I have been searching high and low for an opaque baby pink that is elegant and classy, and not too bubblegum pop which I think I've finally found with Essie's Minimalistic.

Two coats of Essie Minimalistic nail polish

Colour

Essie's Minimalistic is a beautiful, creamy baby pink that isn't too bright but also not too pale.  I find that it's just on the cusp of venturing into Baby Spice territory if it were a bit more bright or a bit more red/purple, but the polish manages to reel itself back and maintain a professional yet still girly and cute colour.

Opaqueness 

The first coat, like many of Essie's pinks, is rather sheer and streaky, however, on the second coat, it becomes 90% opaque with some areas still showing the nail due to streakiness.  I would recommend three coats if you want complete opaqueness.

Two coats of Essie Minimalistic nail polish

Formula and Finish

I had a bit of trouble with the formula unfortunately - or perhaps it's just my application technique.  The first coat goes on nicely, and the second coat can be hit or miss.  I found that the second coat can glide on to the nail easily - no streaks, no goopiness, and perfectly even or it can be a streaky mess with the polish drying too quickly and going on too thick to fix.  This is definitely a polish where a larger brush would help fix some of these issues.

Two coats of Essie Minimalistic nail polish

Additionally, I had a big problem with air bubbles with this polish - this is the first nail polish from any brand where I've encountered such a big problem with air bubbles.  After drying, the majority of my nails had dozens of minuscule bumps embedded under the polish which drove me crazy.  I redid my nails a couple times to try and get rid of the air bubbles and found that it was important to not shake the bottle, even a tiny bit, before applying.  If you did, you should let the polish sit for at least 10 minutes after shaking.  The one or two nails that dried smoothly had a nice finish but I found could be tad bit more shiny/glossy, but that's mostly just me nitpicking.  However, once I applied a top coat, the bumps went away and became nice, smooth and shiny.

Two coats of Essie's Minimalistic nail polish

Summary

Overall, I absolutely adore the colour - I like it a lot more than Essie's Fiji and it is a good change from when I want to get away from sheer pinks but still want something that can work in a professional environment.  However, the formula and finish for this polish requires a bit of work to get the polish on smoothly, consistently, and opaque.  Since I do like the colour so much, and the air bubbles issue goes away with a top coat, I would likely continue to use this polish and perhaps even repurchase.

I recently got the Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons palette for my birthday (thanks sis!).  Although it has already been reviewed and swatched to death, it probably wouldn't hurt to add more reviews and swatches to the internet for all the ladies and gentlemen out there deciding on purchasing one.  I was extremely excited to try this palette as I've heard great things about Too Faced shadows and it is also my first product from the cosmetics company.  The packaging is very cute and good quality.  It is a sturdy case but thin and light weight which I like.  It is easy to open as it has a magnetic clasp but I wish the magnets were a bit stronger just so it's better secured when travelling.




Like all Too Faced palettes, the Chocolate Bon Bons comes with a card with easy tutorials on three looks, usually a natural look, an evening look, and a fun look.  I haven't had a chance to try these eye looks yet, but I love how Too Faced includes these as it helps the creative juices flow when thinking of new looks, especially with the bolder colours in their palettes.





As you may have heard, this palette, along with all of the palettes in Too Faced "Chocolate" line, smells fantastic - like delicious milk chocolate.  I'm so tempted to lick the shadows to see if it tastes like chocolate as well, but it's probably not a good idea.  I found all of the colours to be pretty well pigmented, both using fingers and brushes.  However, comparing to MAC and Urban Decay shadows, I found all of the colours to be much more powdery than what I am used to.  It may be a matter of personal preference or just getting used to the shadows, but I'm not loving how the shadows apply to the eyes.  I find a lot of powder kicks up when using any of the shadows, even the more buttery ones such as Molasses Chip and Cafe Au Lait.  I find with shadows that are more powdery, it makes the palette dirtier quicker, the colours move around on the eye much more, muddy ing the eye looks, and it overall wastes more product.  This is just my initial impressions on this type of eyeshadow formulation, so after it get more used to it and find better techniques on how to apply to shadows, I may like it much more.



Despite my neutral feelings towards the eyeshadow formula, I do like the majority of the colours and found most of them to be very pigmented, and when applied with a finger, they are quite buttery though each shade has different degrees of "butteriness".  The mattes are also surprisingly pigmented and smooth, though there are one or two that goes on a bit patchy which I will point out later in the individual colour descriptions.  I find this palette has a good mixture of cool, warm and neutral shades, and I love how there a couple pops of colour to set it apart from all the neutral brown palettes out there.  I find you can create many looks for any situations with this palette - going to work, feeling lazy and just want to use one shadow (hello Molasses Chip, Cafe Au Lait and Satin Sheets!), going out, dressing up, etc... However, I also found some colours to look a bit too similar and if you use it together, there won't be enough contrast to tell them apart or they would just look somewhat muddy (e.g.: Sprinkles and Cotton Candy, Cashew Chew and Pecan Praline, Bordeaux and Mocha, Malted and Dark Truffle).





Overall, I do enjoy this palette.  I think this is a good option for those who do not have many neutral brown palettes, as this contains a wide variety of cool, warm, and neutral shades with some pops of colour.  This is great for travelling due to the sturdy case and mirror, and it has all the colours needed to produce a variety of looks.  Personally, I may need to play around with this palette a bit more before I can love it as I'm not accustomed to the powdery formula, but I definitely can see why many people rave about Too Faced eyeshadow palettes as the colours are very pigmented and they have a great, buttery texture (and also smells delicious).

This palette currently retails for $59.00 CAD at Sephora for a net product weight of 14.0 grams.  As a comparison, the Urban Decay Naked palettes retail for $66.00 CAD (net product weight 17.0 grams), the Tarte Tartelette palettes retail for $54.00 CAD (net product weight 18.0 grams), and MAC x15 Netural Palettes retail for $85.00 CAD (net product weight 19.5 grams)

You can purchase Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons Palette HERE

I used to always be a dark nail polish girl - reds, dark pinks, stormy purples, and mauvy greys.  However, I've recently began loving nudes and sheer pinks.  Simple, yet elegant, giving the "my nails but better" appearance.  They do take a big more work to get down, as you often have to do more than one layer, but they also last much longer as small chips and worn edges aren't as visible.


This week I've been sporting "Hi Maintenance" by Essie.  This is a neutral toned, sheer peachy pink.  It is slightly more sheer and slightly more pink than OPI's "Bubble Bath", but still very similar.

Three coats of Hi Maintenance by Essie, no top coat

The first coat goes on basically transparent and does not look very appealing.  The second coat deepens the colour and gives a very natural look to the nails.  The third coat really brings the polish to the next level.  Once dried, the polish makes your nails look like those fake nails you see in the drugstore, but much prettier.  The nail line is still very much visible, however that is what I feel give this a "MNBB" appearance.  The finish is very glossy which I love.

If you prefer opaque nude nails, this isn't the polish for you, however if you, like me, do like to see the visible nail line in certain polishes, I would recommend this polish.


I do like the formula, despite it being a sheer polish, I found the consistency to be very good - not too thick and not too thin.  I don't find it to be streaky and it dried at an average speed.  I've been wearing it for about a week now and I only see one teeny tiny chip on the side of my thumb nail.


Overall Score:
Colour - 4/5
Formula - 4/5
Packaging - 3/5 (not the biggest fan of Essie brushes, it's a bit too thin for me)
Price - 3.5/5 ($9.99 CAD, but Essie polishes are often on sale where I'm from)

You can purchase Essie's Hi Maintenance nail polish HERE