Essie: Set in Stones & Where's My Chauffeur? Reverse Gradient

After eyeing Set in Stones for a while, I finally got it! It's basically just a silver glitter polish, so I could never justify paying so much when there's probably many dupes out there...but I've yet to find one and I always see nice manis done with it. But alas I got it :D

I don't know if there's an actual term for it (and I might even be using the wrong one) but I did a reverse gradient with Set in Stones, where I basically did the effect from the top down instead of from the tips up. I always thought it looked nice, so I wanted to give it a try too!

Set in Stones (2-3 coats) over Where My Chauffeur (3 coats) + top coat

Wish I had better quality photos! I couldn't really get it to focus properly and there was the glare too. 

Essie: Where's My Chauffeur?

I've been looking all over for Where's My Chauffeur? after seeing it a lot on Instagram. It was was either constantly sold out or not available at all. Luckily the boyfriend found it for me and picked it up. YAY thanks <3 

I know that this color is being compared a lot to China Glaze For Audrey, and from what I've gathered they're not dupes at all. For Audrey is greener and a bit dustier looking, whereas Where's my Chauffeur is more blue. I haven't done a direct comparison yet, but I'm pretty sure what I've been reading is accurate.

More phone photos because I still don't have my memory card.

Where's My Chauffeur? 3 coats + top coat

Application: It was just like any polish. It took three coats for opacity, maybe 2 if you use thicker coats.

Color: It's a very nice robin egg blue. It dried slightly darker than the bottle.

I don't really have much to say about this polish LOL but it's a very nice color. I dunno why but I really wanted it but now that I have it, I don't feel as excited about the color anymore. Don't get me wrong because I do think it's a very pretty color. I haven't used For Audrey in a while, so I can't really say which one I'd pick out of the two. 

Essie Braziliant

Today I have a swatch of Essie Braziliant. It was released for the Summer 2011 collection, and I got it in Canada earlier this year. 

In direct sunlight:

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Bottle closeups:

Braziliant is a very bright color and perfect for the summer. It's orange, but has pink shimmers. In a way it comes off as a very bright coral color. It dries darker than the bottle and slightly less shimmery. It was relatively easy to apply, but got slightly lumpy towards the end. One coat is pretty opaque, but you'll need two coats to cover everything. I used two coats, and topped it with Essie Good to Go. The dry time between each coat was quick. :)

My nails get into such bad shape every time I do my nails ): So I've been holding back since graduation and finally gave in again T__T; I was planning on only doing nails for Independence Day, but gave in and did mine with Braziliant.