Earlier this year Essie dropped EIGHTEEN new polishes at once (they don’t need sleep over there clearly), all under the label of their new “Nail Art Studio” line. They describe this line as “your DIY design destination for everything nail art”.
Now, of course, this can seem like an exaggeration and duh, of course there are hundreds of nail art products out there. We’re not talking about striping tape and dotting tools and charms here – Essie is staying in their lane and experimenting with regular polish. They’re filling in an area they were lacking before in their own product collection, and listen, we love the idea of shades perfect for layering and combining. Overall I was just very interested to see what we were working with when these were announced.
In this newness, we have 9 “special effect” shades, and then 9 jelly polishes. And today we’re starting by looking at those jellies first. They’re in a range of more “classic” colors, as you would expect when building up a palette for nail art. And spoiler alert, some of those colors are more successful than others.
You can find these online on Ulta’s website or on the Walgreens website (they might be available in store at either of these places as well). With Ulta they’re more expensive, but you can get points (but their packaging is also terrible) so up to you to decide. Now let’s get on into those swatches!
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These are a jelly formula, so they are meant to be more sheer and squishy on the nails overall with a shiny finish. But there were some here that were fully opaque after only 2 coats, and then some that were still so sheer after 3 coats, so that opacity does vary. Overall I’ll never do more than 3 coats for a polish. In the swatch photos, you’ll see how each jelly looks built up on its own, whether it’s in 2-3 coats (I always note how many coats I did in each description). Then, in the live video swatches, you’ll be able to see each individual coat – in case you’re wondering what each shade would look like as a more sheer look.
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Alright, let’s start right out with ‘Blush Jelly’. With most of these names, they’re straightforward and you’ll be able to know the color easily – which makes sense when you’re pulling colors for specific nail art. So as you can guess with ‘Blush’, this is warmer toned soft pink shade. (Though isn’t it interesting that when we say “blush” as a color we mean a soft pink, while blush as a product can come in a hundred colors. Sorry, I’ll stop getting philosophical).
This shade was one of the most pigmented of the set, so at 3 coats it was pretty well opaque and almost looked like a cream. I did find this applied more uneven on my ridged nails with the 1st coats, so I did prefer to wear this one at 3 coats, with that last coat filling in gaps and smoothing out any patches. I think this shade just has a touch too much pigment to it, so it can pool more in between my ridges. For those with smoother nails, you could be set at any opacity. That is one thing about having ridged nails is that I’m very picky about my jelly formulas. In fact, I didn’t even like wearing them until a couple years ago, when formulas were finally improving, and they wouldn’t look like an uneven mess. But I’m glad to say I’m coming around, and there are some gorgeous shades here.
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Next up we have ‘Cheeky Jelly’ and okay, fine, right after I talk about it, I guess you can’t really guess the color from “cheeky”. This one is a warmer toned more neutral shade. It’s an orangey brown, maybe a peachy beige. It’s overall an interesting color and hard to fully nail down, but I’m sure it would be a great neutral on darker skin tones.
Now this one more exemplifies that sheer jelly formula, as you can still see my nail line peeking out after 3 coats. This shade is very sheer yet applies smoothly making it perfect as a “your nails but better look”, adding just a touch of pigment and warmth. Obviously with each coat you just get more and more of an “obvious” look, and 3 coats will be best for those with deeper skintones.
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‘Apricot Jelly’ brings us back into those descriptive names, being a very bright, almost yellow-toned orange shade. Like you’re painting orange marmalade right onto the nails (sorry, big Paddington fan over here).
The formula on this one is right in between ‘Blush’ and ‘Cheeky’ in terms of pigmentation, with just the tiniest bit of nail line peeking through after a 3rd coat. It’s smooth and even at any coat so it can be worn at any opacity. This 1st coat will pop more on the nails than ‘Cheeky Jelly’ above, since it’s a brighter color overall.
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‘Buttercup Jelly’ is a soft, well, buttercup yellow shade. It’s very pale, with a lot of white pigment to it.
And I think that lighter pigment contributed to its ultimate downfall (the drama). This one was the most uneven of the bunch, and you can see even after 3 coats it’s still unable to smooth itself out over the ridges in my nails. It just didn’t look great, and with the color and formula, I’m not sure how it would layer over other polishes. I know yellow formulas can be finicky, even in a cream finish, and this sheer squishy formula was not helping it along at all. (Of course I do know a brighter yellow color could just look like stained nails, so maybe there’s no true winning here).
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‘Cactus Jelly’ is a cooler toned green, almost having some dustiness to it. It’s a gorgeous color and the one I was definitely most drawn to of the set.
This was the most pigmented of the bunch, being pretty well opaque in just 2 coats. There’s the teeniest bit of nail line, and you could add a 3rd to fully cover that up. But I chose to leave off that 3rd coat as I liked that squishier look overall, and wanted to show off how jellies can shine, figuratively and literally. They’re perfect for a softer look on the nails, and they just look so juicy. The one con I’ll note with this shade is I can see it being harder to layer over other polishes because of that pigment – but I’m sure it would be so good for blobbing on and mixing.
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Of course we need a blue, so we arrive at ‘Sky Jelly’. This one is lighter, muted cool tone blue on the nails – some might say like the blue sky. (Some might also say “of course a blue is cool toned, why are you noting that” but I swear there are “warmer” blues out there. You’ll know them when you see them, and I just like being specific.)
This one is more sheer, and there was a tiny bit of nail line peeking through after 3 thinner coats. It’s uneven on that 1st coat, but it starts to smooth out well on the 2nd, and even more on the 3rd. I did love the squishier look with this color, as that jelly finish seems to lend itself best to more muted cooler shades.
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For the last of the “full” color shades, we come to ‘Orchid Jelly’. This is a cooler toned medium purple shade.
This did build up well with 2 thicker coats, though on some of my nails that had a thinner application, I chose to add a 3rd coat to further brighten up the color. It’ll depend on your own preferences and application where you’re stopping with layering. It paints on evenly, so it can be worn at 1 coat for a sheer look.
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Now we get into our white and black, and I know these were the shades most were curious about! I mean a black and white jelly open up a lot of options for nail art and layering options.
We then start with ‘Ink Jelly’ and yes, duh, this is the black jelly.
And for this one, to be blunt, it doesn’t look good built up on its own, BUT I can see some potential for it. Don’t let that swatch photo steer you away yet, hear me out. It’s 1st coat is very sheer, with a small amount of pigment being noticeable. Though with that I do think there’s just enough color to mute down any polish you top it over, to add some dustiness. The 2nd coat was more even and really started to build up the color – but you can see as it dries, the pigments gathered in my rides and really made it look patchy. SO I think if you have smoother nails, this could be a cool look, or more likely, I think this could be interesting for layering over other polishes.
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And last up we end on the white. This is ‘Arctic Jelly’ and as I said, it’s a white jelly.
After 3 coats with this one, there’s just a touch of nail line and ridges peeking through. It’s a soft squishy look, and I think this will be even more gorgeous on smoother nails – or over a white cream base. It’s not the best on my bare nails, but I think we can survive. I do love this finish for a white shade, as it offers a much less stark look than you would get with a pure white cream. It’s even as it paints on, so it would definitely be interesting for layering with other colors.
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And that’s the set! I loved that Essie released something different to fill out a different area in their range. Some of these shades were more successful in the formula than others, but I enjoyed trying them out, and I’m so curious to see how these will layer with other polishes.
I’ve truly become a jelly fan over the years as new and better formulas come out. I can’t say I’m fully an expert at this point, but there are certainly some colors in this set that I can truly recommend. With that, are you interested in any these shades?
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