essie Original Nail Polish, 14 fiji, Pale Pink Nail Polish, 13.5 ml

Product Information

Essie Geranium belonged to the first 130 Essie colors ever produced, and is still part of the permanent collection in the US. To me, that says everything you need to know about this shade! It’s a true classic that will look great on (almost everyone). Sadly, it got discontinued in Europe, but it was shortly available as part of Essie’s Advent calendar for 2022. Essie calls ‘Forever yummy’ a creamy tango red lacquer. I must admit that before I was researching Essie’s red shades for this review, I was never really paying attention to Forever yummy. I never really noticed this shade to be honest. Forever yummy is indeed a creme polish, and it is darker and cooler-toned than Aperitif and Russian roulette. Where Aperitif and Russian roulette had a more jelly formula, Forever yummy is definitely a creme. I know that Essie often includes it in Essie Christmas mini sets, and to be honest, Forever yummy is indeed a great Christmas red but I would be able to wear it any time of year. It is opaque in two coats on my nails and probably also for longer nails. Just a fun fact: Essie Forever yummy was originally released as ‘Forever young’ for fall 2008, this might explain the fact why I had never heard of Forever yummy!

With the holiday season around the corner, I always feel attracted to red nail polish. There were 11 Essie red cremes in my drugstore’s Essie display, and then I’m not even counting the reds in the Gel couture and Expressie displays! I decided that it was time to do the ultimate Essie red creme comparison. At home, I was able to find out that there are even more red cremes in Essie’s core collection! The core collection differs a bit between North America and Europe, but they are mostly the same. It also differs a bit between stores.

Essie calls Geranium an orange-red. In terms of orangeness, it sits between Fifth avenue and Handmade with love, but it leans more towards Fifth avenue. I would argue that if you own either Fifth avenue or Geranium, you probably won’t need the other, unless you’re really into red-oranges. Geranium’s formula is truly amazing. It’s already opaque in one coat if you’re painting carefully (but of course I did two for the pictures).

I really have no clue as to why Essie would tamper with their most popular shade but not only that, take away what made it so unique in the first place! Seeing as Essie does so many similar shades, you'd have thought they would have continued to make the old Fiji and just given the new Fiji a different name. Essie Geranium is clearly the most orange from all of these shades. Lacquered up is a red with a bit of orange. While Russian roulette also contains a tiny bit of orange, it is slightly cooler toned and darker than Lacquered up, but the difference is really subtle. Essie Not Red-y for Bed is very cool-toned and contains the most pink. Comparison of Essie Russian roulette vs Essie Really red vs Essie Aperitif vs Essie Forever yummy I was able to find out that the following red cremes are part of Essie’s core collection (without counting the Gel couture and Expressie shades): essie is the go-to nail varnish brand for make-up junkies, industry experts and fashion icons all over the world. The brand aims to inspire a love for the manicure experience with its salon-worthy formula and innovative nail polish shades.Last but not least, don’t forget to shop our nail kits, they make the perfect present for a special someone.