Hi all! I just wrote my final two weeks ago and have spent some time decompressing, including finishing Persona 5 (now starting a replay on New Game+ mode :P) With all this newfound free time, I finally got around to editing photos and organizing my thoughts on Essie's Desert Mirage collection. This is honestly one of my favourite polish collections in recent memory--a great mix of colours that are contrasting yet cohesive and definitely gives me desert vibes without being too on-the-nose about the theme.
Blue-tiful Horizon has a slightly muted, kind of indigo blue base and rose-gold, coppery pearl to it. I'm not usually big on pearl finishes, but this combination is so pretty and mesmerizing. This one is very unique to my collection.
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| Closer look at dat pearl |
Depending on the lighting, it can lean more blue, but it generally sits in blurple territory. As if that beautiful copper wasn't enough, the formula is also easy to work with.
Less Is Aura is a sorta warm but rosy darker beige. Nude/beige shades are so hit-and-miss for me--and I'm guessing for most people too, because beige really plays off personal skin tone. Luckily for me, Less Is Aura actually suits me! I didn't expect it to, since it has slight rosy tones, but it really does work.
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| Nails Inc Basil Street / Essie Less Is Aura |
Since I liked it so much, I thought it might have some similarities to my all-time favourite beige, Nails Inc Basil Street. Once swatched though, it's obvious they're very different colours! They have the same milky finish, but Less Is Aura is much deeper and rosier.
I was really excited to try Let It Glow, a bright coral pink with copper pearl. It's probably the same pearl as Blue-tiful Horizon, but I can't blame Essie for wanting to sneak something so pretty in the collection more than once. True to its name, something about this polish really
glows.
Lighten The Mood is an off-white neutral, very similar to my favourite Essie Urban Jungle, as well as Mixtaupe from the 90s collection. They're so similar, that you may not have even noticed I'm wearing two different polishes in the photo above :P Urban Jungle is on my little and ring fingers, and Lighten The Mood on the other two. If you squint, LTM is very slightly more pink,
but the formula is much more forgiving and easy to work with! If you're stuck on which to buy between the two, I'd recommend Lighten The Mood.
I didn't do a separate swatch of Hazy Daze, a deep, deep purple creme, but I have a close-up of it on my little finger. Like the other shades in this collection, it's easy and smooth to apply. It's a good polish, but in a collection full of so many winners, it didn't stand out too much to me.
Seeing Stars is a deep espresso brown with a shimmer finish. I'm not usually a fan of colours like this, but something about the warmth and shimmer to it pulls me in. This would be a really good colour to wear in the fall when you want to wear a dark neutral that's not black.
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| Essie Blue-tiful Horizon |
Overall this collection has really impressed me with the colours, finishes, and a great formula across the board. It's hard for me to even pick a favourite out of the six, because I really, really love at least
three of them! Although I'm posting this a little late after Desert Mirage's release, the shades should still be in stores and I highly recommend checking them out.
