essie – GINGERLY POLISHED (2025)

We have a few fall collections still to review and talk about here, and of course, we wouldn’t let a season go by without some new Essie.

Essie’s newest seasonal release is called the ‘Punk at Heart’ collection, and it’s their traditional 6 bottle release. Essie describes this set as helping you “break the mold and step into your rebellious era with these six edgy limited-edition shades”. Now, mainstream brands will only ever go so “rebellious” and “edgy” so don’t expect anything too crazy here. It’s the same vibe as when child me thought songs on my Hilary Duff CD were “hardcore” because they had electric guitars.

I say this jokingly, and with love, as it’s still a fun and unique color palette and I was excited to swatch it up. We have 4 creams and 2 shimmers here. It’s not the typical fall shades, and there are even a few colors you fully wouldn’t expect for the season. But it does still feel fall, in the way that (most of) these shades feel suited for cooler weather. It’s not a regular collection, it’s a cool collection.

These are available on the Beyond Polish website (code: GingerlyPolished gets you 10% off individual items. Now it is an affiliate code, so I would get a small amount of commission if you use it – no pressure as always! I purchase all of my Essie polishes from Beyond Polish now, and I would never recommend a place I didn’t myself love).

Let’s get on into the swatches!

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Earlier this year Essie dropped EIGHTEEN new polishes at once (they don’t need sleep over there clearly), all under the label of their new “Nail Art Studio” line. They describe this line as “your DIY design destination for everything nail art”.

Now, of course, this can seem like an exaggeration and duh, of course there are hundreds of nail art products out there. We’re not talking about striping tape and dotting tools and charms here – Essie is staying in their lane and experimenting with regular polish. They’re filling in an area they were lacking before in their own product collection, and listen, we love the idea of shades perfect for layering and combining. Overall I was just very interested to see what we were working with when these were announced.

In this newness, we have 9 “special effect” shades, and then 9 jelly polishes. And today we’re starting by looking at those jellies first. They’re in a range of more “classic” colors, as you would expect when building up a palette for nail art. And spoiler alert, some of those colors are more successful than others.

You can find these online on Ulta’s website or on the Walgreens website (they might be available in store at either of these places as well). With Ulta they’re more expensive, but you can get points (but their packaging is also terrible) so up to you to decide. Now let’s get on into those swatches!

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Why yes, I still have more summer collections to swatch up for you, I know you’re so excited! It’s only July, so there’s still plenty of warm weather to enjoy (even though Fall collections will start releasing on August 1st, I’m just warning you).

Alright, today we’re looking at the final mainstream summer collection review (China Glaze didn’t have a summer release this year!) with Essie’s newest seasonal release. This is called ‘Sol Searching’ and it features 4 creams and 2 shimmery shades. This is a more muted color palette overall, and one might even call it more “zen”. So if you’re looking for some meditation for your summer, and you’re not feeling the neons, these shades could be perfect. Between this collection, Essie and Orly, we have a wide range of such interesting “nontraditional” summer shades. You can really find a little something for any nail mood.

I like to purchase all of my Essie shades, including this collection, from Beyond Polish. You’ve heard me talk about Beyond Polish enough and I order from them all the time. They’re always reliable, and you can get a lot of brands for a nice little discount. (You can also use my code GingerlyPolished for 10% off individual items. That code is affiliated, which means I would receive a little commission, so no pressure as always. I’m just here to get you some savings! And I ordered from Beyond Polish long before I had an affiliate code with them.)

Now let’s hop on into those swatches!

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Have I mentioned that it’s still cold here in Chicago enough times yet? We had snow this week. SNOW. In APRIL. I think I’m allowed to keep mentioning that I want spring until it actually stays here for more than a week, okay.

As always, we’ll just soften our weather woes with nail polish. We can always pretend it’s spring with warm glowy spring tones on our fingers. And you know the best way to truly avoid the cold is to not go outside at all and just paint our nails. Modern solutions, and all that.

So let’s stay in the warmth and talk about some new nail polish!

This is the Essie ‘Blushin’ & Crushin’ collection, and it’s their newest seasonal release for Spring 2024. We have 3 creams, and then we have 3 gorgeous squishy shimmer shades. This is just a fun little color palette that really hits every sort of spring mood one could have throughout the season.

These shades are available on the Beyond Polish website where code: “GingerlyPolished” will get you 10% off individual items. It is affiliated which means I’ll get a small commission for each order, but as always no pressure to use it!

Alright, all of that starting information is out of the way, let’s get on into the swatches!

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PURCHASED

If you haven’t heard me say 16 times already in every post, fall is my absolute favorite season of all – it’s all my Midwestern upbringing. I love the cooler temperatures (even if it does lead to freezing winter), the changing leaves, the pumpkin everything, just the vibes. And I especially love all of the colors, both in clothing and in beauty – the olives, the mustards, and the burnt oranges, and then on the other side, with the deep and vampy shades. Now in the nail world, Orly has us covered with the mustard, the green, and the pumpkin orange in their fall release – and now Essie is here to help us all with our bold and dark sides.

For that new seasonal release from Essie, we have 6 cream shades, with 5 in deeper, vampier (read that correctly, not vampire) colors, and then 1 lighter neutral. This might be a boring set to some with all creams, but I’ll always take a rich and pigmented cream any day. I know I love the Essie formula, so as long as it was up to their normal standards, I had high hopes for this set.

These are available from BeyondPolish.com (affiliate link) and if you use the code GINGERLYPOLISHED you can get 10% off individual polishes. It is affiliated which means I get a little percentage from any sales – as always no pressure to use that code, but of course I appreciate any of y’all who have!

Now let’s get on into these gorgeous shades!

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AFFILIATE CODE

Well hello there! We’re looking at another summer collection today, buddies! Who doesn’t love that. I’m working on catching up on lots of blog posts so we’re keeping this intro short and sweet and getting right into the polishes.

Today as the title says, we’re looking at Essie’s newest seasonal release, and it’s the ‘Push Play’ collection for Summer 2023. It features 6 rich and saturated cream shades all in a more primary color palette. Essie says to “embrace your inner kidult with six joyfully saturated shades”. So yes, it’s inspired by those bright summer toys of our childhoods all around. I think it matches the theme so well, and they’re perfect “base” colors to add to a collection.

I purchased these from Beyond Polish. As always I do have an affiliate link/code for Beyond Polish that gives you 10% off individual items (it won’t work on the full collection bundle) – GINGERLYPOLISHED. I do make a small commission from this, but I’m only here to promote shops I love, and I purchase every Essie collection I can from them for the discounted prices. So no pressure to use that, but if you want a discount and want to send a lil love my way, I appreciate it!

Now let’s get into the swatches!

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AFFILIATE CODE/LINK

We’re continuing with the spring collections, and this one just might be the most Spring™ of them all. It just slaps you in the face with the most Spring colors you could imagine. It fills your mind with chirping birds, blooming flowers, warm sun on your face – okay I’m done. So yes, it’s very spring, yes.

And I’m talking about the newest seasonal release from Essie. This is the ‘Feel the Fizzle’ collection for Spring 2023, and it features 5 saturated spring cream shades, and 1 iridescent topper. Super gorgeous, and just imagine those skittle manicures you can wear with these.

I purchased this lovely little set from Beyond Polish (exciting, this is now an affiliate link! Which means if you click on that and purchase through it, I’ll receive a little commission. You can use GINGERLYPOLISHED for 10% off your order as well – on regular priced items, not the bundle, but no pressure either way! You can just go to Beyond Polish’s website on its own. I wouldn’t link to any websites I don’t use and trust and love myself). Beyond Polish does also have an Essie bundle that gives you a little discount as well if you’re not comfortable using my code! (Essie releases far too much to pay full price amirite).

Alright enough talking about how Spring it is, and let me just show you! Into the swatches!

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It’s another February, and so that means another Valentine’s Day collection from Essie (no you’re NOT reading this after Valentine’s Day is already past, idk what you’re talking about). China Glaze has us covered for Halloween, and Essie has us for Valentine’s. We’re slowly getting covered for every major holiday, and next up, I’m expecting greens for St. Patrick’s, thank you very much.

ANYWAYS, as always, Essie has blessed us with another 6 piece collection to help us celebrate love. Nail polish will always be #1 in my heart (and okay, fine I guess my boyfriend too) so of course I’m excited to have even more to put on my fingers. Let’s talk about these shades.

Since Essie has done many a Valentine’s release by this point, we’ve gone through quite a lot of pinks and reds. So for this one, they venture on down into some “non-traditional” Valentine’s shades, like rich blues, dusty purples and some gorgeous shimmers. AND I’M NOT MAD AT IT. I’m a lover of all colors, I welcome them all, and we’re here to celebrate Love Day with any shade. They also of course have the little bottle detailing – with some little flames and hearts wrapped around the bottom of the cap. Cute as always.

I purchased these from Ulta (and yes, dealt with their lack of padding for glass nail bottles again), and I’m sure you can find them at other various drugstores like Target, CVS or Walgreens. Ulta still has them in stock and shipping if you don’t feel like hunting them down.

Alright, enough talking, let’s get right into the swatches!

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AFFILIATE CODE/LINK

It’s TIME. It’s the start of NEW ESSIE collections for 2023. And if any other years are an indicator, we’ll have a LOT of collections and releases and I’ll do my best to keep them all straight and reviewed for you – at least with the regular lacquer. I can’t be throwing the Expressie and Gel Couture lines in there too, I’m not made of money. But regular lacquer will keep us more than busy, there are already 4 collections out that I know of, WE GOTTA GO, GO, GO. (Of course, I always say, choose based on your own preferences and budget and likes, no need to buy every collection like I do, I do it to review and help y’all out here).

So let’s look at this first one. This is the ‘(Un)guilty Pleasures’ collection. This one features 6 rich and saturated cream shades, all with a theme around self-care and relaxing. I’m never mad at that idea.

I purchased this set at a discount from Beyond Polish. (exciting, this is now an affiliate link! Which means if you click on that and purchase through it, I’ll receive a little commission. You can use GINGERLYPOLISHED for 10% off your order as well – on regular priced items, not the bundle, but no pressure either way! You can just go to Beyond Polish’s website on its own. I wouldn’t link to any websites I don’t use and trust and love myself). Beyond Polish does also have an Essie bundle that gives you a little discount as well if you’re not comfortable using my code! It’s my go-to place to buy Essie at this point, as they have great prices. But of course, if you want to see them in person or grab a few shades without shipping, they’re also available at Target.

You’ll be seeing me so much for future Essie posts as well, so let’s get right into these gorgeous shades and swatches!

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We’re getting so close to the holidays and winter breaks and time with family! But it’s just not complete without the mainstream winter releases to check out. So far we’ve looked at the OPI winter release so now we continue on with Essie. Essie of course released their traditional 6 bottle set, and it features rich cream shades and 2 gorgeous shimmers! It’s a lovely little holiday palette, with some classics of reds, greens and golds, but with a tiny little twist.

I purchased these from the Beyond Polish website! I’ve been loving them for their discounted bundles of Essie polishes – especially with how many sets Essie releases throughout the year.

Now I’ve waited too long to post these already, so there’s no long winded intro like usual. Let’s just dive into the swatches already!

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