Nail Art Wednesday: Autumn Elegance with Essence Gorgeous Bling Bling

I never quite understood when people say that a certain shade of nail polish is something they wouldn't wear alone. Sure, I understand that there are people who need to sport nail art as an expression of their creative freedom. Or simply because it's a whole bunch of fun. What I didn't get was how a certain color can be labeled okay with nail art but not without. It wasn't until I met Essence Gorgeous Bling Bling (quite possibly one of the more ridiculous nail polish names ever) that I finally got it.

We met at a local Shoppers Drug Mart not too long ago and I was excited to see it. I knew it would be a unique color in my collection but more than that, it screamed fall to me. It brought to mind pumpkin spice lattes, huge leaf piles and pumpkin pie. I've had great experience with Essence polishes so I knew it had to come home with me. But the moment I put it on, it was just...gah. I wasn't even sure if I liked it. Now, don't get me wrong, it's a pretty color, just not on me. In an effort to salvage the mani, I took to my stamping plates and finally did what I planned to in one of my twin posts with Stephanie from last August (if not for Mr. J's interference):

Surprisingly elegant autumn-inspired nails!

Essence Lime Up! (and an Apology)

Before we talk about today's featured polish, allow me to express my apologies for the radio silence last week. You heard about my back problems but that only got worse thanks to Mother Nature's monthly gift. (TMI? Oops.) Anyway, I'm feeling a whole lot better now and being able to take the week off has rejuvenated this lady's writing skillz. Thanks for bearing with me and to make it up to you, we'll shoot for a post everyday this week. (I haven't done that since I first started so it might be stretch. But we will prevail!) On to what you're here for: nail polish! 

Let me tell you a little secret: green and yellow nail polish terrify me. This, coming from a self-professed blue nail polish kinda gal. Do let me qualify that, however, by saying that vampy greens are really the only sort of green you'll see me sporting (so that's an exception to the rule). Now I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm guessing it's because these particular colors are in opposite spectrum of the blues and purples that I tend to gravitate towards. Aside from that, my experience with them hasn't been very flattering. At a recent Shoppers trip I spent a good 20 minutes ogling the surprisingly full Essence display (yes, I'm also the weird chick who likes to walk up and down the beauty section scrutinizing new displays and waves off any help because really, I'm just browsing). I kept picking up a bottle of this wonderfully strange green/yellow shade that I never would have even given a second look, except I knew with certainty that I didn't have anything like it. At all. So in an effort to broaden my color horizon, I took a chance and decided to bring it home with me. I think you'll agree it was a smart choice, as you can see:

Wonderfully strange and summery!

Grey/Purple/Green Multichrome Comparison featuring Butter London Knackered vs. Essence Where's the Party vs. Nubar Purple Beach vs. Wet N Wild Grays Anatomy

Yep, I'm running a bit late today. But never fear, today's post is here! (Hammie just cringed at that. Oops.)

Anyway, jumping right into it, remember when I swatched Butter London Knackered earlier last month and how I wasn't all too pleased with how similar it seemed to all the other purple/green/grey multichromes (duochrome? But "duo" only means two!) I already had in my stash? Well, this curious cat needed to know exactly just how close it compared. I don't happen to own all of the other duo/multichrome polishes that share the same color family so this is, by no means, an exhaustive list for comparison. Off the top of my head, I'm missing Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game and OPI Not Like the Movies but as you'll see in a bit, the others I do have sort of make up for it.

The contenders. Let's get ready to rumble!