I had to get a few Essie nail polishes to see for myself if they're worth the hype and to me personally no they aren't although I can understand why other people like them so much. Essie has the best, most varied color range i've ever seen along with OPI, (these two brands tend to be compared I wouldn't say that one is better than the other in my opinion they are on a par.) There's something about the colors and finish of Essie polishes that emit an aura of high quality, it's as if every color is carefully crafted as opposed to some cheaper nail polish brands where the colors can be lack lustre or plain cheap looking. The packaging is understatedly stylish, a convenient size for storage and they look neat, tidy and pretty when there's a bunch of them lined up.
The formula is a nice workable consistencey maybe just slightly on the denser side and can get a bit streaky upon application, however it seems to level itself out upon drying and finish up even, solid, and very tidy looking. The applicator brush is standard and average well and good, works well but there's nothing special about it. The drying time for Essie polishes is also average and standard, around about 5 minutes per coat give or take a few depending on climate. Wear- wise average again, 2-3 days I get out of an application with a base coat, 2 coats of Essie and a top coat.
While there are some big pros for Essie nail polish for me there are equally as many meh's so there is no way I would consider paying full retail for these. I would buy these again if I came across on sale, probably wouldn't pay any more than $10 though.
I have only recently jumped on the Essie train and I have to admit their colours are gorgeous. I like the brush, it applies smoothly and the coverage is great (two coats for decent pigmentation or one coat for sheer).
The lasting power if this polish is on par with some of the other leaders in the market but without careful attention it does chip after only two days.
the shine doesn't last very long either which is a bit disappointing however easily remedied by a good top coat.
No staining of the nail beds with the darker colours either. My Favorite at the moment is Sexy Divide a deep true purple.
I only have a small amount of Essie bottles in my collection but would love to add more in the future.
Tips: A fresh top coat every other day to prolong wear-ability, two coats for decent coverage