Essie Cute as a Button / Zoya Hudson swatches

Overcast

Sunlight

Essie Cute as a Button
I think the second photo is more color-accurate. A pink-coral, darker than China Glaze Sugar High. Most nails needed three coats, particularly the stained ones. This was a lemming for me for a long, long time, probably because of the adorable name, and because I love pink-corals. It definitely felt more "mature" to me compared to my numerous others, and is maybe more orange. In the sun, it's very bright and cheery. So far, I do prefer Wet n Wild Tropicalia, which also takes only 1-2 easy coats.

Zoya Hudson
Oh, you can't imagine how anxiously I waited for the blogger swatches of Zoya Awaken to come out. Not only because I was giddy for spring colors, but because the Zoya store coupon for the collection expired only a week or two after the promotional bottles were finally received. I ended up using the code to get Hudson and the blue (plus the free Monet). Hudson in the sunlight is indeed a very pretty blue-leaning purple with gold-ish shimmer. Under indoor lighting, it takes a warmer mauve-y tone, which I'm not into. To me, it's a like a combination of Zoya Danni and Zara. I used 3 coats; it mostly looked good with 2, but I don't know, man, something told me to use 3.

Hey, I think I see some snow in the background of the Hudson pics. When Cute as a Button was worn, I think it reached the mid-70s.

I'm reaching the end of week 3 of a no-buy that's unofficially tied to Lent; all I "needed" was 2 weeks, but if I make it through all 5, I'm giving myself a hearty pat on the back. The shopping habit was getting out of control, and I had a "moment" over it coincidentally on Ash Wednesday and decided to go for it. So far it's going pretty swell and has given me a feeling of relief. Less money spent, less storage being taken up, and fewer feelings of being overwhelmed by new options when I have to pick out something to wear. It helps that I'm pretty set spring-wise. When the summer collections come out, that might not last.

The one exception I'm allowing myself, of course, is a exact dupe/replacement for Essie Lilacism.