set of Essie Nail Polish Summer Collection ($17) is available from essieshop.com. Individual full size bottles ($8 each) are available from select nail salons and online.

All photos are mine.