Essie Spring 2014 - 'Hide & Go Seek' Collection - First Look with Swatches

Oh Essie Spring 2014, why are you so pretty? Why must you draw my mother to my nails like a moth to a flame that results in me only managing to keep one third of your collection for myself. Why? 

With subtle spring pastels and exceptional bright staples there's not a nail in the known universe that couldn't be bettered with one of these brand new colours. From soft pistachio hues to red hot raspberry, I'm fairly certain there'll be something in the 'Hide & Go Chic' collection to catch your eye. 

All the following swatches are done with basecoat only to show the true colour and consistency of each polish. That high shine finish is all natural, yo!

First look at nail newness. 

You won't often see nail wheels for my swatches but then it's not often I open a press pack and have to see the colours in action immediately. Essie has that effect on me you see and I'm sure I'm not alone. How about some closer shots? 

Fashion Playground is a light pistachio green with very subtle shimmer throughout. The formulation is one of the lightest of the lot so you're going to need 3 thin coats for full opacity. I'd highly recommend letting each one dry for a moment first for best effect. Mint nails will be huge this season (as they were last) fresh, clean and incredibly easy to wear, regardless of your skin tone. 

Spin the Bottle, a semi-sheer nude is a much thicker consistency and glides on easily. While one coat won't cut it, I'd advise you work with little polish on the brush to achieve the perfect even look. It gives me what I like to call 'Barbie Nails', the unpainted kind. While this one won't suit every skin tone it works beautifully with my pasty sausages. We're going to have a long and happy life together, Spin the Bottle and I. 

Romper Room is as pale as pale pinks come. We're looking at a sheer veil of colour that needs at least two coats for even coverage but isn't it pretty? So very pretty. 

Truth or Flare is listed as a 'vintage blue denim' but this soft blue grey creme is so much more than that. Possibly the most unassuming of the lot but the one that will appeal to most fingers, this polish is opaque in two thin coats and has garnered the most attention on my nails so far. I don't own another polish like it in my VAST hoard  collection and that really is saying something. 

Now Hide & Go Chic, the namesake of the collection (Stateside anyway) is what I'd call a denim blue. This rich creme was the most difficult for me to work with but I got there. Each of these swatches are without top coat so they show the polish in its unaltered state but the brush stroke issues I had with Hide & Go Chic (as you can see) are only a coat of Seche Vite away from perfection. 

Again, this colour is an easy to wear dip of your toe (or finger) into the blue trend that is everywhere this Spring/Summer in fashion and beauty. 

Lastly, the jewel in the Essie Spring 2014 already encrusted crown, Style Hunter. This red hot crimson creme is quite possibly the most perfect raspberry I've ever tried and is unequivocally my favourite of the entire collection (if not my favourite polish of the year thus far). 

Bright enough to bring life to any look in just two thin, high shine coats, were you to buy only one polish from this entire line up, I'd make it this one. Isn't it be-a-YOOT-iful?

So what happens when I can't decide which of the lot to wear for a day of events? This happens. WEAR ALL THE ESSIE! It's hard to tell but there's a little bit of every colour right there on my pingies. Don't they play well together? 

Essie Spring 2014 is on stands from this month for €9.99 each. Have any caught your eye?