The Essie "Clambake" Mystery

The Essie "Clambake" Mystery

Today I have for you an unusual post. Polishes I have yet to even swatch. I came across these polishes at Job Lot and immediately noticed the trademark Essie bottles amongst the other polishes in the discount bin. Two dollar Essie? I sure will! It wasn't until I started looking at the colors at the bottom that I realized many of them were labeled the same. "Clambake". Well obviously someone F-d up. I pulled out my phone and googled what Clambake was supposed to look like and still I'm not sure any of these are Clambake.

(L-R) Clambake, Clambake, Clambake, Clambake and Clambake....just kidding

Pretty, if not Perfect

 Every single one of these is labeled the same Clambake #476. Each one has a white Essie cap with an E and no label. Except the furthest one to the right which is labeled on the top "Damsel in a Dress". This seems to be the accurate color labeling. None of these bottles have the clear/white Essie label on the side of the bottle leading me to believe they are all slip-ups that were never fully rendered. It appears though that the only problem was that they had Clambake printed on the bottom. If Damsel is one of the slipups however, I'm not sure what the others are because they don't match up with any of the other Winter 2008 Collection.

(L-R) Aruba Blue, Downtown Brown, Bordeaux

Here we have a few more that I found in the discount bin. Aruba Blue which is missing its clear/white side stickers but seems to be color-accurate. Downtown Brown, and Bordeaux which are similar but definitely not the same. I also found Angora Cardi but I already had that one at home (damn, kicking myself for paying full price). 

Anyways, it was very curious but I'm glad someones screw up led to more polish landing cheaply in my collection. For this my badly-labeling-factory-worker-friend you WIN!

So any guess on what these mystery colors really are? I saw a bottle of Geranium correctly labeled in the bin right next to the reddest of the "Clambake" colors and it seemed in bottle to be a perfect dupe....

Essie: Cascade Cool

Essie Cascade Cool

Alright so first up from my collection of unposted manicures: (as I've decided I mostly like reviewing polish) Essie Cascade Cool.

Cascade Cool is a bright pale pink that leans blue. It is a cream from Essie's Summer 2012 Bikini So Teeny line. I know it was meant for summer but once all the hot summer neon colors came out these pretty cremes just seemed to fall by the wayside in my collection. I haven't even gotten around to wearing Bikini So Teeny and the summer is half over :gasp:

 

Formula was the usual for Essie. Visible nail line with two coats and slightly streaky which evens out by the third coat. I really enjoyed this color as I was finished but was skeptical during coat 1 & 2. By the third coat I was feeling the Barbie Pink and decided to throw on a few gemstones for good measure!

 

I will definitely reach for this color again. I am a fiend for a good pink (as you will soon find out) and this one is super cute and goes with my skin (cool undertones). 

What do you think?

Essie: Playdate

Essie: Playdate

So, I finally got my hands on this little gem. I had been going back and forth about getting this ever since I saw it in Walgreens a few weeks ago. I ended up purchasing something else but googled it later and after hearing rave reviews about the formula and rooting through my collection to see if I had a similar purple shade I decided I had to have it. Went back last week, damn if they weren't sold out. ::facepalm:: totally knew I shoulda bought it the other day. Anyhow, managed to find it at Walmart the other day tossed behind some other stuff. It's weird because Walmart doesn't seem to know which colors are "new". The other day I found a lone bottle of Go Overboard on clearance. Sure...if two months ago is outdated, I'll take a discount ;) Rambling...on to the review.


Formula: C
I don't know what everyone is talking about. Mine was goopy, probably correctable with thinner but I didn't try. Maybe its the humidity...In either case this was one of the most difficult to work with Essies I have. It was fairly self leveling so that helped but still didn't defeat the brush strokey-ness (word?)
Color: A
I must be on a purple kick, because I realized I bought some Revlon Liquid Lipstick in a similar shade...but this purple is fabulous. Reminds me of a muted, retro Fanta purple. Got several compliments on this at work today.
Chipping: A
No chipping so far, the pics are after two days of wear. I'm a working mom so I get my hands dirty...crap polish doesn't last a day. 

And yes I'm reading Hunger Games. Two coats here of Playdate on the pinky, middle, and index. Two coats of China Glaze Liquid Crystal on the ring as an accent.

I still recommend getting this. I think I might add a little thinner next time I use it, and maybe use three coats if it seems thin. The color payout is phenom, which keeps me coming back. The price ehhhh...you know, it's the colors with Essie. They'd better hope Sinful Colors doesn't start matching them in the pastels department because their price would really give Essie a run.