Spring is finally here, yay!!! Now we can look forward to all the pretty flowers making a reappearance, I kid - fake flowers all year round!!! I would say they don't attract bugs, but I've had several bumblebee incidents which lead me to believe that they might be a tad on the gullible side. But that's what happens with such pretty and realistic looking fake flowers...everybody gets confused. :P
Now when I first saw the Essie Spring Collection on EssieEnvy's website (check her out, she's got amazing and accurate Essie comparison swatches, which will have you saving your pennies before you know it), my first thought was mehhhh, but I did leave myself room to possibly change my mind (I'm fickle that way). After all, Color Binge and Apres-Chic from the previous Autumn Collection and Winter Collection respectively were not the colours I picked up first time round, but ended up being my favourites from their collections (shifty eyes...swears Essie has a mind reader in their midst...shhhhh don't let them know I suspect anything!). No but really, seeing this collection in person, I loved just how well all these colours worked together; peach, purple, green and oranges. The bouquet you see above, proves just how pleasing on the eye this colour combination can be. Although I didn't pick up Lounge Lover or Sunshine State of Mind because I don't wear orange-y colours enough on my nails to justify them. Nor did I get Pool Side Service because although a lovely greyed out turquoise, I just know that on my nails all I would see is a dark grey...not my cup of tea. But let us begin the swatches:
Essie - High Class Affair (Spring 2016)
This is the perfect "mannequin hand" shade; a lovely peachy nude creme. At first, I thought it would be too similar to Back in the Limo from the Winter Collection 2014 but that one is a sheer and behaves as such; there is only so much opacity you can get out of it. Whereas High Class Affair is fully opaque on the first coat and if it weren't for its slight streaking and patchiness issues it would be a one coater no problem. But you can see it the comparison swatches (below) that although they are in a similar vein, Back in the Limo has much more yellow in it (the sheerness contributing to this yellow factor just a bit, especially in the photo), whereas High Class Affair is a bit more rose-toned, similar in fact to my Mavala polish in Rose Shell; the ultimate "mannequin hand"! I've never found a shade that complements my skin tone quite as well as Rose Shell does, plus, I still look alive while wearing it! Which we all know, is a hard thing for nudes to do. :)
APPLICATION
- 3 coats on top of Orly's glue basecoat for easy swatch removal.
As previously mentioned, this is a very opaque polish, however streakiness meant that it needed at least 1 extra coat. But because I could still see my nail length (the "white bit") I then added another extra coat for the photos. With my usual short nails though I could have gotten away with just 2 coats. It's quite a thick polish but it levels itself out beautifully and has a lovely shiny glossy finish.
I haven't worn this polish as a full manicure yet, so I can't attest to wear time or the removal process. But as it is a light creme I can't imagine it to be too difficult.
Essie - Shades On (Spring 2016)
This is an interesting polish; sometimes it's clearly a deep purple creme other times it can look more of an indigo shade (a mix between a dark blue and a purple) either way, it is beautiful!!! I thought this would be pretty unique in my collection, but OPI's A Grape Fit! is surprisingly close albeit a shade lighter and without that touch of indigo in it (comparison swatches below). On Essie side of things, the only purple that I could compare it to is Sittin' Pretty, which is more of an orchid colour and shows just how unique Shades On is to the Essie range.
APPLICATION
- 2 coats on top of Orly's glue basecoat because I could still see slight nail length after just one.
This is definitely a 1 coater polish; it dries a bit darker in colour than it applies. A thicker polish in consistency than the usual Essie formulas which is what to expect from a 1 coater polish. However, this also means there is little risk of pooling and it makes it a very easy and malleable formula to apply. Plus, it levels nicely; no streaking or patchiness issues.
Again, I haven't worn this as a full manicure yet, so I don't know how chip resistant it is, but as a creme polish I'm sure removal is fairly easy.
Essie - Off Tropic (Spring 2016)
Off Tropic is definitely the "off topic" one of the Collection (excuse the pun), no, but seriously, in a spring collection a dark forest green creme is the last colour you would expect. But I really love this unusual choice, again in goes extremely well with the colour palette Essie went with this year. Furthermore, I'm seriously lacking in the green department in my collection. I have a matte dark emerald with some green micro-shimmer in it, Revlon's Emerald City. And a more metallic micro-shimmer, Maybelline's Green Miracle, which due to its yellow micro-shimmer, changes the overall colour to a more yellow-toned dark green.
Off Tropic is therefore my only plain dark forest green and although I'm very happy to finally have one in my collection, I think I'll get way more use out of it come autumn time. But all polishes can be worn year-round, I'm just being realistic with myself; I know that come spring/summertime all that's on my nails are pastels and bright colours.
APPLICATION
- 2 coats on top of Orly's glue basecoat because I could still see slight nail length after just one.
Exact same formula as Shades On, a beautiful 1 coater; except if taking photos with long nails, then needs 2 coats just to be sure. The 2nd coat does deepen the colour slightly from a dark yellow green to the perfect forest green, same thicker formula as Shades On and just as easy/malleable to apply. Gorgeous glossy finish!
Again, I haven't tested this one out as a full manicure yet but as a creme, removal shouldn't be too hard.
So there you have it, my picks from this year's gorgeous Essie Spring Collection.
Which ones did you pick up from this Collection? How did you find the formulas...are they all 1 coaters?
Were you just as surprised by Off Tropic being in a spring collection as I was? What is the most unusual shade you've seen in a spring collection thus far?
What flowers are you most looking forward to seeing pop-up this spring?
xxxemma