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ESSIE SUMMER 2016: COMPLETE MANIGEEK GUIDE

Taking its cues from a tropical island visit, this vibrant collection arcs from light to dark.

Inspired by Rebecca Minkoff’s travels to Antigua, the Essie Summer 2016 Collection is an interesting bunch of shades that when smushed all together into a single collection, have me wishing for sun and sand with a side order of surf.

Essie Summer 2016 Viva Antigua Collection

Essie Summer 2016 Collection Viva Antigua!

essie summer 2016 swatches & review

Essie Coconut Cove_Essie Summer 2016 Swatches Review

Essie Coconut Cove – Essie Summer 2016

Essie Coconut Cove – Essie Summer 2016 (above). She’s a barely off-white crème that took me three coats to get here. Yep, three. I was slightly patchy in two and (on account of my OCD) required a third. Depending on your application technique, you might be able to get away with two. I did one thin and two thicker for perfect level and 100% opacity. It’s not globbed on there; the control with formula/brush combo is actually quite good. She’s not white though. I’ll show you – later. Down there. After the swatches.

Essie Berried Treasures_Essie Summer 2016 Review Swatches

Essie Berried Treasure – Essie Summer 2016

Essie Berried Treasure – Essie Summer 2016 (above). My notes for this simply say “two coats.” I guess we don’t need more information that that, huh?

Essie Hiking Heels_Essie Summer 2016 Review Swatches

Essie Hiking Heels – Essie Summer 2016

Essie Hiking Heels – Essie Summer 2016 (above). Essie is calling this a “scorching hot lava red.” I’m calling it hot poppy and dupetastic. But here’s the thing: the formula, while on the thin side, is perfection. That’s two quick and easy coats to absolute colour saturation and shine. If you haven’t got a hot orangey-red like this, this one is an excellent choice.

Essie Loot the Booty_Essie Summer 2016

Essie Loot the Booty – Essie Summer 2016

Essie Loot the Booty – Essie Summer 2016 (above). Flecky stuff. Essie seems to be on a flecktastical journey lately and I'm pleased to see it. Loot the Booty is a nice ball-point blue with splashy little iridescent flakes in purple and turquoise. Don’t let the volume of flecks stuck to the inside the bottle fool you though – that doesn’t translate to the nail. 

Essie Summer 2016_Essie Loot the Booty Marco

Essie Loot the Booty. Das Macro.

Essie Loot the Booty (above). You’ll want to use a base coat with this bootylicious shade. And you’ll also want to be very careful around your cuticles and sidewalls. You know what I’m sayin’ here, right? Blueticles. You have been warned.

Essie Viva Antigua_Essie Summer 2016 Swatches Review

Essie Viva Antigua! – Essie Summer 2016

Essie Viva Antigua! – Essie Summer 2016 (above). Gah! Lookit all that fleckyness! Wanna know what my notes say? “Two coats. Just a perfect formula.” Everything else is right there for you to see with your own eyes. Kinda great, isn’t it? 

Essie Viva Antigua_Essie Summer 2016

Essie Viva Antigua! Das Macro.

Essie Viva Antigua! (above). Here... let's get closer! *Oh! A side note: I've seen swatches of this pop up online and on my screen, other swatches have been showing decidedly blue. This shade isn't blue. It's turquoise green. If my swatch shows straight up blue on your screen right now, we aren't calibrated the same way and you might need to adjust something in order to show colour correct. On this side, across all my computing devices, I'm accurate in natural daylight conditions.

Essie Tribal Text Styles_Essie Summer 2016 Review Swatches

Essie Tribal Text-Styles – Essie Summer 2016

Essie Tribal Text-Styles – Essie Summer 2016 (above). Sure it’s an interesting addition to a summer collection, but truth? Sometimes we need a nice dark shade for those hot summer nights. Against hot white linen, is there really a better contrast than this? Nope. 

Essie Summer 2016_Essie Tribal Text Styles Swatches

Essie Tribal Text-Styles. Das Macro.

Essie Tribal Text-Styles (above). Application is pretty swell. You can get even-but-patchy coverage in one coat, but it won’t be opaque, so use two. And the finished effect of all those lavender, teal, and sliver flecks elevates the black crème base to a stunning, shimmery gun-metal grey. It’s a perfect summer dark that I’m head over heels in The Love with.

Oooh! Know what we should do now? This:

essie summer 2016 comparison swatches

Essie Coconut Cove Comparison Swatches Dupes_Essie Summer 2016

Essie Coconut Cove comparison swatches

Essie Coconut Cove comparison swatches (above). See? It ain’t white, it's just a shade towards cream.

Essie Hiking Heels Comparison Swatches Dupes_Essie Summer 2016

Essie Hiking Heels comparison swatches

Essie Hiking Heels comparison swatches (above). I think I’ve seen this shade somewhere before…

Essie Berried Treasure Comparison Swatches Dupes_Essie Summer 2016

Essie Berried Treasure comparison swatches

Essie Berried Treasure comparison swatches (above). Mmm-hmm.

Essie Loot the Booty Comparison Swatches Dupe_Essie Summer 2016

Essie Loot the Booty comparison swatches

Essie Loot the Booty comparison swatches (above). I got nuthin’ close enough to even call similar.

Essie Viva Antigua Comparison Swatches Dupes_Essie Summer 2016

Essie Viva Antigua! comparison swatches

Essie Viva Antigua! comparison swatches (above). Similar, but so not the same.

Essie Tribal Text Styles Comparison Swatches Dupes_Essie Summer 2016

Essie Tribal Text-Styles comparison swatches

Essie Tribal Text-Styles comparison swatches (above). I know, right? I’ll bet you had no idea I could possibly have this many similars. But I do.

And there you are fellow polish nerdies! Your Complete Manigeek Guide to Essie Summer 2016. Let’s talk about it now! Are we feeling white cream and gun-metal grey for summer? What about this smashing trend towards flecky stuff? We should chat. Let’s chat!

Essie Summer 2016 Swatches Review Comparisons - Version 2.jpg

Essie Summer 2016 Beautygeeks Composite

Availability: Essie Summer 2016 is slated for Canadian release on May 17, 2016. At that time, you’ll be able to find it here at tradesecrets.ca and several other nationwide retailers. In the US, hit amazon.com or ulta.com.

While you’re shoppin’ for summer, don’t forget about Essie Spring 2016, Essie Resort 2016, or Essie Bridal 2016!

See ya’ll soooon!

Manicures & Photographs Karen Falcon (her king-sized heating pad kicks ass!)
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