Essie - Merino Cool

Merino Cool is a pretty purple greige. I only have this in the mini size.

Holy Lobster Hands, Batman!

Basecoat: NailTek II Intensive... something (2 coats)
Color: Essie Merino Cool (4 coats)
Topcoat: Out the Door (1 coat)

Merino Cool is a pretty color, but I'm not sure it works for me. It's one of those colors I was hoping would look better when my tan faded, but as of right now I don't even have a wedding ring tan, and this still makes my hands look red.

Anyway, application was pretty good, even though I had some problems with bald spots that I had to go back and cover.

NARS - Midnight Express

Midnight Express is the blue Zulu.
Yep, looks black in the bottle, just like Zulu.
Basecoat: Gelous (2 coats)
Color: NARS Midnight Express (4 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

Consistency was pretty good for this. Not too runny or gloppy. It is thin, though, and even after four coats I have some noticeable bald spots. Well, I notice them, anyway. Cleanup was terrrrible. I spent a lot of time cleaning up but you can still see some staining on my cuticles. Better off just being extremely careful with your application.

Midnight Express is one of those polishes, like Zulu, that looks black in indoor light. My photos are pretty color accurate for the polish.