Last week, Essie posted on Instagram that they are bringing back Essie Chillato! At least, in the US, and only on Amazon. I was completely in shock. Was Chillato even discontinued? Wasn’t it part of Essie’s permanent collection? Of course, I ran to my drugstore, and indeed, its place in the display was gone!
Luckily, I’m a nail polish hoarder, so I still had a bottle at home. I had found mine a couple of years ago in the discount section of my drugstore. The bottle was in horrible shape, something sticky had leaked on it, so I was able to get it with me for half the price. But honestly, it was nothing a bottle of sticker remover couldn’t fix. Sadly, I had never worn Chillato as a full manicure up until now. I did use it, but only for comparisons here on the blog!
Essie calls Chillato a ‘pretty frozen cream pistachio’. To me personally, it reminds me more of lemon ice cream than of Pistachio, but OK. I love this color, the moment you apply it, your hands seem to be more tanned than actually are. I’m also convinced that this is a super unique color.
The only downside? The formula! It’s super watery. I needed four coats to reach this level of opacity, at three it was still patchy. It’s not the worst to deal with if you have a lot of time on your hands, but if you’re looking for a quick and easy mani, it might be better to skip Chillato.
Although I’m convinced that Chillato is a unique color, there are some similar shades. Essie Take a walk (sadly also discontinued), is the most similar shade I own from Essie. It is slightly more green than Chillato, but the formula is infinitely better since it is a Gel Couture shade. OPI the pass is always greener from the recent Xbox collection is surprisingly close to Chillato. The pass is always greener is slightly more green, but again, the formula is so much better than Chillato’s.
I would definitely not recommend Gargantuan green grape. First of all, many versions of this color exist. Some are green (like mine), and some are bluer. The thing both versions have in common is that they have a very bad sheer formula.
I knew these shades were not going to be dupes, but I still wanted to compare them. Essie Summer soul-stice (EU-only) is clearly more yellow than Chillato, but the formula is much better. Essie Atelier at the bay is lighter and more yellow, and finally, Essie Sing songbird along is lighter and browner than Chillato.
Conclusion & availability
I love the color of Chillato. It is super cute and unique. Sadly, the formula could be better. It’s not a shade I’d reach for every day, but only if I want to put in the extra work. I get why this shade seems to be a favorite of so many people. Someone on Instagram told me that she wears Chillato over one coat of Essie’s Marshmallow to make it more opaque. So maybe I will try that the next time I wear Chillato!
You can find Chillato over here on Amazon (affiliate link), but sometimes I also still come across this shade on discount stores. In case you don’t want to deal with Chillato’s finicky formula, OPI’s The pass is always greener is available over here on Amazon too (affiliate link). Essie’s Take a walk is discontinued, but it is still available over here on Trans Design.
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
