Julep Mandy

Look away if you don't want to see lobster hands!! LOL!

Julep Mandy is a bright neon pinkish red. I would almost call this a jelly because it is saturated, yet sheer, but it does not dry to a squishy jelly finish. I love the color of this, but I will certainly be saving it for summer time when I have a little more color to my skin, as this is not so flattering on pale skin with red undertones :)

Two coats, no top coat:

OPI Big Apple Red

OPI Big Apple Red is the perfect blend between jelly and creme. I think OPI does this finish the best of all polish brands. First of all, the pictures are only one coat. There is a bit of VNL, but it's not as noticeable in real life as it is in the pics. I'm sure a second coat would have solved that. Second, it has that great, super shiny, squishy quality about it that I love. More opaque than a jelly, but still has the jelly finish. Love.

One coat:

Reds aren't the most flattering color on me, but I still like to break them out once and a while because I think they are a really classic color and work well with nail art!

Essie Leading Lady

Essie's Leading Lady was just released in the Leading Lady Collection for Winter 2012. It's a pinkish red base packed with red glitter.

I haven't quite made my mind up about this polish, yet. The good is that it is super sparkling, perfect for the Holidays, and really just a beautiful color. Unfortunately, I do not particularly care for reds on me, and the formula was not the greatest.

The first coat went on horribly uneven and kind of clumpy. The second coat evened things out a little bit, but there was still some splotchy spots and it looked almost bumpy from all the glitter. I was honestly tired of messing around with trying to work with the formula and just topped it off with a heavy layer of Seche Vite, which evened things out and really brought out the sparkle.

In the end, I am leaning more towards liking this polish, but I may put some thinner in it if I use it again.  I think I may layer some gold glitter over it and see how it looks. I am really loving red & gold together for the holidays this year.

Did you pick up any of the polishes from Essie's holiday collection this year? What are your thoughts??