Essie - Sexy Divide nail polish

I popped into Liberty after attending a course in central London last week - and popped out with my first Essie nail polish (and a Shu eyeshadow!)

I was hoping to find Mint Candy Apple, a lovely light aqua colour which I've seen on a few blogs and which I think

will look lovely in winter (preferably on a snowy day!), but I don't think it's out in the UK yet. There were however a few other tempting colours on display, and I plumped for the decadent shimmering purple pictured left - Sexy Divide (odd name!)

I'm not usually drawn to purples, and to be honest, despite this being a very nice purple, I don't think I'd purchase any more. I bought it mainly as I don't have any purple nail polishes in my collection, and wanted something to match my increasing number of purple eyeshadows. Why I like purple eyes but not nails I don't know - I do like lavenders, lilacs and heather colours such as OPI's Parlez vous OPI but for some reason true purples just don't speak to me.

I'm not sure what I make of the Essie formulation - I vaguely recall having tried them a few years ago and finding them a bit watery which probably explains their absence from my make up bag. They definitely seem to be thinner than other polishes and although they don't go on very evenly, you can kind of apply as much as you need in one go if you see what I mean (e.g if it's too thin you can apply more straight away as it's still quite wet on the nail, to get the right coverage). Unfortunately this means it doesn't dry very quickly, but when it does, the lasting power actually seems quite good.

I did a manicure and a pedicure with this colour and think I prefer it as a pedicure. It's a great evening colour but somehow it just looks too much like a party colour for me to wear during the daytime. It will however be a great Christmas colour and I'll probably get a lot of wear out of this over the forthcoming festive season. So in summary, if you like purples, Sexy Divide is definitely worth checking out, but personally, I doubt I'll be repurchasing when it runs out.

I have bought a couple of more Essie shades from eBay though which look promising, Angora cardigan and Sag Harbor . Will report on those shortly!

Pictured with Nails Inc Kensington Caviar top coat.