Monday, August 29, 2011

Hellpolish - Essie Barbuda Banana


I don't have many HTF (hard-to-find) polishes in my stash. This one was fairly recently acquired, and I was so excited! I've always wanted a soft yellow, and you know how much I love Essie...so I thought this would be perfect!

Alas...


Looks nice, eh? Lies!! It's a beast!! This is by far the rougest time I've ever had with a polish. I struggled. It was epic. It manages to be runny and streaky, but chalky. Thick and gloopy, but no pigment. Hellpolish. I suppose it is the nature of yellows though right? Even though I had to battle with it, I am still debating keeping it - Essies are so special to me, and I adore the colour so so much. Rumour has it that Essie is coming out with some easter-egg brights for next spring - perhaps my perfect yellow will be in that bunch?

Have you had any experience with pale yellows - good or bad?

kittytokaren


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27 comments:

Georgina said...

CHANEL's Mimosa was a pain to apply! i needed to go to a warm place to make it run smoother! but yeah, it looks nice when worn. :P

ReecesPeeces said...

Yes ma'am China Glaze (sorry I know you h8) Lemon Fizz is, while not perfect in application, a very nice buttery pale yellow. 3 coats. It can be a bit streaky, but it is really relatively easy to work with as far as pastels go.

Ruthy said...

Illamasqua Blow and Wayward are the best I have found. I have two Essie colours that I hate (plain old black and white) but their Good to Go is my favourite topcoat. Weird.

Interesting post, Essie's seem to polarize opinion.

Marina said...

My experience is that all pastel yellows are a streaky mess when it comes to application. I understand that's a general problem with pastel polishes. But it looks pretty nonetheless :)

beachgal said...
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Katie said...

Wish the application was better, this polish looks very pretty! I look forward to Essie's easter-egg brights!

beachgal said...
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beachgal said...

Yes ma'am! I am with dysfunctionalKid - all the pastel yellows tend to be chalky and streaky. If you find a really top cream polish line like Deb. Lippmann, you often get around that problem...but not always. I also cannot think of any pastel yellow DL that has been made in the recent past, certainly none in the current for sale market. You might try putting a really good cream nude shade down first - then your cream yellow for the next 2 coats and see how you do.

beachgal said...

Just looked back at the end of your blog - and I also recall seeing photos/info from Cosmopro about Essie having an Easter Egg collection next spring. I am sure they will do a pastel yellow in it. Not that means it will be any less chalky or streaky.

Eleobel said...

china glaze lemon fizz is the best pastel yellow ive tried its light bright and applies like a dream (perfect in two coats for me) just give in and get it you wont be sorry : )

Jeanie said...

I have American Apparel's Butter, and when I first bought it, it was smooth as butter, but as it's gotten to be a year old, it's gloopy, but nothing that can't be smoothed out with Seche!

Ariel Braverman said...

I feel the same way about Revlon Top Speed in Electric. Total pain. Tried to wear it once, and ended up taking the (blotchy and chalky) polish off within hours. The worst ever. I hate yellows.

Fashionisaparty.com (Suz) said...

i love soft yellow!

greeneyespinknails said...

Oh this is a lovely color! What a shame it's formula is troublesome. I hate it when I love the color of a polish but totally dislike it's consistency...Often happens with white based lacquers.
I don't have any creamy yellow polishes to recommend but I'll let you know if I find one.

Melissa said...

Here's a nice pale yellow

http://chloesnails.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-about-some-lemonade.html

Anonymous said...

A very pretty polish!

Courtney said...

Oh, but it looks so lovely!! I had a decent time applying American Apparel Butter, but the best pale yellow I ever applied was RBL Square Pants. Hands down! I know you're not an RBL girl, but this one applied like a DREAM! :-)

Lucy said...

If I didn't know better you'd think it was just a perfect soft yellow. It is a very pretty yellow. I haven't found any yellows that aren't a gigantic pain in the butt. I hope Essie does come out with a good soft yellow.

lilacsrip said...

I bought China Glaze Lemon Fizz because most review said it applies well. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me. It's streaky and thick and takes three coats to even out :(

Krissy said...

I have lemon fizz from china glaze and that one gives me trouble too. I hope your right about the essie collection.

hermetic said...

it looks so pretty too bad about the application

Unknown said...

I'm glad you're going back to your squoval shape! I think it suits your nail bed a bit better than straight-up oval. As a follower of a few nail blogs, I've always admired your natural, chic shorter nails! :)

The Lacquered Lady said...

I love this color but really hate the name. Maybe it's because I know military personnel, but whenever I think of shrapnel, the color of a penny is not what comes to mind...

Anonymous said...

Such a pretty color! It's too bad it applies so poorly because I was just thinking about a Jordan almond theme mani, haha. Essie Lilacism, OPI What's with the Cattitude, a white,a yellow and a green at least.

Lizzie said...

I loooove yellow nail polish. Yellow Kitty by Sally Hansen CSM is a great pale yellow! and I think it has a great easy to work with formula. Its not as pale as this one though

positdesign said...

Another vote for sally hansen yellow kitty. It's my perfect pale, and I love the texture and brush shape.

Jeanette said...

Revlon makes a fast dry pale yellow called electric. It's not a creme polish (sadly as I often do not want shimmer), but the shimmer is pretty subtle and it's the best yellow I've worked with, pale or not. If you're careful it is almost good in one coat, just not quite. But it definitely can be done in two.

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