Confession: I rarely ever polish my nails. It’s tedious, time consuming and more often than not, futile if you want your nails to stay presentable for longer than three days. Essie’s newest Gel Couture collection however promises up to 14 days of manicure goodness!
Like most gel polishes without UV-light, you apply two coats of colour on a clean nail and seal with a layer of topcoat. Essie suggests to reapply the topcoat every two days for exxxtreme longevity. To be fair, I didn’t make time for that, haha.
I was lucky enough to attend the launch in Brussels (thanks Essie!) where I got my nails did with “Pinned Up” described by Essie as a spicy tea rose. Let me warn you, I don’t have the prettiest hands/fingers/nails. I have sausage fingers, I tend to pick my nail folds when I’m stressed, and my nails have always been very brittle. The picture below is day 9 of two coats of Pinned Up and the topcoat applied only once.
Now I don’t know about you but I was pretty pleased with this result! The colour stayed intense and the shine hardly faded. I ended up removing the polish on day 9, and that is without reapplying the topcoat on a semi-daily basis. Once dried, the formula ended up being a bit like a putty, so not too prone to chipping, but oddly manipulable when fidgeting. Kind of like when your mani isn’t completely dry, but you can unbutton your jeans without smudging, yet smacking your hand against whatever is in your way will create a dent. Am I elaborating too much yet? Can you tell this is my first time reviewing nail polish?
I love Dress Call. It’s a super bright, fun lavender colour and it’s surprisingly opaque when applying just two coats. Unfortunately us Belgians can only enjoy 28 colours (available exclusively at Planet Parfum), while the US has 42! I went drooling over all 42 shades at imabeautygeek.com and picked out my favourites:
Compared to, let’s say, Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel, these babies are WINNERS. Essie is winning the no-UV gel race, for sure.
Rating: ★★★★★
On a personal note, I’ve been massively MIA again lately, but I’m holding onto my butt until September, when my internship will become a job and I will have more of a steady rhythm than I do now. Also I will have actual money to buy things!!
Until next time, friends!
DISCLAIMER: I received these nail polishes as press samples. I did not get monetary compensation for this review. My opinion was never compromised.
Yasss! Eindelijk ook iemand met worstenvingers haha. Ik dacht echt dat ik de enige was. Overigens houd ik niet van gekke kleurtjes. Liever klassiek rood. Dus Bubbles Only spreekt me het meeste aan.
#hotdogsorfingers haha. Ik blijf gekke nagellakkleurtjes kopen maar eindig meestal met een bijna-zwart. Net als mijn ziel, natuurlijk.