PURCHASED

Listen here, I got duped. All weekend, it was up to the 50s and lovely, and so sunny. I had my windows open yesterday, I felt the Vitamin D flowing through me, I even believed for a hot second that maybe spring could be on its way. BUT I KNOW BETTER. I’ve lived in the Midwest all 25 years of my life now, and so I fully know about these ‘Fools Springs’ and I STILL FELL FOR IT. I had hope for a while! I pictured myself with windows open, fresh air flowing through, soaking up the warmth. And now we’re supposed to get snowstorms for the next 2 days. In my heart I expected nothing different.

So while I’m getting buried in snow, it’s fitting that we look at some warm, sunny and bright colors right! Pinks, oranges and yellows will always be there for me to pretend it’s spring.

Today we’re looking at the Essie Flying Solo collection! This is a collection of 9 shades that was officially announced about 2 months ago (where does the time go?). I finally grabbed them all, and am now even more in a mood for bright summery colors so it’s the perfect time to talk about them.

I snatched up all of these bad boys from my fav, polishpick.com. You’ve heard me talk about that place enough now, but as I’ve mentioned they carry the new Essie collections now as well, and I love being able to basically buy all of the new collections in one place at a great discount. (That discount is the reason I can buy all of these polishes and show them to you!) (And as always, if you do buy from polishpick, feel free to put my name into the dropdown at checkout – it’s not at all affiliated, I make no money, but helps to show the website where the traffic is coming from!)

Now let’s get into the swatches, shall we?

This collection is pretty evenly split, with 5 creams and 4 featuring more shimmery finishes. As mentioned, there are 9 shades total, and they all feature a nice tropical and bright vacation theme.

Up first we have ‘Free to Roam’, a light baby pink cream shade. This had a more solid 1st coat than I was expecting for something so light and white-based. I still had some unnevenness from the ridges in my nails, but I was able to easily get it opaque in just 2 coats.

This polish surprised me in the best way! Like I mentioned, usually white-based shades like this can be a little finicky and take more coats. But this was so smooth on the nails, and easily 2 coats! A lovely light pink if you’re looking to add to your collection.

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Next up we have ‘Without Reservations’. This is a deep shimmery burgundy shade that has a touch of purple to it. This had a beautiful formula and was opaque in just 1 easy coat. This floated onto the nails like butta, and I highly recommend it.

It’s a shade that works for anytime of year! Okay, I’m gushing but I love it. If you only get one, get this one, okay?

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Continuing right on with the pinks we have ‘One Way For One’. This is a beautiful medium pink cream base with stunning orange-gold shimmer. I had some ridges peeking through after the 1st coat, but they were easily covered with a 2nd. Super smooth on the nails, and a lovely formula.

The shimmer on this one was just absolutely stunning! I was happily surprised again with just how vibrant it is, and how much this shade glows on the nails. Another win.

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Our last pink is the namesake of the collection. This is ‘Flying Solo’, a coral pink cream shade. It’s almost a touch muted, which made this one of my favorite shades. There’s just something so unique about it, and I loved it on the nails.

Luckily it had another easy formula to go with it as well. If you have smooth nails you might be able to get this opaque with just 1 coat. I had a few ridges still, but they were covered up with a 2nd easy coat.

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And now into the oranges!

‘Check In to Check Out’ is a bright orange cream shade with just a touch of peachy-pink tones to it. Another easy 2 coats here, no complaints.

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‘Reach New Heights’ is a light tangerine orange base with more of that beautiful gold shimmer. There was a touch of nail line left at one coat, but again broken record, it was easily covered with a 2nd.

Essie fully knows they can get me with a bright gold shimmer, and I mean, who could say no to it? This is another warm shade that’ll be perfect for the upcoming spring and summer.

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And of course, I’m always excited when we get another Essie yellow since they don’t come around too often. This is ‘Check Your Baggage’ and it’s a lovely yellow cream with just a touch of orange to it. This had a sheer, thinner 1st coat – as yellows can tend to have. I got it pretty well opaque with a thicker 2nd coat – though you might need a 3rd to fully even everything out if you use thinner coats.

But overall, it’s a lovely yellow with a not too hard to work with formula, so of course, I’m happy.

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‘You Do Blue’ is a light periwinkle cream base with a bright purple shimmer. This had a more sheer and watery formula than the rest of the collection. Overall it was opaque in just 2 coats, though you might need a 3rd if you’re doing thinner coats.

I do wish the purple shimmer was a -touch- more prominent on the nails – it can get a little bit lost. But that could just be me wanting absolute perfection. It’s still a lovely shade, and it’s beautiful, so I will be keeping it and loving it!

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Lastly we have ‘In Plane View’, a deep turquoise cream shade. And we end on a high note with another stunning formula. This was easily opaque in just 1 coat, and again, it just floats onto the nail. Another love!

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And there it is! All 9 polishes swatched up. Overall, as always we had some lovely formulas here – ‘Without Reservations’ & ‘In Plane View’ were faves, formula wise, with each of them only requiring 1 coat. Otherwise, I got most of these opaque in just 2 coats. There were a few that I put a 3rd on, but it’s mainly to cover up the deeper ridges in my nails.

I ended up loving this color story, and I think it’s so fun when they’re all on the nails! They were definitely bright, and just gave me the feeling of the warmth of sunshine, which I definitely needed. My favorite had to be ‘One Way For One’, with that amazing golden shimmer, but I also loved ‘Flying Solo’ for a more unique pink shade. No complaints here, and if a color catches your eye, I don’t think you can go wrong!

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Upcoming Posts
Nails: Orly Feel the Beat Spring 2020 • Zoya Calm Spring 2020 • Sinful Colors Sporty Brights • Orosa Beauty Desert Garden Spring 2020

Makeup: Wet N Wild the 40 Palette • Revolution Pro All That Glistens • Colourpop Bye Bye Birdie Palette

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