Essie Spring 2010 Four Pack o' Minis

It's high time that I continued my reveal of the Essie Art of Spring collection. I've tried out New Whimsical, a milky lavender-pink, and Van d'Go, a milky salmon-y peach. Now for the minis in the cute four-pack. I've already bemoaned that they didn't just give you a six pack of Essie minis, since it seems the packaging was the right size and could have accommodated it.

So, first let's take a look at the collection altogether. We have the icy, milky pink/cool-toned shades. Left to right: Lilacism, Neo Whimsical, and Pop Art Pink.


Then we have the peachy/warm shades. Left to right: Tart Deco, Van d'Go, and Red Nouveau.


Look how nicely they coordinate with the cover of this gardening magazine. Pretty!

Below, on the index finger = Red Nouveau; On the middle finger = Tart Deco. I rather like these colors the best in the collection. Perhaps because they are actually COLORS, not the milky, streaky pale barely there colors. Essie's blog shows a nice picture of a coral red, not the same but very close to Red Nouveau here, from the Philip Lim runway. I see the inspiration for this polish color!


Now let's go outside and get some light on the subject. Here with the cute box (and see how I coordinated my nails to the colors on the box? Unh-huh, clever, right!)


Index = Red Nouveau, Middle = Tart Deco, Ring = Lilacism, Pinky = Pop Art Pink.

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Lilacism is the palest, milky lavender---pretty! Pop Art Pink is a super pale pink---also very pretty. (I wonder if Pop Art Pink is my Mannequin Hand color? The term "Mannequin Hands" refers to nails the same color as one's skin tone, kind of like a mannequin. I think you need a nude tone with some tan in it, but it does seem that this pink blends nicely with my hand. I do admit that I have pale skin, so why not a milky pink tone for my Mannequin hand nails? I'll have to look into that and compare with some actual nudes.)

Now, some shadier shots, including the one at the beginning of this post.

Aw, my snow shot was rather messed up, below, by the shade and shadows.


Below, bringing back Van d'Go on the thumbnail, the three peachy colors:

This collection was inspired by colors of spring fashion. The colors are certainly pretty, and some are even interesting. I think I am not as thrilled with Essie's spring 2010 offering as I was with the fall 2009, with its full-on colors including a couple of surprise neons. However, I do think the spring 2010 collection is quintessentially Essie, and I know I'll be wearing some of these colors if not all this spring!!

Comparison of OPI Holiday Glitter Reds

OPI really delivered on reds for the holidays this year! After I selected "Smitten With Mittens" I decided to add a couple of other glittery reds from this collection to see how they compared. (I can do such experiments when I have coupons and discounts!!)

The two reds I purchased were "Dear Santa" and "Crimson Carol." They are both bright glittery red polishes that are very, very similar. The "Dear Santa," however, has a more orange tone to the red, while "Crimson Carol" has a more raspberry pink tone. If you are looking for a bright red but have a definite preference for a cooler or redder tone, then one of these two selections could be the answer.

"Dear Santa" on left, and "Crimson Carol" on the right:


Now joined by "Smitten with Mittens" on the right, very noticeably darker than the other two.


Same order, below. All three polishes show a bunch of fine gold glitter in the bottles.


"Dear Santa" on my indexer finger.

Christmas Carol on the ring finger. I had a bit of spillage with this polish, onto the cuticles.


Let's compare to "Smitten With Mittens" on the middle finger, Dear Santa still on index and Crimson Carol on ring finger.


Outside in the late afternoon sun:

The pictures of the polish on the nails are reminding me of strawberries because of the tiny little dots showing in the polish....just like the surface of strawberries!!


It seemed that in addition to being brighter colors of about the same intensity, Christmas Carol and Dear Santa showed more sparkly and glossier than the Smitten with Mittens. Both are very pretty reds. If you like sparkly red polishes of slightly differing shades, get both Christmas Carol and Dear Santa, plus the darker Smitten with Mittens. If you have a preference for one version of sparkly red over the other, get Smitten for darker red, Dear Santa for an orange-tone red, and Christmas Carol for a pinker-tone red. All three apply well with the larger OPI brush, with two coats needed and perhaps a third for maximum coverage. Ho ho ho!