I had high expectations for Essie after hearing it compared to OPI for so many months. I finally plucked up the courage (and money) to purchase a lovely coral shade.
First of all, I find it very runny! I find it's really easy to overload the brush and after all that nail polish, the cover is very poor. I did two coats and it looked like one coat with other pricey brands.
The day after wearing it I had my hands in water for about half an hour, and it all peeled off!
The positives: It was a lovely color, and perhaps with an extra coat and perhaps a top coat would have lasted longer. But as a mother to two young kids, I don't have time to apply 5 coats of nail polish!
Negatives: Very runny and bad coverage. This might just have been this particular shade, but I don't have the money to try another one for it to turn out the same.
I find Essie such an amazing brand to use. I actually really love their colour range, and it is among my favourite nail polish brands along with OPI and Butter London. I own mint candy apple, chinchilly, ballet slippers, after school boy blazer and another coral I cannot remember the name of. I find application easy and it doesn't chip or bubble or anything. Drys reasonably quick as well, at least faster than OPI. I think most of all, they were most worth buying for me because I got them in America, where they were only about $4 each. If I were to buy nail polish in NZ, I would probably still go for OPI over Essie just because the prices are practically the same.
Tips: The coral colour that I own sort of changes colour when a top coat is applied... Still a rad colour just more yellowy than the colour purchased. Inside the bottle, it is starting to go this colour too. Could be because of sunlight or something, but just keep them well stored!