NOTD: Essie Blue Rhapsody and Stroke of Brilliance
Hello again all! Today was supposed to be Try It On Tuesday, but since I’m highlighting newer colors that probably disqualifies it. I may still post an untried later!
Today I’ll be showing 2 brand new shades by Essie: Blue Rhapsody and Stroke of Brilliance.
Blue Rhapsody is part of Essie’s new Mirror Metallics line, and as you can probably guess from the name- is blue. Stroke of Brilliance is a brand new addition to Essie’s LuxEffects line, and is a pretty blue glitter topcoat.
I actually only bought Blue Rhapsody because I knew I’d be eventually adding Stroke of Brilliance to my stash when I found it. So the moment I finally spotted it at Walgreens, I came home and paired the two up as planned! And they make a very stunning combo!
First up: Essie Blue Rhapsody
This is a very pretty blue metallic polish. I’d honestly say it’s more like a chrome than a mirror (when I think of mirror, I think of Layla Mirror Effects or those pure-foil Minx), but it’s very pretty. This is only 1 coat! These polishes are all true 1-coaters… which also makes them PERFECT for stamping.
The only downside to this type of polish is that it will show every single ridge or bump on your nail, as you can see in my photo. I was wearing a base coat, too! So to really get a great effect wearing these colors I would recommend buffing.
Then I added 2 coats of Stroke of Brilliance!
I did a bit of dabbing for glitter placement, though it wasn’t really necessary. This was 2 coats of Stroke of Brilliance- so you can tell it would probably take a LOT of coats to wear it alone.
The shades aren’t identical, but close enough that it makes what could be an over-the-top, blingtastic glitter very subtle. Of course, subtle is relative when you’re walking around with shining, chrome blue nails 😉
Both colors retail at around $8, and can be found at most drugstores, Target and Walmart. I haven’t seen Stroke of Brilliance anywhere but Walgreens yet, though. Be sure to check the regular Essie display and not just ‘special’ displays- at one Walgreens, I found this on a special LuxEffects display in the front, but at a second Walgreens it was found just in the normal LuxEffects spot on the standard shelf.
I haven’t decided what I’ll be doing for tomorrow’s Indie Wednesday yet- but on Thursday, I’ll be highlighting the other 1/2 of the Target Nicole by OPI exclusives- MerMaid for Each Other, Iris My Case, and You’re S-teal the One! (seriously, who makes up these names for OPI??)
See you then!
NOTD: HITS Cutie Pie
Llarowe mentioned last night that today’s Brand of the Day would be HITS. When I saw this at like midnight I was sitting at the computer, bored- both kiddos are sick right now and the youngest was curled up on my lap trying unsuccessfully to sleep- so I decided to paint my nails with the only HITS polish I currently have, Cutie Pie. I had no other post planned for today, so why not?
I won’t lie, it makes me a little sad seeing all the beautiful swatches from other bloggers pour into Llarowe’s page. My poor nubbin nails just can’t show off the pretty polishes as well! Hopefully I can start growing them out soon… curse you acrylics! NEVER AGAIN.
As an added twist, I pulled out my Cheeky stamps and added some space images. This polish just seems space like to me! All pictures are 3 coats of Cutie Pie (2 would have been enough), and the stamps used O.P.I.’s DS Radiance. I used stamp plates CH4 and CH5.
And now to show off a bit of the color shift:
The HITS Mari Moon polishes (which Cutie Pie is a part of) are just amazingly beautiful polishes. The Mari Moon collection colors cost $8 each (for 6mL) on Llarowe’s site. Not a cheap purchase (from a dollar to mL standpoint), but they’re definitely worth splurging for when you can.
Polish Monster 