Collection: Essie Summer 2015 Peach Side Babe
Essie’s Summer 2015 collection does the usual sunny beach theme with a couple of punchy shades and a couple of light, bright pastels. I hemmed and hawed over the collection, but finally I chose two pastels, Chillato and Salt Water Happy. There have been so many pastels released, but these two still seem at least a bit unique.
Chillato is a pale, whitened lime green cream. I often have trouble wearing yellows, and sometimes have trouble with greens, but I love this one! It’s cheery and bright, but not obnoxiously so.
I didn’t care for the formula, though. Pastels usually give some trouble; in this case, the formula is creamy and pigmented, yet it applies a bit too liquid-y and streaks easily. I needed three coats for full, even opacity.
Salt Water Happy is a pale, whitened blue cream that leans the slightest bit purple with a touch of grey. I am really in love with it!
The formula, like that of Chillato, is disappointing. It also has that liquid-y feel that wants very badly to pool against edges. If you’re very careful, you can get this to look great with two coats. If you’re not so lucky, it takes three or four coats and it risks looking lumpy. Salt Water Happy also gave me an extra problem because its brush seemed a little thinner than usual, and it was slightly crooked. I have found this happening a little more often with Essie, which is disappointing.
Despite the somewhat difficult application I had with both colors, I feel that they are worth the hassle. After all, pastels tend to be tricky, anyway, and as pastels go, I really dig these two for this summer! They’re like delicious gelato for your nails.
Essie Nail Polish retails for US$8.50 / CA$9.99–$10.99 and is 0.46 US fl oz / 13.5 mL. The polish is free of toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). It is made in the USA.
Essie Cosmetics, founded in 1981, is based in Westfield NJ, USA. In 2010, Essie was acquired by the L’Oréal Group.
fivezero 
Oh my GOD! Gorgeous swatches! I NEED Chillato in my life! Too bad about the formula, but I have a handful of essie polishes with questionable formulas that are totally worth the hassle. Great post! 🙂
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I was surprised with how much I really liked Chillato! Essie does get the colors right, most of the time 🙂
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For sure!!! Essie is my fave!!! 🙂
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Those are such summer colors. So pretty and happy! Both look good on you! I only noticed that pastels have sucky formulas when you kept mentioning it. I was painting with my revlon minted and I was like yes they certainly do have annoying formulas!
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Thanks! 🙂 Pastels are worth it, though, I think!
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Especially in mint green 🙂
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I’m feeling BOTH of these shades today! They suit you so well… I’m going to have to write these down. I bet you Chillato will show up in clearance bins for months after this collection is finished, it’s one of those “ugly pretty” shades. I don’t mind working with pastels, they’re worth it for the results.
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Shh, don’t listen to her, Chillato! 😉
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It builds strength and character!
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LOL!
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very very pretty colors!
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I agree! 🙂
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i like these but i am also curious about the other shades, that pale lime will look stunning on bronzed feet in strappy sandals
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The other shades were pretty! I just had to restrict myself to getting two 🙂
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To get Salt Water Happy or to not get Salt Water Happy, that is the question. (I disliked Bikini So Teeny and ended up giving it away because I didn’t like the colour/formula)
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Unfortunately, I feel that if you didn’t like the formula of BST, you probably won’t like SWH, either! The very whitened pastels can be so hard to apply. I’d recommend a similar shade from a brand like Zoya, who tend to do a thicker polish formula that will apply a bit more easily!
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maybe I’ll just continue admiring from afar haha 😉
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Hahaha! I hope you find one that you love 🙂
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