One of Essie’s more recent collections (I can’t keep up, is this a winter collection? Fall? I really am not sure.) is called Comfy in Cashmere and consists of several neutral velvety matte shades. I picked up two and the first one I wore on my nails is Wrap Me Up.

I know what you’re thinking, that is the most awkward nail photo ever. Guess what? You’re wrong. See, I had the luxury of viewing all 15 of the other photos I took of this polish and trust me, this is not even close to the most awkward nail photo ever.

This is three coats over Essie’s Fill The Gap base coat. On my ring finger I used Revlon Transforming Effects Top Coat in Matte Pearl Glaze. Honestly, I should have used this on all of my nails because the effect was really lovely.

Essie describes Wrap Me Up as a whisper soft pink and says:

an effortlessly put-together look is a total wrap with this whisper-soft neutral pink.

• soft matte finish with reflective pearl color
• luxurious neutral color palette inspired by rich cashmere
• for best results, use without a top coat

Application: The first coat was incredibly streaky. The second two coats were also a bit streaky and I found this polish a bit difficult to disperse evenly over my nails.

Wear Time: I got about 40 hours of wear before I started seeing chips. Honestly, that’s about par for the course for a matte polish on my nails.

This polish also accentuates ridges and imperfections in the nail. I just wasn’t digging this, maybe I’ll feel differently about it in the summer but I just didn’t love this polish. The application was weird, and it just didn’t do anything to make my nails look better. So I changed my polish!

Two coats of Essie’s Little Brown Dress over Essie’s Fill the Gap base coat with Seche Vite top coat.

I always forget about Little Brown Dress but I shouldn’t because it’s lovely. This is very nearly opaque in a single coat although I used two coats here.

From the Essie website:

the cocktail party just got more interesting. classic but never cliché, beguiling black coffee nails possess the panache of that must-have dress.

Application: Dreamy! This polish is a no fuss application that sort of fills in the ridges of your nails and almost self levels. It’s on the thinner side consistency wise so it’s easy to flood your cuticles but everything else about the application is great.

Wear Time: I noticed tip wear after two days but they didn’t chip until I was doing serious deep cleaning housework after about 4 days.

This is a brown that is nearly black but it’s lovely and shiny and long wearing and if you’re in the market for such a shade, this one is wonderful.