essie expressie now or never Review

Updated 2025.10.28. This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

A reliable black nail polish is a must-have in any nail polish collection. 

Black nail polishes are versatile Jacks of All Trades kinds of nail polishes.

They are handy in so many ways. 

Black nail polish can be used as a base for glitters, in a French Manicure on the tips, and many other forms in nail art, like stamping.

You can also wear them flat, for a clean, professional look. Remove all stereotypes from your mind about who wears black nail polish. You can wear one and wear it well.

The black range of colors available among nail polish lines are flattering on everyone and can give the hand a petite look, due to black’s natural minimizing effects.

now or never #380 from the essie expressie line, launched in 2019 with originally 40 colors, is a rich black nail polish designed to dry in a minute. 

It’s the black nail polish of honor today.

This polish creates a glitter-free high shine, giving it a glossy creme-like finish. 

When fully dried, now or never matches the appearance of that beautiful, patent leather sheen on tuxedo shoes, providing a very classy manicured look as a finished product.

It takes 2 full thin coats to be fully opaque, and both of these coats live up to their name, they do dry in less than a minute.

Speeding up the manicure process even more than the formula, the bottle comes with a wide-brush that’s bent at an angle.

Using the expressie bent brush (not pictured in this post) does take a short learning curve to use, but it’s worth it.

Where the bent brush really shines is when applying polish with your non-dominant hand. This is usually the most consuming and mistake-ridden part of the manicure process.

The angle allows you to get the edges of the nail more easily, and follow the curve of the nail bed, which is harder to do when you are painting with your non-dominant hand.

Since you can get these areas more easily with it, this angled brush saves time.

The formula and brush of essie expressie now or never #380 shaves time off your manicure, which is great to begin with, but wait there’s more - 

expressie also is an environmentally-friendly line.

All polishes from essie expressie are not made with animal products and are 8-free. 8-free means that expressie is formulated without: formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, xylene, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, dibutylphthalate, triphenyl phosphate.

Despite what it is formulated without, the formula itself pairs well with other essie formulas, like the base coat strong start and the top coat good to go. So, you can confidently use other essie products with this shade.

Now that we discussed the line and the formula itself, let's get to a few swatches of now or never.

Below are swatches of now or never from the essie expressie line:

Before we close out though, just for fun, let’s do a comparison with essie’s longest, most historic black, licorice.

essie licorice is a standard formula, not quick drying, but it is a beloved favorite and one of essie’s first shades ever.

Let’s take a look:

essie licorice VS expressie now or never

Comparatively, these two are nearly identical in their finished look. The main difference is that now or never is quick drying and it is designed to be worn without a base or top coat (though using both will increase wear time).

So which one is right for you?

If you’re looking for a classy black nail polish, but fast - now or never may be your best bet. That said, essie licorice doesn’t dry that much slower in the grand scheme of things and you can speed up dry time with essie speed setter’s top coat. licorice is also one of essie’s legacy shades, so if you’re interested in more of a time-tested classic that’s not going anywhere, essie licorice may be for you.

To create the swatches above, use these essie products:

- essie base coat strong start - essie expressie now or never - essie top coat good to go

Though now or never dries in less than a minute per coat, for best results, give yourself 3-5 minutes once your manicure is dry-to-the-touch to get going in other tasks requiring using your hands, to really let the polish fully set.

All in all, with this classy black nail polish, you’ll be out the door with manicured nails in less than 10-minutes.

It is also a rich black creme polish that is both stunning and elegant when worn. It creates a clean, chic look.

When you grab essie expressie now or never at Ulta, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Other Articles You May Enjoy:

• OPI Black Onyx Review (Plus essie licorice Comparison)

• OPI Black Onyx VS Lincoln Park After Dark

• essie wicked VS licorice

• OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Review And Swatches

As an Ulta Affiliate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.