Essie Glow and arrow (Valentine’s day collection 2021)

Today I am back with swatches of Essie Glow and arrow from Essie’s Valentine’s day 2021 collection! On top of my list of Essie polishes I wanted to buy this spring were glow and arrow and Cacti on the prize. I had no trouble finding Cacti on the prize here in the Netherlands, but Glow and arrow was a whole different story! A week before Valentine’s day I started to check all my regular Essie websites every day, but Valentine’s day came and went, and no sign of this collection! Eventually about a week after Valentine’s day, I found two stores that shipped the collection from Germany and Denmark. Not on time for Valentine’s day, but I’m happy I was still able to pick this shade up.

Essie Glow and arrow in artificial lighting. In daylight it looks a bit more lilac.

This is what Essie says about Glow and arrow: a confident love warrior, you’ll always shine bright wearing this cool, pinky lilac nail polish brimming with multidimensional pearl.

When I looked at the promo-pictures I really thought that Glow and arrow would be a pink polish (like Kissed by mist from the spring 2020 collection), however, it is much more lilac than I expected it to be. What Essie fails to mention is that Glow and arrow is very sheer. It makes the “multidimensional” pearl stand out really nicely, but if you’re looking for an opaque polish, this is not for you. I am wearing four coats in the pictures, and the polish is still not opaque but it is supposed to be this way. At one coat I found that the polish was a bit streaky, but it is definitely also wearable with two or three coats if you like a more sheer finish.

Essie Hubby for dessert is more blue than glow and arrow (and doesn’t contain any shimmer), Go Ginza and Glow and arrow are colorwise very close, but Go Ginza is a creme without any shimmer and is completely opaque. Tiers of Joy is less pink and the green shimmer is very different.

I also want to talk about the shimmer with you. It is nothing I have every seen before from Essie. It contains very fine blue shimmer, comparable to Essie Friends Forever, but it also contains similar shimmer with a pink flash. Especially under bright artificial light it looks really spectacular, but in regular lighting it is nothing more than a subtle shimmer. I’ve seen some pictures on the internet where this polish has an incredible strong blue shimmer; I am very sorry to say that it doesn’t look anything like that in real life. I’ve tried as good as possible to capture the shimmer as realistic as possible in my pictures, so you won’t be disappointed if you decide to pick it up and find out it is not that intense.

For me personally, this polish is everything I could wish for. I love lilac nail polish and the shimmer is just perfect! If you’re living in the US and are looking for this color, you can find it over here on Amazon (affiliate link). If you’re living in Europe, this color can be a little bit more difficult to find. It is also good to mention that if you’re living in the US, the cap will have a golden valentine’s day print. Unfortunately in Europe, the Valentine’s day collection has Essie’s regular white caps (like mine).

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