Swatches of the Essie Midsummer 2021 collection (Pic-nic of time)

The first time I shared something about the new Essie Midsummer 2021 collection, was here in this post. Back then, my knowledge about a possible new Midsummer collection was all based on speculation and some luck. In that post, I promised to keep you updated, so here we go!

Just a refresher: The Midsummer 2021 collection is called Pic-nic of time (after the blue polish in the collection). The collection again consists of 6 shades. The promo pictures are all centered around the picnic theme, and Essie even has some suggestions for checkered-themed nail art (like your picnic blanket). This is what Essie has to say about the collection:

Our limited edition midsummer collection 2021 is inspired by the colors that represent the midsummer celebration. Brilliant pastels and deep, lively shades with inspiration from the sunset, sky, and flower meadows where you collect 7 different kinds of flowers that you put under the pillow to dream of your heart’s beloved.

• Twilight delight is a plum-colored magenta shade with red undertones
• Pic-nic of time is a sky blue powdery shade with purple undertones
• Budding romance is a nice baby pink shade
• Bunches of love is a berry red lacquer with yellow undertones
• Set for sunset is a muted peach-colored coral color
• Field of dreams is a deep, grass green color with blue undertones

source: Nelly.com

Essie’s description worries me a bit actually. The text seems to be a direct translation of the Swedish text. It is a reference to an old tradition where women have to pick 7 different flowers to put them under their pillow in order to dream about the man they are going to marry. As far as I know, this tradition is very specific for Sweden, so I am very curious whether this collection will be released anywhere else.

Anyway, I still managed to get my hands on them, so let’s get into the swatches.

Essie Twilight Delight

Let’s start with Twilight Delight. This is actually my favorite of the collection. I often gravitate towards these types of magenta/berry shades, so this one was right up my alley. The formula was very good, the shade is almost a one-coater, but for the prettiest effect I had to use two coats.

The thing I like the most about Twilight Delight is that it is a unique color in my stash! In my previous post, I said that Twilight Delight could be close to Bahama Mama, but I couldn’t be more wrong. Bahama mama is much darker. I think Twilight Delight might be close to Essie Flowerista, although I think Flowerista is more purple. In my stash, “Too Taboo” and “B’aha moment” were closest, but not purple enough. On Instagram, someone asked me whether this shade could be close to New year, new hue, but that color is much darker!

Essie Pic-nic of time

Essie Pic-nic of time is the namesake of the collection. Essie’s description is quite fitting: a sky blue polish with purple undertones. I needed three coats to make this shade completely opaque, but to me, it’s no big deal. I’m definitely going through a light blue phase this spring, so of course, I love Pic-nic of time.

I was definitely curious to see how Essie’s Pic-nic of time compared to other shades of light blue that I already own. Pic-nic of time was extremely close to Saltwater happy. They both are “sky blues with purple undertones”, the only difference I could find was that Saltwater happy was a little bit lighter. If you’ve missed out on saltwater happy, Pic-nic of time might be a great alternative! The other shades in the picture above are similar but different. If you’re not a great lover of light blues, you still might not need them all, but to me, they are all gorgeous!

Essie Field of dreams

… And last but not least, Essie Field of dreams. It doesn’t happen very often that Essie releases a dark green shade, but whenever it happens, I know I need it in my life. Field of dreams is not for everyone, but it is such a unique color. I also can’t imagine a Midsummer collection, without a green! The shade covered nicely in two coats, and has a gorgeous shine to it.

When I saw “Field of Dreams” for the first time, it immediately reminded me of Essie “Off tropic”, so of course I had to compare the two. I’ve never shown “Off tropic” on this blog, but it has a special place in my heart. “Field of Dreams” is a bit lighter and contains a bit bluer than “Off tropic”. On the nail, “Off tropic” sometimes looks black, but I never had that with “Field of dreams”. The other colors in the picture, “On the roadie”, and “Precious cargo-go” are obviously very different from Field of dreams.

Missing shades

The shades I did not pick up are Bunches of love, Budding Romance, and Set for sunset. You can see the color clearly in the picture below. For me, the reason for not picking these shades up was just that I liked the other three better. Also, I was already planning on picking up the Ferris of them all collection, which contains similar colors. Of course, in the end, I would have loved to own them all, so maybe in the near future, I will end up purchasing them anyway.

Availability

As I’ve mentioned in the introduction. The availability of this collection is not great right now. So far, the collection is only released in Scandinavia, and it is unclear whether it will be released in the rest of the world.

The previous Midsummer collection was released in May 2020 at Walgreens, so I had some hope for my US readers that it would be available there this year, but so far, I haven’t heard anything. For my UK readers, it is even worse. Instead of the Midsummer 2021 collection, the Midsummer 2020 collection is being released right now.