A newfound love affair for licorice

When I was younger, I really really did not like licorice. It was the one form of sweet I would not put in my mouth under any circumstance (and believe me, I put a lot of sweets into my mouth as a child #fatkid). However, thanks to Essie, I have now developed a love for licorice.

This is the first Essie nail polish I have ever bought. £7.99 always seemed a bit much (or a lot much) to spend on a nail polish, but I cracked (here). I'm actually glad I cracked because the formulation of this nail polish is the nicest one I've ever tried, and I've tried a fair few in my time. Nail polish is hard to get right with me for several reasons:

1. I can't apply it for fudge, seriously if it's not a big brush, I just can't do it so -clears throat- I like big brushes and I cannot lie

2. Even if I have managed to apply it nicely, I can't keep my hands still, I have to do things and that usually entails smudging my averagely applied nail polish so I need as quick drying a formula as possible

3. I do a lot with my hands, I have to write long essays (I do Philosophy and History A level, it's a bundle of fun) and I play piano (grade 8 is no joke folks) so this leaves my nail polish prone to chipping, so I need a nail polish that chips as little as possible

4. I need one coat wonders with nail polish, I can't sit for ages applying coat after coat with a streaky nail polish because, as the wise Kimberly 'Sweet Brown' Wilkins once said, 'ain't nobody got time fo' dat'

5. I don't really have a fifth reason, I just wanted a list of five to emulate Rob Fleming from High Fidelity

I'd be lying if I said this nail polish didn't chip, I found minute (literally tiny tiny barely noticeable) chips after a day or two of wearing them, then I found after vigorously playing piano (seriously, I meant it when I said grade 8 piano is no joke) that it chipped a little bit more but it was nothing a touch up job couldn't fix. I've only found that I've only had a small issue with chipping if I'm playing a lot of piano or if I'm trying to get a tricky bit of plastic wrapping off from a DVD* and even then it's nothing a touch up job can't fix, otherwise we're coming up to 5 days strong.

This is possibly the quickest drying nail polish I've ever used, thoroughly dry within 2-3 minutes. Probably quicker than that, but I get concerned about the possibility of smudging, so I haven't tried touching it before then, but even so that's pretty darn impressive. A factor of the fast drying property is probably the fact that you only need one coat, it's opaque and the brush is wide so only one coat is really need.

So whilst £7.99 may seem a lot for a nail polish, it's pretty hard to fault, and I'm pretty certain I'll be buying more Essie nail polishes in my future nail varnish ventures.

What's your favourite nail polish brand?

*#FirstWorldProblems

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