Average rating includes incentivized reviews Original

Lilacism

Elegant and enchanting, whisper-soft smooth lilac nail polish is super pretty. This light & lovely lacquer brushes on major flower power.

RICH COLOR & SHINE: All essie Original nail polishes offer a salon-quality, billion pigment formula that is vegan, providing saturated color payoff and shine in every coat.

PATENTED CAMEL-STEM BRUSH: Our exclusive, patented camel-stem brush is designed for professional results at home. It provides controlled formula flow for precise application, ensuring a smooth, even finish.

FLAWLESS APPLICATION: Achieve the perfect manicure and pedicure by applying two coats. Apply a think first layer and then a second while tacky for a vivid, streak-free finish.

7-DAY WEAR: Elevate your look with a base and top coat. A base coat strengthens your nails and creates a smooth base, while a top coat locks in color with lasting shine and chip protection. Enjoy up to 7-day wear when paired with our Stay Longer top coat.

BEST SELLER: 1 bottle of essie Original nail polish is sold every 5 seconds.*

*L’Oreal custom product hierarchy calc based on USxAOC NIQ Scantrack for nail color. 52WE 12/ 27/25. © 2026, Nielsen Consumer LLC
Prep: 1 coat of essie Strong Start base coat to strengthen nails and create a smooth base.

Color: 2 coats of your favorite essie Original nail polish for rich color and shine.

Shine: 1 coat of of essie Stay Longer top coat to lock in color with lasting shine and chip protection.

Care: Finish with On A Roll Apricot Nail & Cuticle Oil to condition cuticles and prevent dryness.
essie is a vegan brand – contains no animal-derived ingredients.
Full ingredient list:

ETHYL ACETATE BUTYL ACETATE NITROCELLULOSE TOSYLAMIDE/EPOXY RESIN TRIMETHYL PENTANYL DIISOBUTYRATE ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL TRIBENZOIN STEARALKONIUM HECTORITE ACETYLATED HYDROGENATED CASTOR GLYCERIDE ADIPIC ACID/NEOPENTYL GLYCOL/TRIMELLITIC ANHYDRIDE COPOLYMER SUCROSE ACETATE ISOBUTYRATE STEARALKONIUM BENTONITE SYNTHETIC FLUORPHLOGOPITE BENZOPHENONE-1 SILICA BARIUM SULFATE DIACETONE ALCOHOL CALCIUM ALUMINUM BOROSILICATE STYRENE/ACRYLATES COPOLYMER CITRIC ACID ALUMINUM CALCIUM SODIUM SILICATE ALCOHOL DENAT. CALCIUM SODIUM BOROSILICATE COLOPHONIUM / ROSIN / COLOPHANE ALUMINA DIMETHICONE ISOPHORONE DIAMINE/ISOPHTHALIC ACID/TROMETHAMINE COPOLYMER TIN OXIDE CALCIUM TITANIUM BOROSILICATE DIETHYLHEXYL ADIPATE n-BUTYL ALCOHOL AQUA / WATER / EAU TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE TALC ACETONE ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE [+/- MAY CONTAIN / PEUT CONTENIR CI 77891 / TITANIUM DIOXIDE MICA CI 19140 / YELLOW 5 LAKE CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 / IRON OXIDES CI 77510 / FERRIC AMMONIUM FERROCYANIDE CI 77007 / ULTRAMARINES CI 77000 / ALUMINUM POWDER CI 15850 / RED 7 LAKE CI 15880 / RED 34 LAKE CI 15850 / RED 6 LAKE CI 77266 / BLACK 2 CI 42090 / BLUE 1 LAKE CI 77742 / MANGANESE VIOLET CI 77288 / CHROMIUM OXIDE GREENS CI 77510 / FERRIC FERROCYANIDE CI 45410 / RED 28 CI 73360 / RED 30 LAKE CI 60730 / EXT. VIOLET 2 CI 60725 / VIOLET 2 CI 45380 / RED 22 ]

Enhance your manicure

Step 1 Prep

Prep cuticles, nail, and skin with Ready. Prep. Go. Advanced Cuticle Remover.

Step 2 Prime

Apply 1 coat of base coat to reinforce and harden nails.

Step 3 Paint

Apply 2 coats of essie original nail polish.

Step 4 Seal

Apply 1 coat of top coat for a plump, shiny finish.

Shop the routine

"essie original color is iconic. I love the brush, the hundreds of colors to choose from, and the fact that it was my first favorite." - Rita Remark, essie Global Brand Ambassador

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44 reviews with 5 stars.

10 reviews with 4 stars.

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5 reviews with 2 stars.

4 reviews with 1 star.

overall rating

4.3

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1 to 8 of 66 reviews .

1 – 8 of 66 reviews

5 out of 5 stars.

Essie Nail Polish purple

a year ago

Love it!!!💜💜💜 Beautiful color and lasts a long time!!

type of nail polish userregular/average

helpful?

2 out of 5 stars.

Confused about color

2 years ago

Just bought this color from target today and decided to visit the website to look at similar colors to discover mine is not the color it’s supposed to be. Very confused but it still looks good on so it’s fine

favorite essie color family?nudes

type of nail polish userregular/average

great to wear foreveryday

yes, I recommend this product.

helpful?

response from essie:

2 years ago

Consumer Care Center

Hello skboyd! Thank you for sharing your experience and picture of your bottle of 'lilacism'. Well that's definitely not what this soft lilac should look like! We will be sure to share your comments with the team as we are always looking for ways to improve. We hope you will find more colors you love!

5 out of 5 stars.

Beautiful Lavender!

2 years ago

I love this color! It’s a beautiful spring color, but I can wear it anytime for a nice pop to cheer me up. It is smooth, opaque after two coats, and very shiny. I was buying it to match an iPhone 12 in purple originally, and while it doesn’t match perfectly, it is a nice similarity. I would say the iPhone 12 purple is closer to blue/periwinkle/lavender, and the Essie polish is closer to true purple on the pink side, like a neutral or warm tone (you can tell it matches the pink and red in my hand and doesn’t turn blue or grey looking in shadow). I love that it is saturated just enough for a bright color, but not so much that it is aggressively vibrant. It’s a beautiful in between of perfect soft lilac! 💜

favorite essie color family?nudes

type of nail polish userregular/average

great to wear foreveryday

yes, I recommend this product.

helpful?

4 out of 5 stars.

Pink/purple

3 years ago

This shade photographs pale purple, but irl it goes on with a definite pink tint. By day two, it's hard to tell if it's pink or purple. I don't dislike the color – it's very 90's in a way – but I was surprised it wasn't more purple. So I got on here to see if I'm totally off base and nope, it looks like a fairly common recent experience! Anyway, very nice if you're fine with a pinky purple and less of a lilac.

type of nail polish userregular/average

great to wear foreveryday

yes, I recommend this product.

helpful?

1 out of 5 stars.

NOOOO

3 years ago

I went to buy my favorite shade lilacism yesterday and I've noticed the color has changed. Why? The shade before was perfect before. Now it's more of pink shade instead of the blueish lilac I loved.

favorite essie color family?sheers

type of nail polish userregular/average

great to wear foreveryday

helpful?

response from essie:

3 years ago

consumer care center

Hi there! We consider the color ‘lilacism’ soft satiny smooth lilac in a cream finish, we place it in our selection of PURPLE colors. Aging of polish ingredients may cause color to fade, yellow, or shift over time—The production of our iconic shades has also advanced over the years – higher quality standards, pure color pigments, and new innovative ingredients allow for a better, more consistent product, but also can result in some color variation from the past.

1 out of 5 stars.

Wrong Label?

3 years ago

Lilacism has been my favorite shade for many years. I recently bought a bottle and was disappointed that the color has changed! It looked pink in the bottle and so I checked the label. The label was indeed Lilacism. I was skeptical but bought it anyway. When I used it, it was pink - definitely not the pale lilac I love! I’m disappointed! Was the product change or was the bottle mislabeled?

favorite essie color family?purples

type of nail polish userregular/average

great to wear foreveryday

no, I do not recommend this product.

helpful?

response from essie:

3 years ago

consumer care center

Hi there! We want to understand what happened just as much as you do. The color ‘lilacism’ should be a whisper-soft lilac nail polish. If you would like to speak to us directly about your recent purchase, give us a call @ 866-313-7845

5 out of 5 stars.

Lovely pastel purple

5 years ago

I love essie nail polish, and this is one of my fav’s! It’s a great lilac color (not too pink, but not too blue) and is perfect for spring.

favorite essie color family?nudes

type of nail polish userregular/average

great to wear foreveryday

yes, I recommend this product.

helpful?

4 out of 5 stars.

Changes color if bottle is left in sun

5 years ago

I have 2 bottles of this, one that was stored in a drawer, one that was left out. The one that was exposed to sunlight changed to a periwinkle blue. The one in the drawer is also no longer a true lilac, but it turned less noticeably blue than the one that sat in sunlight. My friend also had a bottle of this that turned blue as well. The blue is pretty, but know that it's a completely different shade than the product photo.

favorite essie color family?reds

type of nail polish userdedicated/loyalist

great to wear forweddings

helpful?

1 – 8 of 66 reviews

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