Essie Joins the Magnetic Polish Party With Reptile Nails

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Nail art has gone from a fringe beauty interest to a huge business, and brands like OPI, Nails Inc, and Ciate have all jumped on the bandwagon. But stalwart nail polish megabrand Essie has been a little bit late to the party. Instead of making trendy crackles or caviar topcoats, they've mostly stuck with what they're good at—great classic colors and formulas. While other brands were experimenting with gels and nail wraps, Essie continued selling tens of thousands of bottles of classic-pink Ballet Slippers. But now, Essie has finally launched their very own magnetic polish.

The new six-shade "Repstyle" collection (which includes a moody red, metallic gray, and a muted hunter green) features magnetic polishes whose overall effect kind of looks like reptile skin. The bottles retail for a pricier-than-average $11.25 a pop, but they're pretty easy to use - just paint your nails, then move the magnetized cap over wet polish.

Does this mean that Essie is going to start making more textured polishes a la Illamasqua's "rubber" nails or Ciate's "velvet" ones? Considering it took them until 2011 to make glittery topcoats, don't bet on it.
· Essie Introduces Magnetic 'Reptile' Nail Polish Collection [Fashionista]
· Nail Trend Alert: 2012 Is Officially the Year of Textured Polish [Racked]
· So, Why Is Essie's Ballet Slippers Nail Polish Always Such a Popular Wedding Color? [Racked]