Essie Bouncer It's Me

The formula on Essie's neons tend to get a lot of hate. Heck, when I was buying Bouncer It's Me, the girl ringing me up even warned me that the bottle she owned had a terrible formula that made her not want to wear the polish again. But it's bright and it's blue, so...I had to have it. I slapped on a white base (OPI Put A Coat On!) and prepared myself for the worst.

The color itself is undeniably awesome, but sadly, it's true that the formula is all kinds of not-good. Where to begin? First off, this polish is extremely sheer and less-than vibrant on its own. A white base is essential if you want Bouncer It's Me to pop at all. But even with a white base, there's lots of streaking going on. I used four coats of Bouncer It's Me over Put A Coat On! and I still had visible streaks on my nails. The streaks are more visible in photographs than in real life, but either way, they're there. To top it off, the formula is also quite thin and runny. Blargh.

Still, I love the way Bouncer It's Me looks (minus the streaks). The color is a beautifully bright cobalt blue that has a shiny, squishy finish when coupled with a good topcoat. It really is an eye-catcher...but giiirrrlll, she is a hot mess underneath the pretty. While I don't regret buying it and I will still wear it again, terrible formula and all, there are other colors out there like this one that are much easier to apply.