Essie Nail Polish Review

I've tried plenty of nail polishes in my time, and for something that retails at $22.99.. I am not disappointed with Essie Bikini So Teeny.. but nor am I impressed with it.

I've got to say, there were several things that I loved about this.. The applicator, for example, is one of the things that I love about this product.. It's wide enough to cover your nail in one stroke unlike majority of other nailpolish brands which have a thinner brush. Makes it so much easier and cleaner for each application.

The colour was another thing I loved.. It's such a super pigmented cornflower blue that cheers you up completely! I've seen many bloggers wearing this product and I've been so completely jealous. It would range a whole different variations of complexions which is fabulous. The colour looks 100% better on and in real life than it does in the bottle or on videos/photos/etc.

The final thing I adored about this product is the packaging.. I mean it's nothing to rave about but I have always found that the packaging for Essie is absolutely fabulous, simple and very clean. It's not over complicated by huge logos or bright colours covering the real sweetness inside.

Although I did love the colour, the brush and the bottle.. There were a few things I wasn't too happy about with Bikini So Teeny..

The first being that it dried streaky.. No matter how many coats I did there was always something sneaking through. It was incredibly patchy unlike other Essie polishes I've tried.

The second thing that I wasn't too pleased about was how long it lasted without a base or top coat.. Now I do know you are meant to do both of these things so I did one hand with and one hand without to see how long it would last.. Without the base and top coat they only lasted 3-4 days but with a full base and top coat it brought it out to a week. I have other nail polishes that last maybe 2 weeks so this wasn't the best.

As I said earlier.. I'm not pleased with Essie Bikini So Teeny but it is a pretty polish. I'm not sure if I would recommend it to anyone, but I am keen to find a dupe to trial against it!

It's very pigmented which means I don't need lots of layers. The brush is very nice as I only need one stoke to cover my nail. The Polish started chipping quite quickly however I didn't use any top coat on top which I normally always do. Love the shimmer in it, I would recommend but it's not amazing.

I love, love, LOVE this color. I was hesitant to buy it because I already have several light blue polishes, but this one is truly unique. It's like a baby blue periwinkle. Very slight shimmer that just reads as a nice finish. The formula is thin and streaky so it needed two - three coats, which can be time consuming of course. I'm currently on Day 2 with no chips, so I'd say it doesn't chip very easily as long as you use a top coat.

I picked up a pack of 4 full sized Essie polishes in a pack for the crazy price of $4.99 on 1day. Because it was a pack I didn't get to choose my colours, but I'm pretty happy with what I got. I've been happily playing with them for a couple of weeks and developed different opinions on all 4, so I'll review them individually.

The shades in the pack were ignite the night, lots of lux, stroke of brilliance and belugaria.

ignite the night is a clear polish crammed full to bursting of small silver glitter pieces. Because they're so fine they layer up and you get a disco ball effect on your nails - metallic silver sparkles everywhere! It manages to have a matte finish but still be sparkly, which is impressive. Essie call the silver colour hematite, and I can see that.

lots of lux is a bright (think lapis lazuli) blue polish full of superfine glitter in the same colour family but with reflections in other shades of blue and green. It is another matte but sparkly finish polish as with ignite the night, and is totally gorgeous with a teal polish as an accent or feature, as well as on it's own. VERY blue, but blue is back on trend, and this is stunning.

stroke of brilliance is just that - a stroke of sheer genius, actually! It's a multidimensional top coat full of platinum silvery blue glitter flakes which sparkle, and tone in well with blue, green, purple, silver - and shine over black and white. Even on it's own this polish makes nails look pretty and special without being OTT. Subtle sparkle in a gorgeous colour.

belugaria is my pick of the four. I adore it. it's a deep jet black nail polish that has a matte finish, is textured, and is full of holographic rainbow glitter flakes. Your nails look black until you move your hands, then they throw off little unpredictable rainbow sparkles in several directions due to the rough texture left by the gritty particles embedded in the polish. It's crazy gorgeous, edgy, and sassy. LOVE.

As with all polishes like this longevity is affected because (in my opinion) the structural integrity of the polish is damaged by the instability of having so much going on in terms of glitter etc. BUT because they're so unusual you can touch them up without it being noticeable. You can't really use a top coat of clear with any of these except for stroke of brilliance, but you can use a base coat and I recommend you do because the colours are strong and the glitter adheres to nails without it making it tough to remove. They do chip, but you just have to live with that for this type of finish, I think.

They only lose points for me because I don't like paying over $20 for a mail polish - I know I didn't pay that much for this set but replacement would be expensive and I don't know that I'd pay full price, as much as I'm loving them right now.

Great colour selection. I do love this nail polish, but as I work with my hands regularly, I found the polish chipped away. Not giving me long lasting nail polish look :(

Wow what an amazing nail polish! The new and improved Essie nail Polish, I found to be quick drying as well as it didn't have that awful smell that a nail polish usually does! The colour itself is a beautiful baby pink colour, I did find that I had to put on like 3 coats so that it actually looked nice and not too patchy. The brush is amazing with the rounded end and made applying the nail polish fuss free.

This essie bikini so teeny nail polish is the cutest colour! It's a bright pastel colour that looks lovely on nails! Nothing like I've seen before. Usually light colours, for me need more than one coat but this one is so opaque on the first coat, leaving no streaks when it dries (it dries pretty quickly too!) the more you layer it the stronger the colour and shimmer comes out, it's a lovely shuttle shimmer, nothing too obnoxious :) for me it tends to stay on better with a base coat, it stays on well for a good amount of days without it, but when it begins to chip, the rests of the nail polish just peels off. Love this colour, it's definitely a favourite! Lastly, the packaging is great, simple in a cute, square glass bottle unlike most, with the name on the lid (very helpful when it's in your draw!) Would definitely love to try some more from their amazing colour range!

Essie nail polish comes in a small glass bottle with a white top. It has a sticker on the handle that contains the ingredients and tells you a little about the product information. A circular white sticker on the top of the handle has the shade name. Made in France, this 13,5ml bottle has glass embossing on two sides of the bottle. The handle is 3cm the bottle is 4cm. For appearance I would give it a 5/5 it is an attractive and informative little package.

The brush is very wide and offered great coverage to the nail, two strokes covered the entire width of the nail. Whilst I did not seem to mind this a few friends who tried the nail polish found the brush too wide. One commented that had it been a fraction narrower you would perhaps get more even coverage. For the size of the brush and the length of the handle (3cm) I would give it a 3/5.

One coat was not enough to offer even coverage and I found that even after two coats I had break through patches - I did not find that I was able to get an even colour coverage. I was a little disappointed with this. For the coverage I would give it a 2/5.

The colour is amazing and I was offered plenty of compliments on the stunning shade of cornflower blue. My daughters said they thought it looked like a colour that had come from Frozen. So needless to say it is a hit with people of all ages. The colour would get a 5/5 from me. A firm new favourite of mine.

I have shorter nails at the moment - and found that the nail polish lasted just on 7 days. It did not chip or peel however it did wear off from the tip up. It left a good mm of nail exposed slowly over the week. For wear and tear I would offer is 3/5.

The price is a little expensive and disappointing at $22.99 so for this I would give it a 2/5 I love finding a bargain and don't feel that for the price and results that this is one of those miracle, bargain, must have polishes.

Over all this is an average polish but an amazing colour. If I found a cheaper product in the same colour I would be tempted to try that - although a cheaper product you risk worse results. If I was gifted this product I would gratefully except and enjoy using it but I wouldn't rush out to purchase this make again unless it was on sale.

Again the colour made this nail polish for me.

I don't wear nude natural looking shades like this on a regular basis, but, after hearing about this polish and how gorgeous it was I had to step out of my routine and give it a try.

I found the formula of this polish was good and easy to apply. It is a sheerer polish than what I am used to, but, that is the look it is made for I believe. I still use 3 coats to get the look I desire though. To me it gives the look of french manicured nails without the white tip (although you could easy add that). It dries in normal time and lasts me a couple of days before a chip occurs...but, I have weak nails and am not exactly kind to my hands (always doing dishes, washing, picking things etc). The formula is nice and not gluggy or difficult to work with so if this sort of shade is up your alley I would recommend it.

I ended up passing this onto a friend as I didn't wear it enough, but, I did like the shade it just wasn't a favourite.