If you follow me on Twitter, you may have read my tweet a while ago gushing over the Essie Poppy-Razzi Collection. Anytime I hear about neon polishes being released, I get as excited as a carbonated beverage that’s been shaken vigorously.
Haha, I think that Essie Camera was competing with my camera (well, and my eyes, too), because while it looks coral in the bottle, it became tangerine on my nails!
While this caught me off-guard, thankfully I still ended up liking this colour a lot. (I don’t have too many bright oranges, so it was really fun to wear, especially on sunny days.)
Allow me to tell you more about this quirky lacquer!
Essie Camera Pictures
Sunlight
Flash
Natural Light
Sunlight
Flash
Natural Light
Essie Camera Ingredients
Essie Camera Swatches
All swatches have:
- Seche Clear Crystal Clear Base Coat
- 3 coats of Essie Camera
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Sunlight Photos
Flash Photos
Natural Light Photos
Claim: TRUSTED
√ Neon red pink (This claim is true of the bottle colour. But the colour on my nails was more orange.)
Key Notes
- Name: Essie Camera
- Collection: Essie Poppy-Razzi Collection 2012
- Colours Available in the Essie Poppy-Razzi Collection: Lights, Camera, Action & Bazooka
- Amount: 13.5 mL (0.46 fl. oz.)
- What I Paid: Nothing! (This was provided by Natali Products.)
- Where to Buy: Trade Secrets, Natali Products (if you’re a licensed industry professional), and select spas & salons
Essie Camera Review
Colour
Although that Judy Garland song called Get Happy was way before my time, I’m very familiar with it because my father was a music lover, and he played lots of songs from the 1950s and 1960s. (He passed away in early 2010, which is why I say that he ‘was’ a music lover. I bet he’s blasting his favourite Elvis songs up in heaven right now.)
Get Happy has lyrics and a melody that certainly make you feel happy: “Forget your troubles. Come on, get happy! You better chase all your cares away. Shout Hallelujah, come on, get happy! Get ready for the judgement day!”
Essie Camera is the kind of polish that I can picture dancing to such a song. (Yes, I sometimes picture polishes dancing. Continue reading the words of a crazy person…haha!)
Essie Camera is a bright coral in the bottle, however, on my nails, it definitely looked like tangerine because of my yellow undertones, I’m guessing. It’s such a happy-go-lucky shade that’ll bring a smile to your face and that reminds me of eating orange Popsicles in the backyard in the summertime.
While it doesn’t burn your retinas like my beloved China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy in terms of brightness, it’s still a brazen shade that’s sure to attract attention!
Finish
A lot of neons I own tend to have a matte finish, and you need to use a shiny top coat. However, Camera by Essie took me by surprise – it’s a neon jelly! What does that mean? It has a ‘squishy’ look to it, and when you put a top coat over it, it looks ridiculously shiny!
Application & Formula
Since it’s a jelly polish, it’s more translucent than a creme polish. I used 3 coats, and as you can see, there’s still VNL (Visible Nail Line).
When it comes to jelly polishes only, visible nail line doesn’t bother me. However, if it’s not your cup of iced tea, feel free to layer it over a white nail polish. Also, if you do this, the neon will pop even more.
Pros
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Cons
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Final Verdict: 8/10
Camera by Essie is exactly the kind of shade that reminds me of the summer and the sunshine! It’s a spirited hue that is refreshing for me since I don’t own too many oranges.
Although I wish that this polish was actually a coral like it looks in the bottle and even though it’s not the brightest neon I’ve ever worn, I still very much enjoyed sporting this manicure! 😀
Have you tried any polishes from the new Essie Poppy-Razzi Collection? Have you tried layering neon polishes over something other than white?
Nice!
i follow you on bloglovin, follow me back? xx
Hey Laura!
Glad you like it, and thanks for following me on bloglovin’. 🙂
How surprising that it looks more tangerine on your nails! I love that it’s bright but not retina searing. It would definitely be a bit more wearable for those who shy away from bright, in your face neons. (I’ve missed reading 22 posts so I’m sloooowly working my way back, lol!)
Carmela recently posted: First Ever Birthday Month Giveaway!
Hey Carmela!
I know, right? That was very unexpected. Even the polish inside the bottle looks like the bottle colour. But then, as if by magic, it turned orange on my nails! How did that happen? 😛
Good point about this being less intimidating for people who are shy when it comes to neons. Maybe this is a good gateway neon polish. Hehehehhe! 😉
Wow, Carmela! I logged into my admin and saw all your comments. Now I need to roll up my sleeves and reply. Thank you so much for being a long-time supportive reader and such a great friend as well! 🙂
Gateway neon polish – I like that idea! I just recently converted one of my sisters in law to nail polish and she’s quickly taken to it. She’s very conscious of wearing “age appropriate” colors though so I keep encouraging her to try new ones that she might end up liking. This would be perfect to have her try!
It’s the fun writing style (and awesome anecdotes), honest reviews and accurate swatching photos that keep me coming back. Okay, Hammie says Cheshire Cat, too. 😉
Carmela recently posted: Nail Art Wednesday: I’ve Got Beach (Waves) on the Mind Nails
Haha, it’s only a matter of time before we convert EVERYONE! 😉 Evangelical nailphiles…haha!
Aww…thanks so much for the kind words. 😀 And the Cheshire Cat is very fond of Hammie, too. He keeps wanting to invite him over for dinner, but Hammie’s scared for some reason. Hehhehehehe! 😉
Wow! That color looks beautiful! But I would have expected it to come out more coral-y, do you think it’s because of the amount of coats or does it just look different inside of the bottle?
Hey Kiara!
Wearing Essie Camera was like pulling a rabbit out of a hat! Haha! 😛
Inside the bottle, it looks very much like the bottle colour. It was only when I painted it on my nails that it ended up orange. It must be my yellow undertones. (Even with 1 coat and 2 coats, it looked orange on me.) Not sure…but I’m going to look at other bloggers’ swatches of it to see if this has only happened to me or not.
Hi Mary,
Thanks for the reply! I’ve been looking forward to your email 🙁
When you said “pulling a rabbit out of a hat”, I had a really awkward images flash through my mind … :S
Haha, “Inside the bottle, it looks very much like the bottle color”, you make me laugh soo hard I cannot explain! I really do find that annoying though when I’m imagining a color based on the bottle and it turns out different but either way it’s a beautiful color. The only situation that I would complain would be if I only bought a color based on the uniqueness of it inside the bottle.
<3 <3 <3 Kiara
Oh yeah, I did get your e-mail in reply to mine. I’ll reply to your second e-mail soon. 🙂 Sorry about the delay. Things have been pretty hectic (as usual). And, by the way, thanks for thinking to ask me my opinion on your exciting new project!
I absolutely will not make a stop at Walgrens for this on the way home….but it’s SO pretty!! Jelly finish? yikes…not helping. It’s so bright! (again not helping) Am I the only one both amazed and thrilled by the fact that Essie really appears to be making a concentrated effort to move away from it’s ‘neutral’ image?
Come to think of it, Walgrens IS on the way home….quick right turn in and another to leave….hmmmm
Hey karen!
Haha, I just love how you talked yourself into hitting up Walgreens for this baby! 🙂 Hope you love it! (I can hear the screeching tires from here! :P)
And, YES, I’m also excited that Essie continues to break away from their conservative colours. I think they’re realizing that so many customers are embracing the change and are willing to experiment with bolder hues.
It has to be said that this post hold everything that I love about your blog:
* Honest review and great polish description as well as fantastic polish photos.
* character, personality, and soul… the bit about your Father really touched me. Mary you truly are an incredible Person! I hope you know that, and I will keep telling you that!
* humour! 😀 which leads me to saying thank you for sharing the love and sending me a bottle of this polish! I cannot wait to try it!!!
I can’t believe it leans this orange on you… I wonder what it will do on me… the swatch on the nail wheel has me super duper excited…
I’m an exploding can of diet Sprite 😉
Hey Marta!
I got a little teary-eyed reading your comment. It never ceases to amaze me how we went from being strangers to being fellow nail bloggers to being good friends. I feel very lucky/blessed that someone so thoughtful is part of my life. Your comment reinforces the fact that despite devastating things that happen to us in life, there will always be good people in the world who help us rise up and overcome obstacles that inevitably get thrown at us.
Haha, when I bought 2 bottles of Essie Camera, a woman asked me why I was buying so many of the same colour. 😛 She just didn’t understand the power of bright polish. 😛 (I’m also curious to see if it leans orange on you as well.)
Hehe…diet Sprite! 😉
So funny because the same thing happens to me! So upsetting because I really like corals but I expect them to look like the bottle. Recently it happened with Essie Ole Caliente…way more orange on my hand…I kept staring at the bottle …like huh? I noticed the Formula change color as it dried. So, I am looking now for a pinky red coral that has no orange! Haha…then it’s not a coral?! All I can say is that I have tried several of these corals and I think it is just the formula sometimes.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I have been obsessed with finding a neon pink red! Kind of like ChG Roae Among Thorns but not…, but I found an awesome one in Claire’s called Funky/Fabulous (Mood Changing Polosh) the neon without the color change is awesome. I say no color change because really I dn’t experiment with sticking my hand in cold water. Only problem is that it chipped like crazy…I think it was the base coat, so need to try it again.
Hey Joyce!
Yay for finding the colour you’re looking for! 🙂 Love when that happens. I hope that you can figure out a good base-and-top-coat combination to prolong your manicure.
Hey Joyce!
Okay, so at least I’m not the only one. But the strange thing is that this is the first time a coral has ever turned orange on me. But at least the tangerine was still very pretty and summery! 😀
Hi Mary, thanks for the great pictures and the detailed description. Camera did the same on my nails, I used Essie Ridge Filler as a base which normally neutralizes my yellowed tips, so I don’t know…. But frankly, I like the tangerine even better 🙂
Hey Christine!
You’re welcome! It was my pleasure. Thank you for the encouragement! 🙂 Really motivates me to continue when I hear from sweet readers such as yourself.
Okay, good to know that I wasn’t the only one with ‘magical powers’ to transform a shade once it touched my nails. Hehehe! 😉