Essie Parka Perfect

Parka Perfect was released by Essie as part of its Shearling Darling collection for winter 2013. Essie officially describes this as "a serenely shimmering cashmere gray," which when I considered it was sort of a revelation for me. There was a time years ago when I'd caught the vintage clothing bug that I collected, among other things, vintage cashmere sweaters. Parka Perfect truly does capture a particular color of vintage cashmere that plotted itself somewhere in the field between pale blue, pale seafoam and grey. It's remarkable and a testament to Essie Weingarten's keen relationship with fabrics (which I learned about from reading Michele Mismas' excellent blog All Lacquered Up) and her ability to translate her knowledge and appreciation into nail lacquer, such a totally different medium for color and texture. 

Prior to this epiphany, I'd approached Parka Perfect simply on the basis of it's immediate appeal as a delicate whitened shade of azure blue, my favorite blue color family. Among the azures, Alice blue is perhaps the closest in feeling to Parka Perfect, although it's generally represented as much more pale and is actually an azure tinted white. Parka Perfect is an exquisite fusion of white, azure and grey with Essie's oft-praised subtle iridescent shimmer and a beautiful muted wispy quality that is winsome, graceful and elegant on the nail.

I realized while applying this polish that my nail ridges and the determination to camouflage them are turning me into a serial three-coater. I'm a little nonplussed by this because I don't think it's a mark of distinction for a polish to require three coats to look presentable and I don't like the idea of constantly blogging about polishes that do. I guess I'll just have to temper this attitude with the belief that for most polish lovers, my three coats will almost always translate to an eminently wearable two.

Back to Parka Perfect, application was a little angsty. The consistency is fluid but kind of cranky and stubborn when it comes to flow and self-leveling properties. I've read some reports of similar feelings about the formula but I've also seen reviews where folks had absolutely no problems and loved it. Well I didn't love it, but I didn't absolutely hate it either. Pigmentation is ok but the first coat was preternaturally streaky and patchy for me. I guess I kind of forgot that this polish is actually something of a pastel. In any case, things got better with subsequent coats but it took a topcoat of Seche Vite to really even things out and get this puppy looking it's best. Parka Perfect dries naturally in average time to a smooth shiny finish. 

Photos show three coats of Parka Perfect over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche le Vite.

Essie Parka Perfect

Essie Parka Perfect

Essie Parka Perfect

Essie Parka Perfect

Essie Parka Perfect

Essie Parka Perfect

Essie Parka Perfect

Essie Parka Perfect

Essie Parka Perfect

Underpinning this demure pale blue-grey is a complexity that I find delicious and irresistible. Its beautiful composition is all the more endearing for asking only as much of your acknowledgement as you're prepared to offer without compromising an iota of its appeal. 

When I first saw Parka Perfect, I didn't think it was as properly a winter color as I do now, but I can see myself comfortably wearing this all year round. As you can tell by the range in my photos, the color has different nuances depending upon what sort of light is hitting it. For the purposes of spring, I think I prefer direct sunlight, where it has very nearly the appearance of a affable pastel cornflower blue with a drop of grey for added smoothness and sophistication. A very nice polish, indeed!

love,
Liz