Hey guys! Where did the weekend go?? Arrgh! :shakes fist:

Anyway, today I have some swatches of Essie's Cashmere Matte collection to share! I know that these polishes are, basically, old news, but I had a lot on my plate to swatch when they first arrived, so here they are today! If you're looking for more bottle shots, you can visit my mail-time post.

I was pretty excited about these initially, and some are disappointing while some are pretty nice, so let's get started!


First, one of two non-shimmers in the set, Essie- Wrap Me Up:


Wrap Me Up is a light, soft pink-toned almond/ beige nude that dries to a matte finish. I think the pink tones in this one are subtle, but perceivable, and they are slightly more apparent in person than I was able to color correct for. 

Outside, shade, two coats:



Formula: It has a medium viscosity and level of pigmentation, but the texture is a bit chalky. The first coat is streaky and does not self-level, and this polish dries pretty much immediately, so the speed at which you work is a factor. A second thicker coat helped the formula self-level slightly more, and was pretty much opaque for me.
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Next, the other non-shimmer finish, Essie- All Eyes On Nudes:


All Eyes On Nudes is a warm-toned medium beige nude. This color reminds me of Band-Aids, and it's not a good look for me. I think I described it to a friend as "geriatric" when I first put it on...

Outside, shade, two coats:



This somehow manages to look nicer against my skin in photos than it did in person. I can see this shade being a good nude for someone, but man, it's not me!

Formula: It's awful. No beating around the bush with this one. If you look past the breaks, you might be able to tell that my initial application of this one was horrendous, .

If you're interested in a nude like this, I'd suggest finding a similar color elsewhere and using a mattifying top coat. It just dries too quickly for a clean application, and none of the techniques I tried did any good in managing that- and I consider myself to be pretty good at applying nail polish at this point. I had the best result using thinner coats, working extremely quickly (just three quick strokes per nail), and using a bit of pressure.Two coats.
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Next, here is one of the prettiest shimmers in the set, Essie- Comfy In Cashmere:
 

Comfy In Cashmere is a rosy beige-taupe filled with cool blue shimmer. The overall tone is a little bit mauve, I think?

Outside, shade, two coats:



I really, really love this color!

Artificial light + top coat:



Formula: It dries almost instantly, and will cuticle drag if you use too many strokes. It has a medium viscosity and is pigmented, but application is very tricky. You have to work extremely rapidly, make sure not to underload the brush, and even then I couldn't get the edges to self-level.

My first application had insane bubbling as a result of coats that were too thick. On the second try, I loaded less polish on the brush and used a lot of quick pressure during each stroke to make sure to squeeze out bubbles and minimize drag. That's like the opposite of the "float your brush" method, but it worked pretty well for me. Two coats.

So, yea, not much good to say about this formula. That's unfortunate, because it's such a lovely color. 
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Here is Essie- Just Stitched:


Just Stitched is a light, warm pink with aqua shimmer. Cute name too!

Outside, shade, three coats:



This is soft and pretty, and I can see a lot of people gravitating toward this one.

Artificial light + top coat:



Formula: This is the sheerest one here, and it's not quite as difficult as Comfy in Cashmere, but it's not the nicest formula of these, either. I used the same method as with that one: thin coats, three quick strokes, and pressure with the brush to prevent bubbles. It really is more forgiving than the two non-shimmers and Comfy in Cashmere, but still slightly tricky. I used three coats but still couldn't eliminate streaks, although it's not apparent in photos. Bummer.
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Next, here's the most hyped shade, Essie- Coat Couture:


Coat Couture is a purple-toned taupe filled with aqua-teal shimmer. It dries slightly darker than liquid bottle color. In a lot of light this looks like a muted purple, and not taupe at all!

Outside, shade, two coats:



Artificial light + top coat:



This one especially comes alive with a glossy finish!

Formula: I'm happy to report that this one is nice! The texture is so much different than the two without shimmer: it's forgiving, and you have a bit of time to work with it. It also self-levels slightly while still drying very quickly. Perfectly opaque in two coats.

Really like this one! I like it so much, that I'm frustrated that some of the others were such pains...
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Last, the darkest, Essie- Spun In Luxe:


Spun In Luxe is a black base filled with blue shimmer. The blue of the shimmer is almost a navy.

Outside, shade, two coats:



As this dries down, the blue shimmer really recedes and becomes pretty subtle. I think that it shows up more in photos than it does in person, but what it does do is make the overall color have a blue glow, which is nice! That's about as flattering as a black can get for my cool-toned skin!

Artificial light + top coat:



I also think this one is much more interesting with top coat!

Formula: It's one of the better formulas here. It still dries quickly, but you have much, much more time in terms of the amount of strokes you can do before it starts to pull and drag. It self-levels a tiny bit too, and the second coat goes on quite easily and is opaque! I'd consider this one workable- not too bad!
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Overall, I have mixed feelings about this collection. A couple of the colors I love intensely- Comfy in Cashmere and Coat Couture- and hate another: All Eyes On Nudes. The other two, the black and the pink, I like a lot. I'm pretty neutral about Wrap Me Up. I almost feel like the two non-shimmers have no place here. There's nothing that makes them unique other than drying matte, which isn't groundbreaking these days.

I was pretty disappointed in the formulas on most of them too. I don't think people who aren't obsessive about painting their nails (and therefore don't get as much practice as nailbloggers) will be able to get nice applications with most of these. You just have to work way too quickly. The exceptions are Coat Couture, which is workable, and also Spun In Luxe, which is not too bad either. But, Comfy In Cashmere, one of the most unique and wearable colors here, is a huge pain! That's sad!

I had high hopes for these since matte shimmer finishes are so cool, but I can't say that the entire collection met my expectations. I'd say, if you're going for just one, stick with the hype and pick Coat Couture- it's beautiful and has a decent application!