Essie Talks Nail Polish Names
Posted on June 26, 2008
Essie Weingarten, the founder of Essie Cosmetics, discusses her career, and her company in a New York Times story. The story says, "They’re Her Colors. The Rest of Us Just Wear Them."
In the interview, Essie says talks about the recent neon collection noting that she wants people to forget about the recession and "smile when they see all these bright, fun colors.".
She also reveals that the racy names she gives her popular nail polish colors have sometimes gotten her into trouble in more conservative parts of the country.
Essie said that she's never had to change any of the names of her polishes in New York City. That makes sense. It's hardly a city that is shocked by the name of a nail polish. The idea of customers rebelling over a nail polish called "Prune Face" is just too funny.Ms. Weingarten's names center on a particular theme. The Neon collection, for example, includes Short Shorts, a "shockingly flamingo pink," and Bermuda Shorts, a "high-voltage violet."
Such nail polish colors were not always the norm. Ms. Weingarten launched Essie after noting, during a stint in the late '60s and early '70s as an assistant buyer at Henri Bendel, that all the best polish colors went to department stores. "In those days, salons only had pearly white, platinum, red, mauve and some boring pink," Ms. Weingarten explained with a chuckle.
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"Every week I get complaints," she said. Prune Face went off the market in response to incensed customers in California, and After Sex was rechristened After Six in more conservative markets.
Our current Essie fave is Short Shorts, the fabulous fuschia from the new Neon Collection. The Neon Collection is available online at Essie.com.