So my last post was almost a year ago. I can either do a post every 12 months, or I can try to give this blog some serious loving. I've been thinking in blog for the past few weeks now. You know, like when you start on Facebook and start thinking in status updates. Come on, you know what I'm talking about!
Although 10 months has passed since the last entry, much has changed, and some things are still the same. My obsession with nail polish has waned slightly, or maybe the obsession has become a habit and I've learnt to manage it better. Or maybe I just don't feel bad about buying new colours anymore. One thing that has changed is that I'm not into Essie anymore. I have a few colours now and I have to say, I think I'm wasting my money.
Let me elaborate, and someone please tell me how flawed my thinking is because there must be a scientific explanation refuting my reasoning. One of the things that I look for in nail polish is the staying power and Essie has not proven to be one with much staying power. Now, when this whole obsession started, I used to paint my nails EVERY SINGLE DAY. I soon saw the downside to doing this when my normally healthy, strong nails were splitting and tearing all over the place. No treatment or base coat was going to help the situation so I needed to give my nails a break and leave them NAKED for a few weeks. Apparently your nails need to breathe and nail polish, even with base coat, suffocates the nail which results in normally healthy nails becoming very sad indeed.
Anyway, after my nail polish down-time, which was about a month, I started my manicures again. And because I didn't have my daily ritual anymore, I found it to be a bit tedious getting back into it, so I'd change up the colour every couple of days. This is when I discovered that Essie really isn't an option anymore. For the first time, well, not the first time, but after a long time I've had to leave a nail polish on for a few days, and the Essie wasn't standing up to the R20 and R30 nail polishes from the barrels at Dischem. It would chip after just one day. Now I've used it with and without base and top coats, but I've done so with the other polishes as well. I showed my husband on more than one occasion how flawlessly a R30 polish looked after almost a week, chip free! Base and top coats can make any manicure look amazing, but the true test is how it wears without these. And staining... even Essie stains, depending on the colour.
I'm not keen on spending tons of dosh on, well, anything really, so Essie is the only more expensive nail range that I've bought so far. And like I said, unless my nails fall off, which it hasn't (so far), I'm good with brands like: LA Girl, Catrice, M.O.D., Passion from Dischem and Essence, Tip Top Nails from Clicks. My justification is also that, if it doesn't work I won't feel bad to chuck it coz it didn't cost the week's milk.
I was at Dischem 3 times this week and I think the first time I came out with 2 polishes, one from M.O.D. and one from Passion. These are brands that you'll only find in the huge barrels in the beauty department when they have their beauty fairs. The colours are vibrant and only cost between R17 and R20. I just applied the M.O.D. polish in 101, which is a gorgeous, bright blue-based pink with the finest silver shimmer, opaque in one coat! It's a beautiful colour for dark-skinned hands, like mine. Sometimes bright pinks, especially, can look odd on darker complexions.
The other thing about these brands is that they don't indicate what the formulation is, and I've bought 2 really bold colours that turned out to be matte, which I'm not too crazy about. I love the look, but the feel is chalkboardy which I feel on my tooth nerves and I hate it. But that problem can easily be solved with a glossy top coat.
Oh, and I haven't done gelish again. A friend of mine is a qualified nail technician and she offered to do my nails once it was restored to it's healthy selves, but I never took her up on the offer. I'm not too keen on having to go to someone to maintain my nails. I'm just not that kind of girl...
Pics will be up tomorrow...
