Essie is one of my favorite go-to nail polish brands of all time. Apart from loving their range of gorgeous eye-popping nail colors, I also like the fact that their products are pretty much easy to find. Whenever I’m at my local drugstore or grocery store, I always make it a point to drop by at the nail polish aisle and look for what’s new in Essie nail colors. I must have collected a ton of Essie nail polishes already, but I do have some colors that I tend to reach more often and I’ll be showing their swatches in this review.
As you can see, I’m a fan of reds and pinks when it comes to nail colors, that’s because these shades tend to always look great on me, and I guess it also applies to most of us, but I still have some favorites in blues, nudes, and even a green. Lately, with the introduction of the newest Essie Gel-Couture nail polishes, I kinda stopped collecting the original Enamel shades as I find the Gel ones to be a lot more long lasting and less prone to chipping, although the Enamel ones have really good longevity as well. I’m still at my early stage of collecting the Gel-Couture shades, as of now, I only have some reds and mostly nudes, but I plan to expand my collection to some shades of blues, violets, and some other colors hopefully soon, and I’ll do a separate post for my favorite shades of the Essie Gel-Coutures only.
Here are my favorite Essie Nail Colors
Enamel ($9) – Original, lots of beautiful shades to choose from. Lasts about two weeks on me with some chipping. The brush applicator is a miss for me because it’s so thin and it takes a careful maneuvering to apply the shades.
Hide & Go Chic – teal
Big Spender – plum
Wicked – vamp
Mrs. Always-Right – terracotta rose
A List – classic red
Aruba Blue – metallic sapphire
Dress To Kilt – deep red
Splash of Grenadine – pink magenta
Angora Cardi – deep dusty rose
Scarlett O’Hara – shimmery ruby red
Stylenomics – rich dark green
Gel-Couture ($11.50) – Very long wearing, lasts about three weeks on me with very minimal chipping and I love the brush applicator since it’s wider than the enamel and kinda tapered/rounded towards the tip. However, the color range has not been completely expanded yet and there are some inconsistencies with the shades, like the Pinned Up color having two different intensities; one being lighter and the other being darker. On the other hand, these nail colors are great to use with the Essie Gel Top Coat to set immediately and for a brilliant shine.
Sew Me – cream caramel
Bubbles Only – creamy burgundy
Pinned Up – nude pink rose, there’s an inconsistency with this color. One bottle may be lighter than the other. Lighter shade looks very close to Sew Me, while the darker one is closer to All Dressed Up. Love both tones though.
Spiked With Style – wine red
All Dressed Up – medium rose pink
Bottom line, it’s hard to tell the Enamel nail colors when compared to the Gel ones, especially at eye value. They both pretty much smell the same, feel the same, and look the same. The only difference between them is the lasting power, which the Gels obviously are ahead at with barely any chipping. The nice thing about Essie is that they tend to have beautiful bold colors that are easy to find, not that crazy expensive, and reliable. Perfect for all your nail polish needs.
Are you an Essie fan? What are your favorite Essie Nail Polish shades?
The Essie Nail Colors can be found at most local grocery stores and drugstores everywhere, as well as at Ulta, Target, Dermstore, Kohl’s, Walgreens, and Macy’s