Last updated: 16/10/2022

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Healthy and well-groomed nails are of great importance to many people. Whether in the office or during a cosy evening with friends, the outer appearance is not to be neglected. Essie nail polish not only allows you to choose from a wide range of colours, but also supports the care of your nails with the nail care range offered.

With our Essie nail polish test 2023, we have selected and provided you with some useful information to support your purchase decision. In this article, you will find the different types of products that the Essie brand represents in its range. In addition, we have provided you with both advantages and disadvantages so that you can find the Essie nail polish that is perfect for you.




Summary

  • Essie nail polishes are particularly characterised by the long durability of the nail polish, the good price-performance ratio and the large selection of colours and collections.
  • In general, the Essie brand has other products outside of nail polish. They additionally offer a range of nail care products that strengthen and support the durability and structure of the nail polishes through their care.
  • By combining the different colours and collections of the Essie brand, you are flexible in your choice and can create your own individual nail design.

The Best Essie Nail Polish: Our Picks

Buying and evaluation criteria of Essie nail polishes

Essie nail polishes are available in a wide variety of designs. The following criteria should help you decide which nail polish is best for you:

In the following paragraphs, we will explain what the individual criteria are.

Product type

Basically, the Essie brand offers different types of products. There is a differentiation between classic nail polishes, base and top coats and nail care. Therefore, you should consider which type is suitable for you before buying. You could also consider a combination of the product types.

Essie nail polishes cover a wide range of colours and collections. Whether quick-drying, long-lasting, classic or conditioning, Essie has a wide selection to choose from.

In addition to the classic nail polishes, Essie also offers the so-called base and top coats, which are known by the terms undercoat and top coat, among others. These are used to ensure that the colour is as long-lasting as possible, as it is trapped between the other two polishes.

Essie also offers a care range of products that contains, for example, nail care oils or nail polish remover. Thus, with the help of these products, an all-round manicure is guaranteed.

Coverage

Essie nail polishes are particularly popular due to their opacity. In addition, Essie nail polishes are characterised by their long durability. While cheaper nail polishes from the drugstore only last 1-2 days, Essie nail polishes are still flawless to look at even after 4-5 days.

Nevertheless, the opacity often depends on the selected colour. A shade that is lighter, such as a pink shade, has less coverage than a strong and dark red shade.

The drying time of Essie nail polishes also convinces many consumers, as the layers dry quickly and thus do not show any blemishes.

Colour selection

The Essie brand has a wide range of nail polish colours and collections. In the following list, we have provided you with a small overview of some Essie nail polish collections.

  • Quick dry – on the fly: The Essie brand offers many collections, such as “quick dry – on the fly”. The nail polishes in this collection promise to dry within a minute and deliver an excellent colour result.
  • Summer collection 2019: There are also seasonal collections. This range includes, for example, the Summer Collection 2019, which comprises mainly bright and vibrant colours that come into their own during the warm summer days.
  • Treat Love and Color Metallic: Another limited edition collection is the “Treat Love and Color Metallic” collection. Again, this is a combination of colour and care. The colours have a metallic look in gold, rose gold or silver.

Care

In addition to the different collections and colours of nail polishes, Essie offers a nail care range.

The nail care range by Essie includes the nail care oil, the nail polish remover and the nourishing nail polishes.

The nail care oil, for example, helps to care for your cuticles and keep them soft and supple. The brush makes the oil particularly easy to apply and gives your cuticles the moisture they need.

Essie also offers a nail polish remover. This helps you to change and renew your nail polish colours according to your needs. The acetone and vitamin C contained in the nail polish remover not only clean your nails, but also make them stronger and less likely to break.

In addition, the nourishing nail polish from Essie is very popular because it provides care and colour in combination. Thanks to the collagen and camellia extract contained, your nails will regenerate within a week.

Health

In general, you should keep your health in mind when applying nail polish. As with other products, the more often you paint your nails with nail polish, the more harmful it is.

Many nail polishes contain ingredients that are not very beneficial to your health. Before buying nail varnish, you should therefore look carefully at the ingredients.

Formaldehyde is an ingredient in many nail polishes and is absorbed into your body through the nail beds, which can be very harmful to your health. Especially during pregnancy, this can lead to serious problems. We have listed more facts on this topic in the guide of this article.

The Essie brand offers a completely vegan nail polish collection known as expressie. This nail polish not only promises to dry within seconds, it is even a so-called 8-free nail polish. This means that it does not contain the substances found in the usual nail polishes, such as toluene, formaldehyde or xylene.

If you are looking for a nail polish that dries quickly and is not harmful due to its vegan ingredients, this nail polish might be the right one for you.

Guide: Questions you should ask yourself before buying Essie nail polish

In the following guide, you will find some questions about Essie nail polish that can help you decide which is the right nail polish for you.

What distinguishes Essie nail polish from other manufacturers?

Basically, the nail polishes from the Essie brand are characterised by the large selection of colours and collections and the price-performance ratio.

The Essie brand offers numerous collections where every customer can find what she is looking for. For example, if you’re looking for a nail polish that doesn’t pose a risk to your health, check out the expressie collection.

If you want to get a great result with extra shine, you can consider a gel couture nail polish. It also gives you a better hold.

Essie Nagellack-1

Your Essie nail polish provides a long-lasting finish and an optimal result. So nothing stands in the way of well-groomed and beautiful nails.
(Image source: Linda Söndergaard / Unsplash)

In principle, Essie stands out with the many colour combinations, the different collections and the long durability of the nail polishes compared to other manufacturers. Therefore, you should inform yourself about the different collections and options before buying and choose the nail polish that suits you best.

What types of nail polishes does Essie offer?

The Essie brand offers different types of products. They include the classic nail polishes, base and top coats and nail care. In the following table, these product types are briefly described. The variants will be explained in more detail later on.

Product type Advantages Disadvantages
Nail polish Large selection of colours and collections Less durability
Base and top coats durability More time-consuming
Nail care Good nail care

In the following, we will go into more detail about the individual product types, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

Nail varnish

Nail varnish

The classic nail polishes from the Essie brand include a wide range of different colours and collections, which is a major advantage. This allows you to create your own personal nail design and is completely free in your design.

Compared to the gel couture nail polishes, the classic nail polishes are slightly less long-lasting. You could therefore consider strengthening your nail design with a transparent gel couture nail polish to make it last longer.

Base and top coats

Base and top coats

Essie’s base and top coats allow you to get a better structure and longer durability of your nail design.

The base coat first provides your nail with care so that the nail is strengthened. After applying the colour, the top coat is also applied. This provides a shiny result and strengthens the durability.

The manicure with the help of the base and top coats, however, takes a little more time than the simple application of a nail polish. If you are in a hurry, you should bear in mind that this application is time-consuming.

Nail care

Nail care

The Essie brand also offers all-round nail care with various nail care products. This includes, for example, the nail care oil, the nail polish remover and also nourishing nail polishes.

An all-round manicure also includes the appropriate nail care, which you should not neglect. Essie offers various individual products as well as nail care sets that strengthen and care for your nails on a regular basis.

To avoid brittle nails, you should always carry out nail care. This way, nothing can get in the way of your personal nail design.

How many coats of Essie nail polish should I apply?

In principle, you can decide for yourself how many layers of Essie nail polish you want to apply. This depends on the colour or the occasion for which you are applying the nail polish.

Remember, the more layers you apply, the longer the nail polish will last on your nails.

A pink nail polish shade does not have as much coverage as a dark shade. However, if you only want to apply a subtle coat of nail polish so that it looks very natural, one coat of nail polish is enough.

However, if you want more coverage, one coat may not be enough. Then you should consider a second or third coat.

Essie Nagellack-2

Create your own individual nail design by combining several collections and colours.
(Image source: Ke Vin / Unsplash)

To achieve a great and varied result, you can also mix the different Essie collections. For example, you could highlight one nail with the metallic nail polish. This way you can create your very own individual nail design.

At what prices are Essie nail polishes sold?

Essie nail polishes are particularly good value for money. Compared to drugstore alternatives, however, Essie products are somewhat more expensive. In the following table, we have provided you with an overview of the prices of various collections.

Collection Price range
Nail varnish approx. 7,95€
Nail varnish Treat Love and Color approx. 9,95€
Nail varnish Gel Couture approx. 11,95€

Essie nail polishes are more expensive compared to drugstore private label nail polishes. The nail polish prices of the private labels range from 2-3€. On the other hand, Essie stands out due to the large selection of collections and the long durability of the polish.

What alternatives are there to Essie nail polishes?

If you are looking for an alternative to Essie nail polishes, we have picked out a few here. In the table you will find both the product type and a short description of what the alternative is.

Product type Short description
Natural nail polish The natural nail polishes are often vegan and gluten-free.
Nail varnishes under the UV lamp The UV lamp hardens the nail varnish quickly and thus extends its shelf life.

In the following, we will take a closer look at the alternative of natural nail polishes and nail polishes under the UV lamp.

Natural nail polishes

If you are looking for a natural alternative, vegan and gluten-free nail polishes are often a good choice. Keep in mind that Essie has also created a range of nail polishes called expressie.

Natural nail polishes are not as harmful to health as classic nail polishes. Although many manufacturers are already paying attention to the ingredients and formaldehyde, for example, is no longer contained in many nail polishes, you should familiarise yourself with the contents.

The term “free-from” supports many nail polishes and states which ingredients these nail polishes do not contain. If you are looking for a natural option, you can use this keyword to look around.

Nail polishes under UV lamp

Another alternative to Essie nail polishes are nail polishes that are cured under a UV lamp. These include gel nails and shellac nails.

Both gel and shellac nails are supposed to last several weeks without blemishes. Whether you have them done by a beautician in a nail studio or buy a UV lamp yourself is up to you.

Gel nails consist of an acrylate. This is applied and hardened under the UV lamp by the influence of light. The gel nails last up to 4 weeks and grow out.

Shellac nail polish is not as durable as gel for gel nails. Shellac nail polish should last between two and three weeks and can be removed again with a certain nail polish remover.

Essie Nagellack-3

Gel nails, which you can have done in a nail studio by a beautician, have a strong structure and are more durable.br /> (Image source: John Schaidler / Unsplash)

If you are looking for an even longer lasting nail polish, gel or shellac nails could possibly be right for you.

How long does Essie nail polish last after application?

Essie nail polish is characterised by its long durability, among other things. However, you should pay attention to a few points.

To achieve a perfect, long-lasting result, you should first avoid mixing different nail polishes. If you decide to add extra shine to your nails with gel nail polish, for example, you should stick to one brand.

Many branded products, including Essie nail polish, are not designed to be mixed with other products. So if you have chosen an Essie colour, you should also use Essie Gel Couture nail polish to create an even and long-lasting result.

Use a combination of Essie colour nail polish and Essie Gel Couture nail polish for your individual, perfect result.

When applied correctly, Essie nail polish can last 4-5 days perfectly. However, various activities such as swimming or even doing chores will affect the durability of the polish.

Can I use Essie nail polish during pregnancy?

Basically, if you are pregnant, you should give it some thought. Nail polish is generally one of the risk factors of pregnancy.

It is harmful to a pregnant woman’s health if she paints her nails every day.

Many nail polishes contain formaldehyde, which is very harmful to health. Especially in the first three months of pregnancy, it is particularly important not to ingest such harmful substances, otherwise it can lead to malformations.

However, there are alternatives, such as natural nail polishes, which are usually vegan or gluten-free and are not considered harmful.

During pregnancy, you should therefore use natural nail polish or not use it at all, so as not to endanger the health of your child.

How long does Essie nail polish last once the bottle is opened?

An unopened bottle of Essie nail polish will last up to 24 months. But even an opened bottle can last up to 2 years with proper care and use. You are guaranteed around 30 coats.

For example, you should make sure that the nail polish bottle is not directly exposed to sunlight and that it is stored in a cool place. Not only can the shelf life of the polish be reduced, but the colour can also change due to exposure to the sun. It is also important to keep the bottle clean after use.

In addition, you should always close the nail polish bottle tightly after use. This protects your nail polish from the air and the contents of the bottle from drying out.

Image source: Lynn/ 123rf.com

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