I hope you’re not getting tired yet of the Essie spam. Today I have my three picks from Essie’s Swoon in the lagoon collection: Swoon in the lagoon itself, Ripple reflect, and All oar nothing. So why only three? Well, let me fill you in!
As you might, or might not remember, I posted a while ago about this new Essie collection. The collection consists in the US of nine new shades, in Europe, it consists of six new shades. The shades are:
- Natural connection (US-only)
- Day drift away
- Boatloads of love
- All oar nothing (US-only)
- Frilly lillies
- Willow in the wind
- Ripple reflect (US-only)
- Row with the flow
- Swoon in the lagoon
The shades that I really wanted were Natural connection, ripple reflect, and Swoon in the lagoon. However, since Natural connection and Ripple reflect are not available in Europe, I only picked up Swoon in the lagoon at first. However, I had the opportunity to pick up All oar nothing and Ripple reflect from the US. So obviously I couldn’t not pick them up! Let’s get into the swatches!
Essie Swoon in the lagoon
Swoon in the lagoon is described by Essie as a mid-tone magenta with blue undertones. It is indeed a magenta that leans a little bit purple. I absolutely adore this color, it’s unique in my stash!
The formula was great, but not as nice as some other recent Essie’s. I had to use three coats since I still had some bald spots after two coats. However, I use quite thin coats, so if you use thicker coats you might get away with two coats.
I was curious to see how Swoon in the lagoon would compare to Flowerista. To my surprise, they are actually not that close. Flowerista is a lot darker than Swoon in the lagoon. Twilight delight is similar but darker and pinker. Essie the girls are out is the most similar, but it is slightly lighter and contains glass fleck shimmer.
Essie All oar nothing
Essie all oar nothing is a US-only shade. When I picked up this shade I was under the impression that it would be a bright yellow. I was quite surprised to find out that it was more a mix of brown and yellow. Essie calls it a neutral yellow with red undertones, which isn’t particularly helpful.
The formula of this shade was good though, covering in two coats.
I was very interested to compare All oar nothing to You know the espadrille. You know the espadrille isn’t as muted and leans more orange. I also pulled out Keep branching out because also All oar nothing has brown tones. However, Keep branching out doesn’t contain any yellow. Finally, strangely enough Feeling Wellies is sort of close, but a lot lighter.
Essie Ripple reflect
Finally, we have Essie Ripple reflect. I was very curious about this color, and it’s definitely my favorite of the ones I picked up! It’s a cornflower blue and it’s absolutely pretty. The formula was amazing and covered in two coats. I would definitely recommend this shade to anyone looking for a great blue!
Essie Ripple reflect and Essie you do blue are much closer than I expected. Essie You do blue obviously contains pink shimmer, but both base colors are very similar. However, Essie You do blue is much sheerer than Ripple reflect. Essie Saltwater happy and Essie Blue-la-la are both much lighter than Essie Ripple reflect.
Nothing in this comparison is exactly a dupe for Essie Ripple reflect. Essie Flare for fun is a more muted, slightly darker shade of blue. OPI can’t CTRL me and Mali-blue shore me are lighter.
Conclusion & Availability
I especially like Essie Swoon in the lagoon and Ripple reflect. I’m not really sure how I feel about All oar nothing, but maybe I need to give it some time. The formula is nice at least. The shade I’m still most curious about is Natural connection. It’s again a US-only shade, but I might be able to get my hands on it anyway! I don’t think I will pick up the others, but if I will, I will definitely update this post.
The entire collection is available over here on Amazon US (affiliate link), and six shades are also available over here on Beyond polish (affiliate link). I ended up buying the color ‘Swoon in the lagoon’ at Beauty Bay. They also have two other colors of this collection (Day drift away and Boatloads of love). The colors are also now available at Lyko.com over here. In Germany, the collection is available at DM.
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