Essie Spring 2015 collection: Flowerista, Blossom Dandy, Petal Pushers and Perennial Chic review

I love mini sets of nail polish. For the price of one polish I have the chance to experiment with colours which I normally wouldn't go for and embrace trends I don't feel particularly attached to. The disadvantage is that such boxes often contain shades which I find unnacteptable and never reach for, even for sampling purposes.

Essie Spring 2015 Collection is one of the best curated sets I've had. I find all of the shades appealing and I feel I'll put them into regular use this summer, but I must admit it was Flowerista that made the selling point. 

Strangely enough, however, I reached for Blossom Dandy first.

Over the past year I acquired a number of mint polishes, except the most famous one which is Essie Mint Candy Apple, and Blossom Dandy turned out to be my absolute favourite. 

In the photo the polish looks much brighter. In reality this is a blue-toned mint shade which may be classified as pastel, but the white base is not that flat and prominent. It's cool-toned, but there's some warmth to is at the same time. I found it super flattering on my nails. 

Two coats mean fully opaque, streak-free colour.  

Possible dupes: Sally Hansen B-Girl or Rimmel Breakfast in Bed

I painted my nails with Flowerista in the evening and I thought the colour fell short of my expectations.It seemed dark and dull, but the morning light brought out its beauty. This is a shade which is meant to be worn in full sunshine on long summer days. To me it looks like a bright orchid purple, both loud and tame at the same time.

I didn't like the formula at first. The consistency is on the thick side, which combined with the narrow brush, meant more effort during the application. Fortunately the second coat smoothed everything out and made my nails look perfect!

Possible dupe: Maybelline Berry Stain

Gray nails aren't really my thing, but Petal Pushers is a truly amazing shade and I can see myself wearing it quite often. Probably because it's not a flat gray, but there's a purple and blue twist to it, depending on light, which makes it terribly unique. The photo failed to pick the complex nature of this polish.

Again, this is a two-coater with a long, narrow brush.

Perennial chic is my least favourite shade of the bunch. First of all I don't wear nudes on my nails at all, and peach isn't my favourite shade. When I painted my nails in the evening, the shade seemed much cooler and I thought i might want to wear it sometimes, but in the morning light I noticed it was much peachier and too warm for my pale pink skin tone. Wore it for one day and switched to something else.

 I would say it's a perfect nude for an olive skin toned person who needs to comply with an office dress code.  

Two coats were more than enough, but the creme finish of the polish made it look a bit like oil paint on nails.