Essie Luxeffects Holiday 2011 Collection Swatches

I LOOOOOOVE this collection. SOOOOOO much. OK enough smoosin, here are the swatches of the 5 nail polishes in the collection. I swatched over black because it was a good basic colour so you can see the details in the colours. I used OPI Black Onyx as the base (its a plain black creme). You can see my other posts on this collection here.

Essie - A Cut Above (Luxeffects Collection Holiday 2011)

Another pretty polish from the Luxeffects collection. This is A Cut Above. A clear polish with muti size pink sparkles. Totally gorgeous. It does remind me of a mini Sally's Girl that I can't seem to find right now.  Today I used to over OPI Black Onyx. I used one coat of A Cut Above just so the different sized of glitter can show. I really really like this one. I think it's pretty, of course I think anything thats pink is pretty hahaha.

Essie Shine of the Times compared to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and Nubar 2010

I love my flakies... so how did these three stack up? 

Essie - Shine of the Times (Luxeffects Collection Holiday 2011)

Really? How freakin' gorgeous! I love this collection! If you'd like to see the press release click here, which also shows the other 4 colours. This is the ever so hyped about Shine of the Times, a FLAKIE!!! Props to Essie for changing it up a bit and they totally came out with a winner in my opinion. I used to over OPI Black Onyx, which is a simple black creme. I used one coat of Shine of the Times, I used the brush to work the flakies around to my liking. Totally stunning. Flakies come in many colours but this seems to be the one used most, they are a orange/green/yellowish colour. I've compared it to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and Nubar 2010, and I'll link that post here when it's up. I think this is a must have. I purchased mine at NailPolishCanada.com for $9.75 CAD. They were the first place I've seen get them in stock. They have great customer service and free shipping on orders over $29 ($50 to the states). I'm not sure when these will be available in stores.

Essie Luxeffects Holiday 2011 Collection

This is by far the Holiday collection I'm most excited for! The Luxeffects from Essie is due out in December. It's 5 sparkly, glittery, flakie gorgeous polishes. 

Their names are: (from left to right)

- As Cold as it Gets

- Shine of the Times

- A Cut Above

- Set in Stone

- Pure Pearlfection

Shine of the times has been the polish getting lots of hype, its a flakie! Everyone that missed out on Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure last year, I'm sure will get their flakie fix. I know I can't wait to swatch these!

THANKS FOR DROPPING IN!

Essie - Power Clutch (Brand New Bag Collection Fall 2011)

For Fall 2011 Essie came out withe Brand New Bag Collection. I purchased a few colours I found interesting, this was one of them. It's called Power Clutch. It's a deep grey with a tinge of green to it. Greys seem to be the 'it' colour this Fall, almost all the big polish brands have a grey in there Fall lineup. Last week I did a comparison of some of them, (click here) to read it. 

Application was very good. It took 3 coats for me to get a pretty nice opacity and I finished with one coat of Seche Vite top coat. I'm obsessed with greys. Love em to death. I think they are grey for work or really anything.

The Brand New Bag Collection consisted of 6 polishes (Pictured below from left to right)

Carry On, Very Structured, Power Clutch, Lady Like, Case Study, & Glamour Purse

Essie nail polish is $9 CAD or $8 US and can be found at London Drugs, Wal-Mart or online e-tailers. 

Fall 2011 Trends: Dark Grey

This season brings some grey weather and some grey nails. I love this trend, because its versatile. This look can easily be taken to work and then to a night out. Neutral colours like grey are prefect for two reasons: 1. You don't have to worry about your polish clashing with your clothes  2. If you don't have the time to change your polish often grey polish can easily carry you through the week and not clash with anything that comes up. This season had many collections that had a dark grey in them. They ones I'm comparing are all described as dark grey cremes with zero shimmer to them.

From left to right:

Deborah Lippmann - Stormy Weather  (Fall 2011)

CND - Asphalt

Essie - Power Clutch (Carry On Collection Fall 2011)

China Glaze - Concrete Catwalk (Metro Collection Fall 2011)

From the swatches you can see that all are very similar. The only one that is noticeably very different is Essie's Power Clutch. To me that Deborah Lippmann and the China Glaze are the darkest and are virtually identical. The CND is also a lot like Deborah Lippmann and China Glaze but is slightly in direct like a tone lighter. Essie's Power Clutch is the lightest of the bunch and a tad bit green compared to the other three. Out of direct light they are all very close. 

Deborah Lippmann is sold in Canada at Murale, Holts, and select boutiques. You can see my post on this polish (here). It was $20 CAD.

CND is a little harder to find in Canada. Mine is from an e-tailer and it's been probably about a year since I've bought it so I don't remember exactly what I paid for it. They retail for about $8 CAD. 

Essie is now in drug stores and very easily accessible. Essie including there new collections can be found in Wal-Mart, Shoppers, and London Drugs. They are about $8 CAD. 

China Glaze can be found in Chatters and salons. They are about $7 CAD. 

Final thoughts, nobody really needs all of these colours. Deborah Lippmann, China Glaze, and CND are very close in colour. I would say pick one to see how you like it. 

SPOTTED: Drug Store Fall Displays... August 2011

I found my self with time to kill at lunch today. I walked to a London Drugs in Vancouver and checked out 3 nail polish displays that I didn't see last week. Sally Hansen has a new fall collection in their Insta-Dri line out, Revlon had a limited edition Edgy Elegance collection on display, and Essie had the Carry On collection out. 

Sally Hansen's Insta Dry Limited Edition Fall line. Consisted of jewel tone colours. Bronze Ablaze, Coco A GoGo, Grape'scape, Presto Pewter, Quick Brick, Ruby Rush, & Tealy Fast. I really wanted to find something unique in the bunch but they all seemed like colours that were not-so unique. I passed on all of them for now, nothing really jumped out at me has something I had to have right away.

Revlon's Edgy Elegance Collection I liked the most. It consisted of foil type polishes in lighter metallic hues. Cutsy names like Princess, Fierce, Girly, Catty, Downtown, Aloof, Innocent, & Punk. My personal favourites of the bunch were Fierce a pink/purple and Princess (just for the name lol).

And last but not least, the Essie's Carry On Collection. I love Essie, Essie before this year was incredibly hard to find the new collections in Canada. The Carry On collection has 6 new shades. Carry On, Power Clutch, Glamour Purse, Case Study, Very Structured, & Lady Like. I already ordered online Power Clutch which seems to be the standout of the bunch, after seeing Glamour Purse in person, I might just go back and pick it up. 

Final thoughts all very different, I'm very glad there is a good selection in the new fall collections. Power clutch is the one out of all the collections I'm liking the most.