Essie Resort 2017 Collection + 2 Re-Releases : Swatches, Reviews & Comparisons

I've finally gotten my hands on the Essie Resort 2017 Collection! These colours are inspired by Italy's Amalfi Coast and as per usual with Essie collections, I'm loving the way all four of these colours look together!

Left to Right: Ciao Effect, Strike-a-Positano, Resort Romanza & Sorrento Yourself

Let's check out the formula's and see how the colours compare to previous Essie's. 

Strike A Pose-Itano

I was obsessed with the colour of this one as soon as I put it on! I really thought I was over mint shades but my love has re-ignited for them this Spring. I really like how this one leans to the blue side  of mint but is also greyed out. While I'm in love with the colour, the formula is a bit trickier. It was still streaky and uneven after 2 coats. At 3 coats my nails were completely opaque but I did have a small amount of ridging because the polish didn't completely self-level. A coat of top coat evened everything out.

Strike-a-Positano vs. Mint Candy Apple vs. Blossom Dandy

This picture makes all of these look identical, but they do have small differences in person. Enough that I'm able to justify all of these mints. The old Mint Candy Apple is very blue and also really bright. The grey tones of Strike-a-Positano are quite apparent next to it. Blossom Dandy is brighter than SAP as well and leans more green, while the new Mint Candy Apple leans even greener still. Check out my friend Crystal's comparison HERE which shows the differences more clearly.

Strike-A-Positano vs. Udon Know Me vs. Who Is the Boss vs. Passport to Happiness

These were all my blues and greens with grey tones and Strike-a-Positano is not like any of them. Udon Know Me is darker and more blue and Passport to Happiness is too green. Who Is The Boss is very grey in comparison.

Ciao Effect

I was so happy to see this grey-purple in the collection! This colour is so on-trend right now and I think Essie lovers are craving more. One of my more popular posts is THIS one I wrote comparing 6 Essie Grey-Purples but a lot of them are discontinued and hard to find.  Even better, is that this formula was perfect! It was nice to apply, opaque in 2 coats and self-leveled beautifully.

Ciao Effect vs. Style In Excess vs. Warm & Toasty Turtleneck vs. Bangle Jangle

There are some very close looking polishes in this comparison, although Warm and Toasty Turtleneck is quite different. It's darker and more warm toned. But Ciao Effect is almost a dupe for Bangle Jangle! That's exciting because Bangle Jangle came out in 2011 and is super hard to find. Ever since my comparison using it, I've had a ton of you say you love it but can't find it. Ciao Effect is a touch more warm toned and Bangle Jangle is  slightly more grey but they are so close. Ciao Effect is also super close to Style In Excess. Style In Excess is a bit more brighter lavender with less of those grey tones. It's also not as warm but they are close.

Sorrento Yourself

This is such an interesting rosy terracotta! The formula was so creamy and opaque, it was almost perfect in one coat. 2 coats makes it look best though. It was nice and easy to apply, but it was similar to Strike A Pose-Itano in that it left some very slight ridging. I used top coat for the pics to smooth that out.

Sorrento Yourself vs. Lady Like vs. Mink Muffs

I honestly had nothing similar to Sorrento Yourself so I just grabbed a couple browns with pink undertones. As you can see...not even close. 

Resort Romanza

Resort Romanza is a very pretty deep pink shade. This one is nice and opaque in 2 coats. It's creamy and self-leveling.

Resort Romanza vs. Peach Daiquiri vs. Brides No Grooms vs. Sunset Sneaks

I thought for sure I'd have something like Resort Romanza but none of these polishes were that close. Deep pinks, reds and oranges are the hardest for my camera to capture the subtleties between shades. If these look dupey to you, just know that they were different in person. Sunset Sneaks is the most obvious in it's differences, since it is way too coral red. Brides No Grooms is a deeper more fuchsia shade. Peach Daiquiri is sort of close but it's more coral.

After posting that this collection was coming soon, a few people messaged me and said the display in their Shoppers Drug Mart (Canadian) or Target (American) had a display with 6 polishes on it. When I finally came across this collection in my local Walmart, my store had 6 polishes too. I recognized the names of the polishes.  I could tell these were previously released Essie's that were either re-released or old ones that they are re-promoting.

Capri

Seeing the name of this one, it's obvious why it was re-released with this collection. The name "Capri" is perfect to release with a collection based on Italy. Capri has a thin jelly formula. It's still a little streaky/uneven at 2 coats but 3 coats totally evens it out. You can still make out a faint nail line if you look up close. My camera really wants to make this look more red than it is. It's a true orange jelly.

Capri vs. Roarrrrange vs. Brazilliant vs. Sunshine State of Mind

Again, I'm sorry this picture isn't completely accurate! I tried editing it so it was close but Roarrrrange looks like more of a yellow toned orange in person. You can see Sunshine State of Mind is more of a pinky orange coral and Brazilliant was different in that it has a pink sheen to it. 

Not Just a Pretty Face

When I read the name "Not Just A Pretty Face" I thought "what does that have to do with Italy?!" Haha. I had no idea why Essie would re-release this colour with this collection. Then I saw these colours together:

Okay okay. Makes perfect sense now. These colours are beautiful together!

Not Just A Pretty Face is similar to Capri in that it has a thinner more sheer and jelly formula. At three coats you can still slightly see your nail line a bit but it's even and not streaky.  It's easy to apply and self-levels nicely.

Not Just A Pretty Face vs. Eternal Optimist vs. Stitch By Stitch vs. Fun In the Gondola

Not just a pretty face is super close to Stitch By Stitch, it's just a touch lighter. Eternal Optimist is deeper with some brown tones and Fun In the Gondola is a much deeper pink. If you have Stitch By Stitch you could skip out on Not Just A Pretty Face.

Here's what all 6 polishes look like together:

I especially love the original 4 Resort polishes, but I also love the way Not Just A Pretty Face works with the other softer shades. I so rarely (i.e.: never) wear orange nail polish so I really didn't need that one in my collection. But it would look fantastic on someone with warmer skin tones than me! And since it's a jelly, it would make a cool effect sandwiching glitter in between the layers (Halloween nail art inspo anyone?) 

My favourite out of the collection is Strike-a-Positano and that surprises me. Like I said, I thought I was over mint polishes but they give me the feels this Spring! I love the grey in this one that really tones down the brightness. If Mint Candy Apple or Blossom Dandy are too bright for you, you might really like Strike-a-Positano. I'm also loving Sorrento Yourself. 

And since I've been inspired to do nail art, of course I had to try and do some with this collection!  This was the first look I tried out using Sorrento Yourself as the base and then Strike-a-Positano, Ciao Effect, Resort Romanza and Not Just A Pretty Face for the floral design on top. I liked these nails okay but thought I could do better, so I worked on another design...

I'm obsessed with the floral embroidery trend so I wanted my nails to reflect that. I used THIS tutorial and swapped out the colours she used for the Resort Collection. I also added in Urban Jungle as the dots on the branches. Since Not Just A Pretty Face is a sheer jelly, I made the flowers out of Urban Jungle first and then dotted NJAPF on top. I am 100% obsessed with these nails! I'm not taking these off this week. 

Ok that was a long post! In summary, I love the Resort Collection. What are your thoughts? Which one is your favourite?



P.S. I used to do a separate post for my comparisons but started combining it with the swatch and review post. Do you like that format? Do you like that I also added in some nail art using the collection at the end or would you prefer that in a separate post?

*Note: I mentioned a few times my pictures weren't colour accurate but when I viewed this post from my phone after it was published everything looked good! It might just be my computer monitor over saturating things.