Essie Turquoise & Caicos

You may not know it from the weather here in the DC metro area, but it's actually spring.  Like, Easter this weekend spring.  (I know, right?!  Where does the year go???)  I was feeling a bit festive over the weekend, and I'd been dying to bust out an old favorite of mine for months, so here she is - the beautiful Essie Turquoise & Caicos!

Turquoise & Caicos is a gorgeous green-leaning turquoise polish.  It's definitely a creme finish, but it has that same squishy, jellyish consistency that Essie Marshmallow has.  Unfortunately, that means a somewhat thin and streaky application that takes three coats to even out.  Not my favorite application by far, but the color is well worth it!

(click to enlarge)

Yes, that's a mini bottle my hand is fumbling to hold.  I got Turquoise & Caicos as part of Essie's Resort Collection mini 4-pack when they were released last summer.  I've used this polish at least four times by now, but I just can't seem to get around to getting a full-size bottle.  With Essie's whopping 5 ml mini bottle, I almost don't have to!  Seriously, that's a third of a regular size bottle!  It makes OPI's 3.75 ml minis look shrimpy!  I might scrape this one dry before getting a full-size just for the fun of it.  :-)

Isn't the color fab??  It just screams "9-day Caribbean cruise," doesn't it?  Sigh.  I sure could use a 9-day Caribbean cruise!  I think this is also a gorgeous pedi color for the summer!  As is its collection counterpart Lapis of Luxury, a stunning cornflower blue.  I actually bought the minis for Lapis of Luxury, but Turquoise & Caicos was my surprise favorite!  Here are the two side by side.  You can see how green Turquoise & Caicos pulls next to Lapis of Luxury.

(L) Turqoise & Caicos, (R) Lapis of Luxury

The best part?  Essie made both of these colors permanent, and since branching out to drugstores, you can now pick them up at your local Walmart, Target, or CVS!  Yay!!  Same great colors and formula with better accessibility.  :-)  The only drawback is that for some strange reason, Essie renamed or changed the spelling of some of their polishes in the new retail line.  For example, Demure Vixen is now "Demure Vix" and poor Lapis of Luxury is now "Lapiz of Luxury."  Like, REALLY, Essie?!  Did we really need a Z in that??  So weird.

On another note, some of you may be wondering how Turquoise & Caicos compares to the classic China Glaze For Audrey.  Well, here ya go!

(L) Essie Turqoise & Caicos, (R) China Glaze For Audrey

The difference is more subtle with these two, but you can see the green in Turquoise & Caicos here again.  Another difference is in formula.  Being a standard creme finish, For Audrey will only cost you two coats, but it doesn't have that soft, squishiness to it.  Honestly, I prefer Turquoise & Caicos, but these two are definitely different enough to own both.  

If you don't already own Turquoise & Caicos, go!  Run!  Now!  You won't regret it, I promise!