My confusing love affair with Essie rages on. On the one hand (ha!) Essie Tomboy No More is a DEAD SEXY RED. The color is totally va-va-va-voom with a bloody lustre to it. On the OTHER hand, however, the opacity/formula completely kills the mood for me. Pictured here is 3 coats. Three. And with the third I went a little heavy with it, hoping to correct some of the inconsistency in the layering to even out the color, but no luck. Add to that the fact that each of those coats took longer than most of my polishes to dry, even with the assist of Nicole by OPI Drying Drops… frustrating. The index finger completely threw me off with the finish so I went in to cover it up with an owl (who looks meaner than I’d intentioned, what’s the matter little dude?!) in acrylic paint. You can sort of tell how thin the Essie is by a couple of the places on the owl where I painted over him with swipes of Tomboy No More to attempt a sort of feathering effect — it’s basically the consistency and opacity of super-sugar-and-yet-completely-watery dried strawberry preserves spilled on your countertop.
That owl is so cute! How do you come up with these things?
And, as a suggestion, since this color reminds me of another Essie, Essie Bordeaux is the absolute PERFECT vampy red like this. It’s actually one of my favorites (and maybe I should bust it out!). I don’t think I’ve ever had issues with it.
The owl I actually saw while flipping through The New Yorker (they’ve got all those little cartoons peppered everywhere and I though the owl was cute!) So how many coats of Bordeaux does it take/is the formula thicker than this one?
That owl is gorgeous! But that polish is one hot mess…:p
I’m preeety positive it’s a 2 coater since I really loath doing 3 coats. I will wear it today and let you know!
Awww…your little dude does look a little mean but he’s still cute! I love colors like this but all the vampy reds I have like this have the same formula issue. Maybe it’s because it’s a jelly? Meh. LOL
Wowzers, I actually LOVE the way this looks, like a thick, glossy coat of blood on your nails!!
this is a beautiful red! and i love the owl. the gold looks amazing with that red
Came back to say, yup, 2 perfect coats, not streaky or inconsistent at all. In short, perfect vampy wine!
Awesome, I’ll have to get my hands on some — thanks Angie!
Thanks ladies! And Stacy, you may be on to something there… I probably should have used a solid base color, but something tells me even then I’d get some wonkiness.
Arrrgh, polishes that apply all splotchy make me wanna diiiiie. Okay, not really, but they’re super frustrating.
Also, I don’t think your owl looks mean. I think he looks like he just got woken up, and he’s all, “Huh? Wha’? Hoo?”
Um, also, I’m busy for, like, a week, and I come back and your whole layout’s different! Looks great! : )
I only spent an afternoon on it if it makes you feel any better
And I like your take on the groggy vs. cranky owl, let’s go with that instead! This Essie’s definitely going to find a home elsewhere though…
oh, new look, like it
love your mani, the owl is so cute *.*