Essence – Glitter on, Glitter off collection

Hey hi hello,

Wasn’t it just weekend?  How is your week going?  I can smell the holidays around the corner and even though it makes me very excited, I also know there is still a bunch of stuff to be done.  Do you have any holiday plans to look forward to?

Essence has done another range update of sorts.  They have a bunch of new products and of course, I had to get my hands on some of the polish goods as soon as possible.  I saw the Glitter on, Glitter off polishes and I was very curious.  Of course, they looked beautiful but I had so many questions.  Would it be toppers or full coverage? Would it be wearable or would it peel off too easily? Would base and topcoat affect the peel?  I accepted the challenge and thought I would swatch them, do a wear test and see how the base / topcoat situation goes.  I am going to start with the swatches but I have a few things to say regarding all the polishes.

First of all, these polishes have a really strong smell.  It’s not a pleasant smell but it’s also not the worst.  On the plus side, as soon as it is dry the smell is gone and if you topcoat, that happens even faster.  The smell doesn’t linger thankfully.  Secondly, these polishes don’t dry fast.  It dries to a sticky (glue) like feeling at first so even though you can do stuff, it is easier to rub off.  It does eventually dry completely but this is also much faster using a quick dry topcoat. Thirdly, these are not 100% opaque but gives enough coverage that you don’t have to layer them as toppers.  I used 2 coats in all my swatches and you could add a 3rd if you wanted more coverage.  Lastly, the formula is a bit on the thick side.  It’s not impossible to work with but it was easier for me to let the first coat ‘dry’ a little before doing the second.  Actually, the first coat is pretty fine and then it is almost as if the polish has ‘built up’ and dried on the brush (again, almost like glue).  I found the first coat fine and then I closed the bottled and gave it a quick roll or two before doing the next coat.  Ok, let me show you some swatches,

Essence – Glitter in the air

This is 2 coats with topcoat.  This is a green and silver glitter in a clear base.  I was really excited about the colour and it does look really pretty on the nail.  It is quite opaque as well and I can’t see any nail through the glitter.

Essence – Party queen

This is 2 coats with topcoat.  This is varying shades of pink glitter in a clear base.  It is pink so I obviously think it is gorgeous but I actually liked it more on the nail than in the bottle.  This one is also rather opaque.

Essence – Put a ring on it

This is 2 cats with topcoat.  This is a silver glitter in a clear base.  It’s pretty but it’s a little dull.  It’s just a plain silver and besides being super shiny it doesn’t have anything extra.  This one also seems to be a little more sheer.

Essence – Razzle dazzle 

This is 2 coats with topcoat.  This is a white toned gold and holo glitter in a clear base.  This one goes a step up from being “party’ to being ‘elegant’ because of the tone and holo.  It’s very pretty and very wearable.

Essence – Spotlight on

This is 2 coats with topcoat.  This is varying shades of magenta, purple and violet glitter in a clear base.  It’s very pretty.

Essence – Starlight express

This is 2 coats with topcoat.  This is silver and holo glitter in a clear base.  This is the silver equivalent to Razzle Dazzle in my opinion and reminds me a lot of Hello Holo from the Essence Holo rainbow range.  I am willing to bet this is the same glitter in a different base.  I wish I had done a better job of showing off the holo in this and razzle dazzle but you do get a hint of it in the bottle.

I think they are all pretty but I definitely have favourites.  Starlight express and razzle dazzle is definitely my top two picks and then followed by Glitter in the air and Party queen.  These polishes definitely have some cons in my opinion (the smell was my biggest complaint even though it doesn’t linger).  I suspect these might also be better sponged on after the first coat but I did not test this option for wearing or peeling.  Speaking of, let me show you the wear test.

I started off with 2 coats of Starlight express but here I played around with base and topcoat.

• My index has no base coat but does have topcoat
• My middle finger has base coat and topcoat
• My ring finger has base coat but no topcoat
• My pinky has no base coat and no topcoat.

Within 12 hours of application I spent about an hour in the pool and washed my hair.  This was day 2

As you can see the topcoat made a big difference here.  The two nails without topcoat definitely started lifting at the tips very quickly and the two nails with topcoat was holding up ok. This is day 3

There isn’t much difference on day 3 except for maybe a bit more tipwear.  I was hoping to wear this for a bit longer but by the end of day 3 I was itching to change my nails again and so I called it a day.  It lasted longer than I expected to be honest and I am happy to find the peeling doesn’t mean short lasting.  I do think it definitely needs topcoat to last.  Now the question came in, will the base and topcoat affect how and if it peels off……

The answer is no.  All 4 nails peeled off easily regardless of base and topcoat.  I will say that I had to lift it for it to peel but it wasn’t hard (or too easy if that makes sense)

I would definitely advise using a base and topcoat with these as always.  I always wear base and topcoat and I am happy to see it didn’t do anything to the peeling.  The topcoat definitely helped it to dry fast and for the smell to dissipate.

What do you think?  Have you tried any of these?  Are you planning to? Which one is your favourite?  I’d love to hear what you think and what your opinion is on these.

Thanks for reading,