BEAUTY REVIEW: Essie in Lilacism

SOURCE:  Essie website

Recently, I've been making a conscious effort to polish my nails.  I keep buying bottles of pretty nail polish shades, but never get around to polishing my nails.  Thus, I am making an effort to get off of my lazy butt and start polishing and manicuring my own nails.

As part of my effort, I am also trying to use all the colors that I currently own.  I bought Essie's Lilacism several months ago at my local drugstore.  I was looking for something pale/neutral with a hint of lavender.  Even though Lilacism looked a little darker than what I had in mind, I thought that I would give it a whirl.  So what did I think?  The verdict is still out.

Perhaps it is because I am so used to neutral, pink, and red shades on my finger nails.  Or, perhaps I am used to a polish with more shimmer.  Whatever the reason may be, I am just not totally head over heels for this shade.  The polish is opaque, which I like because I find that many of the Essie polishes are sheer.  I only needed to apply two coats of polish to achieve my desired finish.  Lilacism does not have any shimmer or sparkle to it, but leaves a very shiny opaque finish.  A plus for this type of finish is that your application does not have to be super straight.  For a little more desired sparkle, add a glitter top coat.  The application was pretty easy; no noticeable streaking, which Essie is also known to perform.

My nails with Essie's Lilacism

THE PROS

• Availability:  Essie polishes are now widely available at more large retail drugstore chains, including Target and Walgreens.  I remember the days when we needed to visit the salon to get our hands on Essie polishes.  In fact, I didn't even hear about Essie polishes until about five years ago.  I got this bottle at Longs Drugs.
• Affordability:  Essie polishes are not cheap, but they are not crazy expensive either.  For the quality, you get a solid product at a reasonable prices.
• Performance:  As stated above, this polish is opaque and does not streak on application.  I used the Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat; two coats of Essie's Lilacism; and Seche Vite top coat. I did my nails on Sunday night and after five days, I don't see any noticeable chips; just a little wear and tear on the tips of my nails, but that is due to typing on my keyboard at work.  Since Lilacism is a lighter shade, little chips in your polish isn't very noticeable.

THE  CONS

• Color:  Despite a good performance, I am not crazy about the color.  The lighting in the picture above lightens the actually color of the nails.  It is very lavender; almost the shade of an Easter egg.  In fact, after I finished polishing my nails, I thought that perhaps I should wear this shade for the Spring rather than the Fall.

One would think that after three pro points and only one con point that I would give this product a thumb up.  However, the color point really weighs heavy for me.  I don't dislike it enough to give it a thumbs down.  After all, if I really hated it, I would have taken it off and changed my polish.  I am going to keep Lilacism in the rotation, but perhaps I will revisit it when the Spring rolls around.