Guys, I miss beauty blogging. I miss it so much that in the week since I announced my semi-hiatus, I’ve worked on four different draft posts. I’ll open an empty post, add a title, write a few sentences just to give myself the feeling of blogging, then save the post to my draft folder and go about my business. Pretty sad, I know.
I’ve noticed that in the last year or so, I’ve fallen into the trap of believing that my posts have to be a certain length, and that if they don’t contain introspection, digression, and meta-wank, they’re unworthy of a place on my blog. Well, screw that. Sometimes I just want to write a few words about something pretty, and sometimes a few words are all I have time for. I’d rather pop in now and then with a brief post than go a month between elaborate, long-winded essays. Digression is one of my worst writing habits, anyway: it’s not something I should indulge regularly, even if a blog is more digressive by nature than a dissertation abstract for the academic job market (seriously, kill me). So let’s see how this dashed-off, short-winded thing goes. I’ve finished most of my tasks for today, and now I want to introduce you to a gorgeous nail polish I ordered from Nordstrom in a particularly dark moment last week: Essie Leggy Legend.
Note to self: never order a single nail polish from Nordstrom again, because it will come in a gargantuan cardboard box packed with sheet upon sheet of paper, making you feel terrible about your environment-wrecking consumption habits. Look at this atrocity:
Leggy Legend is the namesake of Essie’s Fall 2015 collection, created in collaboration with Rebecca Minkoff. The collection, with names like “Bell-Bottom Blues” and “With the Band,” is meant to evoke the “iconic rock ‘n’ roll royalty” of the ’70s. To me, though, Leggy Legend looks more 1670s than 1970s. If nail polish had existed in Restoration England, this is the shade Nell Gwynne would have worn.
The color shifts depending on the light, but I feel safe describing it as a dark orange-brown copper with tiny red flecks: very Baroque-courtesan chic, and very autumnal. Looking at it on my nails, I can almost forget that it was over 90° yesterday.
It’s metallic, but it goes on smoothly without visible brushstrokes, and it’s fully opaque in two coats. I do wish it dried more quickly and wore slightly longer—I’ve been wearing it for two days now, and have started to notice some minor tipwear—but I’m willing to put up with a lot for the sake of this color. Here it is on my nails in artificial light, and yes, that’s one of Andrew Marvell’s political satires from the 1660s in the background. No wonder I have royal mistresses on the brain.
In natural (slightly cloudy) light:
And a closeup to show the tiny red flecks:
Leggy Legend’s only real drawback is that its beauty often distracts me from typing my job materials. Not bad for a stress-fueled impulse purchase. Not bad at all.
Auxiliary Beauty 
In times of great stress I ALWAYS gravitate towards anything dazzlingly glittery. I had to have emergency surgery about 3 years ago and I think I bought 4 glitter lipglosses during the before and after. Why?? Like the sparkles will distract my brain and make me temporarily forget what is happening? I just can't say.
LikeLike
I think the potential for distraction is definitely a factor. I also feel slightly less human when I wear sparkly or metallic things, as if I've become a cyborg or a statue, something incapable of feeling anxiety. The glitter acts as a sort of forcefield between me and my worries. Which reminds me, I haven't worn my sparkly lavender eyeshadow in quite a while…
LikeLike
Well, this is a pretty one. Love the color and finish. The opacity is great and I think its really worth checking out.
LikeLike
I've mostly sworn off Essie polishes as I've been SO, SO disappointed by them in the past. But that one is gorgeous, and if the formula is decent, I may have to seek it out. Except I'm trying not to make frivolous purchases right now, because I just moved. We'll see. Still, it's gorgeous and I kind of want it badly on my nails.
LikeLike
I agree! And I was surprised that it was opaque in two coats, since I need three for most Essie polishes.
LikeLike
Yeah, Essie is very hit-and-miss in my experience. Some of the Essie polishes I own have perfect formulas (Stylenomics, Lollipop, and Fishnet Stockings come to mind), but others are streaky or gloppy or especially chip-prone. These days I don't buy Essie unless there's a color that really strikes my fancy; unless I'm misremembering, Leggy Legend was my first Essie polish in over a year.
LikeLike
Gorgeous. This is really tempting me, but I will resist and wear one of the hundreds of other polishes I already have instead. I know the tendency to be longwinded very well. I often title a post \”a quick review of X\” or \”brief thoughts on X\” and then when I've blathered on for several pages, I have to change the title.
LikeLike
The irony of this post is that my rant against digression is itself a digression! Can't be helped, I suppose. I take comfort in the fact that I still have under 100 polishes. We'll see how long that lasts.
LikeLike
Ugh, you're making me wish I still painted my nails!
LikeLike
Why don't you paint your nails anymore? I go through phases of painting and non-painting, but the daunting prospect of finding homes for 80 bottles of nail polish keeps me from kicking the habit. In fact, I've bought two more in the last week alone…
LikeLike
…whoops, the comment I posted below was responding to yours.
LikeLike
I've decided the secret to long-lasting nail polish is to stay away from keyboards. I painted my nails while on vacation a couple weeks ago (mostly because one of them was horribly broken and I was using a piece of coffee filter to repair it) and I was shocked at how long the polish lasted when I didn't do any typing all week. This isn't a very useful tip in everyday life, but it was nice while it lasted.
LikeLike
Love this colour on you – it's not really my style of shade but I can see why it reminded you of an olden era! Your thoughts on not having to write lonnnng in depth posts hit home for me – often I think I have to do 'more' but I should just do what I feel like and leave it at that!
LikeLike
Ah, if only I had the luxury of staying away from keyboards for a week! Washing dishes also takes its toll; my mom wears dish gloves to preserve her nails, but I'm not quite at that level of fancy yet. Using a coffee filter to repair your nail is ingenious; I've also heard that teabags work.
LikeLike
I go through phases with my preferred colors and finishes. The first nail polish I ever bought was silver, but I never wear silver now. For a metallic polish to work for me, it needs to come in a quirky color (bronze is fine, gold is not) and to be more shimmery than frosty.I have this weird prejudice against writing straightforward reviews, even though I like reading them when other people write them! I guess it makes me feel lazy to post my unvarnished (if you will) thoughts on a nail polish or lipstick. But sometimes that's all I have time for, and better that than nothing.
LikeLike
I went through the exact same unemployment-job-seeking stress hoarding phase (around the same time last year) so I can totally relate, but instead with makeup, I hoarded boxes and boxes of tea and tights which I ended up needing at the end(the tights problem continued but I think I saved more at the end by not wearing pants (dress combo almost daily). I think leggy legend will go well with the A/W dresses …I will just pick it up when I am in the drugstore.Best wishes on your job hunt and soon you will be exploring more professional makeup wardrobe (Boring makeup are pretty fun too)!
LikeLike
[…] 11. Essie Leggy Legend (review) […]
LikeLike