NOTD: Essie Cocktail Bling

I've never been the biggest fan of sales shopping. In fact, rummaging through the rails at the Topshop mid-season sale is pretty close to my idea of a nightmare! All that pushing and shoving, and almost inevitable disappointment makes me the kind of person who usually wouldn't touch TK Maxx with a barge pole. Rails and rails of random stuff sounds too much like hard work to me!

On the other hand, my Mum absolutely loves it in there, and always comes away with some cute home stuff, new shoes or a handbag! On a recent shopping trip we went into TK Maxx and I sloped off to the beauty section whilst she picked out some new bathroom bits and bobs (shabby chic wooden duck ornament anyone?). I was surprised to find that there were loads of really good brands available (you might have seen my tweet!), Essie being one of them!

There were a few packs to choose from, each one included a 'nail care' product and a nail polish. I chose a pack with Essie Ridge Filling Base Coat and Cocktail Bling. I was really impressed with the price - just £7.99 for the two. I think the base coat is being discontinued and Cocktail Bling is from their Winter 2011 collection hence the low price.

Cocktail Bling is a gorgeous blue toned grey, with hints of lavender. It applied really easily, with two thin coats shown below. I used CND Stickey base coat (~£5.28 eBay) and OPI RapiDry top coat (~£6.24 eBay). You can see a few tiny streaks but these weren't noticeable in real life - you could always apply a third coat for complete opacity.

This manicure has held up really well on me - almost two days with only a few chips. I think because am quite 'hands on' my nails chip badly, but it might be because I always use Seche Vite (~£5.41 eBay) which is very thick. I might just stick to that for very last minute manicures in the future!

Overall, Cocktail Bling is a really pretty yet sophisticated colour. I'd recommend checking your local TK Maxx for Essie products! If you really want to get hold of Cocktail Bling you can buy in on US eBay for about £5.75 including P&P. You can also buy the Ridge Filling Base Coat from US eBay for about £6.08 including P&P.
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