ESSIE | 2017 Advent Calendar - Was It Worth It?

Last week I posted my review of the ASOS Beauty Advent Calendar and today I'll be taking you through the other calendar I had which was kindly gifted to me by essie*. As you will know, essie is one of my favourite nail polish brands (I have a HUGE collection), so obviously I was so excited to start digging into this on December 1st...but as an essie lover, did it live up to my expectations...?

Obviously, you have gotta be a nail polish lover to get the most from this calendar and as you can see from the photo above, this calendar did not disappoint. You got SO much out of it, including nail treatments, base coats, top coats, nail tools, and of course, some beautiful essie shades in mini and full sized bottles. The packaging, in my opinion, could have been a bit sturdier and I did find the bottles so hard to get out of their plastic moulding that was holding it in, but these are small issues and the contents made up for it.

TOOLS

First up was the four nail tools that were included throughout the days. There was a buffing block, toe separators, a Good As Gone Nail Polish Remover (25ml) and a nail file. Some calendars through in extra 'fillers' that aren't usually that desirable but there four products made total sense to be included and is all you need to get your nails looking in top shape.

TREATMENTS, BASE + TOPCOATS

In my opinion, essie does some of the best nail treatments as well as top coats. Inside were five 5ml bottles of some of their best sellers; Gel Setter (my absolute favourite), All In One, Colour Corrector for Nails, Gel Couture Top Coat (very useful for Day 24's gift!) and the Apricot Cuticle Oil.

MINI BOTTLES

Anything in mini form is always going to win in my books, and these are the perfect sized polishes and a great chance to try more shades. Not surprisingly, a few of these I already own in full sized bottles so I am reserving the ones I already own to include in a giveaway (stay tuned!) The shades are (left to right, top to bottom): Sugar Daddy, Fiji (one of my all-time favourites), Glow Your Own Way, Cocktail Bling, Tart Deco, In The Mood Ring, S'il Vous Play, and Bobbing for Baubles.

They included a great mix of newer shades as well as some classics that I love, Fiji, Cocktail Bling and Tart Deco. The addition of a few glitters is also welcomed and was perfect for the holiday season.

FULL SIZED BOTTLES

I was expecting most of the calendar to be mini sized bottles but was so happy to find more and more full sized bottles (13.5ml)  as I got through the days. The full sized colours included were (left to right, top to bottom): Fishnet Stockings, Licorice, Mink Muffs, Luxedo, Rock The Runway (Gel Couture), Disco Doll and Fifth Avenue. 

Like with the mini bottles, a couple of these shades I already owned, but the others are welcomed additions! The final day, number 24, had a full sized Gel Couture bottle inside in the most festive vibrant red shade, Rock The Runway. This certainly made the calendar even better and I liked that they also included a mini bottle of the specific Top Coat to go along with it.

Clearly, I loved this calendar and for any essie lover, or nail polish fan in general, this would have been a treat to open each day in the lead up to Christmas. I really hope they do this again for 2018! In New Zealand, this was an exclusive at Life Pharmacies for NZD $69.95, which is actually such a good price for what you get inside. In NZ a bottle of essie will set you back around $19.95, so for the price of around 4 bottles, you get all of this!! A crazy value in my opinion!

Did you get your hands on this essie calendar? What do you think of the contents?

*PR Sample.