essie Fall 2015 Leggy Legend Swatches & Review

Happy Fri-yay everyone! I can’t tell you how happy I am to be writing this post on a new laptop. Mine old one deteriorated to the point that I couldn’t edit photos or watch a video without it freezing. Scary and frustrating. I’m ecstatic with my new Lenovo and to have a free moment from classes (so much Calc homework) to be sharing the essie Fall 2015 collection with you today. I shared a nail art look from the collection with you, but now it’s time for the full shebang. These six new shades come in an atypical essie formula. Check it out!

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 polishes in this collection have a different feel than what we’ve come to expect from essie. They’re thicker and more pigmented. Overall I’d describe them as smooth and self leveling, though there was a bit of a learning curve with the formula. I’m so used to the watery feel of essie, that I needed to adjust my polish game. I found it best to apply a thicker first coat, wait a bit for it to dry, and then apply a thin, second coat. This prevented any pooling, dragging or lumpiness. Since these are more pigmented, I only needed two coats with each.

essie Fall 2015 Swatches

essie Bell-bottom Blues is a navy shimmer with a turquoise flash. It reads blue for the most part, but that flash of shimmer can make it lean teal. You know I love my blues and this one is a stunner and unlike anything in my HELMER FULL OF BLUES. That’s right, six drawers of blue polish turned up no dupes. I compared it with its closest living essie relatives, Dive Bar and Midnight Cami, but they’re nothing alike. And OPI Glacier Bay Blues has a purple flash.

essie Color Binge is s searing red creme with a hint of orange in its base. It has a jelly like feel that made me concerned about streaking, but that wasn’t an issue here. I’m actually wearing it right now as a nail art base, and while reds aren’t my thing, I’m really into this one. It’s so glossy and the bit of warmth gives it a fall feel. That being said, I do own similar colors. They may not be as pigmented, but they’re very close in hue. I’d say Color Binge is a cross between OPI On Collins Ave (brighter) and essie Hip-Anema (more red).

 

essie Frock n Roll is a vampy browned purple packed with tiny silver flecks. This is a hard color to describe. Is it purple? Is it brown? Is it black or charcoal? It’s all those things and not. You can see a muted smoky purple shade in the bottle, but not so much on the nail. While Chanel Charivari is a creme, it has a similar base color. a-England Incense Burner and China Glaze Bogie are lighter and more reddish. ps. I was asked to show it next to JINsoon Farrago, but they are nothing alike, so I chose to show polishes that give a better comparison.

essie In the Lobby is a black cherry creme. This is the only polish that gave me slight patchiness on the first try, so be careful. This is a pretty typical color in the vein of Chanel Vamp (which is celebrating its 20 anniversary this year) and falls between fellow essie shades, Masquerade Belle and Shearling Darling.

essie Leggy Legend is a burnished gold foil metallic. It’s not quite red or orange enough to be full-on bronze or copper. Looking at it makes me want to a hot cup of apple cider and a cozy sweater. As you can see, it’s more browned than Sally Hansen CSM Copper and Zoya Penny. Totally unique to my collection.

essie With the Band is a rich burgundy creme. This is the only polish that has the potential for a lumpy finish, so use a few precise brush strokes. Again, this color has cousins in the essie lineup, though no twins. Limited Addiction is darker and more berry. I would say Deborah Lippmann Respect is the closest in my collection, though more expensive, so opt for With the Band.

Bottom Line: There were some surprises for me in this collection. Namely, the thicker more pigmented formula (so not essie) and the color palette. At face value, it’s a parade of reds, which is not “me,” but I’m digging on Color Binge. Also, Bell-bottom Blues and Leggy Legend are so on-trend for this fall, and totally unique. Love! Finally, Frock n Roll is so sexy, chic that I feel infinitely cooler than I actually am wearing it. With the Band is fine, but my least favorite formula of the group, and In the Lobby is easily dupe-able.

The essie Fall 2015 collection is available now at salons and mass retailers nationwide. You can buy essie online at Nordstrom.com, Kohls.com, and Beauty.com. essie nail polish retails for $8.50/ea. For more info, visit essie.com.

Thoughts on the essie fall collection? Which of these polishes are you adding to your collection? What colors are you loving this fall? 

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for essie. Affiliate links appear in this post. When you purchase through an affiliate link, you help support this site. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.