Essie Mink Muffs

My skin tone hates me.  I originally intended for this post to be about OPI Tickle My France-y.  The other day hubby and I were invited to a dinner party, which made me incredibly short on time for my manicure.  It's a nude polish that walks the line between creme and sheer.  Nudes are extremely forgiving in their application, which made it perfect since I didn't have all the time in the world to be cleaning up my inevitably sloppy manicure.  It's a fan favorite on MUA as an "interview-friendly" polish, and I was all excited to finally try it out after getting it for Christmas.  Sigh.

You guys, it was bad.  SO terribly bad.  It was so terrible it was turrible.  I got one coat on one nail and couldn't get it off fast enough.  I didn't even want to take a picture of it.  It looks SO good on everyone else, but my skin tone is the wonkiest skin tone on the planet.  It finds every weird mauve-y pink tone it can to pull out of my polish colors to mutate them into something hideous.  I'm never going to find my perfect nude.  I've pretty much just given in to that fact.  Maybe if I stop trying, it'll just find me.  

Plan B:  Essie Mink Muffs.   If OPI Suzi Says Da! was like dark chocolate, think of Mink Muffs as smooth milk chocolate.  It's another one of those addictive neutrals that I had on my list for a while.  I was pleased to find that it applied quickly and easily in two coats with no problems.  The cuticle drag on my ring finger was my fault, not the polish.  I was applying this polish like a madwoman.  Excuse the scratches in the finish and the mild tipwear - this photo was taken the day after I applied it.

(click to enlarge)

Simple.  Nothing too fancy here.  This isn't one of those polishes that I'm gonna say you need to have or should go run and get it now.  It's not that amazing, but it is nice.  As soon as I applied it, I was curious how it compared to Milani Teddy Bare (an almost dead-on dupe for Chanel Particulière).  Here's a bottle comparison:

(L) Essie Mink Muffs; (R) Milani Teddy Bare

Similar, but let's take a closer look...

(L) Essie Mink Muffs; (R) Milani Teddy Bare

Mink Muffs is a bit darker and more red-toned than the lighter and more yellow-toned Teddy Bare.  The real difference here is in application.  No surprise that the Essie is a thinner formula.  It applies smoothly, but the application on Teddy Bare is to die for.  It's like butter, and it's a one-coater for folks with careful application.  They're different enough to own both, but I would say if you weren't able to track down the limited edition Teddy Bare, Mink Muffs may satisfy your lemming.  It's in Essie's core line and you can pick it up for $8 at Ulta.  :-)