Monday, September 7, 2009

Essie Fall 2009 Collection

Just a quick post since I'm short on time! I'm so behind in posting reviews... just a few more to go and then I can get back to posting more fun stuff!

From the top!

Angora Cardi. Muted mauve-purple creme. This is a darker shade of mauve that leans to the purple side and it is slightly greyed. It has a bit of a faded/muted/dusty look to it.

Bright Tights. Very bright light neon orange creme/jelly. WHOA. Bright. Love it! As with all my neon photos, this is not 100% true to life. My camera can't capture the true glow of a neon shade. So, imagine this maybe a shade lighter and as a glowing, retina-burning bright orange. This is a lighter shade than a lot of my neon oranges- lighter than Zoya Paz and China Glaze Japanese Koi. It is slightly lighter and significantly more neon-glowy than Essie Mini Shorts from last year.

Chinchilly. Soft light grey creme. Cute name! This is an interesting grey. What sets it apart from a lot of the other greys I own is that is seems to have a drop of green mixed in. It is light and has a slightly warm/taupe cast to it compared to, say, China Glaze Recycle or Rescue Beauty Lounge Concrete Jungle. It doesn't have that blue look that other greys have. This one has a faint green tint.


Midnight Cami. Deep midnight blue shimmer. Gorgeous. It doesn't look like much indoors, but when the light hits the shimmer in this shade it lights up from within. Very pretty. Not horribly unique- it's your standard blackened-blue vampy shimmer. Still pretty. The shimmer in this version of the dark navy shimmer is particularly fine-textured. Very tiny particles and it has a very smooth look.

Mink Muffs. Warm taupe-grey-mauve creme. Difficult color to describe. It's like a warmer version of Sephora by OPI Metro Chic. It has that same fashionably edgy 'mushroomy' look that Metro Chic and others have, but more of a purple-red tint to it. Maybe this is a taupe-mauve? Smoky, dusty, unusual.

Pink Parka. Light pink neon creme. Like Bright Tights, this is much brighter in real life. Glowy. Neons in fall, I love it! Strange choice but you won't hear me complaining. Anyway, this is again a lighter shade than most of the neons I have. It verges on delicate bubblegum pink, but neon. It's probably closest to China Glaze Pink Voltage or Color Club Lazer Pink in terms of shade depth, but it is not a dupe of either.


The formula on these was odd. It was thin... very, very thin. Watery even. Yes, definitely watery. I have really been loving Essie's new formula lately, but this isn't anything like the past year's worth of collections formula-wise. The watery texture of the polish combined with the incredibly small brush did give me some trouble when applying. It had a tendency to spread unevenly or pool in the cuticles. Strangely enough, the pigmentation was pretty good on these. They were all very sheer on the first coat but mostly opaque on the second coat. I did three coats of all anyway. I think the neons really needed the third coat. Drying time was good- nice and quick on all of the shades.

What a strange collection! I think I like it. Very unusual color choices. Two mousy taupes, two neons, a midnight blue shimmer and a dusty mauve. It seems very random. I think that's pretty cool. Essie is really breaking away from their 'we-only-do-sheer-pinks' image lately and I think that's awesome! I think they've discovered that they do neons particularly well and I would have to agree- Essie's neons are pretty close to the top of my list. I'd love to see them branch out into greens since they had such a big hit before with Dominica Green. They have been doing more blues lately as well- the North Fork collection, Mesmerize and now Midnight Cami. Keep it up, Essie! You're doing great!

Overall, I think this is one of the most stylish and unusual collections Essie has ever done. I like all the shades, especially the neons and Chinchilly. The formula could use some improvement, though. Maybe if it was just a bit thicker... But, other than that, pretty cool.

This collection should be available now in stores and I know that Essie.com has it in stock.

26 comments:

  1. neons look so great no matter the season! rhese look particularly desirable and i'm glad essie decided to break the mould!! ;-) thanks for the post!!!!!

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  2. Wow I actually LOVE Angora Cardi :) I am not sure about "Mink Muffs" but I guess that's my dirty mind coming into play! :)

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  3. This is probably my favorite Essie collection ever! I love the blend of mushrooms and neons. After I typed that sentence, I am thinking I understand the motivation behind the juxtapositions of color! I'm glad they are entertained at Essie.

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  4. HOLY CRAP on Bright Tights and Pink Parka! I looove those :D got to have them!! :D

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  5. Wow I love this collection. I just ordered mine. Can't wait to try them! Love them. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. thanks for the review :-)
    I love this collection. I think that all colors (except the neons) work well together as a pallate. I miss green in it - and the chinchilly is not green enough... my fav is Angora Cardi... it's unique!

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  7. I bought Angora and Midnight Cami. I agree with you about the formula.

    I found that Midnight Cami looks almost exactly like Zoya's Ibiza.

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  8. wow i am SO dissapointed with this collection. the colors are either too muddy or too bright. and i was so looking forward to midnight cami being a creamy eggplant color, not what i was expecting at all :(

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  9. What a great collection! I love Midnight Cami. It looks a bit like a frankenpolish I made some time ago, but mine is green. I want to do nail art with those two xD Bright tights is great, too *_*

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  10. i want this entire collection! i keep trying to tell myself i don't need anymore polishes but this years fall collections are killing me, i want them all!

    especially bright tights though!!!

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  11. How ironic that I just bought Bright Tights as well, it's the perfect neon orange that I've been searching for like...all year, hah. Also these were buy one get one free recently at Trade Secret ;)

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  12. I just ordered all of these except for the neons. I know everyone loves them, but I've gotten into the whole neon look. And I'm with you, Lina-Elvira, they should have thought again about naming a polish "Mink Muffs."

    My favorite is Angora Cardi, and I'm thinking about putting a matte topcoat on to emphasize that dusty quality.

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  13. I am so glad I ordered Angora Cardi and Chinchilly! Thanks for the post - they all look great.

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  14. Can you compare Mink Muffs with Orly’s Cashmere Cardigan? And Chinchilly with MAC’s On The Prowl?

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  15. I already bought Chinchilly and Mink Muffs and I love them! They also look pretty good matte, edgy. :).
    A great edgy a-typical Essie collection!

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  16. Wow. This is the first time since I can't remember that I am actually interested in Essie Polishes. Thanks for the post...however I'm hesitant about the formula.

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  17. For H,

    Just FYI Mink Muffs is not at all close to Orly Cashmere Cardigan. Cashmere Cardigan is a periwinkle (blue-purple) creme. Mink Muffs is closer to OPI You Don't Know Jacques from pics I've seen (I don't own YDKJ).

    hope this helps!

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  18. I like Angora Cardi and Midnight Cami. The others are all pretty also. Those two are my favorites. Where are the greens?! Your nails always look so gorgeous!

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  19. I would love to buy Midnite Cami, but I own Blue Satin already - looks too similar. Great pics, thanks as always!

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  20. I picked up the last Angora Cardi along with the matte top coat - they look like they wer emade for each other! I think I will go back and pick up chinchilly, I bet it will look nice matte, too.

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  21. Chinchilly looks like the color of US Army combat uniform , i think.

    Great collection! Wish i lived on US so i could buy it.

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  22. the orange and pink colors are making me drool! I can imagine them with some sort of design together. Maybe a konad or maybe the two swirled together on the nail.

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  23. Loving the Angora Cardi(the first one)

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  24. Thanks for another great review Scrangie! I just bought Mink Muffs and Chinchilly - channeling that Jacques shade from OPI IMHO. But after seeing the neons I'm going to run to get them! Also, Ulta has Essie buy 2 get 1 free right now go girls go! Candy

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  25. I hope you see this comment :)
    Could you please compare Angora Cardi and OPI Boris & Natasha?

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  26. I own Midnight Cardi and Chinchilly. I love both shades but I hate the wear of MC. I can't ever get more than 12 hours of wear before I get chips. And because it's such a dark shade it is really noticeable. On the topic of Chinchilly, it is true love for me. Wears great, good formula and a universally flattering gray. Pure perfection.

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