We have a few fall collections still to review and talk about here, and of course, we wouldn’t let a season go by without some new Essie.
Essie’s newest seasonal release is called the ‘Punk at Heart’ collection, and it’s their traditional 6 bottle release. Essie describes this set as helping you “break the mold and step into your rebellious era with these six edgy limited-edition shades”. Now, mainstream brands will only ever go so “rebellious” and “edgy” so don’t expect anything too crazy here. It’s the same vibe as when child me thought songs on my Hilary Duff CD were “hardcore” because they had electric guitars.
I say this jokingly, and with love, as it’s still a fun and unique color palette and I was excited to swatch it up. We have 4 creams and 2 shimmers here. It’s not the typical fall shades, and there are even a few colors you fully wouldn’t expect for the season. But it does still feel fall, in the way that (most of) these shades feel suited for cooler weather. It’s not a regular collection, it’s a cool collection.
These are available on the Beyond Polish website (code: GingerlyPolished gets you 10% off individual items. Now it is an affiliate code, so I would get a small amount of commission if you use it – no pressure as always! I purchase all of my Essie polishes from Beyond Polish now, and I would never recommend a place I didn’t myself love).
Let’s get on into the swatches!
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We start right out with ‘Never Too Bold’, and you’re right, Essie, we can be never be too bold. (That felt like a Hallmark moment). This shade is a deep navy blue jelly base filled with silver flecks all throughout.
Because of that jelly base even though it’s such a deep color, it’s a touch more sheer but it does still paint on evenly. The 2nd coat comes in and layers it all up, matching the color to the bottle and making it fully opaque. That jelly base also allows those shimmers to layer and peek out, giving it some beautiful depth, and making it look like the night sky.
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Next up we get to our first cream with ‘Loud & Proud’. This one is a bright, warmer toned pink shade. This is the most “non-autumn” shade of the bunch, but remember we’re going BOLD and PUNK in this collection, we’re being DIFFERENT. I’m not against a bright pink against the fall leaves.
Now this one was a squishier cream formula than I was expecting, with almost a drop of jelly to it. It’s more sheer on that 1st coat than the normal Essie cream formula I’m used to at this point. So I did end up using 3 coats to fully build this up and smooth it out. I’ve mentioned many times I have naturally very ridged nails, so those can “stick up” out of the polish and require more coats. If you have smoother nails, you’ll be set with just 2 coats. Overall, this isn’t a bad formula – just different than what my expectations for Essie creams are now.
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We bounce on back to shimmer, and oh I just love this shade. This is ‘Studs & Spikes’ and it has an almost red-berry-brown base to it that’s then filled with so much silvery microshimmer.
It’s only the tiniest bit sheer on the first coat, being a dense shimmer formula. That base is more jelly like, but that allows that sparkle to really come through. And on that 1st coat, you get the most look at that base color, seeing those red tones. That 2nd coat then comes in and layers it up and makes it fully opaque. That shimmer is so bright and gives it a foiled look, and it’s just gorgeous. This will be perfect for holiday times as well.
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The final 3 shades continue with rich, bold creams. First, we have the namesake of the set, ‘Punk at Heart’. This is a very deep dark navy blue cream shade, looking practically black on the nails. It does have some dustiness to it and that softens it up. If black polish feels too stark on the nails, this is a more approachable step down.
Once again, this cream has a touch of jelly to it, making it more sheer than I was expecting for such a deep shade. It does build up well with a 2nd coat, and for most you’ll be set with just 2 coats. Since it is a “thinner” formula than other Essie creams, I did add a 3rd to further smooth out the ridges in my nails. Again, not the worst formula and it’s easy to work with – previous Essie creams have just set my standards so high.
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‘Patch It Up’ is a warmer toned medium green. (Get it, it’s like patches on clothing, but also like pumpkin patch because it’s green.) It has some olive tones to it, some dustiness to it, and yes of course, I love it. I’ll take every single version of this color that brands want to release.
It’s a touch squishy and almost crelly-like, but it paints on very smoothly on that 1st coat, with only the tiniest bit of nail line showing through. The 2nd coat comes in and smooths it all out and makes it fully opaque. I didn’t feel the need to add a 3rd coat on this one, with it being the “thickest” formula so far. (Now don’t take thick too much to heart, I’m saying that as in the way that it fills in the gaps between my ridges and smooths them out more than other previous shades in this set).
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Last but certainly not least, we have ‘Leather Weather’. This is a dark wam purple cream shade. Just like ‘Punk at Heart’, it looks almost black on the nails, but in brighter lighting you’ll see that warmth and those purple tones. It can look very similar to ‘Punk at Heart’, but next to each other ‘you can see the warmer tones this one has ‘Leather Weather’ will pull much warmer.
This one has a very similar application to ‘Punk at Heart’ as well. It’s pigmented but still a touch squishy on the 1st coat. The 2nd coat comes in and really deepens up the shade and makes it fully opaque. I love deeper shades like this especially when my nails are shorter. It’s very vampy, and it feels very fall all around.
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And that’s the set! I will say I absolutely loved the two shimmers in this set – they were so gorgeous and unique, and had amazing formulas. For the creams, the formulas were not bad at all. I’ve just come to know and love Essie’s thicker cream formulas over the years, so I immediately noticed when these shades were a touch squishier and more sheer. They’re still easy to paint on, and if you have smooth nails, you’ll be set with just 2 coats for all of them.
It’s not a traditional fall color palette, which I’m never mad at. And I think all of these shades really work well together. What do you think? Will you be picking any of these up?
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