Hey! Sweetie pie!! [Duo pack by Essie]

As a whole Essie has never really stood out to me as the polish shades aren't terribly unique, but I bought the Hey Sweetie Pie duo pack recently because I've been eyeing up their Tart Deco shade for a few months now, and this way I'd get another Essie polish for £5 instead of the usual £8.

So was Tart Deco worth the wait, and was Splash Of Grenadine a nice extra?

Essie call this coral but I call it electric peach, but either way this is one of those shades that is OMG for me; I just love it, and it makes my skin look tanned. A perfect polish for this time of the year.

I wanted this shade as jessFACE90 said that it is a dupe for Barry M Gelly Hi-shine in Papaya which I had and loved the colour of, but still threw away as the formula was completely unusable. The good news is that it is a dupe and I've found the formula better, but unfortunately it still isn't the best as it is thick, so it takes some work and patience. Sometimes I can do a nail flawlessly in just one one coat, sometimes two, but it seems that most often I need three to level everything out - and as you can see in the photos, it is prone to pooling at the cuticles & sides. I still recommend this polish as it still very wearable(I was just lazy in the photos & didn't bother doing a cleanup on my dry and tender skin), and I think all of these types of shades have iffy formulas; since Christmas I've tried to find a bright peach shade in various brands (including the likes of Zoya, Illamasqua, Barry M, and China Glaze), and Tart Deco has had the best formula out of all of them.

Splash Of Grenadine is one of those "is it pink-with-a-blue-base, or lavender-with-a-splash-of-powder-pink shades. The finish dries with a juicy and slightly squishy appearance, so I'd call it a crelly rather than a creme. Considering that I bought this set for Tart Deco & didn't pay much attention to this other polish, I'm surprised by how much I enjoy Splash Of Grenadine; when it began to chip, I removed it and put it on again straightaway.

Even more good news; the formula for this polish is awesome. Not too thick and not too thin, fast drying, streak-free and it applies over the entire nail smoothly on the first coat. It can be opaque in two thicker coats, but I prefer to apply there thinner ones to make sure my peel-prone nails don't leave any bumps.

❤️❤️❤️

RRP

The Hey Sweetie Pie duo pack is £12.99 in Boots (they also sell two other polish duos, and a base/topcoat pack).