Review & Swatches: Shades from the Essie Resort Collection 2011

Last year’s Resort Collection from Essie had me dreaming of sparkling oceans and warm sand between my toes—this year’s theme is a little more on the wild side. Not as in crazy-wild, but nature-wild; think of the colors of a wild nature safari…that’s Essie’s Resort Collection for 2011! These shades are little more earthy, but are still stepping out for Essie since she’s known for her incredible sheers and pale shades.

The shade breakdown:

• Your Hut or Mine? — glittering golden poppy
• Lion Around — imperial peach
• Fair Game — Tahitian platinum pearl
• Da Bush — sun-drenched khaki green

I didn’t have the opportunity to try out Lion Around (and I haven’t located it in salons yet), so I’m sorry that it’s missing! But here are swatches of the rest of the collection…

Your Hut or Mine? is a slightly shimmering hibiscus pink, with a golden glow to warm it up. The gold is a little more reflective in the sun than in this photo. 

Fair Game is a stunning grey pearl with a slightly blue tinge. Not too silver, not too grey, and not too blue—it’s just right.

Da Bush is a gorgeously creamy, opaque pale sage green. These khaki/sage greens are becoming the new “greige” and are so hot right now, but Da Bush has a cousin out there!

I find that Da Bush closely resembles OPI’s Stranger Tides from the Pirates of the Caribbean Collection. I’m not saying they are exact dupes of each other, but they are similar. I feel like Stranger Tides is a little more pale than Da Bush, like it’s more washed-out. But it’s still good to know for anyone who likes either; if you can’t find one…the other is a suitable alternative.

“Don’t play it safe with color,” essie founder Essie Weingarten proclaims. “This season, go for color that’s as free-spirited and bold as you are!”

Essie, I like the way you think! Each shade applied easily with a nice flow, and only required two coats.

Will you pick up one (or more) of these, or pass on the Essie Resort Collection this year?

Price & Availability: $8 each, starting in May 2011 at professional salons only

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An editorial sample was provided by the company and evaluated to determine our opinion of the product in this post. Please see the Disclosures page for further information regarding our policies for using editorial samples.