Essie Rose Comparison : Eternal Optimist, Fun In the Gondola, Stitch By Stitch, Stones 'n' Roses, Oh Behave & Pinned Up

Top L-R: Stitch By Stitch, Fun In the Gondola, Stones 'n' Roses
Bottom L-R: Eternal Optimist, Pinned Up, Oh Behave

Up until recently I really didn't own any rose polishes. I've had Stones 'n' Roses for 2 years now but the rest all came into my collection in the last 4 months. I posted a picture of Eternal Optimist on my Instagram and asked if you guys would be interested in seeing an Essie Rose Comparison and I was blown away by your response! You had so much love for Eternal Optimist (it's an Essie best seller for a reason) and there were so many YES'S to me doing a comparison, so here it is! These are the rose polishes I'll be comparing:

Left to Right: Stitch By Stitch, Fun In the Gondola, Stones 'n' Roses, Oh Behave, Eternal Optimist & Pinned Up

There's no exact dupes in the bunch, but some that look quite similar. Let's examine the formula's and see the colours up close. 

Fun In the Gondola (aka Fondola Gondola)

This polish originally came out in the Fall 2002 Collection and was called Fondola Gondola. I think this is one of those polishes that changed it's name when Essie was bought by L'Oreal and started being carried in drugstores. My bottle is called Fun in the Gondola and was bought at Shopper's Drub Mart, but you can still find it under the name Fondola Gondola where salon bottles are sold (like at nailpolishcanada.com). Fun In the Gondola is a medium rosy pink colour. It's the darkest and most pink out of all the ones I'm comparing. The formula had a great consistency. It reminds me of the newer formula's Essie has been coming out with. It covered really well on one coat and is fully opaque in 2 coats.

Stitch By Stitch

This polish was released in Summer 2016 with the core Gel Coutures. It's a light, pretty rose and reminds me of a paler version of Fun in the Gondola. This has the same great creamy consistency that Fun in the Gondola had but it also has the awesome wide Gel Couture brush. It's easy to apply and self-leveling and opaque in 2 coats.

Stones 'n' Roses

This polish came out in the 2015 Resort Collection. It's a brighter rose with lots of peach tones in it. Stones 'n' Roses has a nice, creamy consistency and is opaque in 2 coats (but I think my formula has thickened slightly. HERE'S what I said about this formula when I first bought it). It's looking REALLY vibrant in the picture but I would say it's a touch more subdued in real life.

Oh Behave

This polish just came out in the Winter 2016 Collection. It is a peachy rose with fine pink and gold micro-shimmer. I don't even know what you call this finish...a frost maybe? It has a nice formula and is easy to apply. It's sheer on the first coat but it's still opaque in 2 coats. If you do really thin coats you may need a third, but I have a tendency to do thicker coats. This is my least favourite out of all these roses, but it's that pearly finish that really turns me off. If you put some matte topcoat on it, it looks quite cool (pic HERE).

Pinned Up

This is another gel couture that was released in the core line in 2016. I both loved it and was totally unsure about this colour when I first got it! It's one of those colours that I had to ask other people "is this pretty or ugly?" Haha! This rose has a lot of tan in it so I would call it a nude. It has a nice formula and is easy to apply with the Gel Couture wide brush. It's opaque in 2 coats and self-leveling.

Eternal Optimist

This polish came out in the 2009 Spring Collection. It is a very similar colour to Pinned Up, except it has a touch more pink instead of tan. This polish has the thinnest consistency out of all of them and is sheer on the first coat, but it applies easily and evenly. It's opaque in 3 coats and is self-levelling. This polish is one of Essie's Best Sellers. After polishing with the wide curved Gel Couture brush (which is soooo nice!) the brush on Eternal Optimist seemed extra thin. Even thinner than the other regular Essie polishes. I'm starting to suspect Essie has made the brushes on their newer polishes a bit bigger and I'm thinking this polish is quite old and didn't get the new brush. If you find polishing with the thin Essie brush difficult, you might not like this one for that reason.

What do you think of this rose palette? Which one is your favourite?

I love the colour of Fun in the Gondola and think it would look fantastic on a deeper skin tone. On my skin tone I really loved Stitch By Stitch the best! I also really liked Eternal Optimist. That touch of extra pink in the formula makes me like it just a bit better than Pinned Up, even though they are really close. 

If you like this comparison, check out my other Essie colour comparisons (and if you have any requests for future comparisons, please let me know in the comments!):

• Pale Pink
• Aqua
• Plum
• Hot Pink
• Pale Blue
• Dark Teal
• Mint
• Almost Black
• Greige
• Sheer Nude
• Grey-Purple
• Pink-Toned Red
• Bubble Gum Pink
• Grey
• White
• Lime Green
• Green
• Sheer Pink
• Burgundy
• Cobalt Blue
• Soft Purples