Bravo, Essie. Your spring collection rather brilliantly sums up “what’s hot right now,” in six efficient moves. If I had one criticism, it would be only that the names of the shades make no sense (we have two nautical references, a cycling joke, some business terms, and… “Ole Caliente”), but I’d rather have snazzy colors than snappy names.
The collection basically offers two schools of thought: brights and pastels (or fingers and toes, if you work in a conservative environment).
Ole Caliente is a warm, pigmented strawberry red creme. Not only do I love the shade, I want the matching lipstick. Orange, It’s Obvious is a bright, saturated orange creme. And Tour de Finance is a fuchsia-magenta with a slight, subtle shimmer (for a subtle “satin ribbon” finish).
We’ve seen (and loved) a lot of bright lipsticks so far this year. Do you think (as was the fashion in the first season of Mad Men), that matching lips and nails are in right now?
The pastels are a little sheerer than the brights. Navigate Her (a pun on “navigator”?) is a spring green. Compared to Dior’s Waterlily, it’s lighter and more yellow-green. Normally I like my greens on the blue side, but I’m attracted to Navigate Her. I think it’d be pretty for both a “normal” manicure and nail art.
To Buy or Not to Buy is lavender with a few tiny, practically invisible blue sparkles.
A Crewed Interest… that’s not a pun, it’s just a homonym. This shade is the sheerest of the group, a pastel peach. I actually bought a dress from H&M a few months ago in exactly this color, so now I’m I hoping to be invited to a spring/summer wedding so I can wear both the dress and the polish.
Essie polishes are $8 each.
These polishes were provided for swatching purposes.
Great colours, although ‘A crewded interest’ looks cooler toned than I thought.
A Crewed Interest looks very pretty! Thank you for the fab swatches!
Whenever possible I always match my lip and nail color. Visual continuity appeals to me.
I had to buy Orange, It’s Obvious. I couldn’t help myself, and I’m not even a creme fan.
hi karla! are these available as a set?
nevermind…i just bought all 6 on amazon
i LOVE navigate her and ole caliente. i have similar colors to a crewed interest and to buy or not to buy from AA, but i love essie’s formula and AA’s…not so much. and i have no dark orange cremes. so OBVS i NEEDED all 6, amirite?