Essie - Cocktail Bling Review

I tested my first Essie polish polish this week and, barring some tiny problems that are more my fault, I'm very satisfied.

Unfortunately, I didn't have an opportunity to take a picture during daytime, flash & photoshop will have to do. The polish colour is almost true to life (on my screen at least), even though my skin looks way off.

I used Essie's Cocktail Bling, a beautiful cool grey creme from the winter 2011 LE by the same name:

1 coat P2 Perfect Nail! Hardener + 2 coats Essie Cocktail Bling + 1 coat Essie Good To Go

Price & availability
7,95€ in Germany, currently only available in Douglas.

Formula & application
The formula is lovely, not too thick, not too thin. The colour is opaque after just one (thick) coat if you're careful. I wasn't, so I needed two. My biggest problem was the brush. It's just a midge too wide and flat and I found it very hard to judge how much polish is on it - I rarely have to dip again because I don't have enough, here I needed to do so with practically every nail. Still, I think it's something I can get used to and since I plan on buying many more Essie polishes, I'm sure I will. My application ended up somewhat uneven, but the topcoat took care of that.

Wear
Now, I have to say that polishes very, very rarely survive more than one day on my nails. I don't know why - maybe I'm using the wrong basecoat, maybe it's the topcoat or maybe just my nails, but practically everything starts chipping after 24 hours at the very latest. If they last 2 days without major wear, I'll be giving them top ratings. And nothing ever survives my retail job. Ever. Cocktail Bling lasted two full days before a tiny bit on the left thumb flaked off. I repaired the area and also another small bit that went when washing my hair. I did my nails on Sunday afternoon, it's Wednesday evening now and apart from those two chips I barely even have any tipwear. Not even on my right hand, which is usually the first to go. And... not even a scratch after an afternoon in the shop. I'm amazed. Stunned. In love. This is so totally worth every cent I paid for it. It's just... great.
I'll be taking it off now because I want another colour, but I'm sure it could last a fourth day easily. If all the Essie polishes are like that, they just gained a huge fan.