Essie: penny talk

Happy Long-weekend!

Today I have "penny talk" from Essie.  When the Mirror Metallics collection came out last summer, I wasn't sure if I would pick up any.  I'm not really into having my nails look metallic.  However I saw swatches of penny talk and I thought it looked so unique. It's not simply copper, but it looks rose gold like.  I only say that because it looks like a new penny but lighter.  It's not as dark as I picture copper to be, or how copper as a colour is usually produced for products or nail polish.  Then I bought "good as gold" and "no place like chrome" to use for stamping.  I found that Essie nail polishes are great to use for stamping.

Thoughts:
I wore this without a top coat.  I remember reading on Essie's Facebook page or somewhere to use a base coat as a nail smoother, thin layers of this polish but you don't need a top coat since the finish is a metallic matte finish.  I used a base coat but knew before hand that the ridges on my nails will appear.  I remember trying to apply this when I first bought it last summer and had a lot of difficulty.  I believe others had that problem too, which is why on their Facebook page there were suggestions on how to apply the polish.  Since it was Valentine's Day week, I wanted something pink like but different.  That's when I decided to give penny talk another chance.

After my basecoat, this was very hard to apply.  I used two coats and between coats, I made sure I gave the first coat enough time to dry in order to go to the next coat.  I remembered from last year that it tugged a little bit of the bottom layer because it dries so quickly and it looked like a mess.  So, I did the same this time and it still tugged a bit.  Most of my nails I used two coats, for the ones that looked messy I just went over that section with another thin layer.  Once I was done, the polish seemed to smooth itself over, or at least for me it appeared that way.

Since I did not have a top coat, the polish faded very quickly.  I washed something on the first day and it looked like it was being rubbed off.  I wouldn't call it chipping but it was being rubbed off.  I wore this polish from Sunday to Thursday.  By Thursday, some of the rubbing was interesting, it had a bit of black marks, like real metal.  I didn't mind that but next time I may try to put a top coat on.  Another reason I decided not to have a top coat is because I didn't want it to tug and drag.

My coworker liked the colour but she commented how it was somewhat flashy.  I looked at my nails in the washroom mirror and I liked the way it looked.  Flashy but nice :)

Breakdown:
Basecoat: Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Colour layer: Essie penny talk (2 coats)

 The ridges are pretty apparent but that's my nail

  Essie: penny talk

Essie: penny talk bottle shot

Essie: penny talk over bikini so teeny.  I used this to enter in an Instagram contest for Essie's Fall Collection.  Penny talk was so nice to use for stamping.  There were no problems with putting a top coat over this.  (Only after taking the pictures did I notice that I was very bad at applying a base coat).

Essie is available at Trade Secrets, Wal-mart, and Shoppers Drug Mart.  Prices vary.  I bought mine at SDM for $9.99 on sale.