I recently attended the Cosmoprof North America business to business beauty trade show in Las Vegas and, as always, it was completely overwhelming, in a good way. Imagine an enormous convention center filled with rows upon rows of beauty brands, manufacturers, packaging companies, etc. debuting their latest products and innovations. I didn’t know which way to go first.

In years past I haven’t made it to the Essie booth. In part because they make it look so secretive with the surrounding walls. This year however, I met the adorable and charming Dominic and Melissa who took me on a tour of the upcoming Winter & Holiday 2011 collections. Sadly, Essie was not at the show this year but I’m sure I’ll run into her in a few weeks during New York Fashion Week.

Dominic, by the way, told me he reads my blog (so flattering) and when I playfully questioned him, he replied, “I know that you store your nail polish in IKEA Helmers!” How cute is that?!?

Let’s check out what Essie is bringing to the nail polish party in the upcoming months including some hints about SPRING!

First up, the Essie Cocktail Bling nail polish collection for Winter 2011. These gemstone and jewelry inspired colors have a little something for everyone, including a new GREEN and TEAL! Get excited.

The shades (l-r): Cocktail Bling, Brooch The Subject, Bangle Jangle, School of Hard Rocks, Size Matters, Bobbing for Baubles

Melissa from Essie happened to be wearing School of Hard Rocks on her nails and let me snap a shot of it. It’s even more gorg in person.

The Essie Luxeffects collection for Holiday 2011 is comprised of glitter effect top coats of varying sizes and textures. There are chunky glitters, more refined sparkles and even a FLAKIE!

I didn’t catch all the names but the gold is As Gold As It Gets and the flakie is Shine of the Times (3rd from left).

Also, three of the retail exclusive shades are being brought over to the salon side. They will be re-promoted along with three core Essie colors, including Sexy Divide and Over The Top. The three retail shades are: Dive Bar, Trophy Wife and Jamaica Me Crazy.

Finally, Dominic let it slip that the Essie Spring 2012 collection had just landed on his desk before flying to Vegas. We were discussing how Essie continues to step outside of the classics/neutrals corner we tend to paint her into. I mentioned how unexpected the neons in Fall 2009 were (Pink Parka, Bright Tights) when he shared that the Spring 2012 collection is also, “BRIGHT! Like little easter eggs.” If you have pastel hopes and sheer dreams for Essie this spring, you’re going to have to put them on hold.

Okay so which colors are you already drooling over? Does one collection appeal to you more than the others? Do you think Essie should continue making more unusual shades like blues or greens?

365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to. Essie Da Bush was released in late spring/early summer as part of the Essie Resort 2011 collection. Shortly after its launch I kept hearing raves for the color that left me staring at my bottle, thinking, “What the eff??” What’s with all the hype over this bland looking, neutral grey/green/cream concoction. I’m all for odd colors but in the bottle, Da Bush, did nothing fore me. Even the name turned me off. So all this time it’s sat in one of my untrieds bin, taunting me. I could almost hear it saying, “Just give in. You know you’re going to love me.” Well, we’ll just see about that!

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.

Da Bush has the watery, squishy texture we’ve come to expect from Essie cremes only it’s pretty well pigmented. I probably could have gotten away with two medium coats but I like to apply my polish as thin as possible to avoid chipping so three thin coats did the trick for me. Plus I nicked two of my nails while they were still wet with the second coat so a third layer was necessary to prevent starting from scratch. Call me lazy but it worked.

Essie Da Bush is a soft artichoke green creme. It’s what I imagine artichoke soup would look like. It’s a bit greyed but with a pale lightness that feels spring/summer appropriate. It’s definitely a unique flower, or so I thought.

After I was done being wowed by how cool and different this color is I went on the hunt for any type of comparison. I started with MAC In The Buff which I remember being described as “avocado” though it’s more like a browned avocado and NOTHING like Da Bush. After searching through my permanent stash I started in my untrieds and came across OPI Stranger Tides from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection and surprise, surprise, surprise we have a match!

Now I don’t know who spied on who here but how much of a coincidence is it that the two biggest nail brands on the planet came out with the EXACT SAME SHADE at the EXACT SAME TIME? I don’t say dead-on dupe very often but there is no other way to describe this pair. I almost mislabeled them in this photo because I forgot which polish was which. And they both have the same pigmentation and consistency.

That’s too many “sames” for me not to suspect a little industrial espionage. Intriguing, no? Now I wish I had purchased the Sinful Pirates dupe to see if it’s a match as well. I smell a Rite-Aid trip in my immediate future.

Bottom Line: Da Bush and OPI Stranger Tides may be identical but it doesn’t make the color any less unique. It’s certainly not a shade for everyone as it’s kind of dirty and odd but that’s what I love about it. Give me a green that I don’t have anything even remotely similar to and I’m a happy nail polish fanatic. Of course you don’t need both polishes but if you’re at all into funky neutrals, I suggest you pick up one of them.

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: It’s a toss up as both colors are great so I flipped a coin and decided to STASH the Essie and SHARE the OPI.

Essie Da Bush is available as part of the Essie Resort 2011 limited edition collection. Essie nail polish is available at professional salons and spas and also in the retail version at drugstores and grocers nationwide. Online shoppers can head to Essie.com, Head2ToeBeauty.com, and TransDesign.com. Essie nail polishes retail for $8/ea for a .5oz bottle.

Thoughts on Da Bush? Do you love quirky colors like this or is this too funky for you? Do you have a preference between Da Bush and Stranger Tides? Has anyone compared either one to the Sinful version? Do you have any other polishes with this type of hue? The last artichoke polish I can recall is CND Okie Dokie Artichokie and it was much darker than these two.

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by Essie and OPI. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to. This past weekend I have been at my favorite Ohio destination, Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. Every year my friends from my Cedar Point days rent a house for a long weekend to reminisce about the good old days (wow do I sound old) and create new memories. This is our tenth year taking this trip and it just keeps getting better. Choosing a nail polish to wear for a whole weekend is a challenge as I’m not used to committing to a color for an extended period of time. However, I’ve been tempted by Essie Smooth Sailing from the summer Braziliant collection ever since it arrived. After fawning over Coat Azure, I was curious to see if this new blue hue could live up to the same standard.

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.

After being so impressed with Coat Azure’s texture I was hoping to find the same formula in Smooth Sailing. While the polish is definitely more creamy than squishy, I would say it’s a blend of the two. It ended but being the perfect combo as the lacquer was easy to control and gave great coverage. It was fully opaque after two coats.

Essie Smooth Sailing is what I would call a cornflower blue. It’s not quite purple enough to be deemed periwinkle and definitely darker and not as blue as Coat Azure. The tiny pink and light blue flecks really elevate it to stand-out status. I have never seen or owned a color quite like this and considering the size of my collection, that’s saying something.

The only bummer is I’m testing a new UV top coat and I either did something wrong in applying it or it doesn’t play well with others because I ended up with a giant chip the very next day. What a joy having a chipped nail all weekend. Though considering that I’ve never experienced chipping issues with Essie in the past, I’m not placing blame on the polish.

Bottom Line: While I have admittedly not been the biggest fan of Essie’s color palette in the past, everything I’ve tried from her 2011 collections have impressed me. In the past her collections have just, in whole, not been my style but she is killing it this year. Color me won over. Smooth Sailing is unique, well pigmented and in an excellent formulation. How could you go wrong with that?

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: Oh it’s definitely staying in my STASH.

Essie Smooth Sailing is available now as part of the Essie Braziliant collection for Summer 2011. Essie nail polish is available at professional salons and spas and also in the retail version at drugstores and grocers nationwide. Online shoppers can head to Essie.com, Head2ToeBeauty.com, and TransDesign.com. Essie nail polishes retail for $8/ea for a .5oz bottle.

Thoughts on Smooth Sailing? What is your favorite color from Essie this year? If you had to choose between Coat Azure and Smooth Sailing, which one would you pick?

Disclosure: A product sample was provided by reps for Essie. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to. I’ve briefly mentioned in past blog posts that I was in a sorority in college, Alpha Delta Pi. If you aren’t familiar with the sorority system, like a US state, there are a lot of official symbols for sororities. Official flower (woodland violet), mascot (lion), symbol (diamond), open motto (We live for each other), philanthropy (Ronald McDonald House) and colors (azure blue and white). Now for the past couple years I have found myself yawning over the spring collections from Essie. Soft shades just aren’t my bag and sheers make my nails look terrible. So when I stumbled across Essie Coat Azure from the French Affair collection, I was pleasantly surprised. While I haven’t been actively seeking out a nail polish version of my sorority’s color, finding one has always been on my wish list.

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.

Coat Azure is not your typical Essie in terms of formula. The usual squishy texture has been replaced with a creamy, uber pigmented lacquer that is opaque in two coats. It is a little on the thick side but smooth, reminiscent of the RBL Tudors polishes.

Essie Coat Azure is just as the name implies, an azure blue packed with the tiniest hint of micro-shimmer. I would say it’s a step above the Chanel subtle shimmer as it’s pretty noticeable in most lighting yet it doesn’t give a full-on shimmery sheen. Again I go back to the RBL Tudors as the finish reminds me of RBL Jane. This type of hue is a mix of traditional color wheel blue and cyan and I’m completely smitten with it regardless of the sorority connection and I can’t believe there aren’t more polishes this color. I went Helmer diving for dupes and came up empty.

Bottom Line: There’s nothing about this polish I don’t love. The color, the formula, the finish. It’s all nothing short of perfection. This is the shade I chose to wear on my weekend away and I can’t stop staring at my nails. For some odd reason it makes me think of frosting and Cookie Monster and now I want an iced sugar cookie this color. If you are even the slightest blue nail polish fan I suggest you run, run now, run fast and pick this polish up.

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: As if you don’t already know. STASH!

Essie Coat Azure is available at professional salons and spas and also in the retail version at drugstores and grocers nationwide. Online shoppers can head to Essie.com, Head2ToeBeauty.com, and TransDesign.com. Essie nail polishes retail for $8/ea for a .5oz bottle.

Are you as into Coat Azure as I am? Have you picked up a bottle yet? If not, has my review swayed you? Do I have any fellow ADPi nail polish fanatics out there?

Disclosure: I purchased this nail polish. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. I hope your loved ones were good to you today. So I think all the pinkness of Chanel Morning Rose sent me screaming back to the dark side. You see, after swatching Mattese Attitude yesterday I put Morning Rose BACK ON to wear to a Cinco de Mayo party last night. That’s how into it I am. Then this morning I woke up, a wee bit hungover, and all that sweet carnation pink staring back at me was too much. I needed to put on something the complete opposite which led me to Essie Smokin’ Hot. Smokin’ Hot was released with the Essie Winter 2010 Collection and I think at the time I was feeling so inundated by the amount of funky greys and taupes on the market that this one kind of flew under the radar. Well today it was exactly what the nail doctor ordered.

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.

Smokin’ Hot has that typical squishy texture that I’ve come to expect from Essie.  That jelly-ish consitency that makes application a breeze even though doesn’t exactly pay off in the pigmentation department.  If I would have gotten a little heavier with my coats I probably could have gotten away with two but I opted for three thin coats instead.  After all, the thinner the coats the less likely you are to chip. The finish was so glossy that I really didn’t need a top coat but I applied one anyway just to make sure it dried quickly.

Essie Smokin’ Hot is a dark purple tinged charcoal grey creme.  It falls into the same category as Chanel Paradoxal, Models Own Purple Grey and Zoya Kelly. You know that new crop of unusual neutrals that you can’t exactly describe. I think that’s why I love these type of shades so much.  Even in spite of how many have come out in the past year. Any shade you can’t truly classify with a standard Crayola crayon color is intriguing to me.

Speaking of Zoya Kelly, I did a little side-by-side comparison for those of you debating between the colors or looking to avoid dupes. As you can see Kelly is more cool blue to it whereas Smokin’ Hot has more warmth with its purple base.

Bottom Line: Smokin’ Hot is definitely a winner in the edgy neutrals category. It’s dark but not too dark, like a blackened mauve, and really flattering. I wish there was more pigment to it but that’s just the nature of Essie polish. The application rocks but the pigmentation doesn’t quite hit the mark.

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: This one will live to see another day in my STASH.

Essie Smokin’ Hot is unfortunately not readily available. The Winter 2010 Collection was Limited Edition so you’ll have to track this one down at a local salon, evilBay or a random online seller. Zoya Kelly would make a great substitute even if they aren’t identical and it can be found on Zoya.com.

Did you snatch up Smokin’ Hot when it was released? Thoughts on the color? Do you think this is something Essie should consider bringing back or making permanent? Or is it just a trendy seasonal shade that should remain LE?

Disclosure: A product sample was provided by Essie and Zoya. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to. Last week we talked about the J.Crew ad featuring Jenna Lyons painting her son’s toe nails bright pink.  It caused quite a stir with some conservatives out there and to show support of Jenna, someone of Facebook created an event asking members to paint their nails pink on April 22nd. Like I said in my original post about this, most people I know were more curious about the nail polish color than what Jenna was doing to her son’s toes.  The color used in the ad is called “Peep Show,” a shade made exclusively for J.Crew which has now sold out (not surprising). Essie Pink Parka from the Fall 2009 collection is said to be a dupe for Peep Show so I polished my nails with it today as a sign of support. ***Edited to add – Apparently I was misinformed when told that Pink Parka was a dupe for Peep Show.  Cute As A Button is a better match.***

Formula & Application:Essie nail polishes are 3-Free. 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.

Neons are notoriously a pain to deal with and Pink Parka is no exception. Neons actually trump yellows in the level of frustration they give me.  They tend to be thick and streaky, needing several coats.  Because the neon pigment causes the polish to dry matte, I use the same rules I apply to mattes; wait for the base coat dry completely before applying.  I ended up using three coats of Pink Parka though in spite of waiting for the base coat to dry I still ended up with some dragging on my ring finger so that got a fourth coat.

Essie Pink Parka was released as part of the Fall 2009 collection which is very un-Essie. Neons for Fall? How unexpected. When I saw Essie during Fall 2009 Fashion Week she mentioned being inspired by the Michael Kors runway that included neon pink, orange and yellow (see below). That inspiration come to life in the form or Pink Parka and Bright Tights. Of course those two shades were kind of overshadowed by the major hits of the collection; Mink Muffs and Chinchilly.

Essie Pink Parka is about as neon pink as you can imagine.  Of course, neons photograph terribly and never appear true-to-life on screen, unless some serious Photoshop magic is involved, so you have to trust that Pink Parka is eye searing.  It verges on glow-in-the-dark territory.

Bottom Line: As fun as neons can be in the summer, I personally opt for brights.  Simply because they are easier to apply and not as in-your-face.  I do keep a few neons on hand but I gravitate more towards oranges than pinks so Pink Parka just isn’t my cup of tea.  Considering that most neons tend to apply the same as Pink Parka and this shade is discontinued, I would look for a more accessible option if you want a polish like this.

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: SHARE

Essie Pink Parka is discontinued but can still be found online from various vendors.  Being that none of them are e-tailers I’ve purchased from before, I’m hesitant to link to them but a quick Google search will connect you with them.  Remember, order at your own risk.  If anyone has a reputable e-tailer to recommend that has Pink Parka in stock, please leave a link in the comments.

So who else joined me in wearing pink polish today?  Thoughts on Pink Parka?  Are you a fan of neon nail polish?  Do you have any special application tricks to share?

Disclosure: A sample was provided by Essie.  For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

There’s been a lot of buzz recently around a J.Crew ad that depicts the company’s president, Jenna Lyons, with her son who has neon pink nail polish on his toes.  It includes the quote, “Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon.”

Why there is such an uproar about this escapes me. Granted, I don’t have, or plan to have, children so I can’t really see this from a parent’s perspective but I’ve always felt that if you aren’t hurting anyone or breaking any laws, do what you damn well please.

We’ve discussed men wearing nail polish in the past and to this day it is still one of my most popular posts, continuing to receive new comments. While there are people against the idea, the majority of us Fanatics seem to be okay with men wearing polish on their hands or feet. So why shouldn’t this apply to little boys? Would we even be talking about this if the color was more “masculine” like gray or black?

When I looked at the ad, I thought, “Oh this is a way to pimp the Essie polishes J.Crew will be carrying this summer.  Using her son will be sure to draw attention.” Not that civilization as we know it is ending because of how she colored her son’s toenails.

Yes, it is eye catching to see a male with neon pink toes. Yes, it obviously got the press to take notice. But how did I learn of this whole controversy? From a reader asking me on Twitter if I knew the name of the polish used in the ad. Enough said!

What are your thoughts on this ordeal? Is it something we should be talking about? Do any of you have young boys in your life that like to polish their nails?  Does it make a difference whether the color is a “girly” pink or “masculine” dark?

ps To answer the reader’s question… I don’t know the shade name but when I find out I will update this post. The Essie polishes used in J.Crew ads are usually for sale on the website but the only pink I is see currently is Forget Me Nots which is not neon.

365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to. Today made me realize why the Bangles sang a song called “Manic Monday.” This was one CLUSTER (as my friend Nancy would say) of a day.  I spent my morning aiming a hair dryer at the wall of ice in our beer fridge so I could save the two kegs inside from spoiling.  The rest of my afternoon included getting prices on garage door openers since mine decided to die over the weekend while the boyfriend was away at a hockey tournament, of course. By the time I got around to removing my Inglot 646 manicure, I should have expected to find that it STAINED my nails Smurfy blue.  After all everything comes in threes, right?  Even though my precious Orly Cutique removed most of the staining I was so not in the mood to even think about applying a light colored polish.  Instead I decided to itch the brown nail polish scratch that Estee Lauder Chocolate Crave started.   I went hunting for an untried brown and stumbled upon Essie Little Brown Dress.

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.

While Little Brown Dress has the somewhat squishy texture I’ve come to expect from Essie, the polish was heavily pigmented giving flawless, opaque coverage in two coats.  Normally squishy, watery or jelly indicates a low level of opacity so I was pleasantly surprised to see this color go on so well.  The finish was so glossy that I really didn’t need a top coat but I applied one anyone just to make sure it dried quickly.

Essie Little Brown Dress is a muddy coffee bean creme.  It’s as if you made a paste with cocoa powder.  It’s not deep enough to be considered a dark chocolate yet it’s nowhere near milk chocolate either.  It has a bit of black in its base so it’s not an overly warm brown and I think that’s what drew me in.  I love a true brown creme but this one has a bit of edge to it.

Bottom Line: It may be Spring but I’m all about non-traditional colors this season, especially browns.  Given its perfect formula and pigmentation and the fact that I can’t find a dupe for it in my collection, I consider Little Brown Dress a win.

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: STASH it!

Essie Little Brown Dress was released as part of the Fall 2010 collection but it’s still available on Essie.com and TransDesign.com.  Essie nail polishes retail for $8/ea for a .46oz bottle.

Who’s in on my current brown polish obsession?  Thoughts on Little Brown Dress?  If you own it, have you discovered a dupe?  If you don’t, will it make your shopping list?

Disclosure: For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to. In December we talked about Essie entering the mass retail market with an edited selection of their core collection colors and new retail exclusives.  ”Retail exclusives” made my ears perk up so I was curious to see what kind of colors the mass consumer would get versus what Essie offers to salons. To be honest when the L’oreal buyout of Essie became public I was skeptical of how this type of change would be received.  Unlike a lot of salon brands that have ended up filtering into mass retailers via the gray market, Essie was one that I rarely came across.  At least in my tiny piece of the universe.  But I have yet to hear a big uproar from the salon community about L’oreal bringing Essie to the mass crowd. Anywho, as soon as I spotted my first Essie retail display I zeroed in on the blues and greens and came home with Dive Bar and Trophy Wife.  Of course I rush to buy these colors and where do they end up?  Good question.  This past weekend I was cleaning out a drawer looking for receipts (oh joyous tax season) when I found the polishes still in the drugstore bag.  I must have hid them in a fit of de-cluttering before they made their way to the polish room.  I decided to give Essie Dive Bar a whirl first.

Formula & Application: Essie nail polishes (including the retail line) are 3-Free.  The formula hasn’t changed even though the packaging has.  The bottle still includes the Essie molded logo on two sides but there is now a clear sticker with white lettering on one of the smooth sides.  Also, the cap doesn’t include the embossed “e” on top.  Everything else seems the same with the exception of the volume of polish.  Salon Essie bottles list the volume as .5oz and the Retail Essie bottles say .46oz.  Even though the bottles look the same size there a difference of 1.5mL.  Hmm…

***UPDATE: I was informed by a representative for Essie that there is no difference in the fill amount between Retail and Salon packaging. Due to a change in regulations brands are now required to list fill levels using 2-digits instead of rounding to a single digit. Essie bottles have always contained .46oz of polish and the bottles stating .5oz are being phased out.

Dive Bar had that somewhat watery feel that I’ve come to expect from Essie.  It kind of slides on the nail and feels a bit squishy but, not to worry, the pigmentation is all there.  It’s an easy two coater.

Essie Dive Bar has an oil spill-esque look to it in the bottle.  The tinge of purple on the edge of the bottle is a great indicator that there’s more going on in this party than one would expect.  At its core, Dive Bar is a blackened teal with metallic shimmer.  It teeters on “almost black” territory but I’d say it’s just light enough to avoid that moniker. I love that it can lean either blue or green depending on the light.  And that hint of purple, you can see it hovering around the edges of the nail like a frame.

Bottom Line: I’m a bit puzzled by the polish volume discrepancy between the salon and retail bottles but that’s not enough to turn me off.  I rarely go through a bottle of polish so the 1.5mL isn’t a deal breaker but I think there should be consistency in size if the price is the same at both the retail and salon level.  Outside of that, I’m loving that there are some shades, like Dive Bar, in the Retail Exclusives that appeal to my more adventurous sense of color.

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: Oh it’s already filed away in my Helmers.  STASH!

Essie Dive Bar is part of the Essie Retail Exclusives that can be found at mass retailers nationwide. Essie nail polishes retail for $8/ea for a .46 oz bottle.

Are you loving or hating Dive Bar?  Who else picked up a bottle?  Which of the other Retail Exclusive shades have you tried?  I’d love to hear your thoughts on them and the whole Essie Retail concept.

Disclosure: I purchased Essie Dive Bar at my local grocery store.  For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

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.