Essie A French Affair Collection Swatches, Photos, Review

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Christine |


Coat Azure, French Affair, Nice is Nice

Essie A French Affair Collection

For Spring, Essie has launched six shades ranging from blue to nude in their A French Affair Collection. Essie can be found at various etailers and salons, but also through beauty.com ($8 per bottle).

Coat Azure (breathing taking medium blue with shimmer), French Affair (sophisticated soft lavender pink), Nice is Nice (whimsical light lavender), Sand Tropez (soft sandy beige), Topless & Barefoot (barely there soft beige pink), and Kisses & Bisses (kiss of pink shimmer – perfect to layer over any color).

  • Coat Azure is a dusty cornflower blue with soft microshimmer. I used two coats. China Glaze Sky High Top seems similar but brighter.
  • French Affair is a pale pink with cool undertones and a cream finish. I used three coats. It is cooler-toned than Essie Neo Whimsical.
  • Nice is Nice is a pinked lavender with a cream finish. I used two coats, and there was a hint of visible nail line. It is similar to MAC’s Little Girl Type, but darker and not as cool-toned. It’s also more pigmented and less cool-toned than Essie Lilacism.
  • Sand Tropez is a muted, beige with a touch of gray in a cream finish. I used three coats. It seems a bit similar to Essie Body Language.
  • Topless & Barefoot is a warmed over light-medium beige cream. I used two coats. I couldn’t think of a possible dupe for this one.
  • Kisses & Bisses is a sheer, warmed white base with a duochromed, opalescent shimmer that flashes pink and gold. I used three coats in the swatches. Essie recommends it for layering, and if you’re not into sheer polishes, it would work well as a layering polish. I did like it on its own; it gave a soft, sheer look but the duochrome finish of the shimmer added interest. Zoya Bailey seems similar, perhaps not as much of a duochrome.

my thoughts on the formula: Essie’s spring shades is a good mix of soft colors and pastels with a formula that applies easily and none of the pastel shades have a chalky look to them. I found about half needed two coats, but overall, three seemed like the ideal amount. The formula wasn’t too thick or thin, and it flowed evenly onto the nail. With a base/top coat, I had only minor tip wear after a week’s wear of Essie’s formula.

Essie A French Affair Collection Swatches, Photos, Review

B+
9
Product
8.5
Pigmentation
9
Texture
9.5
Longevity
4
Application
89%
Total
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Coat Azure, French Affair, Nice is Nice


Coat Azure, French Affair, Nice is Nice


Coat Azure, French Affair, Nice is Nice


Coat Azure, French Affair, Nice is Nice


Sand Tropez, Topless & Barefoot, Kisses & Bisses


Sand Tropez, Topless & Barefoot, Kisses & Bisses


Sand Tropez, Topless & Barefoot, Kisses & Bisses


Sand Tropez, Topless & Barefoot, Kisses & Bisses


Essie Coat Azure Nail Lacquer


Essie Coat Azure Nail Lacquer


Essie Coat Azure Nail Lacquer


Essie Coat Azure Nail Lacquer


Essie French Affair Nail Lacquer


Essie French Affair Nail Lacquer


Essie French Affair Nail Lacquer


Essie French Affair Nail Lacquer


Essie Nice is Nice Nail Lacquer


Essie Nice is Nice Nail Lacquer


Essie Nice is Nice Nail Lacquer


Essie Nice is Nice Nail Lacquer


Essie Sand Tropez Nail Lacquer


Essie Sand Tropez Nail Lacquer


Essie Sand Tropez Nail Lacquer


Essie Sand Tropez Nail Lacquer


Essie Topless & Barefoot Nail Lacquer


Essie Topless & Barefoot Nail Lacquer


Essie Topless & Barefoot Nail Lacquer


Essie Topless & Barefoot Nail Lacquer


Essie Kisses & Bisses Nail Lacquer


Essie Kisses & Bisses Nail Lacquer


Essie Kisses & Bisses Nail Lacquer


Essie Kisses & Bisses Nail Lacquer

About Reviewer
Review FAQ
Reviewer

Christine Mielke is the editor-in-chief and has been reviewing products for over 14 years.

She has normal-to-dry skin with occasional dryness on cheeks and nose. She has a light plus skintone with subtle, warmer yellow undertones (view her foundation matches here).

Learn more about her review process here.

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36 Comments

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natalia

I picked up coat azure, nice is nice, and sand tropez. I’m stunned at how evenly your sand tropez applied. I cannot get a nice thin layer to save my life, quite thick and cumbersome. Must be your application technique! Thanks for the review.

steph

i have the same prob w/ sand tropez! i did 3 coats and it still looks a little streaky in some areas..my coats came out kind of thick and chunky =T i have the same problem with french affair

Laura V

Great review + swatches, Christine! I need French Affair…

I have “Nice is Nice” and got compliments. It’s the *perfect* lilac for pasty white NW10 skin. 🙂 It has just enough pink to keep it from giving you the “dead hands” look!

Tessa

If you take a white nailpolish and you put Kisses & Bisses Nail on top of that and you finish that off with a matte top coat, will it look like MAC’s Frayed-to-Order?

snm

that’s the reason why the spring collections are always my least fav ones.the pastels look pretty boring,also the colors are very dupable:)

Mel

These have been out for a while… Since early last month. But anywho, I have French Affair and Topless and Barefoot. They’re honestly the must haves in the collection 🙂

Thanks for the swatches!

Carrie Ann

I’ve got Kisses & Bisses and I really like it a lot because it gives my nails a clean, pretty look. I love those kinds of shades for my finger nails because it’s less obvious when they start to chip. I save darker colors for my toes. I’ll have to try Kisses & Bisses layered over another color. I think it would look really pretty.

Christian

Great swatches Christine! Btw if you like Kisses & Bisses, you should really try it over both of the nude colors. It adds just the prettiest slight duochrome shimmer and enhances the nude. I think it’s great that they added the sheer layering color b/c it can really change the look of the other colors if you ever get bored of the creme finish. Oh and a belated congratulations on finishing business school! 🙂

karla

I just picked up a bottle of kisses & bisses last night at walgreens. I found it in the clearance rack for $1.99 and had to buy it even though I was unsure about the color. Great swatches!

ariana

i bought french affair and sand tropez last month at target and i have gotten compliments on french affair…i consider sand tropez my perfect nude!

queenfrostine

I own both Coat Azure and Kisses and Bisses from this collection and was surprised by how much I love K&B. I hate sheer colors and am seldom even a fan of layering polishes as I expect the products I buy to be able to stand by themselves. K&B just looks awesome over so many polishes though. It has just the right level of shimmer, not so little that the effect is subtle but not so dense that it dramatically alters the color underneath. It adds rather than transforms which is what I want from a layering polish. I wore it over a turquoise last week and just fell in love with the combo. I like it so much I’ll probably grab a back up before it goes away!

michelle

Does anyone know if Sand Tropez or Topless and Barefoot any similar to JAZZ (ESSIE)? Please let me know which is better and such. Which you would recommend? Sand Tropez or Topless?

Laura

Bought Topless and Barefoot a while back. Actually wearing it right now. Thinking about Coat Azure, such a pretty color. Bought Pink Diamond today and came sooooo close to Coat Azure. Don’t know why I didn’t grab it?! I’m sure I will need to go to Ulta for something tomorrow, that will be a good excuse to get it.

Melissa

I *NEED* Topless & Barefoot! As far as I know, us UK bunch can only get the minis. I bought Sand Tropez after much comparasion with the T&B mini hoping it would be a good dupe. I love it, but I NEED T&B!!!

I’ve been searching for the perfect nude, I just hope thats it. I know when I’ll find it!

Love to you all =] xx

Roberta

I bought Coat Azure a while back but never had a chance to try it on. I normally do not like pastel colours for nail polishes but I’m really liking this collection. I bought French Affair and Nice is Nice. I never considered getting any of the nude/brown colours until I saw this swatch. I bought Sand Tropez and I love it! What I like about this collection the most is I can wear it to work, and it won’t be too outrageous.

Nicole

For those on the fence about these, CVS has discounted leftover stock from this collection, 50 % off!

I already got Coat Azure and Nice is Nice cheap online, but now Sand Tropez gets to join them 🙂

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