Essie "Maximillian Strasse-her"

From Essie's Spring 2013 Madison Avenue collection comes this cool grey-green gem. I'm not sure why it was marketed as a spring shade, this seems much more appropriate for a summer-fall transition to me. They describe it as "Bavarian style savvy rules this regal boulevard. With nails of cool grey green, you're promenade queen, no tiara required." I don't know about all that. Named for one of the four royal avenues of Munich, Germany, according to Wikipedia, this shade is just awesome. A fairly watery jelly, it nonetheless applies beautifully in just two coats. It is like the somewhat-muted version of my beloved 'Turquoise and Caicos" - more fall appropriate. almost a neutral really, like a greened-out khaki. Love. Also has the dubious honor of having the LONGEST name of any polish that I own. 

Some bright sunlight, some shade. :)

Essie "For the Twill of it"

Oh, my dear readers (reader? Is anyone looking at this?) - have I got a treat for you today! I was flipping through my snail mail when I came across the Ulta magazine -- dutifully, I turned to the nail polish spread. Bingo! Fall colors were in stock - including the coveted Essie collection! I picked up the cube, as I really wanted to try those four colors the most, and lucky me - they were the four in the box! Over the next week I'll be showing you swatches of them all!And let me tell you, if they are all like the first one I tried, you are in for a real special event!

Just look how cute they are - the cube includes "For the Twill of it," "Cashmere Bathrobe," "Vested Interest," and "The Lace is On" - how cute are these names?! Per the press release, the vision for this fall's colors comes from the feel of certain fabrics, as if Essie was trying to bottle the feel of a schoolboy blazer, the comfort of cashmere. 

Vested, Cashmere, Lace, and Twill! 

The first one I tried was "For the Twill of it" - according to Essie, part of the inspiration came from FLOTUS herself, Mrs. Obama's inaugural coat, which was made from silk twill, something usually made into neckties. Look at the lovely coat below, and see how it matches so well with her daughter's coats -- definitely the color inspiration behind this holo polish! It looks lovely in the bottle, and the holo transfers so well. It is a nice gray base with a purple-green shift, like alexandrite! It also kinda reminds me of how I image shark skin to look under water - that incandescent gray. Maybe I just have shark week on the brain. ;)

Mrs. Obama's inauguration coat!

Gray base with purple shift, artificial light

With flash in natural light, green shift!

Loving this color - beautiful formula, my first holo ever, and lovely color. A++!

Essie "Naughty Nautical"

With flash!

I am really beginning to have an obsession with mint/teal shades. Although I have only a small stash, the majority are greens and blues! :)

Naughty Nautical has been touted as the 'must have' shade from Essie's summer collection - and I can see why. A nice bold teal creme, could be a one-coater if you are more careful than I am. Added OPI "Tiara" to the tip of my ring finger (my first tiny foray into nail art!) - love the way it turned out. A nice bit of sparkle to break up the boldness of the color. Got many many compliments on this. A+. 

Without flash!

Essie Turquoise and Caicos

Oh Essie, how you torment me so! You give me the most beautiful color, a milky turquoise that looks more blue or green depending on the light. Essie describes it as "frolic in the sublime waters of this flirty polish. Vibrant, tropical aqua nail color refreshes mind, body and fashion wardrobe."It is the most gorgeous color. Ever. Seriously, I would wear this forever. You really shouldn't judge this color by the bottle, it is so vibrant in real life! 

The chip-resistance can't be beat .... but the application! Oh, the application.

It takes 3 coats to be opaque, and hours to dry in between each coat.

Ain't nobody got time for that. (Sorry for the terrible swatch shot below, check out this website for a more true-to-life picture!)

Even when I thought it had dried, FINALLY, I was wrong. Even with a quick-dry top coat. This stuff smudges and smears for almost half a day before finally hardening. Once it does, this stuff is like concrete. It doesn't chip, even after a week at my job, where I am quite hard on my hands. I am almost afraid to see how much work it will take to get it off... but the color is so incredible, I'm holding out as long as possible. I've been reading through some other swatch blogs, and it seems that a lot of people have had trouble with this formula. If y'all have any tips or tricks to make polish dry faster, I'd LOVE to hear them!

After searching the internet for possible duplicates (the colors is THAT good and the formula THAT bad - I would totally spring for another polish), I found a site that compared it to China Glaze - For Audrey and Essie - Greenport and Barry M - Mint Green. Close, but no cigar. Maybe it is worth dealing with this formula for this color.

I've been to Turks and Caicos before, on a vacation by myself. I'd just finished a particularly grueling year at work, and had a week of vacation. My SO couldn't get the time off, so I rewarded myself with a week in paradise, catching up on my reading, getting a tan, walking the entire 7 miles of the gorgeous Grace Bay daily. Just hearing the name of this polish instantly transports me back to the most delicate white sand beaches, calm clear turquoise waters, perfect temperatures, and absolute relaxation.

You should really go, dear readers. And polish your fingers with this delightful color before you do (you'll have hours to let it dry on the plane ride!)   ;)

Here are two photos I took while there, just to give you an idea... The one on the left is taken at sunset, the one below in the early morning. Grace Bay is the most incredible place on the planet. Definitely a worthy namesake for this color!