Essie Braziliant collection, Nailtini Janie Bryant nail cocktails hottest colors for summer

By April MacIntyre Jun 16, 2011, 6:19 GMT

The limited edition Garden Party collection has everything from petit-four pastels to a punchy high-shine patent to a sheer shimmery veil (another favorite of mine) that can be worn alone or as an overlay.

I blame Katie Cazorla of the new 'Nail Files' series for TV Guide channel. She has made me a true fan of color and zing for mani/pedi sessions this season, and lucky for me that two fantastic companies sent their seasonal best shades for review.

Essie Braziliant collection

This Made in the USA collection of six gorgeous sexy shades of polish even had E!'s Giuliana Rancic getting busy with an Essie manicure at the essie Pop-Up-Shop in Chicago. 

Essie’s Summer 2011 Braziliant Collection has six bright and fun colors that include Braziliant, a blazing sexy orange with gold undertones, Too Too Hot, a fierce fire coral, Super Bossa Nova, a tourmaline pink that glows, Meet Me At Sunset, a flamingo citrine, Smooth Sailing, a dreamy blue topaz and my favorite blue polish EVER, and Absolutely Shore, a pale seafoam green.

Rancic selected Too Too Hot shade from the new, Braziliant collection. Giuiliana was in Chicago for the weekend and with an array of colors to choose from, Giuilana ultimately decided on the fierce, fire coral shade to compliment the leopard print dress she was wearing to an event later that evening.

Nailtini’s summer polish collection designed by Janie Bryant

Summer and the perfumed blooms and passed libations at a garden party -- where refreshing cocktails and sensory overload of the season is the inspiration for Nailtini’s summer polish collection designed by Janie Bryant, the Emmy winning fashion designer, author of The Fashion File (Grand Central, 2010) and creator of her own “MOD” line of women’s wear for QVC as well as the fashions seen on AMC’s “Mad Men.”

“The garden party is such a civilized concept, but beneath all those good manners and chic frocks, there’s an underpinning of drama, where anything can happen.  The colors in the collection reflect these delightful contradictions,” says Bryant of her second collaboration with Nailtini, which comes on the heels of her stunning fall holiday limited edition for the brand. 

Made in the USA, the limited edition Garden Party collection has everything from petit-four pastels to a punchy high-shine patent to a sheer shimmery veil (another favorite of mine) that can be worn alone or as an overlay.

Blushing Lady:  This candy shell pink with a sophisticated touch of lavender is likely just the color Edith Piaf had in mind when she sang “La Vie En Rose.”  A graceful accompaniment to a floral sheath or flouncy skirt.

Blue Carnation:  A soft, creamy blue with a jade-like milkiness, this porcelain polish is a new school tribute to an old school cocktail and its namesake flower.  Skip the corsage, and instead, accessorize your fingers or toes with Blue Carnation.

Admiral Perry:   It wouldn’t be a proper garden party without an intriguing and dapper suitor among the guests.  You’ll take a shine to his dress blues, and to the patent-leather gleam of this royal blue lacquer.

Garden Jubilee:  Must own nail polish. Garden Jubilee is a shimmery “floridescent” veil that captures the prettiest greens and pinks of the rose bed in one bottle.  Wear it on bare nails or as a top coat to create a nail cocktail with true flower power.

In addition to her multiple Emmy® nominations as “Outstanding Costume Designer for a Series” and a 2005 win for “Deadwood,” Janie Bryant is the recipient of the 2009 and 2010 Costume Designers Guild Award for “Outstanding Period/Fantasy TV Series” for her work on “Mad Men.”  She was named to Vanity Fair’s 2010 list of “Top 100 Influencers,” as well as to the LA MOCA Costume Council.  

April MacIntyre is Monsters and Critics' smallscreen and people/celebrity editor who loves to visit and celebrate small American and Canadian companies when she can. You can contact her on Twitter