Bitchy polish

Some nail polishes are born bitchy. They demand undivided attention and at least three coats before they will be coaxed to reveal an opaque finish. As much as I want to hate them, it’s the end result often makes me cherish these shades the most. One of the polishes that would surely fall into this category is China Glaze’s Spring in My Step. A 2014 release, this peachy-pink cream, conjures up the strongest emotions of both love and hate.

I have mentioned it before, hauling it along with Flip Flop Fantasy (also a bitch) and whined then, as I will now. It’s not easy to work with. You need nerves of steel and fixed concentration in order to apply the requisite three layers.
One coat and all I see is streaks. At this point I am ready to reach for the acetone. Two coats and I can start to see why it might all be worthwhile, although evenness remains a further coat away. Then, three coats later, all is forgiven and I declare the polish my new “all time favourite”.
When I think about it I have a lot of polishes that are like this – they require effort and patience but they deliver on the shade front. And they are nearly all in the pink family. Here are some that immediately come to mind:

• Essie Fiji – Queen Bitch.
• Essie Romper Room– I adore this shade and have been on a mission to buy it for myself (if anyone finds it for sale in Dubai please alert me!) because it’s a white-based pink that looks incredible…once you battle the three-coat requirement.
• Essie Ballet Slippers – blimey, this is becoming a “slam Essie” session, but this is also a shade that you have to hold your breath for.
• OPI Mod About You– a cherished shade suspended in a formula that ends up “blobbing” on my nails, appearing too thick but yet not always opaque enough.
• Christian Louboutin Tres Decollete – almost certainly not worth the price (it’s a fairly standard shade) and especially when the formula is not opaque.

It would be so much easier if I didn’t love those pale pink nail polishes so much. Although I whine about the formula and the process of applying it, which is a big deal for someone as shoddy with application as me, I get over it as soon as the work is done and the colour is on. It’s the simple things in life that make me happy and pretty nails counts as one of them.

What polishes do you love to hate?