This post is coming up
sooo much later than I planned D: I'm having an unexpectedly super-busy August, so thanks for your patience! Finally, here's part 2 of my thoughts and swatches for Essie's Too Taboo summer 2014 collection. Just like in part 1, these bright and punchy shades are perfect for those who want to lounge by a pool or maybe desperately cling to summer as the weather cools down *ahem*
 |
| Essie Too Taboo - natural indirect light |
Let's just go ahead and lead with my favourite of the three in this bunch, Too Taboo. Just
look at it! Gorgeously bright magenta/fuchsia with a hint of jelly squishiness. It applied okay for me, but generally needs a third coat because the nail line is still visible or the second coat needs to be evened out. Funny enough, this polish lives on my "purples" swatch ring, but when you add a super glossy top coat like Seche Vite and the light hits it, it seems to become brighter and much more pink. Without a top coat, it dries to a semi-matte finish and leans more purple.
 |
| Essie Too Taboo - artificial light |
I'm going to Las Vegas soon and was thinking of wearing the insanely bright China Glaze Japanese Koi (
see a swatch here on my Instagram), but Too Taboo may beat it out. I usually wear the same nails for 3-4 days before I get bored and take it off, but Too Taboo lasted a whole 6 days (chip-free, at that!) before I decided I needed a change.
 |
| Essie Serial Shopper - natural light |
Essie Serial Shopper is a tangerine orange creme. It photographed super orange, but when I compare this to my swatch stick in person, I think it's more of an orange-leaning coral. I also feel like for some reason, my glossy top coat messed a bit with the colour, like Too Taboo above. Applying a top coat seemed to soften the brightness and also made it appear less coral. Like the others in this collection, the formula is a bit thin and will need three coats.
 |
| Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Winning Streak / Essie Sittin' Pretty / China Glaze Lotus Begin - natural light |
Essie Sittin' Pretty totally set off my dupe alarm, but the comparison swatches here show it was a false alarm--I got a neat unintentional ombre effect instead! This is a brightened orchid purple creme (ring and middle fingers), compared with Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy in Winning Streak (little finger; deeper, more muted) and China Glaze Lotus Begin (index; way lighter). I really like this one and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too similar to my other purples.
Overall, I really liked the fun colours in the Too Taboo collection. However, neons and brights have a habit of being tricky to apply, and these six are no exception. The formula here is generally thin and a little unforgiving, so use as few strokes as possible and very light pressure. I tried the trick of using a base layer of white polish underneath
I'm Addicted to make it look brighter/more neon but didn't notice any difference; it might work better with the other shades, such as Vices Versa which is especially sheer.
Which one is your favourite? Have you had a top coat dramatically change the colour of your polish? (I would like to confirm that it's not all in my head, thx.)
