Essence Nail Candies

When I first saw the Essence Nail Candies at Fred Meyer, I bought only two of the colors to try them out, in keeping with my ongoing attempts to slow my stash expansion. But then on this last display hunting trip, I noticed the whole line was marked 50% off because it was going away, so I panicked and bought the rest of the shades. Thus today I have all eight that were in the display. Left to right: Oh Lolli Lollipop, Always in My Mint, Peachy Keen, Sweets for the Sweet, Sugar Pie Honey Bunch, Soda Pop & Candy Shop, Like Love Birds, A Hint of Mint.



I started with A Hint of Mint, putting one coat on my index finger and building to four on my pinky. I was impressed that the single coat looked so even; was thinking it would be streaky since this color is so pale. I'm not sure that the slight green tint is so great with the slight yellow staining on my nails at one coat, but it looks okay by the time we get to three coats.



I did the same one to four coat approach with Like Love Birds. This is a more flattering color for me.



All the Nail Candies have a slight shimmer to them. It's shy, and I could only get it to show up in direct light, and even then only scattered sparks of it.



The above two were the original ones I got to try the line; when I brought the rest home I thought comparisons were in order. I started with the two green ones. Below, left to right: Always on My Mint, Hint of Mint, Always on My Mint, Hint of Mint (three coats of each). These are super close; Hint of Mint is a touch more opaque.



Then I put on the pinks and purples. Left to right below: Sugar Pie Honey Bunch, Like Love Birds, Soda Pop & Candy Shop, Sugar Pie Honey Bunch. All are three coats. Like Love Birds is the most pigmented of these pales. I like Soda Pop & Candy Shop best with my skintone.



Finally it was the peaches turn. Left to right: Sweets for the Sweet, Oh Lolli Lollipop, Peachy Keen, Sweets for the Sweet. I had a hard time seeing any significant differences among these on the nail.



Given how sheer and buildable these were, I wanted to try making a milky jelly sandwich, so topped the peaches comparison with Orly Color Blast Multicolored Gloss Glitter followed by one coat of Nail Candies Peachy Keen. I liked this combination quite a lot.





I had to Google to find out what the "6 in 1" on the caps of these refers to. According to the Essence website, these "...the nail polishes harden, protect your nails from daily demands, even out irregularities, have a fruity scent, dry fast and give your nails a high-shine finish". (Essence, unlike me, doesn't go for the Oxford comma.) I looked this up only after I swatched them, and do not recall any fruity scent, but that could be because I was already high on remover fumes. I also didn't notice them drying particularly fast, though the room I was working in was somewhat cold. They were shiny and did self level nicely. So I guess if you're in the Pacific Northwest and like these, run to your Fred Meyer before they disappear. But you don't need all the shades, as the comparisons show, so that should make the hunt easier if you choose to embark on it.