Essie Au Natural + Revlon Smoked Peach matte lipstick

Long time, no see! I just got back from a relaxing vacation in Florida. It was sooo lovely, I had a great time trying out some super delicious fish, relaxing on the beach and generally loving the hot weather! July is one of the hottest months in Fl, so there were a couple days of sitting in your own sweat, but I enjoyed it all the same. :)

I have a little post about a couple things that I've been trying out. Firstly is Essie's Au Natural. I found this gem when I was looking around in Ross for $4.00 - half off the original price! I also found a bunch of other Essie there (also half off), so I'm very excited to post some photos of the different polishes I got. I also recommend going to TJMaxx/Marshalls as well, you never know what's going to be hidden around the corner in discount stores.

At first glance, Au Natural in the bottle almost looks just like St. Tropez (also by Essie). However, now that I own both, I can tell you that the two shades are dramatically different. Au Natural isn't nearly as creamy - or opaque - but instead has a slightly translucent base with tiny, tiny micro shimmer. Also, if it's under a light, you'll see this strange blue tinge which adds a luminosity that I've never seen in a polish before.

But, hold on. It may sound like kind of a cool description, but I'm actually really underwhelmed by this polish. Compared to St. Tropez, another nude tan polish, I'd take that over Au Natural any day. There's just nothing remarkable about this polish. I can imagine that if you were going to use this polish for anything, it would be if you wanted your nails to look bare and glossy (for light skin tones) or for a bridal/wedding nude nail.

To get the opacity shown in the bottle, I had to apply roughly 3-4 coats of this bad boy. I don't know about you, but it is the worst to have to sit there for so long to wait for each coat to dry and keep on reapplying... To me, it's really not worth it. However, this really is a gorgeous color for people who really want to keep it simple and sweet - and of course, you have to have a real love for nude nails!

On another note, I picked up Revlon's matte lipstick in Smoked Peach. Essiebutton talked about this lipstick a while ago, and after searching a bit, I found it at Rite Aid! It looked so gorgeous when I saw it on her, so I wanted to try it out as well. I'm a huge fan of mattes as well as peaches, so it seems like the perfect lipstick for me. :)

This lipstick is perfect for my skin tone, and wears as a great summer shade that looks effortless and carefree. That's what I'm all about - lipsticks that look like you didn't try too hard, just that you woke up looking fabulous.

It will, however, define in the cracks of your lips if they're chapped. Granted, mine have been on the chappy side for the last couple of weeks, so I'm not going to blame the settling on the lipstick. For best results, definitely apply a lip balm first, wait a few minutes, work in the lip balm, and then apply the lipstick. The wear time, because it's a matte, is pretty fantastic for a drugstore lipstick.

Swatch of Revlon "Smoked Peach"

Thanks for reading everyone!