When I first laid eyes on Essie’s 2015 winter collection my first impressions were that it wasn’t particularly wintery. I mean sure, the obligatory rooi was there (two in fact) but what on earth was up with the white shade? And that pale peach? Ag nee, man, Essie. What’s going on there?

Still, the more I’ve played around with it, the more it’s grown on me. I kind of like that they broke the mould a little. And somehow the peach shade, Bump up the Pumps, actually works on my pale, corpse-like winter fingers but I’m still going to put it aside to wear in summer.

But let’s kick things off with a look at my absolute favourite hue of the bunch, the fantastically creamy cherry red Jump in my Jumpsuit.

Whenever I wear this colour (which is often) I get compliments and have women asking me what it is. The pigmentation is fabulous. One coat and you’re covered. Another and you’re good to go. It’s actually the same story with the other red in the collection, Double Breasted Jacket.

Double Breasted Jacket is a lighter, more yellow-toned red that’s a bit more day time and ‘cheerful’ than the sexier Jump in my Jumpsuit. Again, it’s a great 2-coater.

Now let’s check out the rest of the gang:

Two things you should know? The first is that Jiggle Hi Jiggle Lo is fab as, despite being super duper shimmery, it goes on perfectly evenly without showing any brush strokes, a common shimmer polish dilemma. The second is that you’re going to need multiple coats of Tuck it in my Tux and Back in the Limo to get things looking opaque.

See anything you like? Each shade is available in Dis-Chem, Clicks, Foschini and selected salons for R125 a bottle.

Love, love

Leigh