Essie Spring 2011 Collection: French Affair

I picked up two Essie polishes from their Spring Collection - French Affair (far left) and Sand Tropez (far right). Merino Cool (center) was not a part of the collection. I wasn't too interested in the other colors mainly because I felt as though they had strong resemblences to a lot of OPI polishes I already own. Such as Essie's Nice is Nice vs. OPI's Rumples Wiggin. Even French Affair had properties that reminded me closely of OPI's Mod About You which I love.

So typically, I'm not a huge Essie fan. I find their brushes to be thin which makes application more difficult but overall, I liked what I got. Merino Cool is definitely more fitting for the fall, but I love purply mauves, so I couldn't resist. I think I'll wear it as a substitute for dark polishes in the summer, maybe? It would be beautiful on the hands and feet. Sand Tropez was a pretty, sandy beige color. I definitely like it, but I'm not in love. I have a feeling I'll only get a few uses out of it before moving on. On another note, French Affair was a gorgeous, milky pink (right). It was not at all sheer and the applied color is an exact match from the bottle. This is usually the type of color I prefer on my nails and it also happens to be my favorite color in the collection.

I was able to purchase these polishes at a local Ulta which seemed to have this collection fully stocked but for those who are having a hard time getting their hands on these polishes, some (surprising) places to look besides your typical beauty store may be Walmart, Target, and/or your local grocery stores (such as Wegmans!). I had no idea some of those stores carried Essie polishes until I stumbled upon them by chance.

4 days and 2 flag football games later, my nails are still chip free and in prestige condition. Bravo Essie!