Saturday, November 13, 2010

Essie Winter 2010 Collection Swatches and Review

This is the very first Essie mini cube that I have ever purchased. I always thought they were a bit silly to get when you can get full bottles. A mini cube costs about $17 while one full sized bottle costs $10 around me. My ever-expanding nail polish collection is getting out of control and my favourite Amazon nail polish seller has mini sets for $9-10 so it just makes sense to get these. It's a nice way to sample a couple of the colours and if you like them a lot then buy a full bottle or two. I was planning on getting the Fall 2010 collection (especially for Sew Psyched) but I got to this one first.

Actually I am really impressed in Essie's mini cube, the bottles are still engraved with the "essie" name and they are so cute. Plus, unlike OPI mini's these ones have the names on the bottom, the brushes seem the same size and they have balls in the bottles too! The little box is super cute too and great for storing. I think I will be purchasing mini sets from now on! Anyway, this collection is available now in stores, it's the latest from Essie, it comes with 6 colours and I have 4 of them here: Silken Cord, Hot Coco, Masquerade Belle and Going Incognito. The other colours are Smokin' Hot (this one looks great I wish it was included) and Luxedo.

Silken Cord is an intense red, not as intense as it appears here though which is a bit blinding! It's a maraschino cherry red, it's very vibrant and I am surprised that I like this one as much as I do. It takes 2 coats, but really smooth on the first coat too. You could do with one coat on this one, which is great. This one doesn't make me think of winter, and it can be worn year round.

Hot Coco is like a warm, pale taupey brown colour, like a chocolate bar colour. A brown shade was expected in this collection. The shade in the picture is appearing darker than it's true colour. This one is quite similar to OPI You Don't Know Jacques.


These two are similar, Essie Hot Coco is a warm brown while OPI You Don't Know Jacques is a gray brown. Please ignore my super dry finger when I do swatch after swatch my hands get really dried out. This swatch is more true to life.

Masquerade Belle is vampy red with a jelly finish. This one was quite thin and took 3 coats, the first coat being very thin. It's really pretty, but can be problematic in application.

Going Incognito was the colour that first attracted me to this collection, I love greens and this one is vibrant and gorgeous. It's a jelly finish as well. This one is a quite dark emerald green, takes 2 coats.


I have compared Going Incognito to OPI Jade is the New Black, which I thought was similar, but nah the Essie is a much darker forest green. My bottle of Jade is the New Black is separating all weird, in the top on the right of the bottle they always look the same.

Did you pick up any polishes from this collection?

15 comments:

liketreasure said... Best Blogger Tips

Going Incognito looks so nice. I never really considered that kind of shade of green, but it's gorgeous :) x

Alina Rodriguez said... Best Blogger Tips

They are all gorgeous colors! I love how the bright red one looks, very pretty :) I have never tried any polishes from Essie...I will have to soon!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

same here! I have so many nail polishes lol! ;)

definitely love the Going Incognito the best!

I also like the Hot Coco! that color is in right now!

http://vivalabreee.blogspot.com

Kalmo said... Best Blogger Tips

Wah I totally love this collection! Do you mind telling me what Amazon seller sells this mini set? Thanks! I always see mini sets priced at $17 w/o shipping. T_T Thanks for the pretty swatches, I love all the colors. How are the brushes on the minis? Easy to work with?

ElenaKat said... Best Blogger Tips

i looove the green essie polish! it looks really pretty!
i think it's good (at least for me) to buy a mini cube because it's only a few $ the difference between a single full bottle and 4 mini bottles. And I usually don't spend my polishes that fast! :)

o said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow, these colours look awesome!!!

Nikosmommy said... Best Blogger Tips

I just picked up one of the Essie mini quad packs like this at Winners (of all places!) It has a dark red, mauvy beige of course most importantly, the FABULOUS "Sew psyched" (Khaki green colour)

Renay said... Best Blogger Tips

Very pretty, perfect for the holiday season approaching!

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Kalmo - The seller is Nailetc.

@Nikosmommy - How much was the fall 2010 set at Winners? I was just at Winners yesterday looking around, they had the Ecotools Alicia Silverstone set.

Nikosmommy said... Best Blogger Tips

The Fall set was 14.99! I'd been searching HIGH and LOW for Sew psyched...by best friend saw the set at Winners here in Calgary and snagged it for me. I Couldn't manage to find it anywhere!

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Nikosmommy - that's great! I find Winners can be pretty good, but very varying stock from store to store.

Marilou said... Best Blogger Tips

I loove jade is the new black by Opi, such an outstanding colour . But I'm kinda *meh* with this winter collection by Essie, I was hoping for a little bit more of extravaganza nonetheless these are nice colours to have ..

Leticia said... Best Blogger Tips

These are pretty. I am surprised they didn't put in a glittery shade though.

Tiffany said... Best Blogger Tips

I NEED Masquerade Belle...I love colors like those for fall and winter! I got the resort collection cube for only $13 and I loved that I was able to try 4 different shades for less than the price of 2 OPI polishes :) I may need a full-sized Masquerade Belle though...

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Cosmetics Alficionado - I can't remember the last time Essie did a glitter nail polish, they are pretty tame with their collections.

@Willworkformakeup - essie resort is definitely one if not my favourite essie collection ever, those colours are amazing. ;)