Essie Bejeweled Wonderland Nail Polish Advent Calendar 2023 Review With Spoilers

One of my Christmas traditions is counting down the days 'til Christmas with a beauty Advent calendar, and this year, I've gone with the Bejeweled Wonderland Advent calendar from nail polish favourite, Essie.

I mean, the calendar looked so good, I just couldn't resist the excuse to restock my nail polish collection.

But was the calendar worth the spend? 

Let go through it and see.

So... Essie's Bejeweled Wonderland calendar is a twenty-four day Advent calendar filled with twenty-four full and mini sized Essie nail polishes and treatments to keep your nails looking their best over the festive season and beyond.

Inside you'll find nine full-size and fourteen mini nail polishes and treatments in a variety of classic and wearable colours, and one mini nail polish remover to help prep your nails for the next manicure. 

There are a great selection of nail polish shades included in this year's calendar, from classic orange-red and delicate nude-pink to calming lush greens and gothic jet-black. They've given us a much better variety of shades than in previous years, where they've mostly played it safe with reds, pinks, and nudes, so it's great to see Essie venturing out from their comfort zone and offering a wider colour choice. The nail polish shades are still very tame compared to others on the market, but as a brand, Essie is all about classic, tasteful nail colours and less about the trends. If you want something ground-breaking, this probably isn't the Advent calendar for you, so look elsewhere. However, if you're in to more time-honoured and softer colours, it does have a gorgeous selection of shades to discover, and they're all so wearable. I haven't swatched any of them yet as I'm saving that treat for December, but I particularly love the look of Fifth Avenue (the orange-red), Off Tropic (the forest green), Suits You Swell (blushing violet), Gossip 'n' Spill (muted rose), S'il Vous Play (metallic pink-purple), and Ripple Reflect (cornflower blue). The shades are all so pretty.

Here's a full list of the contents waiting inside.

Essie Full sized original 13.5ml nail polishes:

♥ Check Your Baggage- creamy bright yellow with red undertones.

♥ Ripple Reflect- cornflower blue with red undertones.

♥ Tuck It In My Tux- elegant silken ivory creme.

♥ S'il Vous Play- metallic pink with hints of purple.

♥ Gossip N Spill- muted rose with tone-on-tone pearl.

♥ Around the Bend- vibrant, yellow-toned pink.

plus

♥ Fairy Tailor Gel Couture 13.5ml- sheer nude pink.

♥ Iced Out Expressie FX Quick Dry Nail Polish 10ml- quick dry shimmer nail polish with pearly white, duo-chrome pearls that shift from pink to purple to teal.

Essie Mini 5ml nail polishes:

♥ Wicked- deep dark sinister red (looks more like purple-black).

♥ Off Tropic- lush grove green.

♥ Bikini So Teeny- pretty yet provocative cornflower blue.

♥ Frilly Lilies- muted mid-tone orange with coral undertones.

♥ Suits You Swell- blushing violet (pink-lilac).

♥ Lady Like- elegant soft mauve.

♥ Pencil Me In- vibrant magenta with blue undertones.

♥ Fifth Avenue- stylish and creamy red-orange blend.

♥ Win Me Over- muted khaki-green with yellow undertones.

♥ Licorice- beguiling jet black.

Nail Treatments

♥ Hard to Resist Advanced Nail Strengthener 5ml- a strengthening treatment to care for and protect weak, damaged nails.

♥ Apricot Cuticle Oil 5ml- fast-absorbing, nourishing cuticle oil to condition and protect cuticles from dryness.

♥ Strong Start Base Coat 5ml- a strengthening base coat infused with biotin to reinforce for less weak and brittle feeling nails.

♥ Stay Longer Premium Longwear Top Coat 5ml- a premium long-lasting top coat to protect your manicure for up to seven days.

♥ Gel Couture Matte Top Coat 13.5ml- an ultra-glossy, quick-drying top coat to seal and protect your manicure.

♥ Good as Gone Nail Polish Remover 25ml- a mini nail polish remover with acetone and vitamin c to remove all traces of colour, leaving naturally shiny nails.

I'm also impressed to see nine full-size bottles of nail polish and not just mini-sizes hidden inside. Most nail polish Advent calendars only contain minis, with one full-size bottle for Christmas Eve, if you're lucky, so it's a treat to get so many full sized polishes. And, as each bottle would retail for £8.99 and up, it's such good value for money, too, and an economical way to try out lots of new products.

As for the packaging, the calendar itself is a massive 38cm x 38cm x 5.5cm square box with twenty-four windows cut into the cardboard. There are no fancy boxes to open and the design isn't elaborate like some out there, but it's clear and uncomplicated, and it's easy to spot the numbers on the doors. 

This year, the design takes the form of a bejewelled castle with Essie nail polish bottles for turrets, which dominates a pine and snow-draped mountainscape dotted with colourful little houses, gems and jewels, and rogue bottles of nail polish. It's an attractive design, and pretty enough to keep out among your Christmas decorations.

The Essie Bejeweled Wonderland Advent calendar retails around the £60 mark, but I managed to get mine from Perfume's Club for about £48. It's currently out of stock from them, but it's still available from Boozy Shop, and Luxplus online.

Overall, I think it's a fantastic mid-range nail polish Advent calendar to count down to Christmas with. It's got a lovely variety of nail polishes and treatments, lots of full-sized products, high-quality contents, and it's so reasonably priced. I'm really pleased with it, and I'm glad I chose it as this year's calendar. I'd definitely recommend for any one who loves nail polish, so snap one up while you can!

Which Advent calendar are you counting down to Christmas with this year?

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Essie Nail Polish Advent Calendar 2019

Essie Nail Polish Advent Calendar Review With Spoilers 2019

Over the last seven or eight years, it's become a tradition for me to count down the days 'til Christmas Day with a beauty Advent calendar. I love the ritual of opening a cardboard window or drawer each morning in December and finding a new nail polish, fragrance, or hand cream inside; it makes every day of Advent feel like Christmas morning.

In the past, I've enjoyed beauty Advent calendars from brands like L'Occitane, OPI, The Body Shop, and Selfridges. This year, I decided I wanted a nail polish calendar to help rebuild my collection after my recent clear out, and narrowed down my favourites to the Essie and Ciaté Advent calendars. After weeks of deliberating, I found I couldn't choose between them, and since one was on promotion with £20 off the RRP, what was a girl to do but treat herself to both? It would've been rude not to, right?

I'll be reviewing the Ciaté Advent calendar for you later this week, but today I'm going to give you the low-down on the Essie calendar, with full spoilers of the contents.

So... nail care favourite Essie have returned with a brand new Advent calendar for Christmas 2019, and it's packed full of Essie nail polishes, treatments, and gifts to keep your nails looking their best throughout the festive season, and beyond.

This year's calendar comes presented in a large white cardboard box, dotted with a flurry of metallic silver polka dots (representing falling snow), plus illustrations of giant blue and silver snowflakes and Essie nail polishes fanned out in the shape of, you've guessed it, even more snowflakes. Cut in to the design on the front of the box are twenty-four cardboard windows of various sizes in ice blue and white, with the numbers clearly marked in large modern fonts to make finding the right window each day a piece of cake- perfect for anyone with terrible eyesight, like me! The design of the calendar is modern, festive, and attractive, and will look lovely on display with your Christmas decorations this Christmas.

The calendar includes eight full size nail polishes, nine mini nail polishes, one mini nail polish remover, and six Essie surprises (which includes one sheet of nail stickers, two felt Christmas tree decorations, an emery board, heart-shaped post it notes, Essie hair tie, and a bracelet).

Here's the full list of what you'll find inside the Essie Advent calendar this year.

♥ Make Me Happy nail polish 13.5ml- a dark berry red.

♥ Lovie Dovie nail polish 13.5ml- a flamingo pink.

♥ Mademoiselle nail polish 13.5ml- a sheer pastel pink.

♥ Russian Roulette nail polish 13.5ml- a classic bright red with orange undertones.

♥ Chinchilly nail polish 13.5ml- a sleek granite grey.

♥ Mrs Always Right mini nail polish 5ml- a fierce terracotta rose.

♥ Buy Me A Cameo mini nail polish 5ml- a frosted satin mocha.

♥ Mint Candy Apple mini nail polish 5ml- a crème de menthe mint green.

♥ Sugar Daddy mini nail polish 5ml-  a sheer sweet pink.

♥ Apres-Chic mini nail polish 5ml- a metallic glitter grey.

♥ Glow Your Own Way mini nail polish 5ml- a luxe gold glitter.

♥ Bubbles Only Gel Couture nail polish 13.5ml- a classic burgundy red gel polish.

♥ Top Coat Gel Couture 13.5ml- a quick dry top coat that seals, protects, and gives a glossy finish.

♥ Apricot Cuticle Oil mini 5ml- a nourishing, quick absorbing cuticle oil.

♥ Speed Setter 13.5ml- a high-shine and quick drying top coat.

♥ Strong Start 5ml- a nail treatment to strengthen, reinforce and harden nails.

♥ Get It Bright 5ml- a base coat infused with lemon extract to prime nails and neutralise discolouration.

♥ Mini Nail Polish Remover 25ml- a purifying nail polish remover than removes even the darkest nail shades without stripping the nail bed of essential hydration.

♥ Small set of white nail stickers.

♥ A mini Essie emery board nail file.

♥ Red Essie print hair tie.

♥ Red heart bracelet.

♥ Pink heart-shaped post it notes.

♥ Two felt snowflake Christmas tree decorations- one white, one forest green.

There are a great selection of nail shades included in the calendar. There are delicate pinks, classic reds, glittery golds, sophisticated nudes, and much more. The colours are classic nail shades that should appeal to the masses, but the selection of colours is pretty tame. If you're hoping for a whole spectrum of bold nail colours, neon brights, or anything revolutionary, you're not going to find them in this calendar. This may be good or bad news depending on the nail colours you like to wear. I personally love wearing the whole rainbow on my nails, and I love the look of the colours in this calendar- especially the reds, 'Make Me Happy', 'Russian Roulette', and 'Bubbles Only', and the gold glitter shade, 'Glow Your Own Way'. I haven't worn or swatched any of the polishes yet as I'm saving that pleasure for December, but they all look dreamy.

Besides nail colours, the calendar also gives you everything you need to prep and finish your nails from base coats and top coats, to cuticle oil and nail treatments, so Essie really have thought of everything to help us get our nails looking beautiful in time for Christmas.

I'm impressed that the calendar includes so many full-sized polishes- not just one or two but eight of them. Most nail polish Advent calendars are filled with miniature nail polishes, with one full-sized bottle for Christmas Eve, if you're lucky, so to get eight full size bottles in one calendar from a quality brand is rare and pretty special. Essie nail polishes retail between £8-£10 each, so these eight polishes alone are worth more than the £60 the calendar retails for. It's excellent value for money- especially considering you also get nine mini polishes, a mini nail polish remover, and accessories, too! And the mini polishes are actually a decent size at 5ml each, so you're getting lots of product for your money. It's the perfect way to try lots of different Essie nail colours and treatments without breaking the bank.

I'll admit, I'm disappointed that the calendar isn't entirely filled with nail polishes. I personally would've preferred more nail colours instead of the cheap 'gifts' like nail stickers and decorations, which have clearly been added to bulk out the calendar while keeping the cost down. The quality of these little gifts is pretty shocking, and they're unlikely to wow anybody. Nobody is going to want an Essie-print hair tie or cheap felt snowflake decorations. (Although, I might utilise them as present toppers to save them from going straight to landfill). And I doubt anybody will be impressed by a thin red-cord friendship bracelet with a faux-silver heart that breaks the moment you try to extend it to fit your wrist. The gifts are basically cheap tat that will leave most people disappointed when they find them inside, and I'm sure most of them will ultimately end up in the bin.

However, despite these disappointing extras, I am still more than satisfied with the rest of the contents and the calendar overall, so don't let the cheap accessories put you off. The seventeen nail polishes and treatments, and nail polish remover more than make up for it. The shades are gorgeous, they're generously-sized, fantastic quality, and worth much more than the calendar retails for- which is especially good as I managed to snag it for just £40 on promo from Ocado- £20 cheaper than the RRP!! (It's currently back on promotion for Black Friday, so snap it up here). Would I have been as happy to look past the disappointing surprises had I paid full price? Probably not, but as I saved £20 I know I grabbed a bargain, and am willing to overlook them for the cache of beautiful nail polishes. I rarely treat myself to Essie polishes as they're quite pricey, so this is a lovely treat from me to myself for the festive season that I fully intend to and can't wait to enjoy in December!

I'll be sharing what I find inside my calendar on Instagram each day during Advent, with swatches of the polishes, so make sure you're following me on Instagram here if you'd like to follow along and get a closer look at the nail colours from December 1st.

Essie's Advent calendar retails for £60 and is still available to buy from Amazon, Ocado, and Sephora. It would make a lovely treat for yourself or a loved one this Christmas, and is sure to keep your nails looking their best throught the festive season. Don't just take my word for it; find out for yourself!

How are you counting down the days 'til Christmas this year?

P.S. Look out for my review of this year's Ciaté Mini Mani Month nail polish Advent calendar coming to the blog later this week!

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Green Fingers

Lately, I've been eager to try some new green nail polish shades. 

Before I pursued a few new green bottles to try, I owned perhaps four or five green nail polishes- mainly in shades of mint, but also one in a beautiful green so dark it's almost black. That dark green nail polish has become one of my top three favourites, and the reason I've been curious about dipping my toes (and fingers) in other green paints. I like the way it looks on my nails!

With not a lot of money to spare, I couldn't afford to spend a lot of cash on new nail polishes, so I thought it was the perfect time to give Fragrance Direct a try.

I'd popped on to their site for a browse a couple of times before, but I'll admit I didn't know much about them, apart from that they sold ridiculously inexpensive make up and cosmetics. I assumed the products were so cheap because they were seconds or the packaging was a little outdated, but I was wrong. The products I bought were current lines, and the prices are low because they cut out the middle men, and sell directly.

I was surprised to see how inexpensive the Sally Hansen and Essie polishes were. I'd always wanted to try them, but I couldn't justify spending seven or eight pounds on one nail polish. On Fragrance Direct, the Essie polishes were just £1.99 (RRP £7.99), the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails £0.99 (RRP £4.99), and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure £1.49 (RRP £4.99). I bought one of each. Plus a Dainty Doll Concealer Pen (but more on that another day).

I think my order for all four pieces came to around eight pounds for all four products with delivery, and I have to say, when the parcel came through the door a few days later I wasn't disappointed.

I couldn't choose which polish to wear first, so I did a manicure using all three...

First up, is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Colour (try saying that three times fast!) in Emerald City. I applied two coats to my thumbs and little fingers. Each layer was easy to apply with the long flat brush, and it dried in just a couple of minutes. The colour is a gorgeous dark emerald green, which has a little shine to it, and a lovely opaque consistency. I adore the colour, and really can't find a fault in this polish!

The other Sally Hansen I ordered was the Complete Salon Manicure polish in Grass Slipper, which is a brilliant bold grass hopper green. This is actually one of my favourite eye make up colours, but I wasn't sure how I'd feel about wearing it on my nails. Turns out, I love it on my nails; it's such a striking colour! (And you guys know how I am with colour)! 

This polish comes in a big 14.7ml pot, but the angular shape makes it easy to handle. The brush also makes application a breeze, as it's long and the brush gets in to the corners. Again, I only needed two coats to achieve the perfect opaqueness, and it dried within a minute or two. 

I'm definitely planning to try some more of these Salon Manicure polishes, as I'm really impressed with the results. I can't believe what a bargain it was! I'd actually been looking at this same polish in Superdrug a couple of days before ordering, and it was £6.99!

And the third nail polish I purchased and used for this manicure, was an Essie Nail Polish in Mojito, which I applied to my ring and index fingers. The colour is a warm green, somewhere between dark mint and sage, which is lovely, but a little more subdued shade than I'm usually drawn to. 

This was another super-fast dryer. I found the polish easy to apply with the medium length brush, although the polish had a slightly watery consistency in comparison to the two Sally Hansens- however two coats still gave my nails optimum opaqueness. This was the first Essie polish I'd ever tried, and I'm certainly intending to give some other colours a try after the success of this one.

I can't decide which colour is my favourite from the three, but they sure do make a pretty manicure! I'm looking forward to wearing each colour on all ten fingers and thumbs in the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, my quest for gorgeous green nail polishes will continue!

Can you recommend any green nail polishes to me?

 And have you tried any of these polishes, or purchased from Fragrance Direct yet? If not, go and have a browse; I don't think you'll be disappointed!