
Today I have swatches of one of Dior’s Mitzah Bricard polishes – Camel is a pretty caramel-beige color. I’ve seen comments wondering if it’s close to Dior’s Safari Beige, which was just promoted with the Blue Tie Collection for Fall, so I compared them to find out.
The Mitzah Bricard polishes are part of a small, limited edition release inspired by Mitzah Bricard, a Christian Dior muse. I gather she favored leopard print. There are two polishes, Camel and a dark grey-brown called Ebony, that recalls leopard spots, and the collection also includes a beautiful and very expensive eye shadow palette printed in leopard print pattern. These offerings were released in Europe earlier this year, so I’ve been watching for them to show up. In the U.S., they appear to be exclusive to Sephora, at least for now.
The formula on Camel is just as expected for recent Diors-it’s pigmented and easy to control and took just two coats. It dries quickly and is easy to work with. Camel is a beautiful light beige with a golden-tan look. I have a lot of beige/tan colors, but nothing like this-the golden tones really set it apart. At the same time, it has a clean look and doesn’t start to get weird and mustardy or green. I found it wildly flattering, and also very cozy and nice for fall.

While I was wearing it I was reminded of those “nude” dance shoes that I wore in tap dancing classes – they are not exactly skin tone, but they’re a little close. Camel is not a nude, but it’s muted and elongates my fingers while still creating a definite nail.

I thought it might be close to Case Study, from Essie’s Fall 2011 Collection, and I’ve seen comments wondering how close Camel is to Dior’s recently promoted Safari Beige (which I reviewed here). In the picture below, Camel is on my index and middle fingers, Case Study is on my ring finger and Safari Beige is on my pinky. Case Study is also a darker beige color of about the same intensity as Camel, but when they are side by side you can see that Case Study if much more green than Camel. Safari Beige is really different from both of the others. It’s still part of the nude, mannequin hands trend and is a pinkish, light skintone beige. It also is more sheer and took three coats for this swatch, while Camel and Case Study only required two coats.

Camel is a beautiful color and I like that it was inspired by a bit of history from the House of Dior. When I put it on, I kind of see the Mitzah image, with her sequinned leopard print dress and really skinny eyebrows, which gives it a little something extra. You can check out the image of Mizah that’s included with the eye shadow palette on Cafe Makeup here. Camel is also a flattering color even setting aside the backstory, so I’m really happy with it. Camel and Ebony are up on the Sephora website now.
I love that Camel color but I’m so worried it will look awful on me. I see it’s really flattering for a lot of people, but I’m not too sure about me. ><
Camel is more yellow than most neutral/tan polishes, but it’s not too green, which I think should help it be wearable for a lot of people.