The 15 Best Essie Nail Colors – Our Top Picks For 2023

For a wide range of vibrant, fun, and long-lasting nail colors for every season.

Written by Baishali Bhattacharya, Certified Image Consultant, Certified In Makeup Artistry
Edited by Srijani Roy Chowdhury, Certified In Makeup Artistry, Certified Style & Image Consultant
Fact-checked by Shatabdi Bhattacharya  • 
All products recommended on StyleCraze are independently selected by our editorial team. If you make a purchase through any of these links, we may receive a commission. Learn more about our product selection process here.

Every nail polish lover would love to add Essie’s iconic nail paints to their collection. It has been a popular name in the nail polish industry since its advent in 1981, and a coat of the best Essie nail colors can undoubtedly make nails look gorgeous in seconds. The label’s vibrant and bold hues come in high-quality, quick-drying formulas. Essie offers a plethora of shades that last long and are chip-resistant. Besides, their glossy finishes suit every skin tone. We have listed our favorite Essie nail polish colors from the award-winning brand below. Check them out!

Top PicksCheck Price
Essie Nail Polish – Ballet Slippers
Price on Amazon
Price on Walmart
Essie Expressie Quick Dry Nail Color – 000 Crop Top & Roll
Price on Amazon
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Essie Nail Lacquer – Marshmallow
Price on Amazon
Essie Nail Polish – Not Just A Pretty Face
Price on Amazon
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Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish – Spiked With Style
Price on Amazon
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Essie Nail Polish – Treat Love & Color Nail Polish
Price on Amazon
Essie Nail Polish – Bustling Bazaar
Price on Amazon
Price on Walmart
Best For French Manicures: Essie Nail Polish 0337 Waltz
Price on Amazon
Price on Walmart
Essie Nail Lacquer – Sweater Weather
Price on Amazon
Price on Walmart
Essie Nail Polish – License To ThrillPrice on Amazon

The 15 Best Essie Nail Colors Available Right Now

1. Essie Nail Polish – Ballet Slippers

4.4
essie Nail Polish, Glossy Shine Finish, Ballet Slippers, Sheer Pink, 0.46 Ounces Image: Essie

Essie Nail Polish in the shade Ballet Slippers has a salon-quality glossy finish. This nail color offers flawless coverage and outstanding durability. This is the best shade when it comes to nude nail polish. This iconic color is suitable for all seasons. It delivers a subtle, sheer finish that is suitable for all skin tones. This nail polish comes with an exclusive easy-glide brush that fits every nail size for streak-free application. It has the perfect thickness and gives a glossy and shiny finish. This pale pink color is very neutral and light and formulated without using DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde. Watch this video for a thorough understanding of the product.

protip_icon Did You Know?
In 1989, Queen Elizabeth requested a bottle of Essie Ballet Slippers. Rumor has it that the queen was extremely fond of the shade.

Why It’s Worth Buying: The extensive 8,108 rave reviews on Amazon prove why we are vouching for this product.
Price at the time of publication: $9.25

2. Essie Expressie Quick Dry Nail Color – 000 Crop Top & Roll

Essie Expressie Quick Dry Nail Color is a fast-drying one-step nail polish. It dries in about a minute. It also comes with an angled brush for easy application with both hands. It has a vegan formula and contains no animal-derived ingredients. It is free from formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, xylene, camphor ethyl tosylamide, dibutyl phthalate, and triphenyl phosphate. The shade 000 Crop Top & Roll is soft pink beige that is suitable for all skin tones. It is the perfect subtle nude shade for formal events in the winter. here to check out a detailed personal review of this product.

Price at the time of publication: $8.97

3. Essie Nail Lacquer – Marshmallow

4.5
essie Nail Polish, Glossy Shine Sheer White, Marshmallow, 0.46 Ounce WHITES marshmallow Image: Essie

Essie Nail Polish in the shade Marshmallow has a glossy finish. This cloudy, sheer white nail lacquer is the perfect shade for French manicures. It is also a popular color for any occasion. It offers flawless coverage and lasts long. Its brush fits every nail size for streak-free application. Since this is a white nail polish, its formula runs thin and requires a few coats. This translucent nail color is best for a classy and sophisticated look for the office. It is formulated without using DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde. Here’s a review video to help you get a better understanding of the product.

protip_icon Trivia
Blanc, Bordeaux, and Baby’s Breath are three classic Essie shades from the 1981 Essie launch that still exist.

Price at the time of publication: $7.4

4. Essie Nail Polish – Not Just A Pretty Face

Essie Nail Color Polish in the shade Not Just A Pretty Face is a pretty pinkish nude color. It is the perfect nude for olive and medium-toned skin. It offers flawless coverage and outstanding durability. This professional-looking color is great for daily use. This classic “grown-up” pink shade is eternally trendy and works for darker skin tones. Also, it is formulated without using DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde.

Price at the time of publication: $9.03

5. Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish – Spiked With Style

Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish in the shade Spiked With Style is an edgy deep blood-red nail color. It offers an instant gel-like shine in an easy 2-step process. This high-quality nail lacquer color lasts up to 14 days. Also, the curve-hugging brush offers full coverage and a flawless finish. This gel-finish polish is easy to remove and does not require a UV lamp to dry.

Price at the time of publication: $10.92

6. Essie Nail Polish – Treat Love & Color Nail Polish

4.7
Treat Love & Color Nail Polish Image: Essie

Treat Love & Color is a clinically tested vegan base coat that gives you stronger nails in a week. This exquisite full-coverage mauve nail polish with a shimmery finish reduces peeling by 60% and breakage by 35%. It instantly imparts a perfect bright pigmented nail because of its breathable care formula infused with collagen & camellia extract. It works great for cool-toned skin.

7. Essie Nail Polish – Bustling Bazaar

The shade Bustling Bazaar is a dusty cyan blue nail polish with a creamy finish. It is one of the six nail colors that were released in Essie’s limited edition Summer collection of 2023. This color is very bright and fun, making it perfect for summer. The salon-quality formula of this glossy nail polish provides flawless coverage and long-lasting wear.

Price at the time of publication: $8.91

8. Best For French Manicures: Essie Nail Polish 0337 Waltz

4.9

This exquisite translucent white Essie nail paint is perfect for French manicures. This long-lasting nail paint gives your nails an attractive winter color. The nail polish dries quickly, leaves no streaks, and has a velvety smooth, chip-resistant texture. It has a vegan formula and contains no animal-derived ingredients. The shade ‘waltz’ will suit fair to medium skin tones the most.

Pros

  • Offers a classic look
  • Lightweight
  • Top-notch quality
  • Smooth application
  • Long-lasting
  • Vegan
  • Cruelty-free

Cons

  • The white shade has a slightly pale tint
Price at the time of publication: $8.49

9. Essie Nail Lacquer – Sweater Weather

Essie Nail Lacquer in the shade Sweater Weather is an intense mossy green nail polish. The gold shimmer in it adds an autumn twist to your look. This metallic nail polish offers flawless coverage. It comes with an easy-to-glide brush for quick and even application.

Price at the time of publication: $4.2

10. Essie Nail Polish – License To Thrill

4.4

License to thrill is a beautiful deep cobalt blue vegan red undertone nail polish with a creme finish. This offers flawless coverage and a shiny look to your nails. It has a salon-quality brush applicator that is ideal for all nail shapes and sizes. It is highly durable because of its chip-resistant formula. This shade will flatter almost all skin tones. Furthermore, it has an 8-free formula.

protip_icon Trivia
Essie Weingarten created this sheer pink shade exclusively for Mademoiselle magazine. She also revealed that it was her husband’s favorite color.

Price at the time of publication: $9.09

11. Essie Nail Polish – Cute As A Button

Cute As A Button is a pretty peach-pink shade with a creme finish. This coral nail color adds an air of innocence to your look instantly. It offers streak-free coverage along with a chip-resistant formula. It requires two coats to reach full opacity. This is a great dailywear nail polish for those chilly fall months.

Price at the time of publication: $9.99

12. Essie Nail Polish – Mint Candy Apple

Essie Nail Polish in the shade Mint Candy Apple reminds you of ice cream. It is the perfect nail color for any season, but especially spring. This mint green nail polish offers a glossy shine and provides flawless coverage. The chip-resistant formula of this nail color delivers long-lasting wear and is formulated without DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde. It is suitable for all skin tones.

Why It’s Worth Buying: More than 6,327 customers have given the product positive reviews on Amazon.
Price at the time of publication: $7.0

13. Essie Nail Polish – Winning Streak

Winning Streak is a dark purple shade with a grayish undertone. It lasts up to 3-7 days without chipping. It dries quickly and comes with a fine brush for a precise manicure. It offers a glossy shine finish and does not require a UV lamp to dry. It is great for daily use during the winter. It requires two coats to build coverage and is perfect for both light and dark skin tones.

Price at the time of publication: $4.6

14. Essie Nail Polish – Peach Daiquiri

Peach Daiquiri is a gorgeous coral shade with a pink undertone. This refreshing nail color offers full coverage. It has a wide brush for quick, smooth, and easy application. This ultimate shade offers a glossy finish and has a chip-resistant formula that lasts long. It looks amazing on all skin tones and is the perfect shade for summer.

Price at the time of publication: $12.99

15. Essie Remix Matte Finish Nail Polish – Ballet Sneakers

Essie Nail Polish in the shade Ballet Sneakers is a full-coverage pink nail polish with a matte finish. This baby pink shade with blue undertones is suitable for all outfits and occasions. Its salon-quality formula offers flawless coverage and outstanding durability. It comes with an easy-glide brush for quick and even application.

Price at the time of publication: $4.59

The Bottom Line

Essie is the best nail polish brand that is known for its quality. This brand offers vibrant as well as pastel colors that look fab on your nails and complements any skin tone. Essie Nail Polish – Ballet Slippers is a great choice as its timeless pale pink shade exudes elegance and sophistication, while Essie Nail Lacquer- Marshmallow provides a chic white hue that is perfect for minimalistic looks or as a base for nail art. On the other hand, for a fun and vibrant touch, Essie Nail Polish- Cute As A Button’s coral-pink shade is great. These polishes match any outfit. They do not require UV light to cure and can dry quickly. They provide full coverage and are chip-resistant; hence, they provide long-lasting wear. Make sure to apply a top coat after applying these polishes to make them last longer. However, some nail polishes may require a double coat based on the intensity of the color. Check out the product reviews to grab a few metallic or glitter nail polishes based on your preference, to match your outfits on various occasions.

Why Trust StyleCraze?

The author, Baishali Bhattacharya, is a certified expert in various makeup techniques. Her passion and unending love for makeup propel her to try the various Essie nail polishes out there for her readers. Being a giant in the cosmetic industry, Essie is a brand that one must have in their collection. This carefully hand-picked list of the top Essie nail polishes offers a multitude of shades that are long-lasting and amazing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Essie so popular?

Essie is a popular nail polish brand because they have all kinds of light and dark shades that you can choose as per your preference. They are also affordable, long-lasting, chip-resistant, and available in great colors.

What colors of Essie nail polish are the most popular?

Ultra light pink, black, classic pink and a dewy shade of blue are the most popular Essie nail polish colors.

Does Essie follow the “8-free” formula?

Yes, Essie follows the “8-free” formula. It is free of formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, xylene, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, dibutylphthalate, triphenyl phosphate, and animal-derived ingredients.

Does Essie polish expire?

Yes, Essie nail polishes mostly expire after two years.

Should I shake my Essie nail polish prior to application?

Yes, shaking your Essie nail polish will keep the formula and consistency of the polish intact.


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