Essie Udon Know Me - comparisons and koi fish

This is my favorite shade from Essie's new Fall 2016 Japan collection: Essie Udon Know Me! This is kind of my perfect shade, because I eat  udon noodles all the time, plus I'm a sucker for a dusty color, and also for a good blue-green. Now that I've worn it, I have to say this is the perfect shade - a nicely balanced pale turquoise, which looks a lot like a dusty blue in a lot of lights, but has an obvious hint of green when you look at it next to true blues.

This gorgeous watery hue is a natural canvas for these koi and water lily water decals I had stashed away in my drawer, from Born Pretty. (Unfortunately they're not longer available, I got them over a year ago.) It's funny because there actually is a koi-themed name in this collection, but it's too dark to put these decals over! Udon Know Me, however, is absolutely perfect.

I immediately wanted to see what this hue looks like in comparison to a lot of other light blues and teals that I have. The comparisons kind of surprised me! A few other Essies I thought were similar weren't at all, and there are some surprising near dupes in my arsenal! But no true dupes - this color is not only beautiful but unique.

T to B: Essie Truth or Flare, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lady Libra-ty, Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-mint, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Something, Pure Ice Bikini, Essie Mint Candy Apple

T to B: China Glaze For Audrey, Essie Turquoise and Caicos, Zoya Wednesday, Zoya Bevin, Essie Maximilian Strausse-Her

The closest near-dupe in my opinion is actually Wet N Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint, which I didn't expect at all! I thought it that one as closer to China Glaze For Audrey, but in fact it's much bluer than I remembered. It is a shade greener than Udon Know Me though. Alternately, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Something is a slightly bluer, greyer shade.

On the other hand, it's nothing like Maximilian Strausse-Her OR Truth or Flare, which were what came to my mind when I first saw this shade.

I also thought of Zoya Bevin, which has the same greyed tone, but is definitely a lot darker and a lot greener.

A comparison of blue-green Essies!