Essie "Best Of" Collection (Summer 2013)

In addition to Essie's usual collections, Essie fans were treated to a special display in some drugstores this summer.  The Essie "Best Of" collection featured six colors, all cremes, as well as First Base base coat and Good To Go top coat.  Here it is at a local CVS:

The colors left to right: Cascade Cool (Summer 2012), Go Ginza (Spring 2013), Boxer Shorts (Fall 2012), Where's My Chauffeur? (Winter 2012), Mojito Madness (Summer 2012), and Topless and Barefoot (Spring 2011).

Out of this group I already owned Cascade Cool and Mojito Madness.  Go Ginza didn't appeal to me; it's a very pale whitish-pink (Essie calls it a "cherry-blossom pink") that I know from experience doesn't look good at all on my pale skin.  Where's My Chauffeur? was similar enough to another Essie blue I own (In The Cab-ana, Resort 2013) that I decided I didn't need both.  Topless and Barefoot is a pretty pinky-beige neutral, but again, I had a couple of others that were close to it (the perils of being a polish fiend) and I don't wear this kind of color often enough to justify adding another one.  I fell in love with Boxer Shorts, though, so that joined my collection.

Cascade Cool, Mojito Madness, and Boxer Shorts.

Cascade Cool is a carnation pink creme with a whitish undertone.  The exact color was a bit difficult to capture; it looks to be on the purple side in photos but it's really not.  Above is three coats with no top coat, and you can see just a hint of the nail line.  The formula was good, and it dried fairly quickly.

Mojito Madness is a bright, cheerful kelly green creme.  This one leans a tiny bit more yellow in real life.  Again, three coats with no top coat, and look at the shine.

Boxer Shorts is a beautiful deep periwinkle blue creme, perfect for fall.  In the bottle it looks like it might be a dupe for OPI's You're Such A Budapest.

Essie Boxer Shorts, OPI You're Such A Budapest

Side-by-side swatches, though, show that while both are muted purple-blues, they're not dupes.  Left to right, OPI, Essie, OPI, Essie.  (Pardon the messy cuticles - I didn't feel like cleaning up just for a quick swatching.)  You can see here how much darker Boxer Shorts is compared to You're Such A Budapest.  The formula for Boxer Shorts was better too - I used three medium coats here, but I could have gotten away with two thicker ones. You're Such A Budapest went on patchy and needed almost four coats to achieve opacity.

So which Essie classics are your favorites?