ABC Challenge: F

Hello! Happy Sunday! It is so bright and sunny and beautiful here today - it really feels like Spring is here! In the spirit of things looking lighter, today's polish is a nice bright minty green: Essie First Timer!

This polish is easily the best formula I've ever had with an Essie polish. Essie has always been a bit of a hit-and-miss brand for me formula wise, so this was a wonderful treat! I read a tonne of reviews before giving in and buying this polish online (I swear by The Polishaholic's reviews - they are so good, so informative, and she's got a HUGE collection!) and I'm so glad to've found this colour with a great formula! I used two coats for these photos, but with a steadier hand, one would've done.

This ABC Challenge has given me a great chance to play around with different nail art techniques, and get a bit of practice in too. Sorry if you're getting sick of tape manis, but here's another one for you!

I used one coat of Sinful Colors Snow Me White for the base coat, and Essie First Timer on the accent nail. Then I used nail tape from BornPrettyStore.com to create the lines, polished over them (with First Timer and China Glaze Four Leaf Clover for the accent) and peeled the tape off. A coat of OPI Top Coat evened out the ridges (and smudged Four Leaf Clover - whoops!).

My first attempt at this was hilariously bad. I taped off all my nails at once, then polished over them all, then tried to peel the tape off. First Timer dried so fast that by the time I'd painted three nails, it was dry and peeled off with the tape. I sighed, removed the polish and started over. This time I taped off one nail at a time, slathered FT over the top and IMMEDIATELY peeled the tape off - MUCH better! Sometimes you have to try the wrong way to figure out the right one =P. 

I'm so proud of how long my nails are now! I don't think I've ever had nails this long, and certainly not for any length of time! I've been taking a biotin supplement and using a nail-strengthening hand cream, and it's truly made a difference. I've heard a lot of great things about OPI Nail Envy too, but it's too darn expensive here for me to use regularly =(. 

I'm super impressed with the formula and colour of Essie First Timer and expect to break it out frequently over Summer! Fresh minty greens like this get me every time... Do you have a favourite Summer shade? What brands are you skeptical about because their formulas are so inconsistent? Hope all you lovely people are smiling =D thank you for dropping in! ^_^