Well hi there!
How have you all been doing?
I'm sick as a dog with an infection of the upper respiratory system: bronchitis and laryngitis! Isn't that fun! A lot of people were sick and I guess I got contaminated by somebody in the tramway...I remember a charming lady coughing her lungs out last week...
Anyway, I need to rest and do some inhalations etc. This is the second time I'm sick since work/uni started after my summer break and I'm fed up of being stuck at home. Haven't been able to get out of my home since Tuesday, the day I fainted at Uni and my teacher actually had to carry me down 3 flights of stairs! Very Victorian heh? Pass me my smelling salts will you please :)
Anyway, I'm rambling on so let's get back to today's matter: Essie's Geranium, a vibrant almost shocking red creme/jelly polish.
As much as I dislike geraniums as flowers, I love the color of this polish. You see gerniums everywhere in Switzerland. It's almost like a national flower. In the mountains everyone has them on their terraces and window ledges. You can see them everywhere in the Swiss german part of the country too, from houses to gardens, passing by official buildings and cemeteries. Geranium overdose if you get my point!
This polish needed 4 coats in order to be opaque and you can still notice the nail line. You all might know I'm a bit anal about VNL. Wish this polish were more opaque because I really dislike having to apply 4 coats. Next time I'll layer geranium over an opaque skintone polish to avoid the 4 coats. Otherwise the formula was fine. I doesn't dry very quickly but at least it isn't thick and goopy.
I then applied 1 coat of China Glaze's Fast forward topcoat, but it was taking forever to dry so I added a layer of Sèche Vite, which I shouldn't have done because it obviously made my polish shrink...
I'm getting fed up of Sèche Vite and need to find a remplacement. Any suggestions? I mean I really like the fact that it dries and smoothes polish almost instantly, but I cannot stand the shrinkage.
What about you, have you ever tried geranium?
Photo 1: Natural lighting (shade, midday)
Photo 2: A typical chalet in Grimentz (photo credit: http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/23320033.jpg)
Photo 3: Natural lighting (shade, midday)
Photo 4: Photo credit: http://a34.idata.over-blog.com/2/09/75/92/F11458J.jpg
Photo 5: Artificial lighting, no flash.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
Swiss Kiss! (nothing to do with the French version, just a peck on the cheek!)
The chalet looks so beautiful! I wish I were there! Seche Vite only works wonders when applied to very wet polish. If you let your color dry even a little, you get shrinkage and it'll come off in one sheet the next day. I had that problem. Polish your nails and immediately do the Seche. It may help! Just found your blog from a scrangie comment. Am a new follower. I hope the fact that I'm doing a giveaway doesn't preclude you from checking out my blog?!?
ReplyDeleteThat polish is gorgeous and so is the chalet! I don't have mch of an issue with shrinkage with Seche. I personally find that I get less shrinkage when I wait a couple minutes so that the polish isnt extremely wet, but if you touch it, it has that sticky feel. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat is another top coat I use, especially when I'm doing stamping. It's a lot thinner than Seche. The only thing about that top coat is that after the first couple days, you will start to see a little cracking, but not enough to make the polidh chip off.
ReplyDelete@Fingers: Thanks for your comment! I just checked out your blog and love what you write, you are very funny and seem like a really nice gal :)
ReplyDeleteAbout chalets, they are great, cozy and all, but I couldn't live in one all year round; I'd suffer from some kind of Swiss postcard syndrom or something like that! Thanks for your Sèche Vite tip but now I'm a bit confused, another lovely blogger (Something Polished) told me to wait a bit before applying Sèche... I'll try both, but I think it really has to do with which polish you use it over. Will test a few. Anyway, I wanted to post a list of polishes that shrink with Sèche but haven't had the time yet...
@Something Polished: Hi, how are you? Uni going ok?
Thanks for your tip, but as I wrote above, I'm a bit confused now... I'll try both techniques and will let you ladies know :)
j'adore ce rouge ! je ne l'ai pas encore dans ma collection !!
ReplyDelete@Lilynail: Il est effectivement magnifique mais pas assez couvrant à mon goût, j'ai du appliquer 4 couches et on voyait encore le bord blanc... La prochaine fois j'appliquerais un vernis nude ou blanc en dessous pour éviter le calvaire des multi-couches.
ReplyDeleteSO gorgeous! I just picked Geranium up today :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a great color. I hope you enjoy it!
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