I couldn't think of anything that fit in with either #SBBC topic today, so instead, I have swatches of the new Essence Sparkle Sand Effect polishes.
These are a very recent addition to the Essence stands - priced, thankfully, the same as all the other colour & go polishes at a very reasonable €1.79. I had to do a little digging around my stand to find all 3 shades, but I'm sure they'll be restocked soon.
First up, the one I was most drawn to - the dark grey one, called Here's My Number.
Yes, Carly Rae Jepsen is in my head now too. Anyway, this is three coats - the drying time wasn't very impressive on this one, it took a good five minutes between layers to dry or it smudged on top of itself. The texture is very fine sand/glitter, not as rough as the O.P.I liquid sand ones. Here it is without topcoat:
And with a layer of Poshé:
The topcoat definitely brings the sparkle out a little more, but altogether this wasn't as spectacular on the nail as I'd hoped.
On to the next one, Me & My Lover.
I'm not a lover of red, but this one surprised me. It went on quite pink, but built up to a lovely tomato red in just two coats. Again it took a while to dry, and the sparkle wasn't immediately noticeable on the nail, but it's actually a nice polish.
Without topcoat:
With a coat of Poshé:
I really like this with topcoat, it really brings the gold sparkle to life and it looks almost jelly-like.
Finally, saving the best for last - Hey, Nude.
For this one, I used three coats and no colour underneath. I was sure that no matter how much I built this up, I'd get visible nail line - but that's not the case. There's a very faint VNL but it wasn't enough to put me off - I adore this polish. It's textured, sparkly, (unfortunately also took its sweet time to dry) and very eye catching. I think it'd make an amazing Bridal polish.
Without topcoat:
With a coat of Poshé:
It's a really subtle, beautiful polish and I don't own anything like it already. As I mentioned, each of these polishes costs just €1.79, and hopefully this is something that Essence will continue to include with their colour & go updates.
These look amazing and I am not usually a fan of textured nail polishes. Gotta love Essence nail polishes since they dreamed up that new formulation. Dead impressed and I am definitely gonna pick up a few of these!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be mad into heavy textures either but these are really lovely, especially the nude one, very unique x
DeleteOooh they look very pretty, esp the red and ivory one. I've been intrigued by these liquid sand polishes, but I think the feeling of "gritty" nails would bug the hell outta me after awhile. The top coat you applied - did it give them a smooth surface, or just add a bit of gloss and they're still rough?
ReplyDeleteI feckin' love Catrice and Essence - I spend a small fortune on the stuff everytime I spy them in a pharmacy, I'm forever raiding their stands - such fantastic value and the products ain't half bad either! :D
The top coat gave them a smooth surface, if you wanted a higher gloss finish I'd say two coats would be grand, some of the other textures I've tried have eaten 3-4 layers of topcoat, but these were still lovely & shiny after one. They're not actually overly gritty, and I'm always picking at my nails, they really didn't annoy me at all! I love Catrice & Essence too, can't resist a good nose at the stands :)x
DeleteLoving the Hey Nude shade, I really have to find that Poshe topcoat
ReplyDeleteI get mine on eBay, will tweet you the seller, it's my favourite top coat by a mile!
DeleteUgh they are nice but the dry time is so off-putting! Especially as Essence are normally pretty good with their dry-time. x
ReplyDeleteIt really is off-putting, and it surprised me, but I suppose a textured polish as nice as Zoya or OPI for under €2 is really good all the same!! x
DeleteI'm still kinda on the fence about textured polishes in general but that said, I do really want the first colour you've shown! xo
ReplyDeleteAhhhh I love "here's my number"... but I want "hey nude" too!
ReplyDeleteHey Nude is lovely! Still waiting for my local stand to get this stocked!
ReplyDeleteThese looks lovely and such a steal for the price! still not sure about textured polish myself though very stuck on my plain red or nude ways x
ReplyDeleteOrla x
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Love the shape of your nails!
ReplyDeleteNo my type of colours ;)
ReplyDelete