For a woman who has made her living out of beauty, Essie Weingarten is surprisingly au naturel. That's not to say she's not incredibly elegant, groomed or chic. She's all of those, along with being a sparkling conversationalist. But the founder of Essie Cosmetics — the nail polish powerhouse that's celebrating 30 years at women's fingertips this year — has struck an inspiring balance between making an effort and not being overdone. Her hair, for example, is perfectly blow-dried in a thick, long bob (I am told she was in the salon just prior to our meeting). Yet it's a striking shade of silver.
And her nails, manicured as they may be, are a pale pinkish-beige.
Wearing nothing
"Everyone always says, ‘What are you wearing? It looks like you're wearing nothing'," says Weingarten as she pours herself a hot tea with lemon in a Dubai hotel. "I always wear two different sheers on my hands — depending on my mood it can be Sugar Daddy with Waltz, it can be Ballet Slippers with Mademoiselle. This week it happens to be Blushing Bride with Mademoiselle."
(Weingarten does wear bright colour, on her toes, she says, usually Bordeaux but if she's feeling terribly wicked, then it's Wicked.)
Colours personified
She drops nail polish names — they're not just colours, but almost fully formed personalities — into conversation like she's gabbing about friends. Those names — in addition to the vast and bright array of colours the brand offers — are Essie's signature, and new additions arrive four times a year. Right now in nail bars — Essie is only available at salons — is the autumn collection, with names such as Power Clutch (Beyoncé, "the most adorable pregnant woman I have ever seen!" chose this khaki green for a Harper's Bazaar cover), Carry On ("a maroon-plummy"), Ladylike ("withering soft pink that goes with all the greys") and Very Structured ("amazing rust"). It's a collection inspired by Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, "our princess to the world".
"I'm obsessed with her. I'm a groupie. There was something very elegant and special about her. Everyone has their own style but she brings grace. She graced her fingertips on her wedding day with Allure, so I guess there's a mutual admiration club here."
Looking at the proliferation of nail bars with a rainbow of shades stacked on each wall, it's hard to imagine that only 30 years ago the nail colours on offer to, and acceptable to, women ranged from classic red to French to "lots of mauves", Weingarten says. She was one of the ones to shake it up, when she launched her brand in 1981 with 12 colours that were super-glossy, hard-wearing — and funny.
Following a dream
"From the very beginning, I found my niche and followed my dream. The [range of] colours they had in the beauty parlours — because when I started there was no such thing as a nail salon or nail bar — were quite small. After I got my foot into the working world I thought there was a need for wonderful nail polish that would go on like silk, wear like iron and last. I know it's hard for anyone to believe that I could run my company in 1981 with 12 colours and three care products. From the colours, people just loved them and I kept adding more."
The three originals
"Three of the original colours are still in the range," she adds, and still very important. Two are the natural sheers she herself is such a fan of: Baby's Breath and Blanc.
I remark that I'm slightly confounded by the volume of seemingly similar pale colours in the collection. "The Essie sheers are like a man's wardrobe of navy blue suits. We have so many of them, yet they all really stand on their own, depending on your skin tone."
The third long-laster is Bordeaux. That those colours have endured is testament to the fact that women do simply want to look good; that her company is celebrating 30 years and going from strength to strength shows women equally want to and now feel about to have fun with colour.
"I believe nail fashions have changed 180 degrees," Weingarten says. "God gave me this innate talent to come up with colours that were so different, that no one else was doing. When I came out with the greige [grey-beige, a top seller in 2010] story, people looked at it and said ‘oh my God,' and everyone started copying it. What put the icing on the cake was when Lady Gaga wore Merino Cool to the VMAs with her meat outfit. You couldn't get a bottle. It was crazy. You would never expect women to wear grey on their nails. But now, of course, it's big in home furnishings, it's big in ready-to wear — and it's big on our nails." Colour is "chic and fun, and a way to express yourself. It takes any of your old outfits and makes them new again."
The fashion barometer
Nail polish today is a barometer of a woman's engagement with fashion — spot a woman in a greige tone and it says as much about her as much as her dress; the same goes for the lady in Ballet Slippers. It's also a sign of her relationship with herself, Weingarten says.
"What other cosmetics do you have that after you apply it, you can see it and enjoy it without a mirror? So many people say to me, ‘Essie, you changed my mood. I go to that salon for that half hour, it just lifts me up. It makes me feel special.' It's the me-ism time.
"I always say, women are so busy now, the only time they put down their iPhones and their BBs are when they are getting their manis. So that half hour or hour means so much to us. And why not? If we don't do it for ourselves, no one is going to do it for us."
"I'm obsessed with Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. I am a groupie. There was something very elegant and special about her. Everyone has their own style but she brings grace. She graced her fingertips on her wedding day with Allure, so I guess there's a mutual admiration club here"
"After I got my foot into the working world I thought there was a need for wonderful nail polish that would go on like silk, wear like iron and last"
"When I came out with the greige [grey-beige, a top seller in 2010] story, people looked at it and said ‘oh my God,' and everyone started copying it. What put the icing on the cake was when Lady Gaga wore Merino Cool to the VMAs with her meat outfit. You couldn't get a bottle. It was crazy. You would never expect women to wear grey on their nails. But now, of course, it's big in home furnishings, it's big in ready-to-wear — and it's big on our nails"
Rule No 1
I live and die by apricot cuticle oil. Always, always keep your cuticles moisturised. Put on the oil and push your cuticles back. You'll never get hangnails, you'll never have to cut and it makes for a nicer looking hands.
Base basics
You must always use a base, two coats of polish and a topcoat.
Dry off
If you are doing your nails at home, wait at least two minutes between each coat so it sets.
Serve and protect
Topcoat is the ultimate seal. It protects. I meet people who say, "I don't want colour." I say well, at least do a base and a topcoat. It's helping your nail. It protects it from the environment.
Shape up
It's a big thing: follow your natural cuticle for the most natural-looking hands. If your cuticles are squoval, do squoval. If your cuticles are round, follow round. You'll see your hands look much more graceful.
Long and short of it
A lot of people ask me, long or short? My answer: a well-manicured hand is always a good look.
Dark colours look amazing on well-manicured short nails.
Stiletto nails (long and pointed ones a la Gaga and Beyoncé): That's personal taste. But once you start filing the side of your nail, you start losing the strength, that's where you get he strength and the growth from.
Boot the buff
Ridges are caused by a lot of difrerent reasons — a medical condition, you damaged your nail; most of the time they are just beginning to dry out from something you've had on them.
And that's when people start to buff them, and buffing is not a good idea. Don't buff! Your nails start to get thinner and thinner and then you'll get sensitivity.
On file
File in one direction. For natural nails, I love the crystal file or the softer files. The more abrasive are just... more abrasive. File in one direction so you don't get splitting.
Foot work
I'm a firm believer in getting your toenails done all the time. A pedicure is first of all good hygiene. Women say to me "but I'm not wearing open-toed shoes" — it doesn't matter.
Because if your feet hurt, everything hurts, so if you get your pedicure every two weeks, your toes will feel good and you will feel good.
Au naturel
Despite being a leader in colour, super-long-lasting nail polishes, gels and acrylics have no place in Essie's world.
"I am a natural nail freak," she says. "I don't like anyone to put anything on my nail that will damage the natural nail. Our labs are always working on new products — there is nothing yet [that doesn't damage]. Even though it soaks off in ten minutes, whenever I speak to someone who has had it done I get the same response: that it is damaging. If we could find something that is not, and would encourage nail growth, we would do it. Years ago it was acrylic and I absolutely did not believe in them because I did not find an acrylic that did not damage the natural nail. I live by natural nails.
That's why we have so many care products."
Essie's nail tips
