Of all the shades Essie's has available and of those I own I decided to do this week long study using Where's My Chauffeur. I choose this color for two reasons of which both are closely related. The first is that I absolutely adore this beautiful soft turquoise shade and the second is that this is one of the only two polishes that I brought with me when I went on Holiday. I did not purchase this polish, but had won it in a Beauty Supply Plus giveaway a month or so ago.
I decided to start this study in the middle of my vacation because if I started it at the beginning of vacation it would be very difficult for me to keep it on once it began chipping. I also wanted to make sure that I would still have it on when I got home and back to regular chores so that the polish was exposed to similar hardships as the previous ones that I have already study.
Price Range - $3 - $25
Average Price - $6 - $8
(Moderately Priced)
Initial Impressions
Essie's has upwards of 200 colors to choose from and depending on where you purchase it from the prices can vary greatly for the same shade of polish. I started purchasing Essie when I found a beauty supply store that offered them at a far more reasonable price than department stores (i.e. Target). The experience I have had with Essie has been both good and bad. However, I really like there colors and they are quite popular so I wanted to do this "study" on their polish.
Initial Impressions | ||
Packaging | Simple, not a lot of draw | 2 |
Uniqueness | The square bottle is an Essie signature. When you see this bottle you know without even looking at the labeling that it is Essie. | 3 |
Storing | The square bottle makes it easy to store tightly in draws or on shelves or pretty much anywhere. | 3 |
Labeling | Most of the pertinent information is folded on a small tag on the underside of the bottle. I don't like this because they can tear off easily. | 1 |
Total | 9/12 | |
Application
The application of this went relatively smooth, the first coat was very thin and kind of streaky. However, the second coat went on much smoother. This seems to me to be very typical of Essie polishes that I have dealt with. I did have a bit of a thin spot on one finger but I assume this is because I applied the second coat a little too soon after the first coat.
Application | ||
Applicator Handle | Typical design that makes it easy to hold and maneuver. | 3 |
Applicator Brush | A little firmer than I prefer. | 2 |
Polish Thickness | A bit thin for my liking. | 2 |
Number of Coats | 2 coats to achieve desired appearance. | 3 |
Drying Time | Dry to the touch in less than 5 minutes. Completely dry in 15 minutes. | 3 |
Similarity to Color in the Bottle | Identical. | 3 |
Total | 16/18 | |
Day to Day
I applied this on Tuesday midday while my little one was napping. We were on holiday so I had to use a desk in the room as my work space. I apologize in advance for some of the randomness with the pictures backgrounds and lighting because they were taken in different areas with different lighting because of our travels.
Day 1 - Because we were holiday there were no chores involved. However, within the first 24 hours I did get a little chip on one finger on my left hand (my non-dominant hand). We had spent most of the day at an indoor playground for my daughter. Chasing a little person and keeping them from damaging themselves can be tough on ones hands : )
Day 2 - Consisted of sight seeing and swimming.
Day 3 - It was time to head home so we started with a flight between Augusta, GA and Charlotte, NC. After a long delay for a flight to NY it was cancelled due to weather : (. We ended up pulling an all nighter and driving from Charlotte to our home in NY.
In addition to the disappointment of how or traveling plans were turning out I was also disappointed as to how my polish was holding up. I had anticipated the dryness that traveling causes my hands and nails so I kept a small bottle of lotion and a cuticle oil pen on me and frequently moisturized my hands. This should help keep the nails more flexible to keep the nails from breaking and the polish from chipping. However, this was not the case by the end of the day the polish was significantly chipped and there was far more crazing than was previously noticeable.
Day 4 - Finally, back home! I did absolutely nothing but veg, I was so exhausted from the trip.
Day 5 - Time to get things back in order. I spent the majority of this day unpacking and doing laundry.
Day 6 - I spent this day getting back into my daily grind. I went to the gym to work out, ran some errands, and went grocery shopping. How exciting : P
Day 7 - This was a bit of a normal day for me. In addition to normal chores, I scrubbed my floors, took my daughter to tumbling class, did yard work, and ended the evening with baby bath time.
Here is the daily score for this Essie polish...
Daily Scores | |
| Day 1 | 8 |
| Day 2 | 9 |
| Day 3 | 6 |
| Day 4 | 8 |
| Day 5 | 6 |
| Day 6 | 5 |
| Day 7 | 5 |
| Total | 47/70 |
I really like the colors that Essie has to offer. Their colors are elegant and beautiful. Through this study I had moments of disappointment but overall the wear of this polish was pretty good. This is only the third polish that I have performed this study with. Essie scored a 72 out of 100 which gives it a B- based on my scoring methods. For the pricing of this polish this is pretty much what I have come to expect for wear.
Please let me know if you like these studies, if you find them useful or not. If not I'll probably give up doing these studies. They are very difficult for me to do because it requires me to wear the same polish for a whole week. For someone with a severe polish addiction that is a significant challenge. I'm sure some of you know what I mean.
Thank you for taking a look at this post. Please stay tuned, I promise I will be posting some pretty stuff soon. I'll see you all next time.
Your Fellow Plebe,
