Essie Encrusted Treasures 2013 collection – swatches and review

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Essie-Encrusted-Treasures-1press sample

It’s the holidays, and it’s your duty to sparkle

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Like a sparkly beacon of light, Essie is here to brighten your holidays with the Encrusted Treasures collection. If you can’t find a favorite in these six polishes, well then, you’re just not a glitter fan! Especially in a collection that runs the finish gamut like this one does. Let’s jump right in (all swatches shown with two coats.)

Essie-Encrusted-Treasures-3Belugaria, Ignite the Night, On a Silver Platter

Ok, you want the good news or the bad news first? The good? Ok, let’s come back to Belugaria later…

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Ignite the Night is a heavy mĂ©lange of black, silver and antique gold fine glitter with a slightly matte finish. This is a really sophisticated take on glitter for me. The matte tones down the bling a bit, making it a bit less “look at me!” yet still it’s chock full of glitter. I love it, it’s one of my two favorite polishes of the launch.

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On a Silver Platter is a yellow gold glitter base with large blue violet round glitter. I’m surprised at how much coverage you get with this (and all of these, really.) You know the glitter polish that you have to build up coat after coat with for any serious impact? Not these. You get intense glitter coverage with two coats, especially this one. I do find the beautiful blue violet glitter gets lost a bit in what is a very heavy gold glitter base.

Essie-Encrusted-Treasures-7Peak of Chic, Lots of Lux, Hors d’Oeuvres

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Peak of Chic is such a winter shade. It’s white and holographic bar glitter in a clear base and it looks like a disco winter wonderland! It has a slightly fuzzy look to it, very fun.

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Lots of Lux is texturized and intensely shimmered deep blue. The shimmer on this is beautiful, like what I imagine a night sky on an island looks like. Especially in the bottle, it has a milky way kind of look to it, flashing from silver to purple to blue. Alas, I am not a texture fan at all. Gritty nails drive me batty.

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Hors d’Oeuvres is my other favorite polish of the launch. I am one of those people who has a hard time choosing between silver and gold jewelry (then comes rose gold to totally throw me for a loop, but that’s for another post…) Hors d’Oeuvres is the best of both worlds; fine gold glitter with large and small silver glitter scattered throughout. For all the reasons I love the subtleness of Ignite the Night, they are the exact opposite with this; bright, sparkly, slightly brash – LOVE IT!

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Now about Belugaria …oh boy, I really didn’t like this. I had such high hopes from the looks of the bottle. It looked like it might be a black jelly with holographic glitter floating in it. Instead this is such a highly textured polish that it looked like a dragged my nails through hot tar (albeit, hot tar with a smattering of glitter in it.) I get what they were going for; a caviar look. But as mentioned, I am not a texture fan and this is texture overload. And nothing I could do (light coat, heavy coat, top coat) could change my mind.

Oh well, not all glitter is for every one…

So we heartsters, what’s your sparkler favorite of the bunch?

Stef is many things. Amongst them: co-editor of we heart this, photographer, condiment connoisseur, Philly girl in the California desert, borderline hoarder and a hardcore beauty junkie.
skin tone: NC 25/30
skin type: oily with a fear of rosacea
favorite beauty product: high end skincare and lip products

Author

  • Stef Andrews

    Stef is a plethora of things. Amongst them: co-founder of we heart this, photographer, condiment connoisseur, Philly girl in the California desert, borderline hoarder and a hardcore beauty junkie. She also has a touch of wanderlust and, arguably, the cutest dog in the whole world... skin tone: NC 25/30 skin type: oily with a fear of rosacea favorite beauty product: high end skincare and lip products

9 Comments

  1. ack! Belugaria could’ve had a lot of hope if it wasn’t for that hidden texture. My favorite is Hors d’Oeuvres. It’s very festive and fun. I think this collection looks VERY much inspired by the indie nail polish trend that has taken over the last year or two. Props to Essie for making nail polish fun for the masses!

  2. Hors d’Oeuvres is my favorite one! Looks soooo pretty on your nails! It’s great too because it won’t look very noticeably when it starts to chip or come off! Love that!

  3. Belugaria looked so pretty in the bottle! I’m so bummed it doesn’t look that way on your nails :( Hors doeurves is gorgeous though.

  4. Hors d’Oeuvres is by far the sassiest of the mix. That’s too bad about Belugaria–in the bottle, it looks like it would be right up my alley, but I HATE textured polishes. Like, I strive for a smooth nail, so that would probably drive me nuts.

    Peak of Chic is also intriguing–it reminds me of the inside of a snow globe. Fun!

    1. I totally agree @krista – textured polishes go against everything I’ve ever strived for in a manicure!

  5. On a Silver Platter looks gorgeous, but I agree Belugaria does not look appealing on.

  6. These are beautiful! I might be compelled pick one (or a few of these) up. Deborah Lippmann’s glitter polishes are so beautiful, but they’re $19 a pop, so this seems like a cheaper way to get the glamorous glitter look for half the price! Thanks!

  7. I’m a huge fan of glitter nail polish and I love ‘On a Silver Plater’. It looks amazing over a navy polish or other dark color too!

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