Essie LuxeEffects is a gorgeous collection of five shimmer, glitter and flakies top coats. I can’t remember the last time a brand came out with an entire collection of top coats, so this was really fun to review. I swatched one coat of each LuxeEffects over a neutral nude polish to showcase the difference between each topper.
Sand Tropez
(not included in the collection) is a beautiful khaki tan creme polish from Essie’s Spring 2011 A French Affair collection. I used this as the base color for each LuxeEffect. This is two coats.
Pure Pearlfection
is a gorgeous white silver micro-shimmer. I love that it is so packed full of shimmer and looks like it was actually built into my polish, transforming the look of any color. It makes my Sand Tropez base coat look like shimmering beach sand.
As Gold As It Gets is a gold flakies and micro-shimmer top coat. For some reason (ever since I reviewed Chanel’s Morning Rose), I have been crazy-craze about any polish that includes a hint of gold shimmer, and now I can easily add that gold glow to any polish in my collection with this top coat (see it over pastel blue below).
Shine Of The Times is an iridescent holographic flakies top coat that looks completely different over any base color and in any light. Over a light nude, the flakies look pearly pink and blue, but over a dark polish (see it over black creme below), the flakies look coppery red in direct light and have a bright lime green glow in indirect lighting.
A Cut Above is a pink sequin and glitter top coat. There are other pink sequin top coats out there, but this one has way more GPS (glitter per stroke, I just made that up lol) and the clear coat is not thick at all, allowing your to add more coats if you’d like. A lot of sequin top coats have very little GPS and you have to place each piece of glitter with the top of your brush to get the desired effect. This is even more difficult if the clear coat is thick and goopey, which this polish is not.
Set In Stones is exactly like A Cut Above, but in silver. It also has a lot of sequin GPS and the clear coat is thin and easy to apply.
How I Wore Essie LuxeEffects
This week, I’ve already tried a couple of variations of LuxeEffects to get an idea of how they transform over different base colors. For a daytime look, I used As Gold As It Gets over China Glaze Sea Spray
and for a nighttime look, I layered Shine Of The Times over China Glaze Liquid Leather
.
My Thoughts On Essie LuxeEffects
Please note again that I only used one coat of each topper, which goes to show just how much LuxeEffect is packed into each stoke. Each top coat could be applied thick, but was easy to thin out with a couple of strokes and the entire collection was extremely easy to apply!
When I first saw this collection online, I was only interested in Shine of the Times and As Gold As It Gets, but Pure Pearlfection immediately became one of my must haves. See any toppers in this collection that you’d like to try?
Manicure Mondays – OPI Nicki Minaj Collection
Manicure Mondays – Petal Pusher and Gold Sequins
Manicure Mondays – Nicole by OPI & Kardashian Kolor
Manicure Mondays – Copper Meets Rose Gold
Thanks so much for the swatches. I’ve already bought Pure Pearlfection and Set in Stones and can’t wait to try them on now that I’ve seen how gorgeous they are on. I may have to snag the rest of the collection while I can ;p
isn’t this a fun collection? i’m surprised this was their “holiday” collection because, with the exception of the sparkle, it’s hardly holiday. i’d wear any of these year round. they’re so fun!
I already have A Cut Above & Shine of the Times. But now, after seeing your “Shimmering Sand”, it looks like you twisted my arm & i’ll jut HAVE to get Pure Pearlfection too :)I absolutely LOVE Shine if the Times over black.
YES! you do have to get pure pearlfection lol. i feel like it, of all the top coats, looks built into the polish. i LOVE it! and yes, shine of the times is amazing over black. id also like to see how it looks over a royal blue.
I’m loving Shine of the Times! and GPS? – that’s AWESOME.
lol, im glad you liked it. i think im gonna use it from here on out lol.
So pretty! I really want to get A Cut Above for starters! I think I have Sand Tropez too…
i LOVE a cut above. sally beauty supply has a pink sequin top coat for 99 cents, but it doesn’t have the shimmer and it doesn’t have as much GPS lol.
I love them all! LOVE them! Thank you for showing them all so well! :)
the GPS Is amazing. There’s an NYC that’s a fairly similar dupe but it has a few colors in it (purple and blue). LOVE the all silver one, and agree with you… the pearl is much prettier than anticipated.
hey alyson, do you have any toppers from this collection? i wasn’t sure which color you were referring to with the GPS (the pink sequin?) :) i have to find that NYC color you mentioned. sounds fun!
LOVE the looks you created with the Essie LuxEffects! I just happened to buy Set In Stones the other day and now can’t wait to try it out. Thanks!
Ooh la la! I love all of these! Shine of the times reminds me of the Nails, Inc. Wyndham Collection topcoat…but cheaper! awesome!
[...] out my review of the entire Essie LuxeEffects line of topcoats, including Essie Set in Stones used in this mani. Tweet Pin [...]
I love the colors, but am surprised the gold doesn’t show up more. Maybe just adding extra coats? If you do anymore manicures, please feel free to share with us at http://www.taaz.com!
Hey this looks great! I clicked on the link for sand tropez and it came up as $0.99
Is that legit?! I’m afraid I’d be buying a knock off at that price…
it’s legit. if you check out the shipping price, they worked it up to make up for the low cost lol. id browse around amazon just to make sure that’s the best price. i get almost all of my nail polish at amazon cuz usually their price + shipping is usually far lower {surprisingly} than price + tax in stores.
How’d I miss this one, I love these, looks like I’m going shopping!
The layer with Essie LuxeEffects Pure Pearlfection is so pretty.
that one was my {unexpected} fav! so happy you like it, thanks!
I love all of these! I think i will get the gold one first!
you will love it! its just a hint of sparkle, so it looks like it is part of your polish and adds so much interest.
I love, love Essie nail polish! The colors are so vibrant. They’re a little pricey for me (like $8 a bottle I believe) but so worth it. Lasts forever!
they’re definitely a little pricey. i usually get mine on amazon or ebay. their prices + shipping are usually so low that i can get it for less than store prices.
I always opt for matte nail polishes, hated the glittery or shiny ones. but when i stumbled upon your review, i loved a cut above and ran out to buy it the next day. looks great with OPI’s lincoln park after dark – it’s the grown up version of glitter, very classy! thank you!
ohhhh im so happy to hear that. thanks so much for commenting to let me know and welcome to my blog. i’ll definitely have to try a cut above over lincoln park after dark. thanks for the tip!
amazing.. i wona wear all of them
[...] is full of the most beautiful flakies, and y’all know I love a good shimmery gold top coat {Essie LuxeEffects, nude polish with gold sequin top coat, and seafoam and gold sequin top coat. In addition, I use [...]
[...] to get one, and they’re NEON!!! Yay. Next I got an Essie polish in Shine of the Times, (here’s a great post with swatches) a really pretty holographic flakie topcoat! Next was the Revlon nail polish is Blue Mosaic, a [...]
I’m using the Sand Tropez/Shine of the Times combo right now mattified. :) I love the way they go together.
that sounds amazing! do you have a pic? if so, you should share on my facebook page :) would love to see!