No this is not a clickbait, this is actually real! 4 years ago (time flies!) I wrote a blogpost about possible Essie Fiji dupes (over here). It is still my most read post ever! Every day people are reading that post. When I wrote it I was completely obsessed by Essie Fiji. Back then Fiji was not sold over here and I had bought a ton of polishes that looked similar. Then one day, it was suddenly available over here and I was able to buy it! I am happy that I could use the ones that I found before by making that blogpost!
Last week I checked out that post again and I came to the conclusion that most of the polishes that I used are not available anymore today. Also most of them turned out to be not so good dupes. I decided to search one more time for possible budget Fiji dupes that were easily available. Seriously.. it is like budget brands avoid this color! But then.. there it was.. In Catrice’s permanent collection: Catrice Nice cream.
You can judge the pictures yourself, but for me it is the best budget dupe for Fiji I have seen so far. I think I notice a very small difference (Fiji might be a little bit cooler than Nice cream). But the difference is very small. I think that if I would wear both Nice Cream on some fingers and Fiji on some others, no one would notice.
There is a difference in formula though. My Fiji is still very water-y (yes, still after 4 years), and because of this I am wearing 4 coats of Fiji. The Catrice polish is a gel polish without a UV-lamp, so I immediately notice that the formula is a bit thicker, but in a good way. The polish covers nicely in two to three coats. I also really loved the Catrice brush, it was better than the Essie brush that is in my Fiji (that one is kind of horrible). The biggest positive side of Catrice Nice Cream: it costs less than 4 euros! Instead of the 10 euros I payed for Fiji. At least in Europe, this Catrice polish should be easily available, I know that it might be a little harder to get in North America. Also combined with Orly Bonder, and Essie Good to go it stayed on my nails for over a week!
Because of all this I am pretty sure now that Catrice Nice cream is the best Essie Fiji dupe I have seen so far. I am very glad that I own Essie Fiji itself, but I am pretty sure that Catrice Nice Cream might be even better than Fiji. I think I can finally sleep at night now, knowing that I have found a budget dupe for Fiji!
Can you still buy the original Fiji colour- not bothered what make
I’m not sure! I think the one they sell in Europe is very close to the original color. In the US it seems to have changed to a darker pink color, and I’m not sure whether the lighter one is still available
!