United States
Essie is a New York-born nail color brand founded in 1981 by Essie Weingarten and later acquired by L'Oréal in 2010.
Total Followers +0.7%
2.4M
Across Instagram, TikTok
Primary Platform
YouTube
2.2M followers · 91% of audience
Engagement
1.8%
vs. 1.5% category median
Sponsorship Tier
Macro
Est. $26K–$61K / IG post
The collection brings the sheer, glossy glass-nail look home with a buildable, juicy-finish formula and has driven heavy social content on the brand's channels.
The L'Oréal-owned brand refreshed its voice, visuals, and cultural presence, introducing a proprietary 3-Note Color System and a holistic manicure philosophy.
The limited-edition Spring 2026 lineup spans seven food-inspired shades and marks Baked by Melissa's first-ever beauty partnership.
| Window | TikTok | Combined | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | +5K +0.2% | +998 +0.4% | +0 +0.0% | +6K |
| Last 30 days | +12K +0.6% | +6K +2.5% | +0 +0.0% | +18K |
| Last 90 days | +24K +1.1% | +14K +6.3% | +0 +0.0% | +39K |
| Last 365 days | +24K +1.1% | +14K +6.3% | +0 +0.0% | +39K |
Daily follower snapshots from CreatorDB's longitudinal index.
Essie is a New York-born nail color brand founded in 1981 by Essie Weingarten and later acquired by L'Oréal in 2010. The brand built a loyal following through its signature approach to shade naming — playful, often punny monikers like "Not Red-y For Bed" and "Bikini So Teeny" — and a consistent positioning around aspirational nail aesthetics. On social media, Essie operates as a content-forward editorial presence rather than a purely promotional one, anchored by its stated ethos of "elevated nail beauty, with a twist." Its Instagram account, carrying the bulk of the brand's social audience, functions as a polished lookbook updated with near-daily frequency.
Content output centers on collection launches — most recently the Glass Nails series, featuring translucent, swirl-based finishes that track closely with the glazed and "jelly" nail trend cycle. Posts skew visually minimal and editorial, foregrounding texture and color story over step-by-step tutorials. The recurring #essiepartner hashtag signals an active creator affiliate program that extends the brand's reach well beyond its owned channels. With a core audience concentrated in the 25–34 bracket and heavily anchored in the United States, Essie's social presence is well-positioned to maintain relevance with the millennial beauty consumer who treats nail care as a deliberate aesthetic practice — a segment that responds to both trend-forward launches and the brand's established cultural equity.
Essie reaches an audience concentrated in United States primarily through YouTube, and is best activated via Instagram Reels and Stories, TikTok branded content. As a beauty creator they map naturally to brands targeting that space. With no brand deals logged yet, they read as an available, category-aligned partner for advertisers building early presence in the space. Engagement on YouTube runs around 1.8%, which points to an audience better suited to category-relevant, mid-funnel campaigns than to pure-reach buys. The channel's mix of Instagram Reels and Stories and TikTok branded content lets a sponsor choose between short awareness placements and longer, more detailed integrations. Because the audience follows beauty content rather than arriving through untargeted reach, sponsorships that match the channel's subject matter tend to convert more efficiently than broad placements. A consistent, on-topic posting focus gives sponsors a predictable, brand-safe environment, lowering placement risk compared with broad, general-interest channels. Campaigns here are best measured on qualified engagement and consideration within the niche rather than on raw impression volume. For United States-focused brands in beauty and related categories, Essie offers a defined, creative-fit audience rather than broad, low-intent impressions.
Benchmark estimates for a creator at Essie's tier (Macro, 2.4M combined followers, United States). Pulled from CreatorDB's category benchmarks.
The CreatorDB Agency runs end-to-end influencer campaigns globally — shortlisting, outreach, contracting, and performance reporting. Talk to our team about building a campaign around creators in this niche.
The Glass Nails Collection is one of Essie's recent polish lines built around translucent, high-shine finishes designed to mimic the look of colored or clear glass. Shades in the range carry names like Full Blown and High Bal, and the collection leans into the swirled, luminous glass nail aesthetic that spread widely across beauty social media. It represents Essie leaning into a trending technique and translating it into ready-to-wear polish.
Essie nail polish was founded by Essie Weingarten in 1981. She started by selling her polishes directly to salons in Las Vegas, and from that foothold the brand grew into one of the most recognized names in the nail category worldwide. The brand still carries her name today.
Essie is owned by L'Oréal, which acquired the brand in 2010. Despite operating under L'Oréal's umbrella, Essie has maintained its own distinct creative voice, signature shade-naming style, and separate social presence. The brand continues to be marketed as a standalone label.
The #essiepartner hashtag marks creators and nail artists who are part of Essie's official collaboration network. Partners typically receive early access to new collections and shades and feature them across Instagram and TikTok content. The program is how Essie amplifies launches like the Glass Nails Collection through the wider beauty creator community.
The translucent swirl nail look featured in Essie's Glass Nails Collection content was created by @nonnailartist, who is credited directly in Essie's own posts. Essie regularly attributes work to specific nail artists in its campaigns, treating credited artistry as part of the brand's content identity.
Essie's shade names are a signature part of the brand — playful, punny, and often conceptual, with examples like Not Red-y For Bed, Bikini So Teeny, Be Them All, and Balle. The naming approach has become as recognizable as the polish itself, and fans often discover new shades just by searching or sharing the names. It's a deliberate brand voice strategy that's been consistent across decades of collections.
That's Essie's own tagline, used across both their Instagram and TikTok bios, positioning the brand above everyday nail polish while keeping a playful, unexpected edge. In practice it plays out as editorial-quality imagery and content paired with inventive shade names and trend-forward collections. The Glass Nails line is a good example — it's a mainstream trend executed with a polished, slightly editorial angle.
Essie is an American brand, founded and built through the US salon market before moving into retail and international distribution. The brand's roots are in New York, and the US remains its largest audience by a wide margin. That domestic foundation is part of why Essie's voice and shade references tend to skew toward American lifestyle and pop culture.
Essie has grown an Instagram audience in the multi-million range, placing it in the Macro tier and making it one of the largest nail-focused brand accounts on the platform. Their engagement also runs above the category median for beauty brands, which is notable for an account of that scale. Regular posting and collection drops keep the account active year-round.
Yes, Essie is active on TikTok under the handle @essie, posting nail content, shade reveals, and trend-driven videos. Their TikTok following is smaller than their Instagram presence but has shown notably faster growth momentum recently. Both platforms carry the same "elevated nail beauty, with a twist" positioning from the brand's bios.
Stats (followers, engagement, audience demographics, growth) are pulled live from the CreatorDB API covering YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Bio and FAQ content is AI-assisted; news items are sourced from cited public press at generation time. Read the full methodology →
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@essie · YouTube
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