Nailed to the Post: Nail of the Week: Lilies of the valley and two inexpensive Essie Dupes

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Nail of the Week: Lilies of the valley and two inexpensive Essie Dupes

Left Hand (click on photo to enlarge)

Right hand (click on picture to enlarge)


right hand (click on picture to enlarge)

This week I wanted to try a new flower, the lily. It's so close to Halloween and I was pondering some Halloween designs but I decided to just do my own thing. Let's face it there's only so many spider/spiderweb, frankenstein, eyeball nails one can see. So I went for the lily since it was something I had never done before. For my background colors I chose two great inexpensive Essie nail polish dupes. The cobalt blue I chose was by Sally Hansen Insta-Dry called "Co-Bolt Blue" click here to purchase this is a perfect dupe for Essie's Aruba Blue. It is a beautiful, vibrant, shimmery intense blue. The Sally Hansen Insta Dry polishes retail for $3.99 at Target, half the price of its Essie counterpart which retails for $8.00 at Target. click here to purchase
The quality is pretty good, I needed two coats for full opacity. It dries pretty quickly but certainly not as "insta" as the brand claims. I am not super crazy about the giant paddle brushes for my nails, as my nails are quite thin and curved rather then flat so I find the application can get a little messy. Also another quibble I have with the Sally Hansen Insta Dri line is that the bottles contain a paltry .33 fl oz vs the .44 fluid ounces you get in a typical nail polish. Despite this I would still recommend this color if you are having trouble finding the Essie or you just can't bring yourself to pay the $8.00.
The color I layered over the top was Essence "Night in Vegas" which retails for $2.99. It is a perfect dupe for Essie "Shine of the Times" which retails for $8.00. This multicolored multi dimensional flaky topcoat can transform any polish into something extraordinary with just one coat.