If you know anything about me or have seen my stash spreadsheet, you'll know I love unconventional colors. My collection of blues is nearly unbounded (yet there's always that one shade I'm missing every time I do nail art...), and I've got plenty of wild glitters that make me hate myself upon removal. I collect "rare" or indie finishes – holos, multichromes, the slick ultra-smooth metal of OPI Push and Shove. On my last trip to my nail supply, I bought two pots of loose iridescent glitter, a handful of searing neons, and some solid Nubar holos.

Lately, though, I've been gravitating towards clean staple neutrals. (What??) Today I'll be featuring one of my recent finds: Essie Peak Show.

Peak Show is a pale powder pink crème with cool undertones. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a pain to photograph, as my desk light kept washing the pink out and turning it white. (Maybe natural lighting would've worked better? We'll see under Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday.) Consequently, I had to significantly color tweak all photos.

Apologies for the blurriness here!

It's an absolutely lovely color, though. As a reviewer on Essie's website described it, it's "subtle but bold enough" – a stark but definitely softened near-white. I've been wearing it for the past two days, and just waving my fingers around and looking at them makes me feel unbelievably classy haha. Peak Show may just be my new favorite pink.

Here's a non-color-corrected photo to show just how pink Peak Show is next to Essie Blanc. It reads a little warmer here than in real life.

Essie Peak Show

Price: $8.50, standard retail

Size: 0.46 fl oz (standard) 

Finish: Undoubtedly crème.
Formulation: 3-free. 

Application: It went on smoothly, but it did suffer slight streakiness common to most whites. The pictures show three coats with Essie Ridge Filling base coat underneath and no top coat (more things planned for these nails!) A better manicurist could absolutely have gotten away with two perfect coats, but as my application was slightly sloppy and uneven, I went for three. Mostly opaque in two coats. 

Brush/bottle: Essie's bottles vary between retailer, but I purchased the "salon version" (not official name, I'm sure). This entails a sticker-free square glass bottle with "essie" molded into it – probably one of my favorite bottles. The brush is short and thin, with flexible bristles that do not fan out. Ideal for people with small/narrow nails. 

Overall: Love it! It may not even out perfectly for me, but a good thick layer of topcoat will solve all problems. Peak Show is what would happen if bubblegum Barbie pink grew up and decided to work a professional office job. 

Thanks for reading!

Bethany
Currently listening to Jet Lag by Simple Plan ft. Marie-Mai.

All polishes in this post purchased by author. Photos taken with an iPhone 6s and color-corrected in Adobe Photoshop CC 2015. 

Hello!

It's been a while. A really long while. (I've started a post with that exact sentence before, haven't I?) Approximately half a year and one semester of college later... Nails & Whales is back! (!!!!!!!!) Though I've been busy and blog-silent on the East Coast for the past four months, I've still been doing nail art and buying polishes. Probably way too many polishes. Result: I've got a whole pile of photos to process and a list of untrieds to attack.

College has been absolutely fantastic, though. (Shout out if you're from Brown and have somehow made your way here!) I've met some of the best people, pierced a nail and an ear, and raised a small child for a few months. All good stuff. On blogging, so many of my friends have opened introspective, serious blogs upon entering college – semi-regular reflections on life, personal growth, and philosophy. Meanwhile...

Nothing wrong with a profound appreciation for nail polish. It kinda relates to organic chemistry, right?

And with that, I'm very glad to be back!

Figured I'd feature a very celebratory polish for the occasion – what could be more appropriate than the legendary Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday? A dense mix of rainbow hex glitters in a clear base... blinged-out party confetti for your nails.

Or maybe cupcake sprinkles? Albeit a little more metallic. I'm excited to try HB over Essie Peak Show, a lovely powder pink creme I purchased a few weeks ago. Expect a post soon!  

Don't they complement each other so well? I'm thinking rainbow sprinkles on a strawberry frosted donut.

Promise I'll do my best to post more regularly this time around. I do have quite a lot of backlog, and I've got a new weekly feature in mind. Stay rad!

Bethany
Currently listening to Fall Harder by Skylar Spence.

All polishes in this post purchased by author. Photos taken with an iPhone 6s and color-corrected in Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.