Collection: Essie 2005 Winter

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. I’ve already reviewed these three newer polishes, so now it just remains for me to review the three older ones that I already own.

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]

Sequin Sash (534) is from a 2005 Winter collection. I have four of the six polishes from this collection (National Velvet, Pouf Daddy, and Tennis Corset are the other three; Card-Again and Sophisticated Lady are the ones I never had), and I would have preferred any of those three to have been selected for the Retro Revival collection instead—particularly Tennis Corset, which is quite lovely, and Pouf Daddy, one of my all-time favorite red creams.

Sequin Sash is a very sheer light brown with bronze and silver microglitter. In a less sheer formula, or perhaps one that is more packed with glitter, Sequin Sash would have been quite a winner. However, I had to use three coats just to get it looking like this:

Sad, right?

While Sequin Sash has been discontinued by Essie, in early 2016 they brought it back in the limited edition Retro Revival collection. I’m not sure how the new version compares, but I certainly hope they’ve improved upon the original! Otherwise, I can’t recommend it at all. It’s one of Essie’s biggest duds, in my opinion. I suppose there must be others who love it, because I can’t see how else it could have been chosen for the Revival. The best I can say is that it makes a decent topper.

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. My bottle is older (~2005 or a bit after), so it is probably not 3-free. The new Retro Revival versions are, however.

Essie Cosmetics, founded in 1981, is based in Westfield NJ, USA. In 2010, Essie was acquired by the L’Oréal Group.