So, I wanted a mani that had a little more fun and flair to it to challenge the Gelous gel coat - I've had it on my toes for a couple of days now with one of Essie's new Resort Collection Shades, called "First Timer", a bright, soft kelly green. That'll get swatched soon. Another shade from this collection is called "in the cab-ana", a bright cerulean blue that makes you think of the cool clear caribbean waters. I'm super lucky for grabbing the last bottle. Sorry for the kinda crappy pictures, I took a long nap today and totally missed the daylight hours. This lighting gives a pretty nice portrayal of the color though. The formula was a little thick, and after 2 coats of the gel coat it really built up on my nail. But I can't say it hasn't lasted though. This picture was taken after a day of work, which usually chips at least 2 nails. No nicks on these babies!
This is 2 thick coats of "In The Cab-ana" over 2 coats of Gelous and topped with another coat of Gelous. The accent nail glitter you might recognize as OPI's "When Monkeys Fly" from the Oz The Great and Powerful Collection. I was able to place the large glitters curved side-down so as to prevent a too-bumpy surface and severe "taco-ing". The Gelous is a great top coat for heavy glitters and really smoothed out the surface too.
EDIT: Here's a better shot of "In the Cab-Ana" in sunlight *I've also applied OPI's "Last Friday Night" to the index finger* :
On my right hand I wanted to mix it up a little but wanted to keep the When Monkeys Fly accent nail, so here is "Cute as a Button"...it looks a little orangey in this light, but is definitely one of my favorite colors not just for spring/summer but for all year around. It's such a juicy dark coraly pink, with a smooth formula. 2 coats over the Gelous with a Gelous topcoat - you can see that A. I messed up my index nail somehow at work and B. My thumb is all yucky cuz I ran to the gym without waiting for them to dry properly last night...woops. Another coat of Gelous should fix that, though.
I'll be swatching "First Timer" soon, it's such a lovely grassy green, a good color for an easter mani :)
Happy Polishing!
-Maggie
