Essence is jumping on the no-lamp/no-light gel polish train with the new Essence The Gel Nail Polish ($2.99 each) + Base Coat ($4.49) + Top Coat ($4.49) now available at Shoppers Drug Mart.
The bottles of the Essence The Gel Nail Polish are similar to the old Color & Go range. The formulation (sans new top coat and base coat) are about the same - 2 coats for opacity for most of the polishes, 2 days before chipping and a nice shine.
As aforementioned, there are 16 new polishes in the Essence The Gel Nail Polish line-up. I've swatched 15 of the 16 shades. What's missing is a swatch "Absolute Pure", a clear polish, which I figured would be pointless to photography, so I didn't bother. I'm not sure why Essence decided to put a clear polish into the line, as there's already a top coat and base coat (both clear).
OK. Get ready for all the swatches...
Sweet As Candy
Space Queen (over Wild White Ways & Indian Summer)
Party Princess (over Black is Back)
Fame Fatal
Black is Back
Amazed by You
#Lucky
Don't Be Shy!
Indian Summer
Let's Get Lost
Play With My Mint
Rock My World!
Va Va Voom
Turn on the Lights!
Wild White Ways
I want to say the selection of polish colors and finishes Essence chose are staple colours (white/black/grey/red/sheer pink) plus more young colours (peach, mint, yellow-green) along with some interesting finishes (soft matte orange-red, a couple glitter top coats and a soft metallic white-mint). The neutrals are LOVE. So is the peach, mint and deep purple. I'm not a fan of the glitters, as they don't have a lot of dimension or saturation of pigment. Nor do I like the soft metal white-green (Turn On the Lights!), as it's the only colour with a formula that's difficult to work with but very pretty, nonetheless.
The Base and Top Coats are the star of the show. No polishes have stained or peeled my nails since using the base coat. The top coat gives a shine that's comparable to the Sally Hansen 2X the Volume Miracle Gel Top Coat or theRevlon Gel Envy Diamond Top Coat. Using the Essence Base + Top Coats, my Essence The Gel Nail Polish manicure lasted 7 days. I also tried the Essence base and top coat combo with a polish from another brand and my mani lasted the same amount of time.
Very impressed, especially since the buying a colour, base coat and top coat is the same price as a single Revlon or Sally Hansen no-lamp gel polish colour (not including the top coat)!
Pretty polish colours + amazing base and top coat = Stephanie's nails are happy. Here's to hoping they come out with more of the Gel Nail Polishes. I want to see some more nudes and pastels.
Have you tried the Essence The Gel Nail Polish Base Coat and Top Coat? You should!
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