My First Essie! Sand Tropez

I haven't tried any Essie polishes before, although I've seen them online of course. I don't know if they just weren't available in the UK, or weren't available in the part of the UK where I live!  But large branches of Boots are now stocking quite a large range of Essie colours. The displays look fab - so many colours!  I got mine in Boots Meadowhall, for £7.99 each.  It was very hard to choose, but in the end I chose Jamaica Me Crazy (partly for the fab name, partly for the gorgeous bright shimmery fuschia colour), Matte About You topcoat (I do have a Rimmel matte topcoat, but don't like it very much, and I've heard great things about the Essie version) and a neutral nude skin-colour one called Sand Tropez. 

I don't have any nude coloured nail varnishes at all. I'm usually someone who prefers bright colours, and glitters - subtlety in nail varnish isn't me at all!  But I liked this. 

This is two coats plus topcoat. The first coat went on VERY streaky, and looked shockingly bad. However, when it dried, it looked great! I can't get my head round that. One coat looked really nice, but was quite sheer,so I added another for full coverage.

I really liked the formula and the brush. The brush was a bit wide for my little fingers, but with care, it was fine. The formula is smooth and shiny, and goes on really well. The streakiness disappeared totally as it dried.

I really like how this looks -it's subtle and calm, and looks nicely unobtrusive. While part of me is tempted to throw a load of glitter over the tips, or over one nail, I also really like how grown up and sensible it looks, so I'll keep it like this for work tomorrow, and maybe play with glitter tomorrow night!