Monday, July 25, 2011

Essie Fall 2011 - Retail Release


I always eagerly await fall collections, and Essie collections more than is normal! (Gahhh I am such an Essie fangirl!) I stalked my drugstores for the early release of the fall collection, Carry On. Drugstores only get 4 out of the 6 polishes of particular collections (however, they seemed to get all of Brazilliant...) , and they seem to be getting them early, like we witnessed with French Affair. This new Essie distribution system post-L'Oreal takeover is...complicated.

Anyways, after spastically running around town, I managed to grab the following at my Walgreens:

Power Clutch


Already my favourite polish of the fall. No joke. An amazing slightly dusty grey-green that comes out darker and more green on the nail than it looks in the bottle. This to me is the green version of Smokin' Hot - where SH was purple, PC is green. It reminds me of the slate stone my parents have in their house. It's flattering on my pale yellow skin, looks chic and elegant, while remaining modern and a bit edgy. To me, this is perfect. Brava, Essie! (Oh and the formula was TDF!)


Lady Like


In the bottle this reminded me of OPI Steady As She Rose, but once I got it on the nail, the differences were evident. Lady Like is more mauve than SASR - still pink with purple thrown in, but darker and warmer. Cool-toned ladies beware! I'm super yellow-toned, but I still think this polish would work better on someone with darker skin. You know what this is? It's Demure Vixen sans shimmer - almost identical base colour. It kind of makes my hands/fingers look dirty...I'm not sure about this one. I'm going to have to drag it around a while to mull it over.


Carry On


At first I thought this was dumb. Lame. Another dark vampy purple. I was kind of right. This is *extremely* close to last year's OPI William Tell Me About OPI. The OPI is just ever-so-slightly browner and darker. The difference is extremely hard to detect, even with flash photography on a dark background. I like that this polish has some dustiness to it, which makes it difference from my beloved Essie Sole Mate! (Oh, and application was amazing again!) Of the two, I'm keeping the Essie.

L: Essie Carry On; R: OPI William Tell Me About OPI

Without flash:


With flash to see the undertone:


Case Study

Now...I didn't pick this up. Only because I believe I already have it. I haven't been able to directly compare, but I believe that this is just the J. Crew "exclusive" - Milky Way - renamed. And I *love* Milky Way. If I didn't have it, I would have picked this up. Even though I'm pretty sure they are nearly identical, I was tempted to grab it off the shelf just to see.

There will be an addendum to this post at a later date, because I still plan on picking up Glamour Purse (one of the two polishes along with Very Structured - a burnt sienna - that is not being released in the drugstore micro-collection). It looks to be in the delicious taupe-y vein, but lighter than past offerings. In other words, it looks back-up worthy, even from badly Photoshop'd company visuals! Let's hope it lives up to expectations...

Are you hyped for fall yet or still feeling the summer heat?

kittytokaren


Like this? Click below to let us know!

17 comments:

Kate said...

Lovely swatches:) Your nails look gorgeous in every color. Thank you for your honest reviews & comparisons!

Katie said...

Thanks for the swatches and comparison! I think I like Power Clutch the best. All shades look intriguing.

Shieldmaiden96 said...

My exponentially lame CVS put the mini display in for this collection and have yet to fill it. Such a love hate relationship I have with this place. On one hand they never have any updated Milani, but there's a heightened buzz when they DO manage to have something people want. I am an Essie convert-- and will be stalking these.

Grace said...

Uh oh, I think I might have to just order the lot from an e-tailer when they become available. I love your swatches and I love that you love Essie! So many other polish blogs ignore them because they don't do glitters and holos :( I always love their fall polishes and these are no exception.

Alison said...

Loving Power Clutch and Carry On, I will definatly be picking these up.

They look stunning on you!

The Beauty and The Business said...

Honestly the only one from this collect I like is Carry On, and it's really not that much. I'm really disappointed in essie with this collect, it seems all so blah. Like I love essie's red polishes but this collection does nothing for me.

beachgal said...

What's with the fact that some of the Essie collections are only released with say 4 of 6 or 4 of 5 shades in a collection at drug stores? I am not a fan of this...they want the name out there - let the people have the goods! I adore fall collections and like you, was waiting on Essie's too. Not excited now that I have seen the swatches of the bottles you were able to nab. I have Wm Tell OPI already so that one's out. I like Power Clutch but don't need another dark green almost black but might fall when I see the bottle looking back at me on the shelf. I have too many pink/gray shades already from the many that came out over the past years...have to play and see what this one holds different. Like you, I have really fair and golden undertones so that is not a great look always for me. I have to go back at the pub release to see what else is in this collection beyond the 3 you were able to nab. Curious if there were just no spaces at all on the fall Essie display at Walgreens for any of the other shades or were they gone already? I am really disturbed can you tell - by the lack of release of the entire collections when they come out at all locations. I don't have access to other stores to go looking. And just look at the huge mess created last spring with Topless & Barefoot being the most popular and yet was not on the displays for WalMart or any of the drug store displays! It's going for ove4 $11 now when you can find it on eBay.

Girly Bits said...

Power clutch looks like it might want to come live here ;)
Great swatches.

Jessica said...

Power clutch is EXACTLY the color I've been looking for! But all of the colors look amazing.

I am still likin the summer heat but actually switched my nails to OPI Midnight in Moscow today, just because!

lilacsrip said...

Power Clutch looks great on you!
I'll have to consider getting it...

Cristina said...

Indeed, all the 3 colours you're showing us are very beautiful! I'm eager to get my hand on the fall collections, but WE'RE STILL IN JULY!!! I don't want to think about autumn yet. Really, I haven't even went on summer holidays (yet)! :D

Unknown said...

I just love love love Essie!! The retail colors are .... ok! For me not a must have.
But I looking forward for the Offical Fall collection.

Caitlyn said...

thanks for the comparison of essie carry on and opi william tell me about opi, because I have the opi and love it very much, which is odd, since I almost never wear reds ^^ I'm making an excemption for this one, cause it's so dark.

But what I wanted to ask - which one is more opaque? How many coats did you paint of each one?

kittytokaren said...

@Kate - Thank you - and you are very welcome, I do my best!

@Katie - Power Clutch is my favourite as well.

@Shieldmaiden96 - Yay for Essie conversion :) I always have to check a million drug stores for these - luckily I have many around me.

@Grace - Just yes yes and yes. I always seem to agree with your polish point of view! :) I can't wait tos hare more of these with you. Glamour Purse is on its way and I ended up picking up Case Study - it is NOT a Milky Way dupe. I was wrong.

@Alison - Those are my favs as well! Like I said above, more coming :)

@College sophomore - Aww im sorry you aren't seeing anything for you.

@beachgal - Ugh I have no idea what's up with the partial releases. It's bizarre and unhelpful.

@Pam's Girly Bits - Power Clutch is amazing :) I bet you will love it.

@Jessica - It is crazy that fall collections are coming out now when its still 100 degrees in many places!

@Priscilla - I think you should try it for sure.

@Cristina - I will show you more from this collection. I know its crazy to think about autumn...especially with it being SO HOT!

@scent of pink - You mean the complete collection? I should have more swatches up later

@Caitlyn - William Tell and Carry On both have outstanding formulas - not very different. 1.5 to 2 coats.

k2k

Lucy said...

These are really pretty. Oh man, my poor wallet. Eventually I will be able to buy them.

ForTheLuvOfGloss said...

Hello there from Greece!
First of all, I really admire you for answering to each and every comment! Wow!!!!
And secondly... I have already ordered the Fall Collection 2011 which made me drool (:DDD)! The only problem is that it will be available (at www.essie.gr, the official 'essie" partner in Greece) in a month or even more.... ANTICIPATING!!!!!

Maja said...

now i'm totally confused.. of course, i immediately got stuck on 'lady like', especially when you say it's like demure vixen (which is one of my favorite colors). now, my question is do you know how is it compared to 'lyford lilac'? all of these 3 shades are gorgeous (it's my current phase) and i don't know if i really need all 3.. :)

Related Posts with Thumbnails