There’s something about the beginnings of Spring that make me get especially excited about nail color.
As a stay-at-home mama of a very active 21-month old, I sadly no longer get regular manis, but you can bet your life that my toesies still get the star treatment.
In one rare exception – a wedding! – I recently had a mani/pedi and chose Essie’s Tour de Finance, a delicious, fruit-punchy fuchsia with the slightest hint of shimmer. The J.Crew Bridal bridesmaid’s dress I donned was a delicate whisper of grey, so I really wanted my nails to pop. And did they!
Essie Tour de Finance
For one, I LOVE the color names. It very well may be because I worked in fashion PR for so many years, that I’m instinctively drawn to clever marketing. Essie, in particular, has always wowed me with the catchy names of their color collections (for the record, one of my dream jobs would be to be a copywriter at Essie and name the new colors!) Some of my faves — both in name, and in color — in no particular order are the following: Sugar Daddy, After Sex, Masquerade Belle, Scarlett O’Hara, Limo Scene, Sole Mate, To Buy or Not to Buy and of course, Tour de Finance.
And then, there’s the color itself. You are forced to see your fingers and toes every day, and the color you select will surely set the mood for the events ahead.
Here are my Essie nail color picks for various moods:
Feeling sultry? Fishnet Stockings.
Looking for an edge? Wicked, of course!
Simple, clean and powerful? Ballet Slippers, baby!
Beachy, sexy, fun? Jamaican Me Crazy
I can go on and on…
The chic square bottles make me oh-so-happy and I’ve found that when applied correctly (read: base coat, two thin coats of color, quick-dry top coat, two rounds of nail-dryer time), Essie nail polish lasts at least a week on the fingers, if not more. That is, if you’re not picking dried macaroni and cheese out of your toddler’s hair, blotting spilled substances off the furniture, washing your hands after diaper change after diaper change, etc.
Do you think they make a nail color called Stylish Harried Mama?