Brand: Essence

Essence Cosmetics is a low-priced brand that I’ve seen at my local pharmacy for a couple of years now, and I’ve only recently tried out a couple of their products: a pencil sharpener and a nail polish (naturally!).

Oh My Glitter! (133) is a pretty, midtoned lavender with pink and purple shimmer. Despite the name, it isn’t actually glittery.

I gotta say, for around CA$1.99 (I got it on sale), this polish is a deal! It applies smoothly and evenly, and outperforms some polishes priced at two or even three times the price.

On the negative side, this polish is a little sheer. You could actually try using it as a topper, though. I used four thin coats in my swatch (three coats just wasn’t doing it for me). If you use thicker coats, three or possibly even two coats should work.

I really like the end result, so I’m giving this one a passing grade. I wouldn’t mind trying out another color or two just to see if the sheerness is just shade-specific. If they had a more opaque shade that applied just as smoothly, it’d be pretty fantastic at this price point.

The bottle is also cute, with a sparkly cap that matches the polish it contains. It’s clearly targeted at teens and younger girls, but I like it all the same!

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Essence Colour & Go Nail Polish is 0.27 fl oz / 8 mL and retails for CA$2.99. It is made in France. The product is free of toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). The company is cruelty-free.

Essence Cosmetics was launched in 2002 by Frankfurt, Germany-based cosnova Beauty, who also own cosmetic brands Catrice (2004) and L.O.V (2016). The company expanded to the USA in 2008, Canada in 2012, and is also available in many other countries worldwide.