Darn you, deathly nudes!

Ladies and gentlemen, I've fallen into the nude trap again! Let me elaborate: a couple weeks ago, I decided that the only shade of nail polish I was truly missing in my collection was a good nude. So, like any sensible beauty blogger, I perused some reviews and got myself this: Essie Topless & Barefoot. Oh, I should have known better!

The application's a breeze, the formula just right, the brush easy to manipulate... But, the result is obvious: corpse fingers!

While we're on the subject of deathly nudes, let me present to you two other mistakes I've committed in the past lip-wise: Gosh Darling lipstick and Rimmel Mirror Shine lipgloss in East End Snob. These two clearly don't do it for me on their own, but I can make them work when layered with darker and/or more vibrant shades - I'm desperate to use them up!

In my modest experience, all universally acclaimed nude shades look quite horrible on me; having porcelain skin, I'm just too 'nude' myself. There isn't enough contrast between the skin and the nude color, and it just makes me look... yep, I'll say it again, quite dead. However, if you're pale like me and looking for a good everyday shade, I recommend you take a look at my '3 Neutral Lipsticks' post - these work for me nicely!

What are your favorite nude nail polish and lipstick shades?

P.S. No nude polishes were harmed in the writing of this post; in fact, Essie Topless & Barefoot has just found a loving home today.