This swatch post is very long overdue. I swatched the first shade of Essie’s Winter 2022 collection back in October 2022, but it took me until a month ago to finish swatching the last shade. What happened? I guess I fell completely out of love with this collection on the way, and just more interesting stuff came along! However, two years later, I’m finally ready to share my swatches of this collection with you.
Essie’s Winter 2022 collection consisted of six new shades. I originally posted about the collection over here. Since the store I bought them at did not carry the red shade (‘wrapped in luxury’), I only own the other five. Yes, at some point I definitely could have purchased Wrapped in Luxury too, but since I already own so many red Essie colors, I did not really feel like it.
The shades I got are called:
- Essie Carols & Caviar (a blackened grey with blue undertones)
- Essie Head to Mistletoe (a sage green with a refined pearl shimmer)
- Essie Not so silent night (a bronze metallic)
- Essie Sleigh it (a warm midtone grey with brown undertones)
- Essie Midnight Delight (a cognac brown with neutral undertones)
Essie Carols & Caviar
Essie calls Carols & Caviar a cool blackened grey with blue undertones, I also feel like there are a couple of drops of green in it. The formula of Carols and Caviar is very nice. In the picture, I’m wearing two coats, but you could get away with one coat. I’m personally really in love with this moody blue creme, it’s very edgy.
There are many shades out there that resemble Carols & Caviar, but still, I was a bit surprised that it was reasonably unique. Essie You’re a Natural is more blue, Essie Toned down is much lighter, and Essie Satin Sister contains more green.
I wasn’t done with my first round of comparisons, so I still compared Carols & Caviar to more shades. Essie After school boy blazer is a lot darker, Orly Midnight Oasis is actually surprisingly close, but contains a bit more green. Finally, OPI less is norse is more of a true greyed out blue.
Essie Head to mistletoe
If I’m being honest, if I would purchase this collection now, Essie Head to Mistletoe would be the only one that I would purchase. Head to mistletoe is a gorgeous green metallic with a very fine gold shimmer. I usually hate metallics because they are often very streaky, but Head to mistletoe is not that streaky at all.
The shade had a superb formula and was opaque in two coats.
Essie Not so silent night
Essie Not so Silent Night is bronze metallic. You will find shades like this every once in a while in Essie’s winter or fall collection. The formula of Not So Silent Night is definitely OK, and I ended up needing two coats for full opacity. For me personally, the reason that I wouldn’t buy this shade again is that it’s not super unique. I own Essie’s Leggy legend which I find similar but just a bit more interesting.
Essie Sleigh it
Essie Sleigh it is another moody grey in the collection. It’s definitely a very classy shade, but it can also be a bit boring. Just like the other shades in this collection it has a very good formula and was opaque in two coats.
I probably could have pulled out even more shades that are similar, but I gave up after three other colors. Essie Sleigh it is very similar to Essie Crochet away and Chanel Particuliere, but it contains a bit less brown and a bit more green. Side by side, OPI That’s what friends are Thor is not super similar to Sleight it since Sleight it is quite a bit lighter. However, That’s what friends are Thor definitely has similar vibes.
Essie Midnight Delight
Finally, the last shade that I own from this collection is Essie Midnight Delight. Essie describes it as a warm cognac, but it just reminds me of caramel. I did not like the color very much in the bottle, but I definitely liked it while wearing it. The formula was also very nice and it was opaque in two coats.
Again, this shade was not super unique in my collection. The color reminded me of OPI Spice up your life from OPI’s Spring 2024 collection, and although they are not exactly the same, they are definitely close. Other close (but not entirely the same) Essie shades are Essie On the bright cider and Essie Coconuts for you.
Final Thoughts & Availability
The fact that this collection took me so long to swatches probably already tells you that I was not too excited about this collection. Still, I really like the colors of this collection when they are all together. Just seperately, I have to admit that the colors are not too special or unique. As I said, the only one I would still purchase again is Head to Mistletoe since it’s very unique. For the other ones, you can definitely find dupes, even if you don’t try that hard.
As far as availability goes, the shades are already sold out in a lot of places but you can still find some of them over here on Amazon (affiliate link*). For most of the cremes in this collection you can easily find dupes in OPI’s or Essie’s permanent collection, so I wouldn’t be too sad about it if you’re not able to find these shades anymore.
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying sales.
