Essie Resort 2015 Swatches & Review
Essie Resort 2015
I have never understood the point of going on vacation in the summer. When you grow up in Ohio, Summer is the best time of year to be outside. I see no reason to escape. However, come mid-January, all I want is a beach.
Last year, I was fortunate to wave goodbye to the snow and cold on a Caribbean cruise. This year, I have to live vicariously through tales of my parents’ Aruba adventure and the summery shades in the Essie Resort 2015 collection.
Formula & Application
Essie nail polish is 3-Free (Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP). The square bottles are embossed with the Essie logo and the smooth plastic caps include an embossed ‘e’ on top. Bottles at mass retailers have stickers rather than embossing on the bottle. 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 four colors in this collection all have that typical Essie watery, squishy formula that easily self-levels. Coverage varied with the two lighter shades needing three coats and the two darker coats becoming opaque in two coats. The only one I had an issue with was Time for Me Time. It applied somewhat streaky, so if it’s meant to be worn sheer, that would be a challenge. On the opposite end of the coverage spectrum, Suite Retreat is practically a one-coat wonder.
Essie Cocoa Karma is described as a “molten milk chocolate” but it’s a lot lighter than your typical chocolate hue. Instead, I’d call it a cross between camel and fawn. Like a pair of tan cashmere gloves. It has the same depth of color as Zoya Flynn, except Cocoa Karma is more ruddy.
Essie Cocoa Karma
Essie Stones N Roses is a carnation pink. It has a warm undertone but not enough to make it look peach or coral. In my collection, it falls somewhere between NARS Trouville (lighter) and NOPI Sweet Daisy (more peach).
Essie Stones N Roses
Essie Suite Retreat is a rich, indigo blue creme. Essie describes it as “blue orchid” but it’s a lot darker than that implies. It dries darker than the bottle color and while it has touches of purple, I’ll store it in my blue Helmer drawer. I have nothing quite like this. Nails Inc St. John’s Wood has a similar feel, but it’s lighter and more purple.
Essie Suite Retreat
Essie Time for Me Time is a milky pink that is slightly greyed with a hint of pearl. The pearlescent shimmer is visible at the right angle, but is otherwise nonexistent. The base color reminds me of Orly Taffy.
Essie Time for Me Time
Essie Resort 2015 swatches
Bottom Line: I can’t say I’m wowed by this collection BUT I am more than wowed by Suite Retreat. I love this color so much. The silky formula, amazing coverage and drop dead gorgeous hue have me hooked. This is my new JINsoon Cool Blue and my next pedi color. Even though pinks aren’t my style, I like Stones N Roses much more than expected. Cocoa Karma isn’t a bad color, it’s just not right for my skin tone. Makes me look red.
Essie Resort 2015 is available now at salons and mass retailers nationwide. You can find it online at Nordstrom.com or eBay.com (where I got my set). Essie nail polish retails for $8.50/ea. For more info, visit Essie.com.
Thoughts on the Essie Resort collection? Are you as smitten with Suite Retreat as I am? Do you plan to pick up any of these?
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
What nice cremes these all are!
I have to agree that Suite Retreat steals the show here! The collection as a whole is kind of a yawn.
Oh! I love Suite Retreat! It’s almost periwinkle!!!! And I love a periwinkle!
Me too!
Suite Retreat is gorgeous. I definitely need this one for my collection. I kind of like Time For Me Time, but only because I’m really into neutral shades right now. Normally I wouldn’t go near it. At times, I think we all go through polish phases, despite the colors we are naturally drawn to.
Absolutely. I normally don’t wear pinks but I like this one.
Love the purple one!!
One of the best colors I’ve seen this spring.
I love Stones n Roses and Suite Retreat. I like the color and fresh look of Time For Me. I might consider it because I always paint two coats anyway.
Great choices!
I can’t figure Suite Retreat out. It reads purple to me, so I looked up a bunch of shots on Instagram. The only blue shots looked super dusty, which I am rarely in the mood for. I’ll scoop it up, but it may be a while (needs to be diScounted or I need some CVS beauty bucks).
It’s a really hard color to photograph as it looks different depending on the lighting. The best way to judge it is to see it in person.
Totally on the same page with you on Suite Retreat! It was my fave from the bunch. I love me a good creme one coat wonder!
i love the blue, it’s just beautiful. Essie does blues so well! I’ve treated myself to the mini cube because your swatches looked so nice and I couldn’t choose between Suite Retreat and Stones n Roses. I also fancied giving Cocoa Karma a whirl.
Fun! I haven’t tried the mini Essies before. Let me know how you like them.
Cocoa Karma is my favorite, surprisingly, but I really enjoy the collection as a whole.
That is surprising but, hey, sometimes pinks thrill me. There’s always that one color that wins you over.
Suite Retreat = YUM!
I agree! Stunning
lovely and feminine shades!
I agree!
I read some reviews (yours too ;), and bought suite retreat this weekend!
it was a kind of miracle, as no other colors was available at the shop from this collection! Due to my neutral complexion I put it to my purples. (Cold blue without a bit of warm undertones doesn’t look too good on me.) I’m having the EU version, maybe the USA one is more on the blue side.(?)
I have 3 sinful colors (easy going, soul mate, vacation time) that are similar to the 3 remaining colors (based on the photos). I like the set of these 4 very much, thinking about a design using the arches on the promo photos.
Hi! As I mentioned in the review, Suite Retreat is hard to capture. If you do a search online, you’ll see pics of it ranging from blue to purple. It’s kind of a chameleon that way. It changes depending on the lighting and skin tone.