Essence Cherry Blossom Girl Nail Polish

Essence released its Cherry Blossom Girl line over a year ago but it’s still kicking around as I received a bottle of one of the nail polishes for Christmas (though I suspect it might have been picked up from a Shoppers' sales rack; not that there’s anything wrong with that). Because of that, and because I suspect that Essence doesn’t change its nail polish formulas that much, I’m writing up a review on this product even though it is old.

My Cherry Blossom Girl polish is called Cheery, Cheery Girl and is a bright, and yes, cheery, coral colour that’s a bit intense for my nails (especially because I’ve been busy with job interviews). So instead I wore it on my toes.

Essence is well known for its fun colours as well as its low prices; this polish would have originally retailed for under $2. But while this polish is cheap in price, that quality of it is surprising good.

The polish isn’t too thin or too thick and goes on smoothly and evenly. To achieve that bright colour found in the bottle, I just needed two full coats, plus a third in some spots for touch-up purposes. That’s completely reasonable and actually, is less polish than I’ve had to use when applying some pricier brands (cough, cough, Essie). The end results, which I won’t show up because yuck, feet, are bright, glossy and smooth.

According to the bottle, this is supposed to be a long-lasting polish. However, by the end of day five, a chip had appeared. On fingers, that would be long lasting but not on toes. There, “long lasting” means at least a week.

That initial chip was small and while a couple more have appeared since, they are also on the small side. While I wouldn’t call this a long-lasting nail polish, it’s far from the worst our there. And with a colour this intense, you might not want to wear it for a full week.

The Cherry Blossom Girl bottle is a bit smaller than a typical nail polish bottle but honestly, I like that. Think about it, when was the last time you fully finished a bottle of nail polish? Exactly; never. But with a smaller bottle, that might actually happen. Plus it’s $2, that’s more than fair for this product.

Would I buy this product: Since this line from Essence has been discontinued, the answer is an easy “No.” But I certainly would look at buying polishes from other Essence lines.

Should you buy this product: If you happen to find one of the remaining Cherry Blossom Girl polish floating around out there, yes, snap it up. But otherwise consider one of Essence’s other offerings.