Hello my lovelies! I won't even talk about how bummed I am that it's Monday today. I have some blue for you but this time my story is a bit of a fail. I didn't have a very good nail week last week and I really hope my luck will improve soon. The polish I'm showing you today is from Essie and it was on my wishlist for a very long time. I finally found it for a very low price on Fragrance Direct so it immediately fell into my cart. Unfortunately there must be something wrong with my bottle because it's been a total fail. In theory it looks like this.
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| Essie Bikini So Teeny indoors, artificial light |
Bikini So Teeny is a light periwinkle with a very fine silver shimmer that is more visible in the bottle and almost invisible on the nail. Most of the pictures you'll see on other blogs don't show this shimmer but I was lucky enough to be able to photograph it. For these swatches I used 2 coats of the polish and no top coat, you'll find out why in a second.
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| Essie Bikini So Teeny indoors, artificial light |
As you may or may not know, I usually put top coat over anything (unless it's matte or textured). I don't like my polish without top coat because it dries slow, it's not that shiny and it doesn't last well. So naturally I went ahead and added a coat of Seche Vite to this one. As I was polishing I started seeing purple streaks on the areas where I was applying my top coat. At first I thought the brush was dirty but no, this happened with two different top coats and an Essie glitter with a clear base (Stroke of Brilliance) that I tried adding. In conclusion, this polish acts like one of those chameleon polishes that change color when you cover them with top coat. It gets more purple and darker. I had to take it off and put it on again so I could take pictures without a top coat. And then, as if this wasn't enough, it totally stained my nails after I removed it. Nothing a bit of whitening toothpaste can't solve but still, not a very pleasant feeling to be left with smurf fingers.
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| Essie Bikini So Teeny indoors, artificial light |
I really don't know what to say about this polish. I love the color but I don't know how I can use it again. The only explanation I can find is that it comes from a bad batch and that's why it ended up on a discount site at such a low price. Makes me rethink my future purchases big time. I hope the other ladies have better stories for their Monday Blues today. You can check out their posts by clicking the links below!
Have a great week!
That sounds so weird! It must be a bad batch. Still a really pretty color though :)
ReplyDeletewow, e superba, imi pare rau ca nu am comandat-o si eu, cu toate ca, daca pretul acesta mic era din cauza stocului slab, mai bine ca nu am luat-o. Sper sa fi fost doar ghinion :(
ReplyDeleteI like color (:
ReplyDeleteOh At long last...... I thought I was the only one with this issue!! Exactly the same thing happens when I topcoat mine. I googled it and looked through loads of blog sites to see if anyone else had mentioned this same problem, but nothing. I bought mine maybe about a year ago in boots.
ReplyDeleteIt's so annoying, its such a pretty colour and then you go and topcoat it and...... Well you know the rest lol
Amazing mani by the way, they always look so neat :)
Blimey, what a pain in the bum. I dislike hidden surprises in my polish
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! I am jealous that on your nails you can see the silver shimmer. I have it in my bottle of the polish but it does not translate to my nail.
ReplyDeletedefinitely sounds like you got a weird bottle or something :( I have Bikini So Teeny and love it! I didn't have this top coat issue that you're describing... yours sounds more opaque though I needed 3 coats when I used it... It was still streaky at 2 coats... I'm surprised you got a bad bottle from Essie though... I would think there would be more consistency from such a large polish company where it's mixed in huge batches in machines... I can understand there would be some variation in indies since they are hand made but I thought mainstream polish would be consistent... do you think maybe it's counterfeit? I've heard of stores having counterfeit OPI (see rebeccalikesnails instagram for example)
ReplyDeleteSo sorry you had such a bad experience with this polish. I know how happy you were to finally get your hands on it. And it looks so good on you!
ReplyDeleteIt's so pretty! It actually makes me sad when I look at the pictures and then remember how many issues it has.
ReplyDeleteMai bine ca nu ai luat-o. Desi am comandat cu o prietena si sticla ei pare mai ok. Numai ca n-a incercat top coat peste. Si eu sper ca a fost doar ghinion.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for commenting! Now I know that the problem is not just in my head. I honestly thought that I was doing something wrong but I tried several things over it and nothing works. If you bought it in Boots then it must have been expensive (6-7 pounds from what I recall). So it's not just a bad batch that ended up on a discount site. Wonder if these bottles only got to Europe or there are some in the US. Maybe they just dumped them on us Europeans. Not cool at all!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know! This never happened to me before so it was really weird.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I would give up on the shimmer if I could get a normal bottle that I can use top coat over. The shimmer is pretty but what I love about it is the actual color.
ReplyDeleteI know about counterfeit OPI but never heard of counterfeit Essies. I really don't know what to think. The bottle and everything on it looks legit. I was very surprised to see it was so opaque. I was expecting something very sheer from what I've read online. But I've had the inconsistency problem with Essie before. My bottle of To Buy Or Not To Buy is a sheer and streaky thin mess, while other people have the same color with a more decent formula. And there are others who have the same version as I do. So I guess you never know with Essie.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marisa! Yeah, it's such a shame. I guess not every bottle is a winner.
ReplyDeleteWish I knew the answer!! I'm just surprised that I've not come across any mention of this problem anywhere else!
ReplyDeleteSurely if it was a bad batch (and a batch can't really be a small amount....can it?) then there would be a lot more people noticing this lol
It just annoys me that at £8 a bottle, I didn't get what I paid for!
Thanks for replying :)