The Daily Varnish

Essie gave me a scare. After trying Shake Your $$ Maker from their Summer 2013 DJ Play That Song neon collection I was worried the entire collection was going to be a bust. Luckily, DJ Play That Song has eased my worries.

DJ Play That Song is a bright plum creme (or, as Essie describes it, the jam-iest neon plum….seriously). I absolutely love the color. It reminds me alot of Nina Ultra Pro Punki Purple. While it’s bold it’s not super neon. It’s a great way to ease into neon polishes.

The formula, for a neon, is wonderful. It’s opaque and streak free in three coats. Essie recommends layering neons over a white polish. I did that using Ulta Snow White (there is a swatch below the jump) but it’s completely unnecessary with DJ Play That Song. The difference is minimal and I actually prefer it alone.

Neon polishes can be a bit difficult to photograph. My swatches of DJ Play That Song by itself are accurate but the one over white would not photograph correctly. The pictures I took with my phone and posted on twitter are very accurate. You can see those here and here (this one is over white).

This collection is currently popping up in stores. If you haven’t seen a display in your area yet you should be seeing one soon.

Make sure to check out the additional swatches below the jump

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Oh Essie Midnight Cami. I’ve had such a long, turbulent love affair with you. Sometimes you are my favorite Essie polish of all time. Then other times you aren’t even my favorite polish from the Cuddle With Color collection, that goes to Angora Cardi. Sigh.

Originally from Essie’s Fall 2009 Cuddle With Color collection, Midnight Cami is a deep navy packed with shimmer. The color is gorgeous but very dark. Darker than it looks in the bottle. In most lights it’s going to look black, though I still content slightly less harsh than a straight black polish.

Application is good. I tend to have a bit of a drag issue with Midnight Cami so I have to use 3 coats to even that out despite the fact it’s opaque after 2 coats.

As with most polishes in the color range, Midnight Cami will stain! Make sure to use a base coat and avoid your cuticles when applying the polish.

This is one of those nail polishes I either wear constantly or it collects dust in one of my Melmers. Recently, I haven’t been able to stop wearing it! The main reason I tend to avoid this polish is the messy removal process. I do find using my nail polish removal method prevents this polish from staining my cuticles when removing it but no matter what base coat I use it does stain my nails. At least a little bit.

Rimmel Midnight Blue is a dead on dupe of this polish and I find it stains less.

Below the jump there are comparison photos of Rimmel Midnight Blue and Midnight Cami along with additional swatches of Midnight Cami (including a swatch in the sun!).

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Before this post can be read this song must be playing in the background.

Seriously. I’ve had that song stuck in my head for DAYS thanks to this nail polish! And I don’t even really like it!

Ok, moving on to the nail polish. Shake Your $$ Maker (which I still think is super strange to see on the bottom of an Essie bottle…) is from Essie’s Summer 2013 DJ Play That Song neon collection. Apparently neon collections for summer are becoming a thing for Essie (last summer they released a neon collection called Poppy-razzi).

I’ve seen 2 different displays for this collection. A smaller display that seems to only be at drugstores as well as a larger display at Ulta. Shake Your $$ Maker is available from either display.

Shake Your $$ Maker is a medium green creme neon with a jelly look to it. This polish is neon in the sense that it dries to that weird semi-matte finish but it’s not very bright (despite the fact that Essie calls it an “electric green”).

In my swatches I used 3 coats and as you can see, the smile line is very visible. So much so that I’m willing to say I do not like this polish alone. For those with shorter nails or those who don’t mind the visible smile line 3 coats will be perfect.

Essie recommends using neon polishes over a white base so I tried that hoping it’d make this polish wearable. I applied 2 coats of Shake Your $$ Maker over 2 coats of Ulta Snow White and while I like the color that creates Shake Your $$ Maker is far too streaker to work well over a white base.

If you’re looking for a neon green polish petites Wicked! is a better (and cheaper!) alternative. If you’re wanting to try a new green from Essie I highly recommend First Timer!

Just a note regarding the name; I hate it. Essie should have just gone with Shake Your Money Maker or Shake Your A$$!

Overall not a great experience. I also have DJ Play That Song from this collection so hopefully I have better luck with that polish.

There are additional swatches below the jump. Including Shake Your $$ Maker over a white base.

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