Essie Goes Retail
Essie nail polish has become a staple for salons worldwide. It’s rare to walk into a nail shop or salon and not see those iconic square white-capped bottles lining the walls. When the news broke about L’oreal acquiring Essie we all wondered what this would mean for the brand. Well now you’ll be able to find this manicurist favorite at your local retailer.
Essie has pared down its core color collection to a tightly edited lineup for retail offering 100 nail colors and 16 nail treatments to consumers.
New York, NY – November 30, 2010 – essie, the global brand and ultimate nail color authority, beloved by millions and available in more than 250,000 salons worldwide, is now at retail. 100 classic and of-the-moment colors, hand-picked by Essie herself, will be on-shelf in stores along with 16-skus of custom nail care solutions. It’s absolutely everything a woman needs for a salon-perfect manicure – at home!
The essie in-store experience promises a shopping experience like no other. essie brings the salon environment to retail with upscale, bright white merchandising units that make it easy for her to shop the collection and find the colors that speak to her.
Keep reading for more info on where you can find seasonal collections and see the full retail and salon color lineups.
In salons, essie offers over 250 confidence-boosting shades for any fashion adventure, giving every woman the opportunity to express her individuality in fabulous, living color.
Salons will continue to carry six seasonal collections, including: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, Bridal and Resort, plus Holiday gift-sets and other specialty promotions.
The retail collection offers 100 classic favorites and on-trend colors and supported by four seasonal collections launching during the year: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. It’s a fashionably edited assortment, including 11 shades exclusive to retail: Trophy Wife, Beach Bum Blue, Sweet Talker, Dive Bar, Jamaica Me Crazy, Devil’s Advocate, Oui Madame, Mango Bango, Master Plan, Mochaccino and Miami Nice.
The retail offering will also include 16-skus of nail care, sold exclusively at retail. A crucial step in everyday nail care, these advanced formulas address the needs of healthy-normal nails, soft-weak nails, or dry-brittle nails.
The award winning essie formula is unchanged. Created from the finest micro-milled pigments and salon grade concentrate in a professional, crystal-clear base for maximum durability and shine. Essie Weingarten herself took great care to design what has become the industry’s gold-standard brush: small and thin for maximum control and precision application. It’s a dynamic combination that ensures a fool-proof and flawless finish.
“After your face, your hands are your most expressive asset and say so much about who you want to be,” says Essie Weingarten. “Cared for hands and fabulous color are all you need.”
No matter where you find essie, some things will never change:
- Instantly classic, fabulously wearable colors that are sure to become de rigueur.
- Unforgettably witty names that inspire cult devotion.
- Exclusive, award-winning, high quality formula provides chip-resistancy,
outstanding durability and flawless coverage. - Uniquely designed brush that ensures perfect application
- Salon-professional formula so you can color your world as you please.
In both the retail and salon environments, colors are offered in eight shade families: Nudes, Pinks, Reds, Corals, Roses, Plums, Neutrals, Deeps, Blues and Greens. It’s never been easier for her to find the perfect color that speaks to her. At retail, the iconic square, white-cap bottle will feature a white essie logo on the glass for stronger in-store branding.
Essie nail colors and care items now available. Pricing: $8 on all nail color. Care items retail between $8 and $9.50.
TREATMENTS AVAILABLE AT RETAIL
In-store, there are 16 essie nail care products to address specific nail needs and concerns. Choose from a comprehensive selection of base coats, cuticle treatments and super-shiny top coats.
FOR SOFT, WEAK NAILS
Grow Stronger – Base Coat for Strong Growth – $8
Rock Solid – Base Coat for Strength – $8
Beam Up – Instant Nail Whitener – $8
Build Me Up – Fortifying Nail Mask – $9.50
FOR HEALTHY, NORMAL NAILS
Grow Faster – Base Coat for Growth – $8
All In One – Total Nail Treatment – $9.50
Disappearing Trick – Conditioning Cuticle Remover – $8
Blank Slate – Pre-Manicure Nail Mask – $9.50
FOR DRY, BRITTLE NAILS
Feed Me – Intensely Hydrating Base Coat – $8
Grow Richer – Nourishing Base Coat for Growth – $8
Smooth Trick – Deep Conditioning Cuticle Oil – $8
Dry Stops Here – Intensive Hydrating Nail Mask – $9.50
TOP COATS
Good to Go –Rapid Dry Top Coat – $8
Let It Shine – High Shine Top Coat – $8
No Chips Ahead – Chip-Free Top Coat – $8
Matte About You – Mattifying Top Coat – $8
What do you think of Essie entering the retail market? Will this help or hurt in terms of their image as a salon brand? Will you still go to a salon for the seasonal collections that are exclusive to professionals?
Are there any specific colors or products that you’ll be happy to have more access to? Personally I’m a big fan of Matte About You and I never see it at salons so being able to pick up a bottle at a mass retailer would be convenient.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
I’ve never tried the brand, but have heard good things. I only recently branched out from drugstore brands. I am a bit confused as to the price point. I would think they would have lowered it a bit for mass retailers. The cheapskate in me is a bit disappointed.
I’m excited!
Well…it was just a matter of time.
My only wish is that they would put the Quick-E Drying Drops on the retail list. I use that stuff all the time and having it available at a drugstore would be extra convenient.
I swear I saw these at Target near me, maybe check yours?
LOL, yeah I get mine in Target too!! They actually have a pretty good selection of Essie at the one closest to me.
But Target is a little far and I can’t drive, so it can be time (and money) consuming trying to get there.
I can easily walk to CVS though, so if they started carrying the drying drops, that would be much better. Hence the “extra” convenient. ^_^
Thank you for the tip though!!
My Target has them!
I definitely bought these from my local Target last month. Check there!
I’m glad to see this announcement! I was awfully confused when I saw a small Essie polish display at my local Target a few weeks ago. I know they get overstock salon/department store brand stuff sometimes (saw Origins skincare products there, so weird) and wasn’t sure if the Essie was just a product of convenience or actually being stocked. I’m still miffed that my Trade Secret never got the Fall collection in.
I hadn’t even heard Essie was bought by L’Oreal lol…and actually I’ve never even seen it at a salon, but I’m not much of a nail salon girl I’ve gone maybe 5 times in my life. I’ve never even thought to buy polish at a salon, didn’t even occur to me! I was already buying Essie at Target & Ulta, so it all seems the same to me
Has it always been available at your Target? I’ve only seen OPI at mine. Since ULTA offers salon services it is considered a professional/salon retailer like Trade Secret, Regis, etc.
the targets around me have always had essie & opi
I have seen Essie as well as OPI in my Target for a while now, probably over a year, but only a very limited selection of about 20 colors or so and 1 or 2 treatments.
Some Essie has been available at my Target for several months. In fact, that’s how I came across my now beloved To Dry For quick drying top coat. I sure hope they don’t discontinue that. Maybe I should get a backup.
Every Target near me has stocked Essie for quite a while (2 years maybe- definitely before Loreal bought it). Not 100 colors but probably 30 or so, plus treatments.
Its been at my Target for as long as I can remember. They have opi too.
They’ve carried Essie at my local target for probably close to two years now, along with Nicole, although I haven’t noticed OPI yet! I’m out in Northern California, though, not sure if it’s a regional difference.
Essie has been at my Target for at least the last 4 months and i’ve never seen it in nail salons that i’ve been to either. All i ever see is OPI.
I have previously seen Essie at Target also. And at Harmon, but I guess that is different because it is a beauty supply store?? But there are no salons at Harmon like Ulta.
My Target has had Essie nail polish available for purchase for a while, and it doesn’t appear to be just salon overstock since they stock the same colors consistently.
My Target has had Essie for at least a year, but it’s just one horizontal row in the display that also houses the Nicole, OPI, and Sally Hansen. Plus, it’s only reds, pinks and neutrals. It was a really boring display, so hearing that they’re adding the blues and greens makes my heart very happy. Except that since the merger I am unclear on the animal testing status…
Interesting. Here in Canada, Essie has been available in drugstores (Shoppers Drug Mart) for as long as I can remember, so it’s not new to us.
Maybe this means we’ll get better displays. The selection of Essie’s at SDM is usually pretty crummy
SDM’s selection definitely sucks and their prices are terrible. I get all of my essie online from amazon.com (being in canada it’s still cheap that way).
I hope you’re right! The colours are limited and sometimes you really have to look for the seasonals because somebody has tucked them on a smaller and/or bottom shelf.
The selection at SDM where I am is really bad. There’s only some pinks and reds. I’d be glad to see some of the colours listed above show up.
I’d love to easily pick up Licorice, Tart Deco and Sew Psyched. But I think it’s ugly that they’re going to change the packaging slightly for the retail versions of the nail polish. I wonder what the marketing purpose of that is?
Generally speaking though, I’m not into salon brands being available at regular retailers. I know that’s silly, but I don’t want to lie.
I was just going to say the same thing. Also, SDM has been clearing out their stock of Essie polishes (along with the Nicole by OPI). They are $3. Maybe, they are making room?
I’ve actually seen Essie at Meijers stores. Which was surprising because I think of them as a “Higher end salon brand” and its weird to see them all jumbled in the nail polish isle.
Still, good move essie, good move.
Wait, I’m confused. Are they saying that places like Walmart and Target will be carrying the selected 100 colors? Guess I’m just very confused because Meijer and Target already carry Essie in my area and have for awhile now (over a year, but definitely not as many colors, just most of the big classics)…and Ulta and Beauty Brands carry Essie too.
The polishes that Meijer & Target has were probably obtained through unauthorized channels. Like when you see OPI at a grocery store. It’s considered “gray market” product. Essie is offering an authorized line of products for mass retailers I’m assuming in an attempt to stop those gray market sales. ULTA & Beauty Brands are considered authorized outlets because they offer salon services.
Do know which retailers Essie will be available at? (If I had to guess, I would guess Target)
I’ve already seen Essie and OPI at Target for at least a year or more. I think WalMart would be the only big retailer left.
I am very, very surprised that Jazz is not in the retail collection. That is such a great go-to neutral. I would think Pretty Edgey would be part of a retail group as well, it is such a great basic green. Definitely a missed opportunity.
I’ve found Essie at Ulta – not sure how long they’ve been offering it!
ULTA is a salon retailer because they offer professional services so they have always carried brands like Essie, OPI, Redken, etc that are supposed to be sold at salons only.
I wonder what these new colors look like? Beach Bum Blue…if it’s really new or a renamed color. I don’t want people coming in to the spa looking for that color if we can’t buy it at salon pricing!!
What retail stores will it be sold in??
I’ve seen them at Target, and of course you can get them at Ulta. I don’t see what’s new about this unless they are going to sell them at Walgreens or Walmart.
From the way I understand it, before now any sales at retail stores like Target were of “gray market” product. They weren’t an authorized seller of Essie’s salon packaging. ULTA is considered a professional/salon retailer because they offer salon services. The line they will be offering at retail will have different packaging and won’t include certain collections/colors that will only be offered at salons. ULTA, Trade Secret, etc aren’t everywhere so this move is to make the brand more accessible to all parts of the country.
I bought Essie’s Berry Hard at a Target a few months ago, so I’m guessing I got it “gray market.” I’ve also bought a couple OPI’s at the grocery store–if it’s gray market is it still…real/normal quality?
I am little confused. In NYC Essie has always been available at Rickys and Duane Reade. In my Brooklyn neighborhood I can also find them at non-chain drugstores usually for about three dollars cheaper.
I’ve actually been finding Essie at Bed Bath & Beyond, which is awesome because they always have those 20% off one item or $5 off $15 coupons, the latter of which is perfect for buying 2 bottles!
So moving it to Target or some other retailer wouldn’t change my buying habits, personally.
It’s Ulta & the chains of smaller, retail beauty supply shops, with inside salons, usally w/1 hair station, near me which have carry all the colls. By small chains, I mean 6-12 stores in various regional & neighborhood malls. I never buy polish at nail salons because the beauty supply shops have more, better & fresher selections. Essie, OPI, & Orly polishes with a few treatments from other brands, and vast hair product inventory.
I don’t buy polish at Walmart, K-mart, etc because so many bottles have been opened,spilled, & swatched on the shelves. CVS scatters the polishes around so many widely spaced areas that it’s hard to find anything. Target carries a few colors from each of many brands. Local Ross, Marshalls, TJMaxx don’t have any polish.
I’m just a little confused – if they’re still charging $8/bottle at “retail,” what’s the allure other than being slightly easier to acquire for some people? My local Ulta’s charging the same price, but often has sales/deals on it.
Oops, someone at Essie can’t count!
I’ve been able to get Essie at Meijer superstores for what seems like ever… I guess I never realized that they weren’t a retail polish.
Can’t wait to see the retail exclusive colors!
Like someone above me has said, we’ve had a small Essie display at Shoppers Drug Marts. Excited at the idea of a larger display though, maybe I’ll finally be able to get my hands on Matte About You!
Yeah, I guess this is a little underwhelmingfor those of us in NYC. We’ve always been able to buy Essie’s core line (and OPI) retail. Good news for everybody else, though! It’s ridiculous that these brands continue to act as though only professionals have access to them. I’ve never even heard of anybody buying their essie or opi in a salon.
My Target sells both Essie and OPI for a very long time now. Its good to see that the collection is changing and will be different from what we can get at salon stores. I’m excited about this! Thanks for the post.
Protein Base Coat is my HG product, will Ulta and Trade Secret continue to carry it, or is the pared down list of 16 treatments all that will be available everywhere? Thank you if you know.
I’ve never seen a salon that carries 250 colors of essie. Nor can I imagine that a retailer would carry the full 100.
Where are these store/salon utopias that carry all of the colors? I’ve never seen one!
While this is good news for those who couldn’t easily get their mitts on these earlier, I feel Essie loses its “salon brand” cachet, and even though it is irrational, that bothers me. I know it is the same formula, etc. but it will just feel different. What would you do if you went in for a $60 pampered princess pedicure and they were slapping on some Sally Hansen?
Here in Canada, I have been seeing a lot of Essie polishes at Winners. I even saw the fall 2010 collection there a few weeks ago! They also carry some other brands like Orly, Barielle, Opi etc. and its quite a bit cheaper than a beauty salon.
The colours are sometimes slim pickings, but every now and then, I find a nice gem. Totally worth checking out next time you are there!
That makes sense now! I actually have been buying all my Essie stuff for the last two months at my local Shoprite Supermarket hear on the east coast. So that should indicate just how broad the campaign really is!
Being a Manicurist/Pedicurist for 15 years, all this change recently is a little hard to swallow. You want to be happy for these companies that you’ve watched evolve and, really, helped grow by buying and promoting their products EVERY day. But at the same time when I heard a few months ago that Essie was bought I thought “oh boy, here we go…we’ll be seeing them in Target….Who’s next?” And I felt a little….disappointed I guess. And wouldn’t ya know it, OPI gets purchased.
I hope all of this change is for the best, because we all DO have to evolve, as people, professionals and corporations too I guess. Only constant thing, change is, right?
As always..Thanks for your coverage ALU! – Cheers!
Essie has been at my Target for the past 2 years
Hi there!
I was able to buy my bottle of Matte About You at Target, of all places! Check yours out
I think its great and don’t see why it should hurt their salon sales. I mean none of the salons where I live actually sell polish at all anyway so even though they have Essie available for your mani or pedi its not like I could buy it there anyway.
I’m more upset that Essie seems to have discountinued their crystal files! I gave them to both my mom and grandmother for mother’s day a few years ago and my grandmother’s recently broke so I was going to order her a replacement, but I couldn’t find one hardly anywhere! I finally tracked 2 down, but none of the usual stores had them like they used to! I refuse to ever use any other file so it really sucks. That thing is the holy grail of nail files so I’m shocked they would even think of discountinuing it!
We sell Essie and OPI at our salon, we have a stash of hundreds of polishes that I’m guessing are going to collect dust now. I also just saw the whole OPI Burlesque collection at CVS!!
Awww I’m sorry! That sucks. You never know though! Many people are very wary of brands like OPI and Essie when they see them on store shelves at places like CVS and Wal Mart. I know I am so I have a feeling you won’t lose sales unless they’re just way cheaper at the stores and it doesn’t sound like they will be. I think you’ll be fine because I’d bet that most salon sales are coming from people who are going to the salons anyway and my guess is those people feel most comfortable buying their polish from someone they’re familiar with and trust like their nail tech. Only time will tell if or how it will effect salon sales. I can’t believe you saw the entire Burlesque collection at CVS though! That’s crazy! OPI is definitely NOT supposed to be sold there and if they have it at all they should only have the older classic colors like Target and places like that do. Not a brand new sought after collection like Burlesque!
To me the people who will buy from the stores are people like me who have already been getting all of their polish online for years because the salons where they live either do not stock polish for sale at all or don’t keep up to date colors so salons like yours shouldn’t take much of a hit. I wish the salons where I live would sell new polish! I mean they’ll sell you a display bottle that they’ve used on god knows how many people if you ask for it, but they don’t sell in general so I’ve always had to get my polish elsewhere.
Yey!!!!!!!!!! They have essie at the Target they just opened down the street from me but not many colors, i would love for them to put up a full display.
From what i know essie has been in a lot of targets for a while now so i’m thinking they were doing market tests and that target isn’t actually obtaining them through unauthorized sellers or whatever.
Hi!
I’ve always heard that L’or
Hi there, L’Oreal do test on animals, however that doesn’t mean that they will suddenly start testing Essie in this way – as far as I understand it Essie products will remain produced much as they are now. *However*, profits from Essie sales will now of course go to support the animal-testing L’Oreal, so it is up to you whether that is something you can support or not, that’s a decision every consumer needs to make for herself. HTH!
I’ve seen it at Target for over a year now with a handful of OPIs. Gray market I’m sure. Not too excited about this BC I love exclusive products.
I love how the press release says
“In salons, essie offers over 250 confidence-boosting shades”
As if the colours have some magic confidence boosting power. I do enjoy having nice nails, I’d say it is a confidence boost… just I’ve never seen it written down before!
I think it’s good that Essie will be more accessible even if it is a limited range of colours.
Essie has been here in UK for awhile too at Topshop and a lot of nail salons. However I am saddened by the fact that L’Oreal has purchsed. Ethically speaking I am not a fan of L’Oreal as they are not cruelty free. Not sure it was a good move on Essie’s part. I liked the fact they were slightly cheaper than O.P.I. but still a “higher end” brand.
The first time I saw Essie in the wild was actually at a Walgreens. Still have the bottle of Ballet Slippers with the original price tag and the reduced price tag.
That said, I will be excited to find Essie at other stores since I have been looking for Chinchilly since it was released with no luck at Ultas or Trade Secrets.
I think its a great idea because I have been taking my own polishes to the salon for years. After getting frustrated too many times by not finding the color I wanted in the salon, I started buying my own polish and taking it with me to the salon (or buying from the salon). I always found Essie at ULTA so it wasn’t much of a problem (I’ve even ordered hard to find colors online).
In Canada, Essie has been available at Shoppers Drug Mart for years, but it’s sort of an inbetween drugstore/salon. But there’s usually only 10 colours, unless it’s a huge Shoppers.
I hope they start to carry Essie at big retail stores here too!
Now if they would just bring back Starry Night, my joy would be complete.
Essie has been sold at Target, at least the ones near me, for years. I have also seen a small color selection sold at select J. Crew stores. I mean this can’t really hurt them I don’t think, just bring in more business. Especially with customers who have never heard or tried the brand. I think it’s a step in the right direction.
I’ve been finding Essie for years at Harmon’s (a drugstore in NJ and surrounding areas.) I’d like to know more about which stores they’re considering “retail.”
I’ve seen Essie and OPI polishes at Target and Wegmans for as long as I can remember. It was only a small selection, perhaps a row of each, but it’s not a big deal to me in terms of image. “Exclusive” works for high-end brands like Chanel and Tom Ford, but when a nail polish is eight dollars, it could only help to get it out there in terms of visibility.
yeah Essie has always been available at Duane Read in NY with a decent selection. Esp. now w/ Duane Read’s new renovation they give Essie this huge bottom lit display case in the center of the beauty aisle, it’s amazing!
When do we see swatches of the winter collection? I’m so exited
As a salon owner, I am really disappointed and I think it “cheapens” the brand to have it available at mass retailers. . unless like one of the others responded. . . that it was at a cheaper price point AND a different formulation for the cheaper price point. . than the version offered in salons. I think this was a bad move for L’oreal and Essie. I know I won’t carry it any longer. . .there are too many other popular, fantastic quality options that are only available for salons. . . we’ll switch to one of those.
well i will still purchase at my local pro beauty supply store, still going to half the price for me.
and i somewhat agree with Jeanne McCarthy, even though we dont sell nailpolish at the salon i work at.
Wow how interesting to see all the places people have found Essie & OPI…the grocery store!?! Tho I guess technically my Target is a grocery store as it is a Super Target lol, it also keeps me from ever going to a Supermarket so I guess I don’t know what is there. Ah well, I’m most likely to order online what I can’t easily find in a store if possible, and I’m new (a few months now) to my polish obsession so the whole ‘exclusivity’ thing is lost on me, I just want pretty colors!
Essie is already at Target and certain Bed Bath and Beyond, but I think that “diluting” the brand into more retail stores is a bad idea, and cheapen it. It may widen the market at first but in the end, it is bad!
I think essie will fade as professional nail polish from the top brand in professional line .
Please YOU don’t try to say no its good Idea to buy in mass retailer ,Because ESSIE really suck NOW !Why they sold to L’Oreal ???Why they distroy every things ?Are they creazy ?
I’m in Australia, and Myer (one of our biggest department stores) has just started stocking it. So I’m pleased they’ve done this making Essie much more available down under.
It’s pretty rare to find it in a salon here.. Although they’re retailing at $18.95AU a bottle.. I’ll still be buying online from the US, but it’s nice to know it’s easily available for a last minute polish purchase anyway..
Essie has always been available in drugstores in Canada, in small lots here and there. Unless they somehow change the formula I doubt it will ruin the polish brand itself. Exclusivity only matters to certain folks-most would just like to have access to a brand they like at a reasonable price
I love love love the Essie colors…But I wish they would improve the brush! The brush doesn’t spread evenly over my nailbeds, so with most colors…It’s hard to avoid streaking.
I’m glad to hear that they won’t change the formula. If you notice a significant change, please alert us! I don’t like large company take-overs lol But I love essie so the increased availability makes me happy – it’s hard to find some recent releases here in Vancouver BC and by the time I find it in a random salon, it’s too late for my favorite colors.
i think i need essie’s quick-e drying drops back…@@ i don’t see them retail, are they still available in salons?
I don’t think it will cheapen the brand at all. In fact I think many folks will discover it for the first time. I rarely have seen essie polishes in any salon. I did run into it at a beauty supply in Santa Barbara which is 250 miles one way from my house. So for me, I am happy to see it at Walmart which is still far for me to go. Like another said, I probably will still buy it on line, but always fun to go look and also if you have a fav shade you like to gift, I can run out and probably get it now. I personally have to travel as far now for essie as I do for OPI. I really look forward to more small shops being able to come back after the recession. I do think the $8 price tag at Walmart will mean not that much will sell. However, last time I was in there looking, there sure were a lot gone. Would be nice if there was a station in retail to swipe bottles so the displays are not such a mess from folks trying out bottles.
I have loved Essie for a while. There’s never been a question of quality, but I will say that when I saw the Essie display at my local Wal-Mart, I was a little upset. The Wal-Marts here in West Texas aren’t the best at keeping items in stock or in rotation. Needless to say I was not surprised to find that the two shades my mother had recently bough from the local store were already on the drier side than any old bottle of Essie I’d ever kept at my house. I don’t want to blame the polish brand, but it’s hard to keep the quality at top level when it’s being peddled at such a crummy place as our Wal-Marts here. Not all Wal-Marts are as awful as ours, so I can’t rightly say this will happen everywhere. Just please keep an eye out for inconsistencies in our beloved brand.