Mani Monday with Essence {Enter our giveaway!}
So as you may know, August has officially been dubbed “Womans Month”. And while this holds no specific perks for me, in my household, (gifts. I want gifts), it’s still a pretty darn good reason to celebrate! I am woman! Hoohaa!
*cough*
Okay, now that I’ve settled down, allow me to explain the rest of this month’s festivities: For the month of August, I will be featuring special manis inspired by my friends over at Essence. They have a bunch of “I’m not really a nail art expert but I wana try” stuff in their ranges and I can’t wait to show you my favorite picks and also a couple of really easy ways to make your nails look amazing! Acrylic for what?!
Oh and, drum roll: Essence will be giving away a fabulous gift at the end of the month, so you need to keep your eyes peeled every Mani Monday for chances to enter!
With that said, I was super impressed the other day when I tried out a polish from the Essence ‘The Darks’ range. I love dark polishes on my nails but seldom find any that can endure washing dishes, bathing baby and all the other fun “I am woman” stuff that we somehow got roped into. Chipped nails are so not fabulous. I decided to give the Essence The Darks #18 “Happy New Green” a try, knowing that I would be pairing it up with the Essence The Gel base and top coats.
If you’re looking to make your mani last for longer than a sneeze, I whole heartedley recommend you try a good base and top coat (much like these from Essence). The base coat serves to protect your nails from stainage and together with the glossy top coat, helps to make your mani last longer. It’s totally legit and worth the spend! I love that there are so many different types of top coats out there now. You could go for the always popular glossy finish, or perhaps try a matte top coat or a pearl look.
The thing about this “Happy New Green” polish is that it doesn’t even really need a top coat! It has a totally sweeeeeeet matte finish (see my pointy and middle finger below) that nobody in their sane minds would want to cover up. I decided to pair it up with the high gloss Essence top coat (see my ring and small finger) just to see if it would still be as awsome. And it was. It was even more awsomer.
As you can see, the high gloss in the gel look top coat brings out the specks of color in this greeny polish, even more. In fact, it made the the deep green give off a blue hue. Dope. If you’re a nail art freak like I am, and you can’t leave ‘well enough’ alone, you could always do a bit of nail art on top of this polish. I decided to pair it with the Essence gold and white ‘Tribe ‘o Metric’ nail art stickers. They make my heart sing in falsetto.
I applied the stickers once the polish was dry and then added a glossy top coat over it, to secure it in place. All in all I think it came out rather fabulous and it was totally easy to do! Aren’t these flecks of color amazing? What do you think? Would you try this at home?
Well, now that I’ve sufficiently bragged about my nail art, allow me to bestow you the opportunity to win some fab Essence nail art goodies for yourself! This IS Woman’s Month, after all. Check out the prompts below and don’t forget to nab your extra points every Mani Monday, by checking out and commenting on the latest mani up on the blog.
Winner will be announced on my Facebook page on Monday, 5th September, so keep your eyes peeled!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
18 Comments
Riaz
awesome giveaway
Carolyn Augustus
I love the stickers
Luchae
They are fabulousoh!
Shaheera
My fav thing is definitely that this will help to make mani last longer than a heartbeat!
Luchae
I know, right! That’s what I’m saying! 🙂
Errolline
This looks so awesome
Megan Hartwig
What a smashing question! My fave is (and always has been) a simple, classic manicure. Nails not too long and not too short. Rounded, no pointy bits and no corners. One colour on all the nails with zero art. I dunno if that’s just because I can’t art or because it just looks right on my digits but there you are.
I like your mani there though, sister! It’s not for me but I like it!
Sharleen
Those stickers are fab
Leanne Cherry
Just a French manicure is my fav !
rehana seedat
love the‘Tribe ‘o Metric’ nail art stickers
Depashni marie
I love dark nail polish colours…love this rich green shade. Perfect for winter.
Candice Gallant
Love the colour and the nail art – stunning.
Nelly
Loving the colour,
Luchae
Its one of my faves!
Leanie
I like your nail art stickers that you’ve used. It’s simple, but yet lovely to see nothing over the top!
Kim Muller
I love how easy it is. Just adding the stickers makes your mani stand out, yet it’s so simply done
Pingback:
Pingback: