Minty Mocha

This should have been yesterday's post but the computer would NOT cooperate with me. Yesterday was a crazy day at work and then on top of it Photoshop kept shutting down so I couldn't crop and watermark the pictures of the bottles. THEN my camera had sooo many pictures on it (98% nails) I couldn't get the ones I wanted uploaded on my work computer. It was just not a good day. Today though should be better!

This mani reminded me of mint hot cocoa and now I want some. These are the three friends I chose for this mani. The first one I received in a swap and know nothing about other than it is a Faceshop polish and it's gorgeous. It is so shimmery and minty. I have no idea where to get these but I would love more. I also used China Glaze Re-fresh mint and Essie Mochacino.

I had yet to try any of these colors and thought they would look great together. I had been lemming Mochacino since Essie went retail and just recently bought it when I had some register rewards from Walgreens. Love the shimmer in it but like my other Essies it was pretty thin.

Re-Fresh Mint is such a pretty pale mint color and I love it. It is very springy and applied really well. I had no problems with this polish and rarely do with China Glaze. They are one of my favorites. It is part of the Up and Away collection. I love the movie UP and several of these polishes. I think I am going to have to break down and get the rest of the collection. So cute! I think I will be watching Up again soon too, I love Doug!

I started off with two coats of Re-fresh mint to make it all even and opaque. The first coat was a little streaky and uneven but it was fine with two coats. I then added one coat of the shimmery Faceshop polish. It looked so pretty. I wish my camera was better and I could show you a more up close image of the finish. I will definitely pair the two for another mani.

I wanted to do a tape mani with these colors because I couldn't think of any other way to put them together. I cut little strips of tape and placed them on the nail where I wanted them. You have to make sure the polish is pretty dry before you do this or you will totally ruin the base. I have done that numerous times when I was too impatient to wait. Doing one nail at a time is also important. It makes it easier and you can't let the polish dry with the tape on there or it is not coming off willingly. I love doing these tape manis because they look so nice and they are relatively easy to do.

I decided to do each nail a little different. This was partially intentionally and partially just because I couldn't pick a design. Random tape placement was pretty much all that I did.

After the tape is on the nail I put a thick coat of Mochacino on there and immediately pulled off the tape.

I did one nail at a time and then when I was done with the hand I topped it with Seche Vite and moved on to the next hand. I did make both hands as similar as I could.

I did this Mani Thursday and I think it was the Gelous or the thickness of all the coats but by yesterday morning it was lifting off the tips of my nails. Not chipping but it would have peeled right off had I wanted to help it. I spent the entire day pushing it back down at the tips. I was going out to see Jersey Boys last night and didn't have time to redo my mani before we had to leave. Jersey Boys by the way was awesome if you like that kind of thing. I love that music and enjoyed it greatly. My mani however had a small chip by the time I got back home. It was still lifting and I resisted peeling as long as I could. My pinky nail however just peeled right off in one sheet.

I didn't wrap my tips so I can't say for sure if it is the Gelous, not wrapping my tips or the thickness of all the coats. It was probably a combination of both. We will see with the next mani. I am going to use the same Gelous/Growing Nails with Garlic duo but I will wrap the tips. Hopefully that helps.

That's all for now :)