...and because England seems to have officially decided to ditch summer, I will proudly wear it on my nails instead. End of. This may look like an unreasonable lot of nail polishes, but... well, it is a very unreasonable lot of nail polishes! But these 11 bottles of Essence nail polish didn't cost much more than a single bottle of OPI, so chill people. Talkin about special editions, it cost even less! What a splurge, what a splurge *pats herself on the back with respect*.


Essence is a German company (I believe? but might be wrong as I haven't found any source to confirm that), and although it is available in Ireland, it's not available in the UK (yes, please, raise your eyebrows, I don't get it either). It is well known mainly for its innovative limited editions (you remember the circus one? I almost dribbled over the press release and was well sad that I couldn't get my mitts on a single product!) and generally budget products of pretty good quality. I personally fell in love with these little Colour & Go bottles, which are super cheap (about 80p in Czech Republic, obviously depending on the conversion rate) and have got the prettiest colours. And since they are so dirt cheap, you can have them practically all without ruining your wallet. 

As to the quality - it varies. In general, 1-2 coats are more than enough and they dry real fast. They do not have a sickly overwhelming smell of chemicals as you'd expect from such a cheap nail polish (yes, I'm talkin about you Primark!). I've experienced that when I put 1 coat, they don't chip for a few days, and then I just put another coat on and it's okay for the rest of the week. With 2 coats straight away they do tend to chip a bit, however even that has got an Essence solution (read on).          


The colours I've picked when I was on my Czech holiday are the following:

1) 60 fateful desire
2) 61 fame fatal
3) 46 wake up! (it's own post here!)
4) 93 c'est la vie!
5) 90 I want that!
6) 08 ultimate pink
7) 48 meet me now!
8) 86 a lovely secret
9) 97 absolutely blue
10) Special Effects Topper in 08 night in vegas & Studio Nails better than gel nails top sealer

Now to the individual shades & swatches (please do excuse my scruffy pudgy fingers, I'm a stopping nail bitter and this is the best my nails have ever been, ehm, for real).


 

The Special Effects topper is hard to see, as it's a 'topper', right? So I should have topped it on another shade, but wanted to show you the amazing effect it makes on its own first. It's not exactly a glitter, but it is. It's maybe more of flat flakes? I'm not good at nail polish terminology, as you can tell so, simply - it looks lush and has got a million different shades of yellow/golden/orange in it.


And the one for a little applause - Studio Nails better than gel nails top sealer. I'm not a top coat girl, I just slap on OPI nail envy as a base and as a top to make my paper-thin nails as hard as possible and unbreakable. When it comes to 'hardening' my nails though, nail envy is ridiculous compared to this little bottle! This made my nails rock hard and glossy! Oh my! My nail envy will always be the top base, but this has taken it's place as a top coat.   


Do you wanna try Essence nail polishes? I've got a chance for you to win two little bottles! Just head over to my Czech giveaway now & enter - simples.

Are you familiar with Essence?
If yes, then what's your favourite product?