Essie Sexy Divide nail polish review

MAC Cosmetics recently produced a collection called Venomous Villains, inspired by Disney’s most notorious baddies… And sorry to say, this isn’t a review of any of those products!

Great idea for a collection, gorgeous packaging but sadly, I wasn’t impressed with the execution. By the time I fought my way to a MAC counter, most of the products had sold out. I tried a few that had impressed me from photos – the Mineralize duo eye shadows were murky and dull, the glittery duochrome nail varnishes gritty, grotty and way too sheer (though I’ve since picked up a newer release of Mean & Green and it’s pretty badass). Oh well, at least I left with my wallet untouched – sadly, never an issue I have at my beloved Cher2!

So following on from nail polishes inspired by a Pixie Lott music video and an accidental finger in a photo, here’s my latest lacquer inspiration:

Isn’t she magnificent?! It’s no coincidence that her actual name, Maleficent, is only one syllable out. The most fierce of all Disney villains, primarily because she was evil just for the sake of it. No tortured childhood, no ulterior incentives, she decided to wreak havoc just because she was pissed she didn’t get a party invite. Fabulous.

So, given that MAC’s interpretation of Maleficent’s make-up didn’t impress me, I set about to find my own. Enter Essie, Sexy Divide, stage right.

A deep dark mysterious purple, it’s the kind of colour I could totally envisage coating Mal’s claws. Consistency was great, pigmentation strong and it dried quickly to a smooth glossy finish. It also had a gorgeous iridescence from some angles, a golden pinky shimmer that showed in either strong natural sunlight or bright artificial light (as I’ve tried to show in the photo with flash, above left; normal natural light, above right; click for enlargement).

However, from other angles or in the wrong lighting, it looked a little dull and flat. So whilst it was fun to vamp about in for a while, it probably won’t enter the pantheon of my favourite polishes. But here’s an evil cackle just for good measure: mwahahaha!