Buckle Up with Essie
Thanks to the good people at Essie, I was able to test out their summer collection, Buckle Up! An interesting mix consisting of signature Essie shades like pink and coral thrown together with clean white, purple and silver, this collection has me torn. While this is a departure from collections of the past filled with pinks, sheers, nudes and reds, I just can’t love all “out of the box” colors like I hoped.
The standout shade for me is Huckle Buckle. Even though it’s on the sheer side, it becomes opaque with 3 coats. It’s a smokey grape with pink shimmer that gives the color depth. The shimmer reminds me of the polish I made last winter using MAC Entremauve pigment (pictured below). The pink shimmer in the pigment didn’t show up on my skin, only on the nail. While Huckle Buckle is a lighter color, and Entremauve has more blue in it, they both have that amazing hint of pink.
I tried on the pinks and coral shades first. As I expected, they applied beautifully, were well pigmented and only needed 2 coats to be opaque. The “oops” in the picture below are operator error and not the fault of the polish.
Chastity is a cool toned pink creme. Leaning towards lavender, it’s a very mod shade in my opinion. It wasn’t streaky and has a great glossy finish.
It’s A Cinch reminds me of my favorite pink Essie, Ball-timore. They have similar finishes and belong in that soft bubblegum pink category. It’s A Cinch is a bit warmer in spite of the silvery shimmer. This is my 2nd favorite shade in the collection.
Click It Or Ticket! is very similar to It’s A Cinch in finish and shade. They’re almost hard to tell apart in bad lighting. Click It Or Ticket! is a warm coral with what looks like a beige shimmer.
Chastity, It’s A Cinch and Click It Or Ticket!
After having such great success in applying the first half of the Buckle Up! collection, I was excited to try what I consider the “fun colors.” I can’t help it, I love the unusual shades. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Aside from the lovely Huckle Buckle, the other two just didn’t cut it.
Below The Belt was so streaky. It took 3 coats to get it even and by that point it was getting gloppy. Even the color itself couldn’t save this polish. It’s chalky, white-out white but not in an attractive mod way. As much as I’m loving white polish this summer, I just can’t love this one. It looks a tad creamy in the swatch pic below because the sun was setting by the time I shot it.
Loophole could have been and should have been a great metallic silver. The finish and application are what mucked it up for me. It has the same problem most metallic polishes have, it shows brush marks. But, that wasn’t Loophole’s only issue. It’s too thick, making it difficult to brush on evenly. I ended up with pooling even after I removed my first application. The shade is a fab brushed silver and I’m sure if you have patience and a steady hand, it could be a winner. It just wasn’t for me.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
Hi…first of all let me say how much I love your blog! I am a nail polish addict, have been since I’ve been a teenager which believe me was many many years ago. I’ve tried It’s a Cinch and now have Click It or Ticket on my fingers. I love them both. I tried Loophole on my toes for a special event about a month ago and while it was okay, there was something that wasn’t totally right about it. It looked very thick which caused it to lose its shimmer, in my opinion. I want to try Huckle Buckle tomorrow but I’m starting a new job on Monday, and I’m not sure that’s the right color to start off a new job with! I am not normally a nude/sheer girl, but I’m wondering if anyone has a favorite Essie or OPI from this category that would be appropriate – something with a teensy bit of pop but still a nude or sheer. Everyone around here does their nails that way – I love color and I love being different too. Thanks so much, and keep up the good work!
Martha
right now i have opi’s matched luggage on my nails and it is pretty sheer and demure but may have a “pop” because you can still see a great color. I have also gotten many compliments on it, because i think overall its very flattering… try it!
hi! just wondering how you made the entremauve nail polish? i’m afraid of it getting too clumpy if i mix
i love the color and i have the pigment as well!!
thanks!
- lina
I’m glad I’m not the only one having problems with Loophole. I am going to try some INM Northern Lights topcoat with it to give it the holographic look ala Chanel — maybe this will improve the look of the polish.
Love Click It or Tick It!
I wanted to try Loop Hole. Glad I waited to read this.
I htink I’ll go for Rinse Charming or Trixie instead. Thanks for the heads up.
Martha, yay for being different and going with colors you love. Screw the norm, wear what you want.
Anon – Thanks for the Matched Luggage rec. I’m not really a sheer wearer but I’ll definitely check it out.
Anon2 – I made the Entremauve polish with half a bottle of Milani Clear polish. I used a wood cuticle pusher to drop small amounts of pigment in. I would roll the bottle and test the color for opacity. Go slow and really mix the color well before adding more pigment. I am guessing I used anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of pigment but that’s a rough estimate. I found a goopy bottle of cheapo polish around the house and I dumped it out to salvage the mixing balls for my creation.
Jane – I love Northern Lights holo topcoat. It makes everything more fun. For anyone that can’t find Northern Lights, China Glaze Fairy Dust is a dupe. The glitter isn’t dense like in the OPI Designer Series. It’s nice and light. A perfect sprinkling of bling.
Leelee – I haven’t tried Trixie yet but it looks like a winner. Please let us know how you like it.
Try Loophole with a matte top coat! I used Hard Candy’s, and it diminished the appearance of brush strokes.