There are some rare occasions that you will find me out without a bottle of nail polish in my purse for emergency touch-ups. Essence is my go to brand for an emergency nail polish buy. Especially on occasions when I wore a non-professional coloured polish to work and have to change it up for something more work appropriate when going into a meeting.
At around $2 a bottle at Shoppers Drug Mart, you can’t beat the price and availability. While the bottle is small ,how often do you really use a whole bottle?
They have a nice fat brush to evenly coat the nail in just a few strokes and dry really quickly, 2 coats and under 10 minutes and I can go without worrying about smudging them. The lighter colours tend to be a little streaky on the first coat which evens out with the second but the darks have amazing coverage.
My favourite Essence Colour & Go Shades:
Some of my favourite shades:
- Grey-t To be Here: Light grey with a slight shimmer
- I’m The Boss: A dark grey with silver glitter
- Love Me Cupcake: A light lilac leaning pink
- Gorgeous Bling Bling: A brown red with gold flecks
- Nude Glam in Cafe Ole or Iced Latte: Both nice neutral cremes, Cafe Ole is a touch darker
Non work shades:
- Oh My Glitter: A light purple with pink shimmer
- Chic Reloaded: A beautiful multi-toned dark blue/purple/green
Essence is fairly new to Canada but has been around in Europe for ages and is a favourite there. It is more aimed at teens than adults but the neutrals especially are great if you want a quick manicure or don’t want to spend a lot on nail polish. I personally like the more random Essence Colour & Go polishes because I don’t want to spend a lot of money on a colour I only use a few times (or once).
It will never beat the quality of Zoya or a gel manicure but for the price, you can’t go wrong!
I just discovered Essence nail polishes the other day, and I love them as a budget option for trying new colours!