Essie Resort Collection: Review, Photos, Swatches

For summer, Essie created the Resort Collection, which features four cream-finish shades: Playa del Platinum (elegant and sheer sandy gray), Lapis of Luxury (dreamy ocean blue), Turquoise & Caicos (flirt and pretty tropical aqua), and Splash of Grenadine (playful magenta pink). The collection will launch in May, and each bottle retails for $8.

• Playa del Platinum is a coffee-shaded gray. It reads more like a very light, grayish-taupe on me and not really flat out gray. This shade needed three coats for a solid, smooth look.
• Lapis of Luxury is a bluer periwinkle. It’s not quite a true periwinkle cream, because it does run a little bluer, but that was the first descriptor that came to mind. I found I needed three coats to get a smooth finish with no streaks.
• Turquoise & Caicos is a green-teal cream. If you thought it might be like China Glaze’s For Audrey or Chanel’s Nouvelle Vague, it’s most definitely not. Both of those shades are blue-based teal,while this is distinctly green-based. I found it a little streaky, so I wound up using three coats on this one.
• Splash of Grenadine is a red-based pinky purple. It’s not quite a purple, but it’s also not really a pink. This is the only shade I felt you could get away with just two coats on (which is what is pictured), and this also applied better than the other three.

All four colors are absolutely lovely–very fun and summery without being bright or neon. They’re playful, and I think they’ll be particularly pretty on toes. My only problem with the collection came with the formula. While definitely workable and worth working with, it’s a little on the watery/runny side, which made it a little more difficult to apply than I’d like. Because of the runny consistency, the polish has a tendency to apply streaky, necessitating three coats in most instances.

It’s not impossible or even that difficult to get a smooth, even look, it’s just a definite issue from the formula. I found that laying down a thin, streaky-as-all-get-out coat, and then building up with a slightly thicker second and third coat, produced the best results. Oh! and don’t forget to let each coat dry a bit before layering the next on top, totally crucial step with these. I think for those who have more than fifty polishes to their name won’t find these all that troublesome to work with. The formula is okay but not great; you can get good results, but you have to be patient.

Are you loving any of these shades?

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• Product: 24/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

Recommendation:  I love the colors of the shades included in this launch but the formula is just okay, so if there’s a color that you absolutely love, it’s definitely worth picking up, but if it doesn’t leave you breathless, skip it.

Availability: Essie

Essie Nail Lacquers: Playa del Platinum, Lapis of Luxury, Turquoise & Caicos, Splash of Grenadine

Essie Nail Lacquers: Playa del Platinum, Lapis of Luxury, Turquoise & Caicos, Splash of Grenadine

Essie Nail Lacquers: Playa del Platinum, Lapis of Luxury, Turquoise & Caicos, Splash of Grenadine

Essie Playa del Platinum Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

Essie Playa del Platinum Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

Essie Playa del Platinum Nail Lacquer

Essie Playa del Platinum Nail Lacquer

Essie Lapis of Luxury Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

Essie Lapis of Luxury Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

Essie Lapis of Luxury Nail Lacquer

Essie Lapis of Luxury Nail Lacquer

Essie Turquoise & Caicos Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

Essie Turquoise & Caicos Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

Essie Turquoise & Caicos Nail Lacquer

Essie Turquoise & Caicos Nail Lacquer

Essie Splash of Grenadine Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

Essie Splash of Grenadine Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

Essie Splash of Grenadine Nail Lacquer

Essie Splash of Grenadine Nail Lacquer

Essie Nail Lacquers: Playa del Platinum, Lapis of Luxury,
Turquoise & Caicos, Splash of Grenadine (Natural Light)

Essie Nail Lacquers: Playa del Platinum, Lapis of Luxury,
Turquoise & Caicos, Splash of Grenadine