Essie Nail Polish Review

I've tried plenty of nail polishes in my time, and for something that retails at $22.99.. I am not disappointed with Essie Bikini So Teeny.. but nor am I impressed with it.

I've got to say, there were several things that I loved about this.. The applicator, for example, is one of the things that I love about this product.. It's wide enough to cover your nail in one stroke unlike majority of other nailpolish brands which have a thinner brush. Makes it so much easier and cleaner for each application.

The colour was another thing I loved.. It's such a super pigmented cornflower blue that cheers you up completely! I've seen many bloggers wearing this product and I've been so completely jealous. It would range a whole different variations of complexions which is fabulous. The colour looks 100% better on and in real life than it does in the bottle or on videos/photos/etc.

The final thing I adored about this product is the packaging.. I mean it's nothing to rave about but I have always found that the packaging for Essie is absolutely fabulous, simple and very clean. It's not over complicated by huge logos or bright colours covering the real sweetness inside.

Although I did love the colour, the brush and the bottle.. There were a few things I wasn't too happy about with Bikini So Teeny..

The first being that it dried streaky.. No matter how many coats I did there was always something sneaking through. It was incredibly patchy unlike other Essie polishes I've tried.

The second thing that I wasn't too pleased about was how long it lasted without a base or top coat.. Now I do know you are meant to do both of these things so I did one hand with and one hand without to see how long it would last.. Without the base and top coat they only lasted 3-4 days but with a full base and top coat it brought it out to a week. I have other nail polishes that last maybe 2 weeks so this wasn't the best.

As I said earlier.. I'm not pleased with Essie Bikini So Teeny but it is a pretty polish. I'm not sure if I would recommend it to anyone, but I am keen to find a dupe to trial against it!

It's very pigmented which means I don't need lots of layers. The brush is very nice as I only need one stoke to cover my nail. The Polish started chipping quite quickly however I didn't use any top coat on top which I normally always do. Love the shimmer in it, I would recommend but it's not amazing.

I love, love, LOVE this color. I was hesitant to buy it because I already have several light blue polishes, but this one is truly unique. It's like a baby blue periwinkle. Very slight shimmer that just reads as a nice finish. The formula is thin and streaky so it needed two - three coats, which can be time consuming of course. I'm currently on Day 2 with no chips, so I'd say it doesn't chip very easily as long as you use a top coat.

I picked up a pack of 4 full sized Essie polishes in a pack for the crazy price of $4.99 on 1day. Because it was a pack I didn't get to choose my colours, but I'm pretty happy with what I got. I've been happily playing with them for a couple of weeks and developed different opinions on all 4, so I'll review them individually.

The shades in the pack were ignite the night, lots of lux, stroke of brilliance and belugaria.

ignite the night is a clear polish crammed full to bursting of small silver glitter pieces. Because they're so fine they layer up and you get a disco ball effect on your nails - metallic silver sparkles everywhere! It manages to have a matte finish but still be sparkly, which is impressive. Essie call the silver colour hematite, and I can see that.

lots of lux is a bright (think lapis lazuli) blue polish full of superfine glitter in the same colour family but with reflections in other shades of blue and green. It is another matte but sparkly finish polish as with ignite the night, and is totally gorgeous with a teal polish as an accent or feature, as well as on it's own. VERY blue, but blue is back on trend, and this is stunning.

stroke of brilliance is just that - a stroke of sheer genius, actually! It's a multidimensional top coat full of platinum silvery blue glitter flakes which sparkle, and tone in well with blue, green, purple, silver - and shine over black and white. Even on it's own this polish makes nails look pretty and special without being OTT. Subtle sparkle in a gorgeous colour.

belugaria is my pick of the four. I adore it. it's a deep jet black nail polish that has a matte finish, is textured, and is full of holographic rainbow glitter flakes. Your nails look black until you move your hands, then they throw off little unpredictable rainbow sparkles in several directions due to the rough texture left by the gritty particles embedded in the polish. It's crazy gorgeous, edgy, and sassy. LOVE.

As with all polishes like this longevity is affected because (in my opinion) the structural integrity of the polish is damaged by the instability of having so much going on in terms of glitter etc. BUT because they're so unusual you can touch them up without it being noticeable. You can't really use a top coat of clear with any of these except for stroke of brilliance, but you can use a base coat and I recommend you do because the colours are strong and the glitter adheres to nails without it making it tough to remove. They do chip, but you just have to live with that for this type of finish, I think.

They only lose points for me because I don't like paying over $20 for a mail polish - I know I didn't pay that much for this set but replacement would be expensive and I don't know that I'd pay full price, as much as I'm loving them right now.

Great colour selection. I do love this nail polish, but as I work with my hands regularly, I found the polish chipped away. Not giving me long lasting nail polish look :(

I got this in a set and i LOVE essie polishes they glide on, dry pretty quick and i find the brush isn't to thick so easy application with little polish over spill. Im not a huge fan on the colour but it does look really pretty on and i get compliments when i wear it so if you like to wear blue polish i would SO recommend this colour.

This is a very cute colour but it isn't one of my favourite Essie colours. Applys well and it is a very natural tone.

I purchased my first Essie product off Trade Me for about $7, I was really stoked to try something new and I was rather happy with the results. I found this nail polish really easy to use, it wasn't gluggy or watery - just the right consistency. It was quick drying, being white it was overly streaky but definitely needed 2-3 coats to get good coverage. The brush was easy to use & glided across my nail well, the bottle was easy to handle and attractive. Unlike other brands of nail polish, Essie lasted nearly a week without any chipping or flaking off.

I'm really not a big Essie fan. There's a couple of shades which work really well, but most of the ones in my collection are just meh. They aren't bad.. they're just not very good. They don't last well and chip easily and some of the shades are patchy. On the plus side, their colour range is great!