Essie #080 'Imported Bubbly'

I feel like such a poser.  :P My nail-biting habit has always been, shall we say, more consistent than my use of nail polish.  I've had this habit for as long as I can remember, so if you know me, you know I have short and scruffy fingernails, almost like Frodo Baggins's.  However, I am trying (once more) to rid myself of this habit...ideally, my nails would be short and neat (long nails are uncomfortable for me).  Now that my nails have grown back a little, I also want to find a good, neutral nail polish that I can wear everyday (which might also help break my habit).
Last time, I bought this evil potion $1 Essence Colour & Go, in #44 'Modern Romance'.  My mom and I used to buy good nail polish at the dollar store, and I thought this would be fine.  BIG mistake.  Maybe I just got a lemon, but this stuff dries so fast you don't have time to even-out the streaks, and the result is pretty hideous.  After hours of trying to make it work, I realized it was just not worth it.

So, I decided to try the brand everyone online raves about: Essie (not to be confused with Essence).  Spending $8 on nail polish seemed criminally extravagant; still, I had a new horror of buying cheap.  I went with #080, a color called "Imported Bubbly"; according to the label, it's made right here in the USA.

Fortunately, this turned out well!  This nail polish is easy to apply evenly and the brush strokes don't stand out in a bad way.  It is a bit shinier than I expected, and I prefer 1-2 thin coats instead of thick layers.  This color is not quite what I was looking for, but it's definitely a keeper.  It doesn't take much, either, so I think this will last me a looong time, making the price a lot more reasonable.

Stay tuned for more adventures of a (hopefully former) nail-biting addict.  (By the way, is this not the coolest nail polish job ever?!  Though I'm a little hesitant about the safety of newspaper ink...?)