Orly - Elsbeth's Rose

 Elsbeth's Rose by Orly is a beautiful color - kind of a muted pink creme (the Orly website classifies this as a dusty pink shimmer, but I don't see even a hint of shimmer on my nails.) Unfortunately, I don't love this on my nails. Can you tell the formula is hard to work with from these photos (take a good hard look at my pointer and middle fingers.) Application was mediocre at best because the formula is really thick and sticky. It dries quick and in some cases the second coat sort of dragged along and ruined the nice smooth look. 

Overall, I'm calling this a failed manicure. It looks okay to the average eye, but for the picky folk (like me!) out there, this just isn't going to cut it. I have plenty of other polishes which apply much smoother than this, so I'm not sure I'll ever reach for this one again.

If you like this color but want something a bit easier to work with, Elsbeth's Rose reminds me so much of a more muted Splash of Grenadine by Essie. 

To be fair, every other Orly polish I've used has been wonderful, or at the very least - manageable. I love the grip-top applicators, and they have a great selection of colors.  I'd definitely encourage you to try the brand out for yourself. You can find a wide variety of Orly polishes at your local Sally Beauty. 

Finger Paints - Blue Raspberry Taffy

Thursday, MAY 2ND we got 15.5" of snow in southern Minnesota. Hard, heavy, bringing-trees-down, knocking-power-out, cold, spring snow. One for the record books. So today, you can imagine I was in the mood for a spring nail color - something to make me forget that there is snow outside on May 4th. (Thankfully, the forecast shows mid-high 60s for the next week - buh-bye snow!)

This is two coats of Blue Raspberry Taffy by Finger Paints from the Spring 2012 Gumdrops & Lollipops collection (I got this on clearance recently, hence being a year late!). This is a lovely, creamy sky blue that is perfect for spring! There is not a whole lot that makes it unique (there are many colors just like this out there, in fact I'm sure I have a couple already in my own polish collection), but it is a pretty color, nonetheless. 

To jazz it up a little, I used an oldie but goodie, Last Friday Night by OPI from the Katy Perry collection (which I loved) on my middle and ring fingers. This is a super pretty blue glitter polish, filled with circular blue and silver round glitters, and a mix of micro glitter. I'm a big Katy Perry fan, so naturally I loved this collection, which I still pull out and incorporate in to my manicures now and then - which is saying something as I don't use many polishes over and over (total polish snob over here...). 

Hope you are enjoying your weekend as much as I am! Til next time! :) 

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