Essie Launches New Treat Love & Color Strengthening Collection

Essie recently introduced a brand new collection that is a hybrid line between nail color AND nail care called Treat Love & Color. We’ve seen a rise in brands creating more good-for-you nail color to address all the damage we do to our nails with non-stop nail polish application and gel manicures — Sally Hansen launched Color Therapy at the end of last year — and now Essie has launched the “BB cream of nails,” with the new Treat Love & Color collection. While Sally Hansen has gone the oil route (Argan oil to be exact), Essie’s new formula is composed of collagen, camellia leaf extracts, and brightening pigments, to strengthen and improve overall nail health over time with continuous use. They also require no bottom or top coat, which is pretty cool. See swatches and review below!

The new Treat Love & Color comes in four shades: Treat Me Bright (pearlescent sheer), Sheers to You (pink pearlescent sheer), Laven-Dearly (lavender pearlescent sheer) and Tinted Love (coral pearlescent sheer). I’ve only tried the first three, which are swatched below. Here’s the thing… while it boosts great results with 60% less peeling and 35% less breakage in just one week, the collection is all sheers, which in my case is a disaster. I rather not see the dirt, and how imperfect and uneven my nails are (that’s why I wear nail polish in the first place!), so this collection is a bit of a challenge for me. Although I may consider using it as a base coat to protect my nails a bit more. You can build the color as seen below in the 3rd swatch of Laven-Dearly, to a pretty, milky pearlescent glow, but it requires a lot of coats and probably not the point of the collection and still turns out a little uneven. Here is what the shades look link:

 Treat Me Bright (pearlescent sheer)

Sheers to You (pink pearlescent sheer)

Laven-Dearly (lavender pearlescent sheer)

The new Essie Treat Love & Color shades are $10 each and are available at Ulta.com