Hello lovelies,
Are you wondering why I'm reviewing a polish from Essie's Spring 2011 collection at the beginning of December? Well, in spite of its name and its official release date, Essie's Sand Tropez strikes me as the perfect fall color. Now, I've actually tried this polish before though this is my first time reviewing it. I had it applied at the salon and shared swatches with you back in 2012. Please check out that post for better swatches of this polish in its sandy, yellow-toned form. I think I bought this polish shortly afterwards in 2012 because of some other posts... look, let's not get sidetracked. On to the review!
Color: Essie Sand Tropez is a neutral sand-colored creme polish. It has yellow and brown undertones and a slight dryness to it. It's almost a bit gray, the way concealer can look over dark circles when it's too light for you. This is another good foundation nails shade for me though it doesn't topple OPI Samoan Sand as my favorite foundation nails nude polish. I know everyone's not going to love the way this looks against my skin tone but I'm into it. There's something about the way it's not a perfect match that I like. I encourage you to look at the swatches in that old post as well as the ones in this post. It's difficult to get the swatches I want all the time in winter when the sun is in hiding.
Formula: This polish has a thinner formula.
Application: The first coat of this polish went on smoothly with no drag though the results were a little streaky. This has one of those thin Essie brushes that I like but it's a bit annoying with a streaky polish. The second coat also went on smoothly but streaky. I had to even out the polish a bit and it still wasn't perfectly smooth. However, because the polish is thin, it doesn't create really thick ridges where the brushstrokes overlap. I was able to even out the polish more by applying the third coat carefully. At three coats the polish is still not opaque. It looks fine but it's totally unable to block light in a light test. Even if application hadn't been streaky it still wouldn't be opaque. Adding top coat also evens out the polish a bit. The final manicure is perfectly acceptable but it's not the perfect, even manicure I can get with other polishes. I do think it's pretty good for a nude creme though.
Wear: I wore this polish for six or seven days. Yes, that's a rather long time for me but it wasn't practical to switch polish before then. I got some tip wear pretty early on and I chipped one nail (not the polish, but the nail) but there were unusual circumstances. I was putting together a set of drawers. More on that in another post. I filed that nail down and carried on with no other damage.
CONCLUSION: I would recommend this polish. It's a pretty version of foundation nails for me and I'm glad I have it in my collection. Application isn't perfect but it's manageable. The biggest strike against this polish for me is that it's not fully opaque. But it wears pretty well, I like the color, and I can manage the application. So it's a middling polish instead of a favorite.
SWATCHES
Are you wondering why I'm reviewing a polish from Essie's Spring 2011 collection at the beginning of December? Well, in spite of its name and its official release date, Essie's Sand Tropez strikes me as the perfect fall color. Now, I've actually tried this polish before though this is my first time reviewing it. I had it applied at the salon and shared swatches with you back in 2012. Please check out that post for better swatches of this polish in its sandy, yellow-toned form. I think I bought this polish shortly afterwards in 2012 because of some other posts... look, let's not get sidetracked. On to the review!
Color: Essie Sand Tropez is a neutral sand-colored creme polish. It has yellow and brown undertones and a slight dryness to it. It's almost a bit gray, the way concealer can look over dark circles when it's too light for you. This is another good foundation nails shade for me though it doesn't topple OPI Samoan Sand as my favorite foundation nails nude polish. I know everyone's not going to love the way this looks against my skin tone but I'm into it. There's something about the way it's not a perfect match that I like. I encourage you to look at the swatches in that old post as well as the ones in this post. It's difficult to get the swatches I want all the time in winter when the sun is in hiding.
Formula: This polish has a thinner formula.
Application: The first coat of this polish went on smoothly with no drag though the results were a little streaky. This has one of those thin Essie brushes that I like but it's a bit annoying with a streaky polish. The second coat also went on smoothly but streaky. I had to even out the polish a bit and it still wasn't perfectly smooth. However, because the polish is thin, it doesn't create really thick ridges where the brushstrokes overlap. I was able to even out the polish more by applying the third coat carefully. At three coats the polish is still not opaque. It looks fine but it's totally unable to block light in a light test. Even if application hadn't been streaky it still wouldn't be opaque. Adding top coat also evens out the polish a bit. The final manicure is perfectly acceptable but it's not the perfect, even manicure I can get with other polishes. I do think it's pretty good for a nude creme though.
Wear: I wore this polish for six or seven days. Yes, that's a rather long time for me but it wasn't practical to switch polish before then. I got some tip wear pretty early on and I chipped one nail (not the polish, but the nail) but there were unusual circumstances. I was putting together a set of drawers. More on that in another post. I filed that nail down and carried on with no other damage.
CONCLUSION: I would recommend this polish. It's a pretty version of foundation nails for me and I'm glad I have it in my collection. Application isn't perfect but it's manageable. The biggest strike against this polish for me is that it's not fully opaque. But it wears pretty well, I like the color, and I can manage the application. So it's a middling polish instead of a favorite.
If you're planning on doing some shopping at amazon.com, please consider getting there through one of the links on my site. I will get a small percentage of what you spend at no extra cost to you. I would really appreciate it if you could help me out.
SWATCHES
