Dec 13 - St. Lucia

Today it's Dec 13, a very special day in the Scandinavian calendar when we celebrate Lucia which is probably one of the most popular traditions throughout the year, and an important part of the overall Christmas festivities. Lucia is celebrated with a procession, a group of girls and boys dressed in white who sing traditional songs and it's lit by thousands of candles. The celebration has roots in both pagan and Christian myths, but mostly it's about the principle of light overcoming darkness. Lucia is seen as the Bringer of Light and since Dec 13 is the longest night of the year, the procession marks a turning point to show that lighter days will return soon - and during the dark winter in the north of Scandinavia where we only have sunlight for a few hrs every day, we really need a reminder that the darkest days of the year have passed. It's a beautiful, suggestive and moving tradition, and all over the country in more or less every work place and school - there will be a candle lit Lucia procession that most people will take time out to watch.

 Traditional Lucia procession

It might not be as dark in the winter time here in the UK as it is in Scandinavia, but today is still a turning point of the year and I'm looking ahead to warmer and lighter days, when it would be perfect to wear this beautiful and summery Essie nail polish (£7.99), appropriately named - St. Lucia. Essie must be one of the most famous and popular nail brands in the world and I'm fairly sure that a lot of that has to do with the fact that Essie has an amazing range of shades to choose from, each looking lovelier than the other. I think there are more than 70 of them from the lightest, most subtle natural shades to deep, rich and hearty shades. St. Lucia is a gorgeous creamy and delicate pale misty lilac, as if you've taken one single blueberry, squashed it and let it drip into a milkshake.

The formula is quite thin, and personally I can find it a bit difficult to work with it, especially if it's a lighter shade since they are more sheer and you might end up with streaking (in my case I always do with the first coat). I would have liked the formula to be just a little thicker to make it easier to apply the lighter shades, including St. Lucia particularly since the brush isn't very wide either. The brush is perhaps slightly more narrow than the average brush, and for me it works better with the less sheer shades, since you have to worry less about getting an even coverage. Even if the formula is a little thin, it dries quickly so you can quickly apply as many coats as you need to get a lovely finish and in the photo I'm wearing two coats, without the nails looking heavy.

 With Nails Inc Snowflake effect (surprise, surprise!) as accent nail 

Even though I've read reviews of Essie polishes lasting up to a week without any imperfections, and perhaps it depends on the shade but unfortunately St. Lucia only lasts up to about 2 days on me before it starts to chip a little. I have had this issue with lighter shades of Essie before, which is why I tend to mostly buy the more pigmented shades since they are not only easier to work with, but I also find that they wear a bit better - however this shade is so graceful and sublime that I'm not going to hold a grudge, although ideally I would have liked it to last longer. 

Where there are Scandinavians in the world, there will be Lucia celebrations tonight, and Him Indoors and I are actually going in to London to watch the procession at St. Paul's Cathedral, and I'm so looking forward to it. I wish you all Happy Lucia!