Application was lovely. The consistency of Garden Variety is fluid, thinner and very creamy with a plush glide over the nail and excellent self-leveling properties. Pigmentation is excellent for a formula with creme/jelly hybrid characteristics. I've read reviews that gave it one-coat-wonder status, but I think it's better at two coat since it does have a touch of translucence, especially if you paint in thin coats. I had a little difficulty reacclimating to Essie's slender brush, which resulted in thinner coats on some nails and thicker ones on others, so I needed a third coat to even things up across the board, but if you tend towards thin to medium coats and have a more even hand than I do, two will give you very nice, evenly opaque coverage. Cleanup was easy and straightforward with surprisingly little pigment travel for such a well-pigmented polish and no noticeable residual staining. Some reviewers have reported light staining to the nail upon removal of this polish. If that's my experience I'll add a postscript. Garden Variety dries naturally in good time to a gorgeous glossy finish.
Photos show three coats of Garden Variety over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Usually my camera is fairly dependable when it comes to reproducing blue-greens, but it had trouble with this one. In person, Garden Variety is slightly more green than what you see here. Also, the overhead sun reflecting off of the floor caused my pinkage to glow like the dickens in the photos today. Please overlook, if possible!
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
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| Essie Garden Variety |
Other reviewers had difficulty getting color-accurate photos of Garden Variety too, but if you'd like to see a review with photos that I consider to be very true to how this polish appears in person, check out Karen Falcon's post on Beauty Geek, here.
You Spin Me Round was released by Canadian indie polish maker Girly Bits as part of the Hoop There It Is collection last month. It's the glitter topper of the collection, with variably-sized black and white hexes, silver flakes and tiny silver holographic particles suspended in a clear base. I'd never tried a black and white glitter topper before and figured it was time to do so. I'm really glad I ordered this, it's so cute! The black and white glitters are just the right size and the silver flakes are a genius touch, they add a dash of gleam to the sparkle of the holo bits.
The suspension base is fluid and easy to work with, not sticky at all. Glitter payoff is fantastic. A plethora of components are available with even a lightly loaded brush and disperse beautifully over the nail. Cleanup was unexpectedly easy, and You Spin Me Round dries naturally in very good time to a shiny, slightly textured finish.
Photos show one coat of You Spin Me Round over the Garden Variety manicure above, with a coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food followed by a topcoat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl.
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
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| Girly Bits You Spin Me Round over Essie Garden Variety |
FYI, this also looks great matte, which emphasizes the gleam of the silver flakes. I'm not sure whether I'd layer You Spin Me Round over a neon just yet, but I adore it over Garden Variety's medium teal blue. Such fun and very sparkly in direct sunlight! The only thing I'll do differently next time is try to be a little more even handed in my application, but I have that problem with toppers generally. I need to keep in mind that you can always add more if you think it needs more, but once it's on there you can't take it away.
Garden Variety feels like it would be a good base for any number of glitter toppers. It's got that strength of color without being too dark. You could easily dainty it up with white, silver or gold glitters, or create something really colorful with wilder mix.
Thanks for visiting my blog!
love,
Liz
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