A Classic: Essie Mint Candy Apple

When I first started getting big into polish, this was one of the first polishes I had to have. My boyfriend got it for me for my birthday along with China Glaze For Audrey and Essie Mademoiselle. I've used it in other posts and I have worn it on its own, I've just never given it its own blog post! I think it's about time :)











2 coats Essie Mint Candy Apple
1 coat Poshe

First and foremost, this polish is not "mint". I think the name is fairly deceptive in that manner. When frequently compared to For Audrey, For Audrey which is a "Tiffany blue" is actually more green than MCA because it's more turquoise. Don't let that be a deterrence from the color. It's still beautiful in its own right, just not what I would call "mint". All Lacquered Up has one of the most faulty photos trying to show the color. She's usually spot on (unfortunately I haven't seen her update her blog in quite a while), but her photo of MCA is definitely off. What I find is interesting is it seems like she got to try the polish before its release. I'm thinking this is what the original intent of the polish was to look like, but before it was released, they changed the color quite a bit making it not really mint at all. If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, click here for her blog post about MCA.

Anyway, onto the color. This is a beautiful bright light sky blue/robbin's egg blue creme. I kinda hate describing blues because they're SO various. But the important thing about this is the brightness and the lack of mint undertones.

The formula is eh. It's on the thicker side and is one of those that dries VERY quickly on the brush while you're mid-paint. I'd imagine it's far easier to use if you have shorter nails just because you'll be able to paint it down your nail before it starts to dry. It like seizes up. It's kinda annoying. It is also uneven. My recommendation for these types of polish is always to take it slow. The brush needs to rest in the bottle between nails and you can't do a ton of coats before re-dipping the brush. Take your time with it and it'll come out much better. If you try to rush, it's going to come out poorly and you'll just get frustrated. But this is such a beautiful color, and will especially make your hands look even tanner in the summertime because of the underlying brightness. It's definitely worth it despite the formula IMO.

Spring Flower Stamping

Gargantuan Green Grape is probably one of my favorite spring colors ever. I'd probably wear it more if the formula (quite honestly) did't SUCK so badly. I've already posted about it before because it really is like the prettiest spring green, but you've gotta be prepared when you apply this color just because it's sheer, patchy, and not friendly. Anyway, I was wearing it and decided to spring it up even more! This is what I came up with








I really love the full hand shot



And I wasn't sure if I wanted to add the dots to the center of the flowers, so here is what it looked like with just the stamping before the dots




Stamping with Bundle Monster plate BM224 using China Glaze Heli-Yum
Blue dots with OPI Fly
Yellow dots with Revlon Electric
Dots made using dotting tools