The New York Times Book of New York by The New York Times

Author:The New York Times
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Published: 2009-10-19T21:00:00+00:00

They’re Her Colors. We Just Wear Them.

By AMANDA PRISCHAK | June 22, 2008

Essie Weingarten, founder and president of Essie Nail Polish based in Astoria, Queens.

ESSIE WEINGARTEN IS AN ANIMATED TALKER, but as she spoke one recent afternoon in her glass-enclosed office in Astoria, a listener might well have been distracted by her nails. They were perfectly manicured, and she was sporting a base of Mademoiselle, a pastel pink, with a top layer of the best-selling Ballet Slippers, an even paler pink.

Ms. Weingarten’s 27-year-old company, Essie Cosmetics, is a beige, windowless building, but behind its nondescript exterior is a cornucopia of color. Essie Cosmetics is famous for its more than 200 cheekily named nail polishes. Some have adorned the fingertips of A-listers like Madonna and Jennifer Lopez.

Ms. Weingarten names her products herself, and the names are as attention-getting as the colors. The new Neon collection, for example, includes Short Shorts, a “shockingly flamingo pink,” and Bermuda Shorts, a “high-voltage violet.” Another shade, Aruba Blue, was born during a Caribbean vacation.

Ms. Weingarten launched Essie after noticing, during a stint in the late 60’s and early 70’s as an assistant buyer at Henri Bendel, that the best polish colors went to department stores. “Salons only had pearly white, platinum, red, mauve and some boring pink,” Ms. Weingarten said, explaining how Essie added everything from inky blacks to pale pinks.

She has taken heat for some of the saucier names she has coined. Prune Face went off the market in response to incensed customers in California, and After Sex was rechristened After Six in more conservative markets.

“Of course, in New York,” Ms. Weingarten said, “we had no reason to change the original name.”

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