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Essie Ridge Filling Base Coat – Review

Sep 12

Guess what product all Essie manicurists have been using to prep models nails during New York Fashion Week? Right! Essie Ridge Filling base coat. Why? Because it instantly makes nails look healthier, fills ridges and results in a perfectly even finish.

This base coat is our personal favorite too. While we do look after our nails pretty well, they are still far from perfect after endless polish trials. Sometimes that can cost your nails a perfect even surface by leaving micro scratches on your nails. That in turn, complicates nail polish application as not all base coats are capable of evening out the nail surface and you don’t want to buff your nails too often either. SO here it is – Essie Ridge Filling base coat smooths out mild imperfections with just 1 coat. That’s exactly why we fell in love with it so quickly.

Read our full review below!

Promise:
Essie Ridge Filling base coat – younger looking nails. Nails looks smoother and sculpted. Even base for colour application.

Use:
Apply 1 coat as a base for manicure.

Verdict:
This product really delivers on it’s promise! Below are a few more positive qualities:

Easy to apply and quick to dry.
In light latte shade with a very subtle, natural gloss finish. Essie Ridge Filling base coat is even suitable even for men. You wouldn’t tell a difference wither nails are coated with something or it’s your natal nails look so perfect.
It works wonders as a base for manicure – makes it so easy to apply nail colour and ensures picture perfect, smooth surface. Check out our Before and After shots – They say it all!
3-Free formula, ie. it does not contain Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde, Toluene. Bit it does contain Formaldehyde Resin (it’s the third biggest ingredient in the formula), Nitrocellulose and Camphor. The inclusion of these chemicals explains why this product has such amazing sealing and surface smoothing qualities.

Extra Notes: Essie Ridge Filling base coat is fantastic for creating an even base for manicures. However, it contains Formaldehyde Resin (FR). This ingredient is partially responsible for the perfect sealing qualities of the product. FR is often used in paints and as a glue in the leather industry. You know that typical strong polish smell? Essie Ridge Filling base has some of that but it’s not overbearing.

Don’t mistake Essie Ridge Filler for a nail strengthening product. If you have weak, peeling nails, we’d recommend you use Essie Ridge Filling base coat with a nail strengthener of your choice. Wear a Ridge Filling base when you do your nails and on other (naked nails) days, wear a nail strengthener.

Availability: US$8.00 – online here; in Australia – AUS$19.95 in Myer and Priceline.
So, what are your thoughts about Essie Ridge Filling base coat? Have you tried this one before? Or, will you be investing in this one?

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Summer Swirl Nails

Jun 19

While it’s still a few days till our European vacation, we’re already feeling the happy vibes, right down to our nails! Summer Swirl nails are a result of a burning desire to try our hand at painting swirls. It looked so complicated yet insanely beautiful on nails. The “Now or Never” principle finally overcame our fear as soon as we got the right polishes. Happily, this design was easier to do than it was expected. Yep, the entire manicure was done free hand!

The stripes were super easy to paint – just paint horizontal stripes on your nail with different colours using a striping brush (a very thin brush). As for the swirls, you just need to paint with the same thin brush one triangle of a different colour at a time. Clean your brush before using next colour and paint next triangle right next to the first. By painting triangles like that, one by one, you’ll create a swirl pattern. Then, stick a stud on top covering the cheeky bit where all triangles connect.

Make sure you’re using good quality, highly pigmented polishes that you know behave well on your nails. Stay away from too sheer or guppy polishes. The last thing you want is one poorly painted triangle to ruin the whole nail design. We used Essie and Maybelline polishes and they were perfect!

swirl nails 2 Another great thing about the swirl nails design is that it can be painted on one accent nail. For instance, imagine this design but with a swirl on ring finger and other nails painted in bright pink or mint – that would look fantastic too!

Will you be trying the swirl nails? Or, have you already done something similar? Either way, we’d love to see it! Instagram or Tweet photos of your swirl nails by tagging them #sonailicous.

Used: Essie Ridge Filling Base coat, Essie polishes: Mint Candy Apple, Fiesta, Play Date; Maybelline polishes: #230 Tangerine Tangy and #400 Pedal To The Metal; Sally Hasen Diamond Flash top coat.

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ChitChat Nails for SoNailicious – Skittlette Manicure Tutorial

Jun 12

We’re pretty sure you already know Marta and her blog, ChitChat Nails. Her perfectly polished nails are hard to miss! For a full introduction, check out Marta’s interview with us here. She created and popularised Skittlette nails and the ongoing variety of Skittlette looks she comes up with is breathtaking!

We asked her to share a few tips with us on how to create a perfect skittlette. Not only did she agree, she prepared 2 manicure tutorials! We’re showing one here on SoNailicious and for the other, head on over to ChitChat Nails.

Hello Lovely Ladies,

My name is Marta and I run a Canadian Nail-Art blog called ChitChat Nails. Painting my nails is a hobby of mine, and while I dabble everything nail-art related, many of you might know me for the ‘skittlette manicure’. While I am not too sure I pioneered this manicure look, it is one that I had a part in naming and defining and one that is definitely a personal favorite!

Here is how the Skittlette came to be:

A looong long loooong time ago (well, not that long ago ;) ), I featured a manicure on my blog that had two different accent nails. I was looking for the right term for such a manicure; it wasn’t a plain mani (all nails the same), nor was it an accent nail manicure (as I had two different accent nails not just one) nor was it a skittles manicure (where every nail on one hand is different). I turned to Twitter and asked “is there a term for a manicure with two different accent nails?!?”. To my surprise there was no ‘label’ put on such a look… Then, Lindsey from Nails for Dummies replied saying “why don’t you call it a skittlette”. The END.

skit·tle·tte: Not quite a full skittles look, a skittlette manicure is one with at least two different accent nails. Pick any formation you wish, but for a true skittlette at least two nails need to be the same (the others can all be different) OR two pairs of identical nails and a different nail.

For those of you who like math/equations. A skittlette can be any of the following:

AABBC, AAABC, AABCD (in any order on your nails so that AAABC=ABCAA=AABCA)

Now you know what a skittlette manicure is. “But”, you might say, “how do I come up with a skittlette look!?”

Here are some DOs and DON’Ts:

DO make sure that all of your colors and designs compliment each other. You could actually physically place nail polish bottles side by side just to see if you like them together. While you could create a skittlette with contrasting colours, I personally prefer to work with shades that compliment each other to create cohesion within the manicure.

DO look around you for skittlette inspiration. Look at:

· home décor (pillows, curtains, carpet, wall art),
· clothing (children’s clothing OR clothing with a lot of colors/patterns can be very helpful),
· packaging (even a cereal box can be a source of color/pattern inspiration).
· Turn to Pinterest (fashion OR those color palettes)
· Nature (bugs, flowers etc)

DO have fun with it. While I shared some guidelines, there really is no right or wrong way to skittlette. Do what feels right to YOU!

DO play around with different polish finishes and textures.

DON’T make your skittlette too busy, ex. using three different glitters, or two accent nail patterns that do not compliment each other.

DON’T use too many finishes. For my skittlettes I usually use one cream, one glitter/texture polish and a stamp.

SKITTLETTE: “dressing your nails”. Allow me to use this metaphor. For an outfit to be complete you need Pants, Shirt and Accessories. Think of the three elements of a skittlette in these terms!

HOW TO:

1. Pick a starting point: What would you like to “wear” (on your nails) today. It might be a certain color, or particular stamp, or a freehand-technique you’ve been itching to try. In this case, for me, it was my wanting to wear Essie Chinchilly again ;)

2. Now you need a matching shirt! For those of you who know me, you will know how much I love to match things.

Let us assume that my Chinchilly was the pants… now I need a shirt ;) I chose to go with a saran-wrap technique (tutorial here) using OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls as the base and saran-wrap Sally Hansen Celeb City, piCture pOlish Honey Dew and Peaches n’ Cream. I then added some hearts with stamping plate NC01 (you could freehand them as well).

3. At this stage you have a manicure with two identical accent nails (see above). To make it into a skittlette manicure you need to add a THIRD element to you manicure – the one I call the ‘accessories’ nail… because really, what outfit is complete without a little accessory?

The ‘accessory’ nail is the one I often have fun with. This nail allows me to try the brighter and glittery shades that I would normally not reach for in a full-manicure ;) As such, I often make this nail the pinky (small surface makes the bright glitter/neon less overpowering). For this look I chose the pointer finger and opted for peachy/coral accessories in piCture pOlish Peaches n’ Cream.

If you do the skittlette well, you will have a manicure in which each nail contributes to the overall look. You will have the opportunity to wear a few of your favorite shades at once (who doesn’t like that), and possibly throw in a fun technique/stamp.

I hope you found this skittlette manicure tutorial helpful! I encourage all of you to try a SKITTLETTE!

THANK YOU FOR READING!

Marta

ps. For your inspiration here are a few more stunning Skittlettes by Marta!

Feeling Fozzie nails by ChitChatNails

Picture Polish Tiffany by ChitChatNails

Owl Challenge nails

Tattooed Skittlette by ChitChat Nails

If you ace one of the above looks or create your own skittlette with our tutorial we’d love to see it! Just Tweet or Instagram us a photo tagged #skittlette, easy!

ChitChatNails Twitter and Instagram

SoNailicious Twitter and Instagram

Related posts
For more nail art tutorials check out our Tutorials section and if you want to have your own guide, get our “30 Easy Nail Designs & Tutorials” e-book.

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Stairway to Heaven Nails & Tutorial

Apr 17

These Stairway to Heaven nails were inspired by the recent Australian Fashion Week. The combination of blue and nude was one of the most popular shades at the event. As for the pattern, we wanted to try something new and came up with this geometric design that somehow resembles stairs.

Soft colours and an understated design makes this suitable for the day or night. Plus, like any striping tape nail art, it is also quite easy to re-create. Just follow our step-by-step tutorial below!

HOW TO:

Apply 2 layers of blue polish on pointer and little finger. Paint other nails in nude. Let it dry.
Apply pieces of striping tape on each nail to create stairway pattern, as pictured.
Paint the stairway tips – with blue polish on thumb, middle and ring finger, with nude polish on pointer and little fingers.
Accurately remove tape.
Using nail art thin brush outline the stairway pattern with silver polish.
Top coat time & done!

Used: Essie Lapiz of Luxury (blue) and Brooch the Subject (nude), No Place Like Chrome (silver), Essie To Dry For top coat.

Hope you found this nail art tutorial useful! Make sure you tweet or Instagram (tag it #sonailicious) us if you’ll do these Stairway to Heaven nails, we’d love to see your version!

Related posts
For more nailspiration see our Nail Art section.
If you want to learn how to do all these amazing nail designs get our “30 Easy Nail Designs & Tutorials” e-book.

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MBFWA 2013 Karla Spetic nails

Apr 12

At MBFWA 2013 the Karla Spetic models were sporting rainbow French manicures. This fun nail design was created by the Essie team. It complimented the feminine, elegant and sheer pieces on the runway. The bright dashes of color worked beautifully with Karla’s fresh looking spring 2013 collection.

The Karla Spetic nails featured Essie Ballet Slippers or Adore-a-Ball as a base with French tips in Essie Mezmerised, Beach bum blue, Marshmallow, Secret story and No more film.

28 days of SoNailicious Nails – Day 17 – Shine of the Times Interrupted

Feb 18

DAY 17 – Shine of the Times Chevron nail art

Here’s another great way you can use your Shine of the Times top coat – nail art. You can either do this Chevron nail art from scratch or simply update your Shine of the Times nails. Particularly, I like the contrasting combination of a matte pearlescent top coat and glossy black lacquer. The distinction between the matte and gloss is even stronger as you don’t need to smooth out this nail art with a top coat after the pattern is applied. So there will be a distinctive line separating pearlescent chevron tip from the glossy black base.

Used: Revlon 731 Knockout (black base), Essie Shine of the Times, Essie To Dry For – high shine top coat and Essie Matte About You – matte top coat.

Want to learn how to do these fabulous Shine of the Times Interrupted nails?
Grab a copy of our 30 Easy Nail Art Designs & Tutorials e-book! The book includes 30 step by step pictorial tutorials with detailed written instructions, product breakdowns and more. There’s even nail art insider tricks and tips that show you how to re-create all 30 designs flawlessly!
Download a copy instantly by clicking the button below:
Payment is handled securely via PayPal – you don’t need an account to purchase. You can pay via PayPal or Credit Card and download instantly your copy of the book.
You can also review all the fabulous nail designs from the 28 days of SoNailicious Nails challenge here. The book shows how to re-create these designs flawlessly at home.

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28 days of SoNailicious Nails – Day 16 – Shine on, Shine of the Times

Feb 17

DAY 16 – Shine on, Shine of the Times

Shine of the Times from the Essie Luxeffects Collection has been around since 2011 but this is the first time I’ve got around to talking about it. All I can say is: if you love glitter and holographic polishes, Shine of the Times (aka ‘The Shine’) is essential! So much better than your usual glitter or flakies top coat. The multi dimensional colour is comparable only to of Max Factor Fantasy Fire and Chanel Peridot. However, The Shine goes even further, it changes colours depending on the viewing angle.

What is particularly good about The Shine that it’s the easiest way to transform your simple manicure into out of this world nails. You can take it even further by using it in a more complex nail art. I’ll show you one tomorrow!

Used: Revlon 731 Knockout (black base), Essie Shine of the Times, Essie Good To Go – high shine top coat and Essie Matte About You – matte top coat.

Want to learn how to do these fabulous Shine of the Times nails?
Grab a copy of our 30 Easy Nail Art Designs & Tutorials e-book! The book includes 30 step by step pictorial tutorials with detailed written instructions, product breakdowns and more. There’s even nail art insider tricks and tips that show you how to re-create all 30 designs flawlessly!
Download a copy instantly by clicking the button below:
Payment is handled securely via PayPal – you don’t need an account to purchase. You can pay via PayPal or Credit Card and download instantly your copy of the book.
You can also review all the fabulous nail designs from the 28 days of SoNailicious Nails challenge here. The book shows how to re-create these designs flawlessly at home.

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To stay up to date with us, subscribe to SoNailicious Weekly newsletter here.

28 days of SoNailicious Nails – Day 5 – Snow leopard print nails

Feb 05

DAY 5 – Snow Leopard Print Nails

Leopard print nails have now became a nail art classic, yet I’m trying it for the first time! Although result is impressive, I can assure you dear reader, it’s very easy to do. The main advantage is that even if your hands are shaky (like mine after having too many coffees today) you still can create a perfect leopard print! In fact, shaky hands are beneficial, they will create those naturally uneven black borders on the leopard spots.

As for the colours, I’ve settled on sky blue, white and black combo just to try something unusual. However, leopard print nails can be done in almost any colour combination. It looks as equally good in pastels as in traditional leopard colours.

Want to learn how to do Leopard print nails?
Grab a copy of our 30 Easy Nail Art Designs & Tutorials e-book! The book includes 30 step by step pictorial tutorials with detailed written instructions, product breakdowns and more. There’s even nail art insider tricks and tips that show you how to re-create all 30 designs flawlessly!
Download a copy instantly by clicking the button below:
Payment is handled securely via PayPal – you don’t need an account to purchase. You can pay via PayPal or Credit Card and download instantly your copy of the book.
You can also review all the fabulous nail designs from the 28 days of SoNailicious Nails challenge here. The book shows how to re-create these designs flawlessly at home.

***
To stay up to date with us, subscribe to SoNailicious Weekly newsletter here.

28 Days of SoNailicious Nails – Day 3 – Intergalactic Jelly Sandwich nails

Feb 03

DAY 3 – Intergalactic Jelly Sandwich nails

Jelly Sandwich nails, another easy nail art project that anyone who owns a semi sheer polish and glitter top coat can do. It’s also a great way to wear your favorite glitter in a different ‘muted’ way. I’m going out tonight so I chose the darker high drama shades for my manicure. Dark blue nails with blue glitter underneath look particularly good with a matte top coat. Scroll down to see both versions!

essie matte top coat, jelly sandwich nails, ulta3

Want to learn how to do these fabulous Jelly Sandwich nails?
Grab a copy of our 30 Easy Nail Art Designs & Tutorials e-book! The book includes 30 step by step pictorial tutorials with detailed written instructions, product breakdowns and more. There’s even nail art insider tricks and tips that show you how to re-create all 30 designs flawlessly!
Download a copy instantly by clicking the button below:
Payment is handled securely via PayPal – you don’t need an account to purchase. You can pay via PayPal or Credit Card and download instantly your copy of the book.
You can also review all the fabulous nail designs from the 28 days of SoNailicious Nails challenge here. The book shows how to re-create these designs flawlessly at home.

***
To stay up to date with us, subscribe to SoNailicious Weekly newsletter here.

Matte Top Coat over Gothic Moon nails and some thoughts about it

Jan 17

Here is the second part of the Gothic Moon nails experiment. A Matte top coat transformed the extra glossy manicure into a velvety subtle chic look. As the texture of the manicure changed the whole perception of the look changed. You’re no longer distracted by the gloss so the pattern really stands out and the precise sharp edges become more defined.

See close ups/comparison below.

It seems that matte top coat works best on dark shades. I ran a quick test with white and nude polishes and the result wasn’t as spectacular as on darker polishes. I also noticed that a matte top coat evens out the surface of your manicure in some kind of magical way. It covers your nails so evenly by molding with the polish that your manicure looks almost unnatural (in a good way! it’s just too perfect).

Used: Essie 763 Power Clutch, Revlon Golden Coin and Essie Matte About You top coat.

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Nail art designs, tutorials and the latest nail trends

Essie

Essie Ridge Filling Base Coat – Review

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Summer Swirl Nails

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ChitChat Nails for SoNailicious – Skittlette Manicure Tutorial

Stairway to Heaven Nails & Tutorial

MBFWA 2013 Karla Spetic nails

28 days of SoNailicious Nails – Day 17 – Shine of the Times Interrupted

28 days of SoNailicious Nails – Day 16 – Shine on, Shine of the Times

28 days of SoNailicious Nails – Day 5 – Snow leopard print nails

28 Days of SoNailicious Nails – Day 3 – Intergalactic Jelly Sandwich nails

Matte Top Coat over Gothic Moon nails and some thoughts about it

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