Pastels and Nightmares

Want to hear something ridiculous?  See I'm a mind reader, I totally knew you did!  I have this recurring nightmare that is positively insane.  Let me tell you about it. 

My nightmare goes like this- EVERYTHING is on sale and I only have five dollars and some change.  I frantically run from booth to booth in this flea market-like hodge podge of stores that carry nothing but nail polish.  I am armed with a basket that keeps BREAKING and I never have a scrunchie to keep my hair out of my face.  The whole dream is me having a massive panic attack over what I will be able squeeze into my $5 budget and fixing the basket constantly while searching the ground for things that have fallen out of it.  All of this always takes place while my family, mom, fiancé, step daughters, all watch from the sidelines saying things like "she's gone over the edge", "this is it for her", "how sad".

Yeah...Now that you know just how gargantuan of a freak I am, let's get back to business.  Today that "business" is Essie. 

Essie hasn't really been on my radar very much in the past.  I'm not sure why exactly.  Maybe it's all the sheer pinks and reds you have to sift through to find something good?  They just haven't been a brand that is on my mind with "have to have it" authority. 

I have gotten several Essies at flea markets for incredible prices and I will say this about Essie- She knows how to do red people!  But beyond that I have only had pastels and such from her that are basically bleh.  Lots of coats, just boring.  So armed with that information, when I was at Ulta last weekend and found a bunch of Essie on sale I got some more, anyway.  Knowledge is power people, unless there is a sale.

What is it about great deals that makes me buy things I don't want?  Can you guess what Essies I got at Ulta?  MORE PASTELS.  Will I ever wear these longer than it takes to snap a photo?  Nope.  Does that really bother me?  Nope.  Because apparently, I collect Essie now.  News to me.  I guess it only takes 5 or more bottles of one brand sitting on my shelf to convince me that I "collect" that brand and therefore will buy as many as I see as long as they are on sale.

I did get one that I really like and will probably wear.  Or at least say I will wear it with sincerity if anyone asks which no-one will, so I'm golden. 

A very warm red/brown creme.  This was 3 coats.  Say it with me gals, "I will totally wear this one!"

 

I received this in a swap from the most awesome person I have met on MUA to date.  I normally am not into pinks but I love this one! 3 coats.

Muted grayish blue with subtle shimmer.  It reminds me of fog.  I remember when this collection came out and I know I wanted this one but for the life of me I can't remember why.  But who cares because now it's mine! 3 coats.

I had no idea you loved Beverly Hills Essie!  Thanks for the info, dude!  But shouldn’t a polish with this name be a grayish green shimmer?  Say, the color of cold hard cash?  3 coats. 

This is 4 coats.  I'm not loving it.  But I am going to do this polish with some black chevron tips and a white stripe.  It's going to look killer.

The Lighter Side.

I don't know if others have this problem but I always seem to ignore lighter colored polishes. Sure I will have an opinion when I see a swatch of one or maybe even write one down from time to time. But when the shit hits the fan, otherwise known as- when the cash hits my hand, and I'm feverishly loading up an online shopping cart these colors almost always get left behind.

Since I'm all about breaking bad habits and becoming a model citizen, I decided to force myself to make an order of only lights, neutrals, and pastels. I mean, I can't just go around buying up all the dark blue shimmers in the universe and hoarding them all in a cauldron on my side of the rainbow now can I?

Maybe I'm not all about becoming a model citizen. Maybe I'm really all about imposing bizarre, groundless limitations on myself and following them with the utmost of honor! That's me! The one who thinks forcing herself to buy some tan colored nail polish makes her a beacon of society.

Anyway here are the polishes that made the cut from my, "I'm a better person because I bought these instead of what I really wanted" order.

Eh, just ok. But it's going to be HTF soon so you'll never pry it from my fingers! I think this was a 3 coater.

I really like this one. BUT a word of warning. Do not under any circumstances apply this evil liquid to your bare nail. Ok, there is ONE circumstance in which you could apply this to your bare nail. You are having a party on the surface of the sun and you want your nails to match it. It stains your nails yellow, man.

This one was kinda cool too but it gives my hands The look of a fresh sunburn. I like the name too. 2 coats.

I expected this to be a lot darker. It's way too warm for me but it's unique so I will wear it anyway and pretend I don't know it looks bad. 2 coats.

This color is totally out of my comfort zone. It's totally out of my comfort zone's comfort zone. I like the color but it's on the "can't wear these until I get a tan" shelf. Which might as well be the trash can. I think this one was like 4 coats. It might be meant to be worn sheer, not sure.

Pretty creamy grey. I wish it was a little darker but, love it. 2 coats.

I don't love this, but I don't hate it. I also don't want to get rid of it so it made the cut. 2 coats.

This is really similar to 'no name yet' but a little more purple. 2 coats. Meh.

Yes, I realize I just posted a pic of this yesterday. But this polish was part of the purchase I'm posting about, so I'm including it anyway. This is 2 coats.

Flea Market Finds

I love going to the flea market in my town. I almost always find at least one treasure. Well, treasure to me. You really have to poke around and scope out the booths like a hawk though.

I used to have mini panic attacks every time a vendor spoke to me. I would blush, fidget and dread a hard sell or having to basically tell them "I don't want your crap". Which is what "no thanks" really means at the flea market.

But, after a few visits I learned that simply saying "nail polish?" to each vender can lead to wonderfull results. The first being that they will simply say "no" and leave you alone if they don't have any. The other thing I discovered is that some vendors will actually bring nail polish for you the next weekend if you just ask if they have any! I haven't ever asked a vender that pointed me to polish I hadn't noticed in thier booth. But I have had vendors BRING nail polish from home the next weekend for me to sort through. SCORE!

I have yet to find that heart stopping basket of dusty Essies with SSN nestled inside I always hope for. But I have found some cool stuff.

These 4 are just meh for me. I collect china glaze so I picked them up. I think these were 75 cents each.

Purdy red with gold shimmer. 2 coats

This picture is a little off. It's dustier than it is here in real life. 2 coats.

This is a color I can't find any info on. Like at all. So I snatched it up! 2 coats.

These 3 are just ok. Im not huge into pastels. But, for 25 Cents they ROCK!

I LOVE this red. It glides on smooth and is so glossy. This was one coat but as you can see by the bald patch on my ring finger 2 would have been perfect! This was only 50 freakin cents!

Happy hunting!