Half Moon Manicure with Essie + How to

So, I don't know about everyone else, but I am loving the new half moon manicure trend. But, if you're like me, you want to know how to do it yourself. Well, I've tried two different techniques to do this. The first is the free hand technique with a nail brush. This is where you place the light coat on your nails first and then dip a small nail art brush (or small acrylic brush) into the darker color to draw the moons. Then you use the rest of the darker color to fill in. This is difficult for me despite my ability to use my left hand pretty well. So, what to do?

I found via youtube that another technique is to use binder reinforcements to create the moon shape and paint over it as a guide. That, my friends, is what I did here. However, I found that it's easier to cut the binder reinforcements in half to make it easier to stick them to your nails.

So, this is what you do:
1. Paint nails all over with a base color. I prefer to make this a light color since you're going to be going over it later. This is the color of the 'moons'.

2. place the reinforcements on, one hand at a time, and paint over in your top color. I would advise that these colors have good contrast to make it stand out more.

3. remove reinforcements and add a top coat. done!

Below is my finished product. I have Essie's 'imported bubbly' on the bottom and essie's 'coat azure' on the top.

Sorry for the blurry pic below, but it's a good close up of the moons.

Essie: Cute as a button Swatch and Review

More Essie! I don't think that Essie has the same range of colors that OPI or China Glaze has but the colors that they do have seem very unique to me. I always end up in the Essie section of Target determining my next purchase. This time, it's Essie's Cute as A Button. This is evidently from a 2009 summer collection, but I'm just discovering it. Corals are going to be huge this year - nails, lips, etc... So I figured this is the perfect coral shade for me to start the season with. I found no problems with application or otherwise. It did take me three coats to get the color you see below but that's nothing abnormal as lighter colors usually take me about three. I used a fast dry topcoat after application which gave it more shine. ^^The bottle itself

^^Label and color name

^^ Picture taken without flash, indoors.

^^ Picture taken with flash indoors.

Essie: Sand Tropez Swatch and Review

Essie!!! It used to be that Essie could only be bought at places such as Ulta. However, recently, Essie has made its debut in CVS, Rite Aid, and Target (probably walgreens too, but I haven't checked). Which means..........you can use extra care bucks and up rewards from CVS and Rite aid to buy Essie polish. So, that's exactly what I did.
I have always been a big fan of bright or dark nail polishes but I have been wanting to try the nude polish trend and Essie had the perfect color: Sand Tropez. I thought I'd like the color but I didn't realize how much. I love this color. It almost blanks out my nails against the pale color of my skin. It's pretty neat; I welcome the change from my traditional polish selections. the picture below if of the bottle.


As far as the polish application and the polish itself, Essie holds up to OPI in quality. The polish applied smoothly and evenly. I always top it off with a fast dry top coat, so I can't say a whole lot for the drying time. Also, I noticed that in my second day of wear, it chips less than a brand like China Glaze. So, overall, Essie is a winner in my book. CVS and Target have a good selection of shades to try out and I think I will definately purchase again.


The label for the color. Sand Tropez.

This picture was taken with some daylight streaming in. I think it does the best job of showing the color.

This was taken in the indoor light with no flash.