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Nailed It

I've been on a total mani/pedi kick lately.  There's a cute little place by me that only costs $22 for both, so it would almost be stupid not to go on a regular basis.  (Right?)  I've also been trying to bust out of my usual color rut just because it's so boring.  (Although I have to admit, I loved the bright pink color I tried last week on my toes, but on my fingers I hated   it - I felt like my hands either looked like they belonged to someone with posters of Zac Efron all over her wall or a geriatric knitter).  My most recent fave colors I've tried are both from Essie - Sag Harbor and Wild Thing.  Sag Harbor is from the recent North Fork Collection that also includes Greenport and Shelter Island.  It's a gorgeous pastel cool silver blue that just begs to be worn on my toes with a really high pair of heels (open toe, of course).  I know I'll be wearing this one for the next few months because it just says "summer" to me.  Wild Thing is the shade I've been wearing on my fingers for the past two manicures.  It's a deep wine shade, but the real standout for me is the small pieces of silver glitter in it.  They somehow manage to be sparkly and eye-catching without looking teenybopper-ish (apparently, I have a real thing about that - who knew?)  It gives me a classic manicure with a little bit of an edgy twist and I like the way it looks during the day as much as I do when I go out at night. 

As always, Essie polishes don't contain any Formaldehyde, DBP or Toluene, and they're reasonably priced at $8 a bottle.  (But if you like the look of Sag Harbor, hurry to your nearest salon or Essie.com because it's a limited edition and will be gone soon.  It would be tragic if it was gone before you could get your hands - or feet - on it!)

Essie's Spring Collection

I'm totally loving the pouring rain in L.A. today (mudslides and flooded roads aside).  It's the perfect day to stay inside and watch TV and read magazines while you dream about warmer weather.  (Although to be fair, warmer weather is probably like, four days away for us out here, so it probably won't be that long).  And when the weather gets warmer, I'll be sporting Essie's Spring Collection on my fingers and toes.  The bright shades just beg to be worn with a cute sundress and strappy sandals while eating at a sidewalk cafe.  Here are the shades you'll be seeing this month:

• Lacquered Up - Red Hot Crimson
• Flawless - Cherry Blossom Pink
• Eternal Optimist - Spiced Tea Rose
• Mesmerize - Royal Va-Va Blue
• One Of A Kind - Poppy Red Kiss
• Status Symbol - Feisty Hot Pink

My toes are totally getting Lacquered Up, One Of A Kind and Status Symbol - the shades are a perfect way to add a pop of color to your outfit, while Flawless and Eternal Optimist are great nude shades that I can't wait to use on my fingers.  (I'm torn on Mesmerize - part of me wants to be funky and wear it on my fingers, the other part of me thinks it'll look way better on my toes.  These are the questions that keep me up at night, people).  And cute colors aside, I find that Essie polishes wear really well on me - they last for a long time and don't chip as much as other brands I've tried.  It's a win win!

Essie nail colors retail for $9 each.  Check out more shades at essie.com. 

Handle With Flair

I've been on a dark nail polish kick lately, which is actually a nice change because for a really long time, I had an almost pathological obsession with wearing Ballet Slippers (or some other such sheer pink/nude shade) on my fingers. It's partly because I like the way light colors look, but it's also because I'm lazy and vain and when dark nails chip, it looks worse and it's way harder to fix. Thus, my love of sheer shades. But this fall, there are so many cute, dark colors out there that I seem to keep gravitating to them instead. My favorite right now is Essie's Handle With Flair. It's a deep, dark red that looks good with one coat, even better with two or three. My nails look very old Hollywood with it on, like I've just stepped off the screen of a black and white movie. Très Chic! And as a bonus, it looks good on my toes too, so my fingers and toes match, which almost never happens. And it lasts for a long time without chipping, like most of the Essie polishes I've tried, which I appreciate. There's nothing worse than a polish that chips when you're practically still in the salon. My only problem with it is that when the manicure does eventually start coming off, doing it again myself is next to impossible with a shade this dark. I'm seriously manicure challenged (I don't even consider giving myself a pedicure because that's just asking for polish all over the carpet) and impatient, so with the slower drying dark colors, what I don't smear, I smudge. So wearing this makes getting a manicure every two weeks or so a necessity instead of just a fun treat. (Not that I'm complaining). Plus, the kitschy shade name means that I didn't have to think of a title for this post and my lazy self appreciates that. After all, who doesn't want to Handle With Flair?

Decadent Diva

I feel like having a perfect pedicure gives the illusion that you are put-together even if you're not.  So, I try to make it a habit that I always have perfectly painted toes (my friend believes that perfectly painted toes mean perfectly manicured nether regions - can't say I totally agree with that, but whatever).  For this pedicure I took a new fall color by Essie along with me and am loving how it looks.  Decadent Diva is a deliciously deep cocoa color with some frost to it.  Think chocolate molton lava cake, but not as fattening.  It looks beautiful on toes but would look even more dramatic and glamorous on hands.  If only I didn't bite my stupid fingernails.  I wonder what my friend would say about stubby fingernails?  Forget it, I don't even want to know.

Nailed It

Nail polish is a tricky thing. I refuse to pay a lot of money for a small bottle that I'll most likely never use all of (I learned this the hard way after I spent close to $20 for Chanel's Vamp, only to permanently retire it after only one use when someone at work asked me if I was "going goth"). At the same time, I feel like if the polish is too cheap, it'll chip practically as soon as I leave the manicurist (as opposed to me smudging it by accident, which is what usually happens because I have no polish patience).

That's why Essie is my favorite brand of polish - it's reasonably priced (around $7 a bottle, depending on where you buy it) and they have tons of different colors, almost all of which are wearable (no bright blues, a la Hard Candy in the late 90's). They also introduce new color collections for all the different seasons - the Fall '06 collection is called "It's in the Bag" and includes colors such as Sassy Satchel and Clutch Me If You Can (clearly a company after my own heart). My current favorite shades are Prima Ballerina, a sheer pink that looks really natural on my fingers, and Red Carpet Glam, a deep crimson that looks great on my toes. I also find that the colors wear extremely well - I had a pedicure nine days ago and all ten of my toes are still perfect, no chips to be found. What more can you ask for in a polish?

Essie products can be found online at their website and at various beauty supply stores across the country.