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Hello! Happy Holidays to each and everyone! I hope you guys are having a great time this holiday season. Me? I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family and friends. In fact, I’ve reunited with some friends I haven’t seen in years! I miss them a lot and there hasn’t been a day where I stopped thinking about them, yet for some reason, life has its uncanny ways of drawing distance and when you finally see each other, it’s like you’ve never really been apart for so long. OMG! I just love reunions and I wish it won’t take me a very long time to see these friends again.

Anyhow, even though I’ve been busy with all the events for the holidays, I managed to finally sort out my top favorite shades of the Essie Gel Couture nail polish. In my previous Essie nail color roundup review (seen HERE), I posted my favorite Essie colors in Enamel and Gel formulation. However, in that post, I was just starting to try out some of the Essie Gel colors, but I haven’t really made up my mind when it comes to my top fave shades until recently. So, finally, in this post, I’ll be talking about my personal favorite colors in the Essie Gel Couture line. Now, keep in mind that this particular Essie Nail Color line still doesn’t have a lot of color varieties. As much as I love the lasting power and overall formula of this gel lacquer, I find that the shade range is still quite basic – reds, pinks, some blues, greens, and purples.

I’m a big red nail polish lover because that’s what looks good on me, so you’re still gonna be seeing a lot of reds here, but I also have a few nudes, a dark violet/purple hue, as well as a few bright pinks, along with my opinion of the Essie Top Coat and how it compares to some other top coats in the market.

Reds

Paint The Gown Red – ruby red

Spiked With Style – wine red

Bubbles Only – cream burgundy

Gala-Vanting – deep maroon red

Nudes

Take Me To Thread – plush taupe, looks greige with a nude mauve undertone, reminds me a lot of Chanel Particuliere (HERE)

Pinned Up – nude pink rose

Sew Me – cream caramel

All Dressed Up – swatched HERE, medium rose pink

Pinks

Signature Smile – bright coral pink

Stitch By Stitch – light nude pink

Purple

Turn ‘N’ Pose – deep plum/purple

Model Clicks – wine purplish red

Top Coat – I’m really amazed at how good this top coat is. It sets not only the gel nail polishes but also the enamel ones, at least in my experience, and it does set fast. It keeps the nails hard as a rock, chip-free, and without any tip wear for at least two weeks and a bit more. It also has a flat wide brush just like the Essie Gel Couture nail colors. When compared to the other Top Coats out there, I find this particular Top Coat to be way better than Seche Vite, and it’s neck and neck with Chanel Le Gel Top Coat as well as the Smith & Cult Above It All Top Coat. Speaking of brushes, I am definitely in love with the Essie Gel Couture line because the brush itself is just so easy and quick to use. See the comparison of the original Essie Enamel brush versus the new Gel Couture brush HERE.

Bottom line, these Essie Gel Couture nail colors are as good as the high-end brands. I noticed that there’s barely any chipping on my nails after almost two weeks of wear, and the colors remained vivid. I hope that Essie will play with some trendy shades to add on this Gel Couture line soon.

Are you an Essie fan? What’s your fave nail polish brand? Do you also prefer the Gel formulas over the Enamel ones?

The Essie Gel Couture Nail Colors are currently available at most drugstores and grocery stores nationwide and at Amazon, Ulta, Target, Walgreens, and Macy’s

Merry Christmas Again and Have a Prosperous New Year!

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

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Favorite Essie Gel Couture Nail Colors

Favorite Essie Nail Colors

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