Collection: Essie 2016 Spring, Retro Revival

Earlier this year, Essie released a Retro Revival collection, consisting of six older Essie shades. I already own three of them, so there remained just three for me to pick up: Bikini With a Martini, Birthday Suit, and the infamous Starry Starry Night.

You can check out my first review from this collection (Birthday Suit) for further details.

Here’s a shot of the three Retro Revival polishes I bought, plus the originals of the other three in this collection:

• Bikini With a Martini [2006, frosted iridescent pink]
• Birthday Suit [1981 Original Launch, cheeky delicate nude]
• Cabana Boy [2005, ultra-cool pearly white]
• Life of the Party [2002, pinot noir pearl]
• Sequin Sash [2005, sheer glittery bronze with silver flecks]
• Starry Starry Night [1997, twinkling midnight blue]

Starry Starry Night (958) [originally 295 from a 1997 collection] is a deep, just-about-vampy blue jelly with slightly sparse silver microglitter. The effect is, indeed, that of a starry, starry night!

Finally, a polish in the Retro Revival set that doesn’t require three coats! I used two, perhaps slightly generous, coats and was pleased with the look I got. The silver microglitter spreads out nicely enough with two coats, and the somewhat random appearance of the glitter enhances the “starry night” look. This is a fabulous polish!

I can understand why some people in the past have spent quite a lot of money on eBay to get their hands on it, though I am not one of them (since I didn’t even have it until now!). Thankfully, Essie has re-released this shade so a new generation of nail polish fans can try it out for themselves!

The van Gogh painting does make me wonder, however, how a gold glitter version of Starry Starry Night might work…

The Retro Revival collection is packaged in the usual Essie bottle with white cap, except the cap is decorated with gold stars, possibly inspired by the inclusion of Starry Starry Night.

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.