Even though the Christmas collections are already being announced, it’s still very much summer over here in the Netherlands. Normally I would be wearing fall shades around this time of year, but I’m definitely not ready for it yet. I hope that you’re fine with another review of a summer collection!
Initially, I wasn’t super impressed when I saw Essie’ Summer 2023 collection. The collection consists of 6 cremes, four of which are bright colors, one light creme and one black. Just looking at the collection as a whole, it reminded me of Legos, or maybe the logo of the Olympics. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to pick up any of the shades.
A month or so after the release of the collection, I encountered them in my drugstore. I will admit, the colors were much nicer than I initially expected, and I ended up purchasing three colors: the blue (Push play), the green (grass never greener), and the yellow (sunshine be mine).
Essie Push Play
Push play is the bright medium blue creme from the collection. It has an absolutely amazing formula and it applied evenly in two coats. Push play is an amazing choice if you’re still looking for a basic blue nail polish, and I bet it will also work great for nail art.
Although Push play is a really nice color, I realized after this comparison that I personally didn’t really need it. Essie Mezmerised is a bit more muted than Push play, so if you own Mezmerised already, Push play might still be a good pick. Butler please is much brighter and has a bit more purple undertones than Push play. However, Butler please is really difficult to apply so I definitely prefer Push play. Finally, OPI Ring in the blue year is basically an exact dupe for Push play. If I would have known the two shades were so close, I definitely would have skipped Push play, even though I like the color.
Essie Grass never greener
Essie Grass never greener is the medium green creme from the collection. I will admit, we haven’t seen a green like this from Essie in a while now. When I just got into nail polish, I remember that I found it very difficult to wear shades like this. However, I’m completely OK with that now, and think it just looks so amazing! The formula of this one is also really good, I did two coats for this picture, but I think you might even get away with just one.
Grass never greener immediately reminded me of Essie On the roadie from Essie’s Summer 2017 collection. Turned out, I wasn’t wrong! Essie on the roadie and Essie Grass never greener are so close that it’s impossible to tell them apart. I was slightly disappointed because my bottle of On the roadie is still 95% full. But if you missed out on On the roadie, then Grass never green is a great alternative. Along for the vibe contains more blue, and Feelin’ just lime is much lighter and contains more yellow, so if you own those, it might still be worth picking up Grass never greener.
Essie Sunshine be mine
Finally, I picked up the shade ‘Sunshine be mine’, which is the yellow creme of the collection. By now, I basically have the policy to pick up every yellow creme that Essie releases, because I just love them! Sunshine be mine is a bit darker and a bit more intense than I initially realized, but I absolutely love it. For a yellow, the formula was really well. On most nails I did two coats for the swatch pictures, but on my index finger I had to do three.
I hoped that Essie Sunshine be mine would be a good dupe for Essie Summer soul stice, which is a European-exclusive shade. To my surprise, Summer soul stice is actually a lot lighter than Sunshine be mine, so they definitely aren’t dupes. I must admit, Summer soul stice is still my favorite Essie shade ever. Essie Hay there and Essie All fun and games are also a lot lighter than Sunshine be mine and definitely not dupes.
If you are into yellows (I know they are not for everyone), Sunshine be mine is definitely worth picking up!
Conclusion
I personally could have skipped two out of three shades here. Only Sunshine be mine was really worth the money to me. However, I will admit that Grass never greener and Push play are amazing shades with an amazing formula, so if your Essie collection isn’t as big as mine yet, I would definitely consider picking those up. I also noticed that while I don’t like the color story of this collection as a whole, the individual shades are really nice.
