Essie

Essie is an American nail-polish brand founded in 1981 by Essie Weingarten [4]. Built around salon-quality lacquer sold under whimsically named shades, it grew from a 12-colour debut into one of the most widely distributed nail brands in the world. Since 2010 it has been owned by the French cosmetics company L'Oréal and operates as one of its sub-brands [4].

The company describes itself as "the original professional nail polish," and frames colour as a means of self-expression — "an infinite language," in its words, that aims to translate any feeling into a shade.

Essie Weingarten launched the brand in 1981. According to Adweek, she started with 10,000 dollars in life savings, hired a chemist, and produced a line of 12 polishes in what the publication called "eye-popping shades" [6]. Rather than introduce them in New York, she flew to Las Vegas with a crate of bottles, judging the market there more promising — a decision the brand still cites in its own founding story [6]. Wikipedia records the same starting point: Weingarten "premiered 12 fashion nail polish colors in Las Vegas, Nevada" that year [4].

The first-year push was aggressive. Adweek reports that before the year was out, Weingarten was shipping orders to roughly 10,000 salons nationally. Three of the original shades — Blanc, Bordeaux, and Baby's Breath — are still in production.

The brand's defining product, the sheer pale-pink Ballet Slippers, debuted in 1982, the second year Essie was in business [5]. NewBeauty notes the shade was created by Weingarten as a nod to her childhood ballet classes, after which her mother would treat her to a manicure. It is worth distinguishing this 1982 launch from the brand's 1981 founding: Ballet Slippers is a second-year shade, not the starting point.

Early visibility came through television. Adweek reports that Joan Rivers promoted Essie's red Jelly Apple on The Tonight Show in 1983 [6]. The most repeated story in the brand's history is royal: in 1989, a letter arrived from Buckingham Palace requesting Ballet Slippers, described by NewBeauty as the only colour Queen Elizabeth II would wear [5]. The shade has since been associated with Catherine, Princess of Wales, and was reportedly chosen by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, for her wedding-day manicure [5].

L'Oréal acquired Essie Cosmetics in 2010 [4]. Under L'Oréal, the range expanded considerably — Adweek reports the line grew from around 300 shades to more than 1,000 [6]. The brand sits within L'Oréal's portfolio alongside labels such as Maybelline, Lancôme, Kiehl's, and Garnier.

Essie positions itself around colour and craft rather than treatment claims. Its stated mission, on the UK site, is "to help women feel special and to give them the perfect manicure" [3], and the company says it aims to inspire "a love for the manicure experience" through wit and style. A recurring theme in its marketing is breadth of shade range, summed up in the line "if a shade doesn't exist, we create it." The brand is positioned at an accessible, drugstore price point while trading on a salon heritage.

Essie's core business is nail lacquer, offered in gel (longwear) and original enamel formulas, alongside a nail-care range of treatments, cuticle oil, and base and top coats. Much of the brand's identity rests on its shade names, which are deliberately playful — the salon-quality formula and "catchy, whimsical names," the company notes, have produced thousands of colours over the years [3].

Ballet Slippers remains the signature product. NewBeauty describes it as Essie's number-one bestselling shade, with one bottle sold roughly every two minutes, and notes appearances ranging from the novel The Devil Wears Prada to the red carpet, including Emma Stone at the 2018 Met Gala [5]. Other bestsellers the brand highlights include the light-blue Bikini So Teeny and the red Berry Naughty.

Essie is an active brand. Owned by L'Oréal since 2010, it is classified here as acquired — bought but still trading under its own name as a L'Oréal sub-brand [4]. It continues to release new collections, including ranges such as Liquid Diamonds and the Rachel Zoe Color Edit, and is distributed internationally.