For the past few years, Essie has been my go-to nail polish brand due to their wide range of shades and affordable price tag.
I now have quite the collection of Essie nail polishes which take pride of place at the front of my nail polish stash and get used often. However, with endless Essie neutral shades amongst glitters and dark hues for winter, I surprising hadn't tried one of Essie's most coveted nail polishes shades and the only shade Queen Elizabeth wears on her nails!
Guessed what it is yet? Essie Ballet Slippers.
Described by Essie as a classic pale pink graced with a subtle, sheer finish. An iconic colour for all seasons.
According to the brand's website, in 1989 Queen Elizabeth's hairdresser sent Essie a letter requesting a bottle of the polish as it is "the only colour Her Majesty would wear".
Since then the Queen hasn't been seen without Essie Ballet Slippers (£7.99 here) on her nails, so it truly is her staple nail polish shade!
With the shade clearly being fit for a queen along with my personal love of neutral nail polishes I decided I had to pick it up and try it out for myself. So I hotfooted it to my local Boots store and pick it up along with a new glossy top coat. You can find Ballet Slippers for £7.99 at Boots here or Superdrug here.
Find out my thoughts on the application and how it compared to other Essie
nail polishes below...
Although I enjoy neutral nail polish shades when I first picked up Essie Ballet Slippers I didn't really get the appeal. A pale milky pink that looked a tad dull in the bottle if I'm honest.
Then it didn't get any better when I applied it! Well, the first 2 coats that is. Slightly streaky, sheer and less milky looking with my natural nails showing through. But on the 3rd coat that all changed... the shade went from sheer to much more opaque (as you can see in the above and below nail images) and all streaks disappeared!
My nails looked instantly neat and feminine! I got the appeal of Essie Ballet Slippers and why the Queen made it her go-to nail polish shade.
Pssst. You can find the cute stork scissors here.
This is a nail polish that you have to persevere with as it isn't the easiest to apply and takes a bit of getting used to, unlike most other Essie polishes which are a breeze to apply. But once you realise you need to apply this shade in thin coats so not to flood the cuticles and that it will look streaky until the 3rd and final coat you will get on with it just fine.
From dark to light skin tones Ballet Slippers will suit all nails, making them look neat and tidy. I'd say it's a pretty perfect shade for the office, job interviews and even as a wedding day manicure shade!
Overall I'm pleased I decided to pick up Essie Ballet Slippers as it's something different to all my other neutral/nude nail polishes and I know will be my go-to shade when I want fresh, neat looking nails.
Fee xo.
