Essie Smooth Sailing

Smooth Sailing was released by Essie as part of its Braziliant collection for summer 2011. Essie describes it as “a breezy lavender blue with a reflection of pearl,” but I think there's more to it than that. It's a lovely medium slightly muted periwinkle blue with beaucoup pearlescent silvery flaky shimmers that throw off tiny sparks of light aqua and pinky purple in the sun. Although it came out with a summer collection it's a perfect non-pastel alternative for spring as well, with just enough lavender in it to give it a little of that Easter feeling.

Application was sweet. This is such a pretty polish, one of those that makes your eyes happy during application and I enjoyed it. The consistency is fluid and creamy. It applies easily and smoothly and self-levels nicely. Smooth Sailing is slightly sheer on the first coat, and is vulnerable to balding if overstroked. Pigmentation is good, with an easy build to opacity at two coats. Probably I should have done one more coat, as I discovered a bit of balding when I examined the photos that I didn't notice in person. 

Clean up isn't quite as straightforward as I was expecting. It seems that this is one of those polishes that will disperse shimmers across the skin on contact with acetone as you'll see in the photos. I wish I'd been a little more careful, and I also wish I'd washed the acetone residue off my fingers before taking pictures! Ah well, if wishes were horses then beggars would be raising Clydesdales for Budweiser. Smooth Sailing dries naturally in good time to a shade that's a touch bolder than the bottle color and a smooth near-glossy finish. 

Photos show two coats of Smooth Sailing over Seche Rebuild treatment and Butter London Nail Foundation basecoat with a topcoat of HK Girl to accelerate drying. As you may have noticed from my comments above, I feel a little apologetic about the quality of this manicure and the photos I've taken of it. Smooth Sailing deserves perfection, dammit!

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

Essie Smooth Sailing

I've seen this color described as cornflower and denim elsewhere, but I think the bit of lavender in it puts it definitively into the periwinkle zone. Periwinkle is of my favorite spring harbingers. We have a bit of it around here and the beautiful little star petaled faces with their creamy throats never fail to lift the spirit. The pearly flakes of shimmer in Smooth Sailing subdue the freshness of this color a little bit, but it is still a lovely soothing shade.

Speaking of spring, it can't be too far away. We've got daffodils blooming.

love,
Liz