Essie Summer 2016 Swatches and Comparisons!

I have the comparisons you have been waiting for! Seeing these comparisons will help you get an idea of what polishes you want to pick up. If you haven't seen my live swatch and review of this new collection, you don't want to miss it. Click on the link below to watch!

Essie Summer 2016- Live Swatch and Review

Coconut Cove- An off white cream. Swatch is two coats, with HK Girl Topcoat on top.

This was a little hard to capture with my camera, but Coconut Cove has a touch of beige compared to Blanc, which I feel makes it a little softer. Great for those who don't want to wear stark white. I compared it with Urban Jungle so you could see how much more beige it is than Coconut Cove. Formulas on all these are great!

Hiking Heels- A bright orange toned red. Swatch is two coats, with HK Girl Topcoat on top. 

Hiking Heels is pretty much identical to both Fifth Avenue (which has been around for a while and is part of their permanent line) and Color Binge (one of my favorites released last fall). Formula's are very similar as well. I am sure there are even more Essie polishes that are the same as well that I don't own. If you have either of these polishes I wouldn't pick it up. If you don't have an orange red polish, get this one! It's gorgeous with great formula!

Berried Treasures- A bright warm toned berry polish. Swatch is two coats, with HK Girl Topcoat on top.

I had to brighten up this picture quite a bit so you could see the slight differences when compared to Brides No Grooms and Peach Daiquiri. It is most similar in color to Peach Daiquiri, but the formulas are completely different. Peach Daiquiri is more of a jelly formula while Berried Treasures is a cream with great coverage. Brides no Grooms (another favorite of mine) is more blue toned, but they are very close.

Tribal Text-Styles- A gun metal gray with very fine silver shimmer. Swatch is two coats, with HK Girl Topcoat on top.

 As you can see, Frock 'n Roll is more purple based and Tribal Text-Styles is more black/dark gray based. No dupe here. ;)

 Viva Antiqua!- one of my favorites from the collection is a gorgeous green toned turquoise with very fine turquoise to green shimmer. Swatch is two coats, with HK Girl Topcoat on top.

There aren't any dupes for this in my collection. Yay! I did want to show you what color tones it is similar to though. Dive In by Salley Hansen is one of my favorites and the color is identical to Viva Antigua! but, it's a straight up cream. In The Cab-ana is slightly more blue toned than Viva Antigua!. I love them all! :)

Loot The Booty- is another favorite form this collection. It's a bold royal blue with purple and turquoise shimmer. You will definitely need to wear a base coat with this one because it will stain your nails. So keep that in mind!! Swatch is two coats, with HK Girl Topcoat on top.

No dupes for this one either. I put it next to Butler Please so you could see how the colors compare. Loot The Booty is a darker blue than Butler Please. 

Overall I am pretty happy with this collection. What are your thoughts on the collection? Let me know in the comments below!

-Go Polished

ORLY PCH summer 2016 comparisons

I have swatches and comparisons for the new ORLY Pacific Coast Highway collection that was released this summer. I also have a live swatch and in depth review video of the entire collection. If you haven't seen it, click on the link below.

ORLY 2016 PCH Live Swatch and Review Video

There are 6 polishes in the collection. They are mostly neons, with a few very vibrant purples. Let's get started :).

 Life's A Beach-a neon orange polish that leans more red. Opaque in two coats.

I wanted to compare this to one of the new China Glaze Lite Bright polishes-Papa Don't Preach. As you can both that and Pool Party lean more pink. I don't have any others that compare to this in my collection.

Road Trippin'- A very neon yellow with fantastic formula. Swatch is two coats.

I think everyone will most likely be wanting to know how Road Trippin' compares to the ever popular ORLY Glow Stick. Road Trippin' definitely leans more yellow while Glow Stick leans more green. The formula on Road Trippin' is fantastic and opaque in two coats while Glow Stick can take up to 3 or 4 coats for full opacity. China Glaze Lemon Fizz in quite a bright yellow but, Road Trippin' is still quite a bit brighter in color. Definitely neon and not for the faint of heart. :)

Paradise Cove- A gorgeous vibrant purple with a very slight silver shimmer. Fantastic formula as well. Swatch is two coats. 

Scenic Route- A light an very bright lavender with great formula as well. Swatch is two coats.

I didn't have anything in my collection that came close to Paradise Cove, which makes me love it even more. I did want to see how it was side by side with ORLY Frolic (one of my favorites) and was surprised at how much brighter it was. And Frolic of coarse is a straight up creme. Scenic Route was similar in color tone to Essie's Splash of Grenadine and Defy and Inspire's Top Model but it's so much brighter that I didn't even picture them together. I love both of these purples from this collection SO much. So pretty!! Can't wait to wear them poolside! Bring on summer!

 Put The Top Down- A light and bright neon pink. Great formula, opaque in two coats.

ORLY Beach Cruiser is my all time favorite neon pink-the only one that I will dare wear on my fingers in the summer time. I was happy to see that Put The Top Down was quite a bit lighter. Love both of them. ORLY sure does know how to do neons right! I can see this one pool side too :).

 Summer Sunset- A yellow toned orange with very fine orange glitter that translates on the nail. Took three thin coats to be opaque. Not really a favorite of mine, so I don't have anything to compare it to, which does make it quite unique. It really does live up to it's name though. 

So that's it for this collection! Do you have your eye on any of these for this summer? Let me know in the comments below which ones! Can't wait for summer to officially arrive!

-Go Polished

My #10 Favorite Spring Polish for 2016...

Shades On!!

Who loves wearing purple this time of year?! Me too! I love this one which was released as part of Essie's 'Lounge Lover' spring collection for 2016. It's such a rich, yet soft shade of straight up purple. The formula is pretty thick and takes a little getting used to for application but, that's what makes it a one coater. You can see just how thick it is from the swatch below (which is two coats). So pretty.

Here it is compared to another favorite purple of mine -OPI's Lost My Bikini In Molokini which is lighter and softer. Suite Retreat which was released last year, leans much more blue while still staying in the purple category. Love them all!

I have been wanting to try the Sharpie nail technique for a while. It's so simple to do, just like using water colors. Make sure to watch the video to see how it's done. I also added this black and white striped accent nail. Florals and stripes together are just so fun!

*A few people asked if you could do this same technique with regular markers. It does not work with regular markers, only with permanent markers. 

Here are the supplies I used (with links):

CND Stickey Base Coat

Essie Shades On

Essie Blanc

Essie Licorice

What's Up Nails Regular Straight Tape

Sharpies 12 pack

Galeria Round Brush

Rubbing Alcohol

HK Girl Top Coat

Click on the link below for the full length tutorial. Comment below if you think you will try this design!

*If you do recreate this design use #gopolishednails in Instagram so I can see it! 

Nail Tutorial: Sharpie Flower

-Go Polished

My #9 Favorite Spring Polish for 2016...

Wednesday!!

This polish is from ZOYA's Summer Beach collection that was released in 2012. If you haven't tried this brand, you definitely should. They are a little on the pricier side, and retail for $10 on their website (with a wide variety of colors), $9 at Ulta (with a limited selection of colors). ZOYA has great promotions though, so watch for those! 

This particular polish- Wednesday is a gorgeous aqua cream with fantastic formula. I have yet to find a ZOYA polish that doesn't! It is opaque in one generous coat or two thinner coats. I just love it! Not much else to say about it.

This swatch in two thicker coats. :)

Here are some comparisons or Wednesday. The ever so popular Turquoise and Caicos definitely leans more green. China Glaze's For Audrey is the same color tone, but is lighter. They are very close though. ;)

I paired China Glaze's Whip It Good to add a little more spunk. This polish is new from their Lite Brites collection released for this summer. I will be doing a review of this entire collection soon, so stay tuned for that. I love this bright pale yellow and it looks so good paired with Wednesday. I also added a fun paisley accent nail. It's pretty simple to create using a dotting tool. 

If you want to see the full length tutorial, click on the link below. *If you recreate this design use #gopolishednails in Instagram so I can see it!

Here are the supplies I used to create this look:

CND Stickey Base Coat

ZOYA Wednesday

China Glaze Whip It Good

White Acrylic Paint

Dotting tool (the smallest of this bunch)

HK Girl Top Coat

Nail Tutorial: Paisley Design (Aqua and Yellow)

Look back in my blog to see my other designs using my favorite spring polishes!

-Go Polished

My #8 Favorite Nail Polish for 2016...

The Hills!!

This polish is from the new Target polish line Defy and Inspire that launched the beginning of this year. I did a review of this brand, if you are interested in watching it click here. :) The formula is thick and honestly can be just a little tricky to work with, but the final results are so good! Because it is thick it is opaque in two coats and it builds up to look like a gel polish, and I LOVE that! The swatch below is two coats. 

Don't you just love this gorgeous light and bright coral color?! 

Apparently so did everyone else! This same color was released in the new OPI and Essie spring collections this year. When comparing them the colors are almost exact but, the formulas are quite different. I picked this color for my favorites this spring because I felt like I needed to represent this brand. I have loved every polish I have tried so far (which is about 8). I could have easily picked Lounge Lover by Essie because the formula on that one is just as good. Got Myself Into A Jam-balaya by OPI takes three coats to be opaque and the formula slightly leans more jelly. But, honestly I think you would be happy if you chose any of them. :) And I threw in Essie Cute As A Button so you can see how much lighter they are compared to it.

I chose a simple criss cross design for this. (I needed something a little less time consuming after my last design :)) Do you think you might try your hand at this design?

Here are the supplies I used to create this design:

CND Stickey Base Coat

The Hills by Defy and Inspire

Essie Blanc

Winstonia Fine Brush 

HK Girl Top Coat

Click on the link below for the full length tutorial. *If you recreate this design use #gopolishednails in Instagram so I can see it!

Nail Tutorial: Criss Cross Design (coral and white)

Interested in seeing all my other favorite spring polishes for 2016? Watch my video- 

'My Favorite Spring Nail Polishes for 2016'

-Go Polished

My #7 Favorite Nail Polish for 2016...

Boho Blues!!

Boho Blues was released in 2015 in the China Glaze Road Trip Collection.  I love that this periwinkle leans more blue than purple. I think what makes this polish different than other periwinkle's I have in my collection is that it's so bright and fresh. For being such a light and bright color, the formula is great! It has a slight jelly consistency. It is opaque in three thinner coats or two generous coats.

This swatch is three coats.

Compared to another similar China Glaze polish- Secret Periwinkle, Boho Blues is lighter and leans more blue whereas Secret Periwinkle leans more purple and a touch richer. Boho Blues is darker than Bikini So Teeny and obviously doesn't have that slight silver shimmer, and the formula is much nicer, but I still like them both:). You're Such A Budapest (another favorite of mine) is more purple, but has the same light shade. And I probably didn't even need to include Show Us Your Tips, but since it is new this year thought I should. It is a deeper shade of purple and has a very strong silver shimmer-not really close to Boho Blues.

I saw this design from Rifle Paper Company and knew this one would be so gorgeous on the nails. And I was right!

It does take some time to create this, especially when you are doing the design on each nail. If that feels too overwhelming, just try doing one or two accent nails and leave the rest with just a base color. I used brushes to create this, but you could also use a dotting tool for the flowers and toothpick for fine lines.

Here are the supplies I used to create this design:

CND Stickey Base Coat

China Glaze Boho Blues

Essie Fiji

Essie Peach Daiquiri

Essie Licorice

Essie Blanc

China Glaze First Mate

OPI How Great Is Your Dane mixed with OPI Where Did Suzi's Mango

Winstonia Fine Detail Brushes

'Berry Wine' Detail Winstonia Brush
HK Girl Top Coat

Click on the link below to see the full length tutorial. Please subscribe to my Channel! :) *If you recreate this design use #gopolishednails in Instagram so I can see it!

Nail Tutorial: Blue and Coral Nail Design (Rifle Co. Inspired)

-Go Polished

My #6 Favorite Spring Polish for 2016...

Off Tropic!!

Glorious green! My favorite color :). This is a hunter green but it leans more blue than yellow which in my opinion is more flattering. This polish is new from the Essie Spring 2016 collection. (I reviewed the entire collection if you want to watch my review here.) It seems a little strange to have this color in a spring collection, but I was so excited to see it! I knew it would be one of my favorites.

  It is opaque in one easy coat. It's such a rich, dark, pigmented color, which means that yes, it does stain some. I only noticed the staining on my cuticles and dryer areas of my skin though. I wore it for 5 days with a base coat underneath and it did not yellow my nails-just so you are aware.  And, I did have some chipping on the third day as well, but I did paint on my layers pretty thick. I do paint my nails about every 3-4 days though, so that's really not an issue for me.)

 The swatch below is two coats.

Here are my comparisons. As you can see it is more blue toned, which I feel makes is more appropriate for spring and summer. It is much lighter than Stylenomics, which can look almost black. Zoya Hunter seems more appropriate for fall because it is more yellow toned, but by-golly you can wear any color anytime you want :).

I wanted to do a little edgier look for this polish because it has that edgy feel which is kinda fun to pull off sometimes. So went for some geometrics and I really love any design with negative space. It's just so cool. If you don't have the nail vinyls I used to create this design, try cutting strips of masking tape. 

Here are the supplies I used to create this look:

CND Stickey Base Coat

Essie Off Tropic

Essie Mademoiselle

HK Girl Top Coat

What's Up Nails Skinny Chevron Vinyl Stickers

What's Up Nails Skinny Straight Vinyl Stickers

Sonia Kashuk No. 107 Smudge Brush

Winstonia Nail Art Brushes

Click on the link below for the full length tutorial. *If you recreate this design I want to see it!! Use #gopolishednails in Instagram so I can see it. Do you think you will give this design a try?!

Nail Tutorial: Geometric Mani with Negative Space

-Go Polished