Essie's Second Summer 2012 Collection

Several weeks ago, we looked at the first Essie summer 2012 collection, Poppy-razzi and now I see that there is a second summer collection from this company.  The first collection was full of brights and the only shade that I loved was a bright neon pink, the oranges and corals would all be awful on my skintone.  I am happy to report that this second collection contains a very different series of shades, this collection ranges from pale blues and pinks and then ends with a medium green shade.  I can already see that this will contain much better shades for me!

Essie states the following about this new series of nail polish shades, "If you ask me, all signs point to a bikini so teeny".  I am so excited to go to the beach this summer and I will be all about self-tanning and working on my beach body for the next few weeks.  Summer is so close that I can taste it and I am so ready to have some fun over the next few months!

The first two shades of the collection are my early favorites, these are the two pale shades in the collection.  The first shade is my absolute favorite, Bikini So Teeny.  This shade is a "sparkling cornflower blue" and it is the shade that I have pictured here.  This is the perfect pale blue shade with a subtle shimmer finish, it looks like the ocean and I love this shade for the summer months.  This shade will be flattering against my current pale skin and then will really pop against my fake tan.  The second pale shade is another one that I am considering buying, not like a need another pink shade since I have bought so many of them since the beginning of this spring but I love every single that I have bought and keep finding more shades to love.  The pale pink in this collection is called Cascade Cool, a "creamy, sweet dustly pink".  This shade is a cream finish and is almost the exact same color as cotton candy.  Itis not that unique but it is very pretty shade, I don't know that I actually need this shade but I would like to own it.
The rest of this collection are brights and one odd bronze shade that doesn't fit with any other category.  The bronze shade is my least favorite since I know that bronze will not work for me at all.  I am going to cover it quickly and then go into the brights in more detail.  All Tied Up is a "rustic bronze with subtle golden shimmer".  This is a pink bronze that I don't find attractive at all, it might be pretty against a tan but I can't see myself every wearing this shade.

Onto the brights!  The first shade is called Off the Shoulder, yet another bright pink shade.  I wonder how many bright pink shades have come out this spring and summer, I feel like almost every single collection had at least one or two bright pinks in their shade range.  The market for this shade must be large since they seem to be selling well.  Speaking for myself, before this season I owned no bright pinks and only one pale pink and now I have a full shade range of every single pink on the market.  If there are enough ladies like me out there, then I can see why the companies continue to release pink shade after pink shade.  This shade is a "bold, hot pink" and it is a cream finish.  This one doesn't look much different than the pink that was featured in the Poppy-razzi collection, it is slightly more subtle than that shade but I doubt that you need to own both shades.

The rest of the brights are the true summer beach shades, orange and green.  Fear or Desire is another shade that I would never buy, I hate orange shades and they are never flattering on me.  This is a "bright, orange crush", this polish has a cream finish and looks exactly like orange juce.  This is not a shade for me but I could see it working well for someone with a tan and much warmer skin than mine.  Orange has been a huge shade this summer, I see it being a top seller for the company.  The last shade is a bright jade green, Mojito Madness.  This shade is described as a "fun-loving, lime green".  Personally, I don't see this as a limie green, the shade appears much more jade on the website.  So I need to see this shade in person before I decide what I am doing here.

Essie makes nice polishes but since aren't my favorite formula (and I hate the small brush!), I need to be really in love with the shades before I decide to buy them.  The only shade in this collection that I am crazy about is Bikini So Teeny, I love this pale blue and I must have a bottle of it very soon.  Caacade Cool and Off the Shoulder are both nice pink shades but I don't need to own them.  I would buy them if I can't find any other pinks that I like this summer but with all the companies releasing great pink shades, I doubt that I will need to buy these two.

photo courtesy of Essie