Nail Polish Review - Essie Holiday 2013 Collection - Encrusted Treasures

*Polishes used in this post were provided to me as a PR sample*

The 2013 Holiday collection by Essie, Encrusted Treasures, is full of sparkles, glitters and textures! You can read the press release here. The entire collection is not only very appropriate for the holidays but can also be used for parties and special occasions or as accent nails (shown here).

I am super late in publishing this post because of the trouble I had photographing some of the glitter polishes in this collection! They are so sparkly that my camera had trouble capturing the details of the glitter and would only show glare on my nails!!! I ended up swatching and photographing this entire collection THREE before I was finally happy with the result.

Some of the photographs may still look funny, but I can assure you that they are colour accurate and capture the beauty of each shade in this collection… even though my skin colour is all over the place!

Here is a collage of the entire Encrusted Treasures collection… perfect for Pinterest and Instagram!

 Overall Comments:

The formula varies across the collection since each polish is pretty unique. As you can see from my collage above, it is definitely possible to achieve full opacity for every shade. However, there are some that can be layered… more pictures to follow! I truly love this collection and I am glad Essie has produced something very different from what they usually do. I can definitely see myself using these polishes for accent nails, glitter gradients and maybe even an entire sparkly manicure!

Click the “read more” to see more pictures and a detailed review of each polish.

on a silver platter: Violet holographic glitter in an iridescent silver base with a gold finish    

Colour: Silver, Gold, Purple  |  Finish: Glitter  |  # of Coats: 3  |  Topcoat: No  |  Rating: 7.5/10

Colour: Gold, Purple  |  Finish: Glitter Topper  |  # of Coats: 1  |  Topcoat: No  |  Rating: 7.5/10

Application: The formula was smooth and very easy to apply. In the first picture, I applied 3 coats to reach full opacity. When it dried, it was slightly gritty, not unusual for a glitter polish. I would not call this a textured polish. In the second picture, I layered it over after school boy blazer by essie and it only look one coat for the density seen in the picture above.

Comments: It is definitely an interesting polish... very sparkly and unique combination of platinum gold and violet. As seen in the second picture, the gold iridescence is the star when layered over a dark base. I love how you can wear this polish in two different ways with two completely different looks! Like its luxeffects polishes, the glitter pieces are large hexagons and small circles.

hors d'oeuvres: Platinum/silver glitter in an iridescent silver base with a gold finish

Colour: Silver, Gold  |  Finish: Glitter  |  # of Coats: 3  |  Topcoat: No  |  Rating: 9/10

Colour: Silver, Gold  |  Finish: Glitter Topper  |  # of Coats: 1  |  Topcoat: No  |  Rating: 8/10

Application: The formula was smooth and very easy to apply. In the first picture, I applied 3 coats to reach full opacity. In the second picture, I layered it over shearling darling by essie and it only look one coat for the density seen in the picture above.

Comments: I really like this one… it is just so sparkly! I did try it on with topcoat afterwards but there was no major difference to the naked eye because of how shiny and sparkly it is. It just felt a little smoother to the touch. This polish is just blinding!!! It is so hard to stare at your nails and figure out what glitter sizes and shapes are used. Like on a silver platter and essie’s other luxeffect glitter toppers, there are large silver hexagons and small silver circle glitters. The glitter is suspended in the same iridescent silver/gold base used in on a silver platter, whose gold iridescence shows clearly when layered over a dark base. Again, I love how you can wear this polish in two different ways for two different looks but I definitely prefer the glitter by itself as it makes a super blingy statement.

peak of chic: alpine white bar glitter laced with holographic rainbow bar glitter

Colour: White  |  Finish: Glitter/Texture  |  # of Coats: 4  |  Topcoat: No  |  Rating: 5/10

Colour: White  |  Finish: Glitter/Texture  |  # of Coats: 1  |  Topcoat: No  |  Rating: 7/10

Application: This is definitely meant to be used a glitter topper. However, as shown in my first picture, I did layer it on to full opacity. After the second coat, I could no longer brush it on so I dabbed it on wherever the glitter was sparse. In the second picture, I used it as a topper over parka perfect by essie; it glides on very easily and my picture shows 1 coat.

Comments: Glitter topper… yet a texture? Yes! It is a bit weird but it feels like the clear base evaporates once you apply it on your nail and you can feel the bar glitter. It feels kind of hairy. I am not a fan of bar glitter but it definitely earned a higher rating from me when used as a topper. When worn by itself, it felt way too gritty and kept getting caught on EVERYTHING!

belugaria: black jelly base laced with highly textured matte glitter/caviar beads with flashes of holographic rainbow hexagonal glitters

Colour: Black  |  Finish: Texture/Glitter  |  # of Coats: 2  |  Topcoat: No  |  Rating: 7.5/10

Application: This polish had the most difficult formula to work with from the entire collection… but that is probably because of the caviar beads in the polish. I applied the first coat like any other polish. For the second coat, it was impossible to brush it on so I dabbed it on to make sure the textured effect was evenly applied on the entire nail. The one thing I did not like is how I had to keep wiping off the bottle nose with a wipe dipped in nail polish remover. This was necessary to get rid of the gunk that collected there and for smoother application.

Comments: The finished look is pretty gritty and highly textured but I really liked that! I hate it when I buy a textured polish and I can barely feel the gritty-ness or if the gritty-ness fades within a day. I love how it looks but it is definitely not for everyone. Although the hexagonal holographic glitters show really well in the bottle, they were pretty hidden on your nails under a thin layer of black polish, so the sparkle on it was nothing crazy.

ignite the night: a fine silver and black textured glitter with a superfine matte finish

Colour: Silver  |  Finish: Texture/Glitter  |  # of Coats: 3  |  Topcoat: No  |  Rating: 9.5/10

Application: The glitter was a little sparse per coat which is why it needed 3 coats for opacity. I would suggest waiting for each coat to completely dry (which doesn’t take long at all) to optimize the texture quality of this polish. Application of each coat was very easy and smooth.

Comments: This is one of my favourite polishes from this collection. I love how it looks like a dark silver/graphite colour because of the super fine black glitter that is mixed into it. The textured effect of this polish is just sheer perfection and I can see myself using this colour on skittles and accent nails. It might be hard to do certain types of nail art (e.g. polka dots) since the glitter to base ratio isn’t dense but it’s great for other types of nail art (e.g. glitter gradient) since it can be layered over all sorts of undies.

lots of lux: lapis lazuli blue glitter with a superfine matte textured finish

Colour: Blue  |  Finish: Texture/Glitter  |  # of Coats: 2  |  Topcoat: No  |  Rating: 10/10

Application: The glitter density was perfect especially when compared to ignite the night which is why it only needed 2 coats for opacity. Again, I would suggest waiting for each coat to completely dry (which doesn’t take long at all) to optimize the texture quality of this polish. Application of each coat was very easy and smooth.

Comments: This is MY FAVOURITE polish from this collection. I love how rich the blue looks and it has the perfect balance between a matte and glitter look. The textured effect of this polish is just sheer perfection and I can see myself using this colour on skittles and accent nails or maybe wearing it all by itself!

Hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on this collection!!

- Hetal