I am so loving the rich, saturated hues that Essie came out with for the fall and apart from one shade, I ended up picking up basically the entire collection (check out my review on the first part here).  The last two jewel-toned creme shades I am reviewing here, while not initially unique to my eye, certainly captured my attention & affection when I swatched them.

Limited Addiction

Limited Addiction (indoor lighting)

Limited Addiction (with flash)

In the past I tended to steer away from red shades as a rule and instead singled out more outrageous colours, but Limited Addiction just drew me in.  This is a vibrant crimson shade, rather blue-based with a cherry brightness and definite maroon undertones.  While this type of red is usually reserved for cooler skin tones, it looks incredibly alive against warmer skin as well.  The formula was perfect, being neither too thick or thin and I absolutely LOVE Essie’s brushes, being thin & flexible giving excellent control and manoeuvrability.  In daylight, this shade just seems to ‘pop’ against the skin but you can see how much more of a deeper garnet hue it looks under indoor lighting conditions.  Clean up was once again surprisingly easy for a red and I just love how glossy the final result looked.

Velvet Voyeur

Velvet Voyeur (indoor lighting)

Velvet Voyeur (with flash)

Velvet Voyeur…….even the name gives me a secret thrill! While red can be flamboyant & ‘in your face’ kind of sexy, this shade seems to sneak up on you unexpectedly and leaves a lasting impression. In my opinion, Velvet Voyeur is the most sensuous shade of this collection being at once vampy, sophisticated, brooding and sultry. This one reminded me immediately of OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark but I’ll have a better idea once I swatch the two to compare. This deep aubergine shade has a velvety and inky depth to it and while it can look almost black under certain lighting, you can still catch hints of its ultra-deep berry hue. Application was once again smooth & even with an intense glossy finish and cleaned up with minimal mess. Did I say how sexy this shade was?!

All swatches were done using OPI’s Start to Finish Base & Top Coat, 3 coats of polish and Sèche Vite Top Coat.

Even though Essie’s winter 2010 collection has totally caught my eye, I find that this fall collection perfectly captured the true essence of ‘fall’ and I would be hard pressed to choose among them all. If you’ve chosen any of these shades, I would love to hear what you went home with and why!