Today I am bringing you 1/2 of the Essie Resort Collection: "Lapis of Luxury" and "Turquoise & Caicos". Enjoy! (Please excuse my broken middle finger nail :( )
"Lapis of Luxury" is described by Essie as "a dreamy ocean blue". I think this color is a nice dusty sort of cornflower blue high gloss creme. It's really quite pretty and I think will be one of the popular ones in the collection.
The formula on this (and the rest of the collection surprisingly) is impeccable. I love how these all just glide on. I did not have a bit of trouble applying this at all. It was opaque in just 2 coats and the finish was really beautiful and shiny. Essie seems to be hit or miss formula wise but this is a great hit in my book. Smooth and just perfect.
Here's a look at the color in the regular sunshine and in direct sun:
As soon as I saw this color I thought of Orly "Snowcone" from their spring collection. Sure enough when I pulled it out it was quite similar indeed. I did a little swatching to show you the two side by side:
As you can see they are nearly identical. Here's my 2 cents on these. The Orly is highly pigmented and if you're careful in application you're able to achieve maximum opacity in just one coat, however I found the Orly a little difficult to work with because it's so pigmented and thick. I prefer the slightly thinner formulation the Essie polish offers. It's really just a matter of personal preference. They're similar in price in stores, you're likely to pay $6.99 for the Orly and $8 for the Essie so it's a tossup. If you love the color and can only get your hands on one or the other I'd say they are close enough to be considered dupes. Essie wins out in my book because the formula is superior and the shiny finish just sends it over the edge for me. Hope this helped.
Now on to a different island... this is "Turquoise & Caicos" I believe this polish will be the most popular one in the collection and I am telling you, at least in my collection, this one is unique and beautiful!
"Turquoise & Caicos" is described by Essie as "a flirty and pretty tropical aqua". It's a really great color and one I find to be quite unique among the aqua/teal/green/blue colors in my collection.
Again, the formula is outstanding on this one. It's almost jelly like but not quite. It required three coats for maximum opacity and the final result is gorgeous. I say it's almost jelly like because the finish is pretty and squishy looking but it is not at all transparent so it's not really a jelly. It's just a perfect high gloss creme. I love it! 
I pulled a few polishes that are in the same color family but I didn't do actual swatches. I hope you find the bottle comparisons helpful. As you can see there really is no dupe in my collection.
First we have China Glaze's "Four Leaf Clover" and Essie's "Turquoise & Caicos" these are not even close at all. The China Glaze is more green and darker (even more so in real life):
Next I have China Glaze's "Re-Freshmint" and Essie's "Turquoise & Caicos". As you can see "Turquoise & Caicos" is not a mint green. It's more blue than mint but it's not blue if that makes sense:
Now we have China Glaze's "For Audrey" and Essie's "Turquoise & Caicos" these look closer in the bottle but they are not dupes. You all know what "For Audrey" looks like on the nails so see my "Turquoise & Caicos" swatches above and you'll know they are not the same. "For Audrey" is more on the pastel side, it's lighter than "Turquoise & Caicos" and more baby blue-ish.
And finally just a shot with it in the middle to give you an idea of where it is on the color spectrum:
I hope this helped you. Stay tuned tomorrow for the other two polishes in this collection. I love these colors and I think many of you will too.
This collection is supposed to be available in May but I think it's available right now. I saw it at Ulta (we finally got an Ulta in my state!!!!) and I think you can get it HERE too.
Disclosure: This collection was furnished to me by Essie for consideration. All reviews published on this blog are at my own discretion. Please refer to my Disclosure Policy.
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Today I have a color to share from the OPI Touring America fall collection. This is Suzi Takes the Wheel and it's a gorgeous grayed sage green creme. It's very subtle on the green but there's just enough of it there to call it a green and not a gray. I just love colors like this. Sage green is my absolute all time favorite color so I am happy with the tone of this one. 
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