Starry Night

My cure to any bad day is to catch up on my DVR, pour a glass of wine, and paint my nails. So that's exactly what I did last weekend, using my new Essie LuxeEffects top coat, which I recently purchased from Target with my $1 off coupon (ain't no shame in using coupons, y'all). It turned out a little differently than I thought it would. Doesn't it look kind of whiteish, goldish in the bottle? Yet when applied, it has a pretty iridescent effect that ranges from pinkish orange to green, depending on how the light hits it. I'm excited to try this top coat on its own or with a lighter, pastel color. The great thing about this polish is that the glitter particles are very fine, so it doesn't chip as easily as other glitter polishes. Also, I'm hoping it won't be such a pain to remove.

(Essie LuxeEffects multi dimension top coat in "Shine of the Times" and Essie "Aruba Blue")

Sorry my cuticles look a little ragged. This picture is taken on Day 6 of the manicure. How do I get my manicures to last so long, you ask?

1. Start off with Orly Bonder Rubberized Basecoat.
2. Apply your regular polish in thin coats and wait for them to dry completely before applying the next coat. I generally use high-end polishes like Essie or OPI, and I think that probably makes a difference. I used two coats of the Aruba Blue for this manicure.
3. Finish off with Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. My favorite top coat was Nailene Acrylic Nails, but I think they must have stopped making it because I can't find it anymore. It worked just as well as Seche Vite, without the harsh chemical smell. (The Seche Vite bottle warns you not to use it if you're pregnant, so I wonder how many years I'm taking off of my life by using this stuff). Still, I like the Seche Vite pretty well.

You can get this base coat and top coat at Ulta, or somewhere else on the Internet, I'm sure.

Hope you guys enjoyed my first blog post! I'll make sure my mani is fresher in the next one.