Untrieds: Essie Cashmere Mattes

~ stashy

This post was prompted by a review of the Doves and Roses’ review of Essie Spun in Lux in which she talked about how quickly the polish chipped.  I had purchased 3 polishes from the Cashmere Matte collection from my birthday haul but I had yet to try them.  After reading Anne’s review, I was a bit apprehensive about the formula.  The Cashmere Matte collection came out earlier this year with 6 shades ranging from ivory all the way to a deep blackened navy – I bought the mid-range shades (as I’m wont to do!):
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I’m not a fan of matte finish polishes but I bought these with the intent to apply a topcoat over them to bring out the neat blue shimmer.

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Just Stitched – matte creamy light pink with blue shimmer
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The upper photo shows the polish without a topcoat, and the bottom one with Poshe topcoat applied.  This shade applied very patchy – it required 3 coats to smooth out.  Adding a topcoat brought out the blue shimmer slightly but it wasn’t as apparent as in the bottle.
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Comfy in Cashmere – matte mauvey taupe with blue shimmer
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This had a fabulous formula – it was fairly thin and easy to spread and opaque in 2 coats.  The topcoat brought out the blue shimmer somewhat but only really visible in certain light.
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Coat Couture – matte bluey grey with blue shimmer
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This formula was decent – it had a thicker consistency and I could get away with just one coat.  The topcoat really brought out the blue shimmer in this one – it was quite mesmerizing.

I found it interesting that the formula of these 3 were all over the place – with Comfy in Cashmere being the best.  This was the colour I ended up keeping on for the week to test out the wear time.  On the morning of day 3 of the trial, I posted a photo on Instragram saying that the polish was performing well… but I spoke too soon.  That evening I was out with a friend and happened to brush through my hair with my hand and the polish on my index finger flicked right off in one sheet!
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It was kind of amusing and amazing!  The polish sheet looked like a press-on nail. 😛  I really didn’t know what to make of it because none of my other fingers showed major signs of wear or peeling.  So I just reapplied Comfy in Cashmere back onto my index finger and went about my business.

Then came day 5 in the evening – I’m at home, washing my hands and notice that my middle finger is suddenly sans polish!  I retraced my steps and found the nail polish sheet in the hallway:
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This couldn’t possibly be a fluke! I’ve never had nail polish pop off like this before!  Just for the record, I used my typical base and topcoat that I use for most manicures: Orly Bonder and Poshe.  I cannot explain what happened with the Cashmere Matte formula – maybe it interacted with my base and topcoat to cause it to not adhere properly to my nail bed.  Also, you’re not imagining things, the colour of Comfy in Cashmere did turn darker once it dried – I noticed this the next morning after I applied it.  I should mention that on day 5, I also started experiencing major chipping:
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The chipping was isolated to just my right thumb and my left middle finger (the one that popped off) – but look at how well kept my left thumb is!  I had enough: that night I removed this polish from all my fingers (it would have been nice if they all decided to flick off at this point but nope).

I’m not giving up on the Cashmere Matte formula – I’ll experiment with other bases and topcoats to see how they perform.  As well, I’m curious if the other shades I have will perform differently.  What a puzzling polish! Have you tried the Essie Cashmere Matte polishes?

49 thoughts on “Untrieds: Essie Cashmere Mattes”

  1. Wow! That is so crazy the formula did that! Very intresring and glad you shared this experience with your readers. I saw that collection when it came out and I’ve read a couple of negative reviews. I’m guessing it’s the formula that is very off.

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    1. Isn’t it wild? I know a lot of people reviewed the collection when it first launched and people just swatched them but there weren’t that many showing the wear time. I’m going to test with other bases / topcoats to see how it performs with those!

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  3. These polishes look amazing! I looove the colors! They look good both matte & glossy💖 😊lol I too find it amusing when nail polishes come off in sheets lol😂

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    1. I’ve never had this happen before with other regular polishes (not the peel off kind) so it was quite surprising to me! I’ve had chipping or peeling but the whole sheet just pops off? Whut. This has happened to you?

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      1. Lol!!😂😂😂yes many times! I think it’s either my top coat being too thick or heavy or the polish is just not too good. I can’t believe this was ur first ;p lol!

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  4. “I retraced my steps and found the nail polish sheet in the hallway” This sentence killed me XD

    What a shame, Coat Couture and Comfy in Cashmere are gorgeous, with and without the top coat (although I wish the shimmer in Comfy in Cashmere was more apparent). I think you’re right, it probably has something to do with the top and/or base coats you’re using. Hopefully you will find a combo that doesn’t make it peel off your nail in sheets!

    I’m tempted to try these just because of how pretty they are, but will probably kick myself when I get exactly the same thing happening as you.

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    1. I’d imagine if I didn’t locate it that night, some time the next day the SO would pick it up and ask what the heck that was. Or if we had a cat / dog… it would be gone! 😛
      The colours are so intriguing and that’s why I picked up 3 of them. I’ll likely try these with Butter London top / base coats next to see how they fare!

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  5. That’s hilarious I’m glad it didn’t fall off at a more inopportune time! Could you imagine the awkward, “Oh my nail polish just fell off! Um lemme just pick that up…anyway moving along!” The colors are very pretty though!

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  8. It’s so sad because the colors (with your Poshe TOP COAT) are so Gorgeous !!! So weird how the nail came off like this 😀 I hope you find the right base and top coat for this formula !!!

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  9. I quite like Comfy in Cashmere and Coat Couture. I’ve attempted to pick up Coat Couture a couple times…but always put them back before getting to check out because I used to always be “anti-matte” for myself 😛 But now I’ve been considering the whole matte thing. When I first saw your instagram picture I actually thought it was a fake nail, like those impress nails! But that’s so intriguing that it just spontaneously fell off whole!

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    1. Yeah don’t get them… unless you really love the colours and you’re willing to accept the polish to pop off at any given moment. I am quote anti-matte but if I do get a matte polish, I always put a shiny topcoat over it. One thing I will say though, mattes dry SUPER quickly.

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  10. This is exactly what mine did! Entire sheets would just fall off. My dark blue version started doing it on the evening of day 1, which sort of makes sense because you comment of the big difference in formulas.
    The matte effect really seems to be creating a problem, normally Essie stays so well on my nails.

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    1. It’s absolutely crazy! I’m wondering if the pale pink one would be different… I’ll have to try it next week. Thanks for your review that prompted me to pull these out or else they would have remained in my untrieds pile for months!

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  15. I love your website so much! I read a few of your reviews and I love how honest you are. A lot of people rave about specific more costly products but you don’t mess around. Just Stitched is such a pretty color too but three coats? Geez.

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  16. I love Coat Couture, that seems to be a very unique color! Might have to see if I can find that one.

    Too bad about the chipping though, that’s a little crazy that it came off in a sheet like that. I find Essie so hit and miss in terms of their formulas. Some are amazing and some are the crappiest polishes I’ve ever used in my life.

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    1. So true about the Essie formulas. I always wait until people review polishes before buying them but these, I feel in love with the colours in the bottles so I didn’t really bother looking up too much information on them. I hope these will work for you – I imagine they’re good polishes if someone just wears a shade for a day or two – the chipping didn’t happen until day 3.

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