I actually ran out of new polishes from new collections to show you. That’s why I dove in my Helmer and fished Mint Candy Apple out. I found out I actually never wore this color, and I only own a tiny bottle. I don’t exactly know why, but I always preferred Blossom Dandy. I actually have quite fun memories of Mint Candy Apple, I remember it being released in 2009 and it was an immediately super popular. In hindsight, it was mainly because these types of shades were really unique and really popular around that time. To give you a little bit of context: it was around the time Chanel Jade got released. I think Essie released Mint Candy apple at exactly the right time, and that is part of why it became so popular. Plus every blogger ever wrote a blogpost about Mint candy apple.
The unique thing about Mint Candy Apple was that it was much lighter than most other turqoise shades that were released back then. I have no clue how there was a time that we actually lived without these type of colors, especially since they are so popular nowadays. I do want to note that I own the European version of Mint Candy apple. It is quite green and it covers very nice. Although I do not find it is as green as a couple of the early pictures of Mint Candy apple (check those out over here). There have been some color discrepancies in the US (check out this post) so you might want to be a bit careful.
The polish applied fine, but is a bit on the water-y side. That’s why I ended up needing three coats but it is definitely worth it! It also dried quickly so it wasn’t a big deal.
When I was looking through my stash I found out I had so many mint colors! Essence That’s what I mint! is definitly a copy of Mint Candy Apple. Those were so close in real life! Unfortunately That’s what I mint is no longer available, however Essence sometimes brings back retired shades. Blossom Dandy is lighter but is definitely much closer than I expected. China glaze At vase value is much brighter (affiliate link). Essie Passport to Happiness is one of my favourite polishes ever and is super close to Mint Candy apple but has a satin finish with a pearl shimmer (affiliate link).
Essie Mint Candy Apple is not as unique anymore as it used to be. I think we can safely say that every selfrespecting brand has a shade like this now and there are a lot more similar colors around right now. But I think it definitely is still a very nice, modern shade to wear. You can still easily find it on Amazon over here (affiliate link). If you don’t have a chance to purchase on Amazon, don’t worry, Mint Candy apple was added to Essie’s permanent collection a very long time ago and is available in basically every store that sells Essie.
Update 3/2021:
In a recent review on Seas the Day from the Sunny Business 2020 collection, I also compared several shades to Mint Candy apple on the nail. It’s pretty clear that Seas the day and Blossom dandy are lighter than Mint Candy apple. Also on the nail Passport to happiness is very close!
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I bought all these products myself.
