Essie Pink Parka Comparisons

The question came up on one of the nail boards about whether there's a dupe for Essie Pink Parka, which was part of the Fall 2009 Cuddle with Color collection (yep, fall, not summer) and now sells for crazy prices on eBay and Amazon. (The most greedy/optimistic seller I found had it for $99.99, which ... just NO.) Of course I had to see what I could find in my stash and pulled out some possibilities; left to right—Studio M Neon Pink, unnamed Blue Cross glow in the dark pumpkin, Essie Pink Parka (yep, I only got a mini), Finger Paints Warhol Wannabe, Orly Beach Cruiser.



For all the swatches, my index finger (on the left side in photos below) was Pink Parka (3 coats), my middle was the competitor (also 3 coats), my ring was Pink Parka (2 coats) over white, and my pinky was the competitor (2 coats) over white. None have top coat; Pink Parka dries semi-matte. All of the competitors are ones I've bought in the last couple months, except for the pumpkin, which is a seasonal item I expect to see in stores again in the fall.

Here's Studio M Neon Pink getting its turn to line up with Pink Parka (I'm not sure what the Color Club equivalent is for this, though I'm pretty sure there must be one). This one's in the ballpark; two coats of it over white (with a satin top coat if you like that look) would be a good substitute for the Essie, though not a dead on dupe.



The pumpkin's up next. This one's interesting; when compared on its own, the base color looks very similar to Pink Parka, just a bit darker. Over white, it turns into a much cooler-toned pink. The pumpkin does dry satin like the Essie, but it has a slightly gritty texture (I assume from the glow in the dark elements in its mix) so would probably look better with topcoat.



Finger Paints Warhol Wannabe is very similar to the Studio M; layering it over white makes it fairly close to Pink Parka. The Essie is on the chalky side, which I think is why layering over white gives the best results when trying to match it. I wonder if mixing white right into one of these would bring it closer to a dupe.



Orly Beach Cruiser is a bit cooler-toned than the Studio M or the Finger Paints, so that makes it a less close Pink Parka impersonator.



Essie could make so many sales if they'd do a greatest hits collection; until then, it's up to dupe hunters and frankeners to find the next best thing. What discontinued Essie are you wishing they'd bring back?