Tag Archives: Essie

Despite the fact that Charlotte has yet to have any weather that would classify as winter weather I’m ready for Spring. Once the holidays are over I’m ready to move on! Between my desire for warmer weather and my nails needing a serious break from dark polishes and glitter I was rummaging through my Melmer for a lighter colored polish.

Lilacism is always a polish that catches my eye but not one I wear often. It is from Essie’s Spring 2010 The Art of Spring collection but is now part of the permanent line. I purchased it when the collection was originally released but I’ve only worn it once or twice. I decided it was time to give it another go. It looks gorgeous in the bottle, after all.

Essie describes this polish as a satiny smooth lilac. That’s more or less accurate. This is a blue based lilac with quite a bit of white in it. It lacks the dusty quality of OPI Done Out in Deco and Essie Nice is Nice. I have nothing but good things to say about the color itself, but the formula is an entirely different story.

Application of Lilacism was a headache. The formula is so thin and runny and quite sheer. I used 4 coats (on some nails 5 coats…) before I had an opaque color. You have to be very careful when applying coats to avoid streaks.

Due to the application issues I can’t say I recommend this polish. Yes, the color is gorgeous but it’s alot of work to get the color to look like it does in the bottle.

At the beginning of this year Essie announced they were adding 8 shades to their permanent lines; 5 from collections released in 2011 and 3 new colors. I wasn’t overly excited about the 5 polishes from previous collections they added. As much as I love Smokin’ Hot, Nina Ultra Pro Never Glum Plum is a cheaper, easily available dupe with a better formula and the rest I am rather neutral on (though Katie really loved Meet Me at Sunset). That being said, I was rather excited about the release of Go Overboard. As soon as I spotted the display I picked it up and I”m glad I did!

Essie describes Go Overboard as a “limitless sea blue.” Well, ok. I guess that works. I’d say something more along the lines of a teal blue creme but that doesn’t sound near as fancy! However it is described, Go Overboard is a GORGEOUS color. As if that wasn’t enough, the formula is also fantastic. It  is opaque but not thick. I probably could have gotten away with 2 coats, but I  did use 3.

Surprisingly, I don’t have anything that is comparable to Go Overboard in my collection. This falls somewhere between Essie Going Incognito and OPI Ski Teal We Drop.

This is not limited edition so don’t fret if you haven’t found the Go Overboard display in your area yet. It should be popping up very soon.

Oh Essie Wicked, you are a classic! Wicked is to Essie as I’m Not Really a Waitress is to OPI. It is one of Essie’s most famous colors and is pretty iconic. Wicked was originally released in the 90′s, and at the time, this was a rather daring shade! It has of course made its way into Essie’s permanent  line. Wicked was the first Essie polish I ever purchased, so my bottle is a black label and the polish has that wonderful chemical smell.

Essie describes Wicked as a “deep and dark creamy sinister red.” I would describe it more as a red leaning plum creme. Either way, it definitely has some purple going on. Despite that, it never looks brown, which is a problem with some red purple shades.

Application of this polish was good. The first two coats can be a bit uneven, but a third coat gave me a nice even color.

As far as I am concerned this is a must own nail polish. It’s a classic, looks very chic on the nails and flatters any skintone. It’s also a great Fall and Winter staple.