Flakie Fantasy

There hasn't been a nail polish in recent memory that I've become so unreasonably fixated on than Essie Shine of the Times. You may recall my Essie collection post, where I mentioned it was the one absent polish that prevented me from feeling my collection was "complete". I recall trawling through pages and pages of Google search results, trying desperately to find an online stockist, even making an order from a random website, only to have them email me the next day to say they hadn't updated their inventory and Shine of the Times was actually out of stock. My last option was eBay where I found one seller willing to ship internationally, but at a considerable cost (for a nail polish, at least). Enter Liz, the brains behind one of my favourite beauty blogs Beauty Reductionista, who so kindly offered to send me her unloved bottle from Canada. It was almost a surreal moment when the package arrived in the post and the darn thing was finally in my hands. My eternal and heartfelt gratitude to her for making it happen.

l-r: Essie Shine of the Times over Rimmel Aye, Aye, Sailor, Nails Inc. Porchester Square, Revlon Cloud, Sally Hansen Jaded

Essie Shine of the Times over bare nail

Having (over)familiarised myself with Shine of the Times from my intense Googling, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Thankfully, when I applied this on my nails the first time, it was exactly as I'd anticipated, sky high bar and all. I think what makes Shine of the Times truly unique is how concentrated the flakie effect is, and the way that the polish spreads over the nail in a packed, scaly/mottled pattern.

There are probably similar iridescent glitter polishes like Revlon Heavenly (said to be a dupe of Deborah Lippmann Stairway to Heaven) and China Glaze Snow Globe, but the appearance on the nail isn't the same. Heavenly consists of square/hexagonal glitter and Snow Globe smaller, rounded dots of glitter, but I'm inclined to categorise Shine of the Times as an entirely different beast altogether. With the Revlon and China Glaze, I can still spot the individual glitter pieces, and they produce a kind of scattered or pebbled look. They're both somewhat gloopy formulas that apply relatively thickly (and potentially unevenly) as well. The Essie, on the other hand, is more like a thin but remarkable overlay on the nail that applies incredibly smoothly. There isn't any added texture if you apply it as a top coat, it's completely flat on the surface of the nail and just adds this colour-flashing, shimmering effect. Come to think of it, the closest match I have is Australis Crystal Colour Top Coat in Speck-tacular, albeit at literally 1/10th the density, more distinct, sparse shreds, and more of the blue/purple end of the spectrum.

I loved experimenting with different base colours to see what combination I liked the best. While a dark creme like the blackish navy Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish in Aye, Aye, Sailor had the highest contrast, there was a bit too much orange/green in there for my liking. I preferred it over lighter, more pastel shades, where the effect was toned down and more delicate. Over the bare nail and paler colours, it flashes more peach, pink and gold, compared with more copper and lime over dark colours. There does appear to be more noticeable blue and purple in Revlon Heavenly and China Glaze Snow Globe, but Shine of the Times certainly isn't lacking because of it. My surprising favourite base to pair it with was Nails Inc. Porchester Square, which I thought might be a nonevent as it's such a tame neutral. Somehow, it serves as the perfect canvas to showcase Shine of the Times in all its glory.