Essie Summer 2013 “Naughty Nautical” Swatches & Review
I know once August hits we’re supposed to be all about fall color but, I’m sorry, I’m not ready to give up on summer just yet. Not as long as I can still wear flip-flops and have one last weekend on the parents’ boat in my future. That’s why I’m jazzed about the Essie Summer 2013 “Naughty Nautical” collection.
Essie Naughty Nautical for Summer 2013
The colors and names speak to my nauti-loving heart. Makes me want to wear stripes, boat shoes and rope bracelets, like the ones from Kiel James Patrick. As a whole, this collection screams summer but there are three shades in particular that stood up and said, “love me!” And I do!
Formula & Application: Essie is a 3-Free brand. The square bottles are embossed with the Essie logo and the smooth plastic caps include an embossed ‘e’ on top. The brushes are thin, round and shorter than most. The bristles are very flexible, allowing you to easily fan out the brush to cover your nail width.
The Essie formula has a squishy, watery texture that glides on the nail allowing for precise application. One of the major benefits of the Essie consistency, and a reason I’m a fan, is that it self levels. So even when you think you jacked up a nail with uneven application, give it a minute and the polish will settle out.
In this collection, five of the six shades are all similar in finish with their creamy base and flecks of glitter. The one exception is The More The Merrier. It’s a very streaky creme that did NOT self-level and needed three coats to become opaque. The rest all applied smoothly in two coats with only the lighter shades (Rock The Boat and Full Steam Ahead) requiring three coats.
Essie Full Steam Ahead is a pale lavender with clear flecks of smooth glitter. It’s reminiscent of OPI You’re Such a Budapest though it’s nowhere near as blue-based. It’s pretty neutral, if lavenders can be neutral in that it isn’t overly pink either. Nowhere near as pink as Essie Bond With Whomever.
Essie Full Steam Ahead
Essie Naughty Nautical is a kicked up teal with subtle crystal fleck sparkle. It leans more green than blue with a base color that is a cross between FingerPaints To-Teally Hot and SinfulColors Bamboo. I chose this for my pedi color at the beginning of the summer and wore way longer than I should of, because it’s so gorgeous.
Essie Naughty Nautical
Essie Rock The Boat is pale sky blue with a touch of periwinkle and a subdued sparkle. It lives in the same shade family as Deborah Lippmann Let’s Hear It For The Boy though Rock The Boat is softer, more muted, yet not really greyed like Orly Pixie Dust.
Essie Rock The Boat
Essie Sunday Funday is pink-based coral with a sprinkling of crystal glass flecks. It’s more vivid in person. I’m actually not overly pleased with how this image turned out. It doesn’t do this stunning color justice. Its base color is similar to Zoya Elodie, though not quite as orange. Trust me when I say, you need to check this one out.
Essie Sunday Funday
Essie The Girls Are Out is an interesting color to try and describe. Is it fuchsia? Is it raspberry? Is it purple? It’s a little bit of all those things with the same clear, smooth glitter as all the shades above. It’s not as dark as, say, OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia. It’s not quite as pink as CND Scorch. It’s not as purple as NARS Ratin Jot (though close). It’s pretty unique and winning over this anti-pink girl.
Essie The Girls Are Out
Essie The More The Merrier is a bright chartreuse creme. It has a bit of a green apple look but the yellow keeps it from fully going there. It’s not as bright as FingerPaints Sexy Sundress and not as muted and grassy as Orly Green Apple. This one was kind of a nightmare to apply; sheer and streaky. As the saying goes, they can’t all be winners.
Essie The More The Merrier
Bottom Line: I’m beyond smitten with Sunday Funday, Naughty Nautical and The Girls Are Out (unexpected, I know). Unlike some other brands who tease us with crystal flecks in the bottle that don’t show up on the nail, these shades all deliver in the subtle sparkle department. Rock The Boat is very pretty though a bit sheer and Full Steam Ahead is a pale purple I can get behind but neither one stands out as must-haves. The More The Merrier is pretty much a nightmare in application, finish and color (chartreuse is NOT for me) so I have to give it a thumbs down.
Essie Summer 2013 Naughty Nautical is available now at salons and mass retailers nationwide and online at Beauty.com, Nordstrom.com, Target.com and Zappos.com (with free shipping). Essie nail polish retails for $8/ea for a .5oz bottle.
Are you into the Essie summer colors? Which ones are your favorites? Are you ready for fall color or still hanging on to summer?
Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for Essie. Affiliate links appear via rewardStyle. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
Love all!!! But full steam ahead, nautical & rock the boat are the best!!
I am in LOVE with every single one of these colors!
The More the Merrier might satisfy my longing for Dior Lime… looks very similar.
Love the rest of the collection too, but really digging Sunday Funday!
You know, I thought I had Dior Lime but it’s gone missing. I’m blaming the cats, ha!
I have naughty nautical on right now. Full steam ahead is my fave from the collection, but I haven’t tried sunday funday yet. Now I will! I found that rock the boat got a little dull after a couple days.
OMG. I think I need all of these!
I’ve been rocking The Girls Are Out all summer!
I don’t blame you. It was hard for me to switch to another pedi color after Naughty Nautical.
I’m getting a mani-pedi and have already planned for Sunday Funday on my fingers and Naughty Nautical for my toes. I think the teal is my favorite.
Love these. I wore The Girls Are Out earlier this summer.
I love the glass flecks in these colors! I might snag a few if I ever spot them on the cheap. I wonder if the pale lavender and blue colors would be good for layering in a jelly sandwich manicure?
You could try but I don’t think they’re ideal for that.
I love these so much. I’ve worn Naughty Nautical at least three times so far, I can’t get over the sparkle. I want Sunday Funday and The Girls Are Out.
Do it! They’re all beautiful
Great swatches! I’ve only picked up Naughty Nautical so far.
You should get Sunday Funday. They look gorgeous together.
The more I look at them the more I want them!!
Right? They draw you in
i bought naughty nautical and love it! rock the boat is pretty too.
It’s got to be one of my top picks of the summer.
I’m absolutely in love with Rock the Boat and The Girls are Out. I’m so happy that the glass fleck glitter actually showed up in these. I usually don’t buy expensive nail polish (on a budget, lol) but I might have to splurge on a couple of these! And thanks for the honest review about The More The Merrier, because I would have bought it otherwise.
You’re welcome. I get that color preferences are different for everyone but, when a polish is a pain for me to apply, I can’t recommend it, regardless of the color.
I have Naughty Nautical from this collection and love it, the others were quite similar to other shades I have, but if I had to pick up one more it would definitely be Rock the Boat or maybe Funday Sunday!
lovely swatches. I can’t wait to get Cashmere bathrobe from the fall collection though…
I have Naughty Nautical and Sunday Funday — they are such cheerful, juicy colors!! I may just have to go back for the rest of the collection (except Merrier, I can’t pull off that shade!!)
Ich habe es endlich einmal geschafft ihn aufzutragen. Ich finde ihn ein Traum! LG Katrin
You inspired me to buy both “The Girls Are Out” and “The More the Merrier” and I love them both! Thank you!!
Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. Yay!
For some reason, Sunday Funday has entered my awareness in the past few weeks. Stopped at Walgreens on the way home today and there was a whole display featuring Sunday Funday. So of course, I bought it and when I arrived home I Googled it — because I have to check what the Interwebs says about it after I bought it! My question is is Sunday Funday a dupe for Chanel’s Orange Fizz?
Dear Michelle, first of all thanks for the great article and photos. Could you please clarify a small but exciting detail. (At least it is for me.
When you use the term “crystal glass flecks”, do you mean by “crystal” that the flecks are made by: lead glass, just like a Swarovski (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass), or normal glass with no color? Thanks in advance, and have a great day. 
Hi! I don’t know the exact composition of the flecks, but they are essentially little clear flakes in the polish.