Mint Green Nail Delight

Summer is fast drawing to a close & I have a confession to make; I’m not sad about it. I know, most normal people love the warm weather & blue skies (not that we get that much of either in the UK but we definitely get some from May-August). Personally I’ve never been a fan of hot weather; my condition makes me crave cool dark spaces as light, heat & noise make me hurt or more accurately, hurt more.

One thing I love about Summer though is the range of popping nail colours that turn up every year. The shade I’m reviewing today is from my recent Essence haul:

Essence The Gel Nail Polish in ‘Play with my Mint’ available in UK from Wilko.

I expected this shade to be a muted pastel kinda colour but as you can see it turned out to be much more vibrant. It was a really pleasant surprise! Muted pastels are lovely but this colour is GORGEOUS. It somehow makes me think of being abroad sipping ludicrously colourful cocktails. (Aside – warm weather in places like Cyprus, Spain Malta in August somehow doesn’t bother my brain so much, probably because in those places I’ve had air con to retreat to; in London I just melt into a breathless migraine puddle).

I applied two coats of colour & one of Essence Gel Top Coat. The two coats of colour were plenty enough to create totally opaque coverage; in fact it could probably be done with one coat but I prefer two thinner layers to one thick one that will take an age to dry & is susceptible to denting even after it’s touch dry.

The polish itself can be a little gloopy but nothing major. Essence polishes definitely need a top coat otherwise they start to fade gradually at nail tips; since most of us finish with a top coat anyway, this is no big deal.

The top coat was lovely & shiny and did what is was supposed to. There was a little colour transfer from nail to top coat brush but that did the nails no harm at all; I may get one of these top coats for different colour groups though, as I suspect that if the top coat were used over dark colours, then later over light ones, there could be some minor but annoying transfer (I’ve found this to be the case with top coats that cost 3 or 4 times what this one did). Since these top coats cost £2.50 each, with even cheaper ones also available from Essence, buying a couple won’t break the bank.

So, all in all I’m very impressed with this nail polish and the top coat. The mint green colour pops; I think it will suit not only fair skinned people like me but also tanned or darker skin. It’s just lovely. I recommend having nail polish remover on a cotton bud handy for tidying up small errors. When you were at school, did bored kids use their Tippex pen to colour in their entire nail? Well, if you leave errors with a shade like this and don’t correct them, you risk ending up with that kind of look? That’s not really specific to this brand, more to these types of shades. At £1.60 each, the Gel Polishes are a lovely way to try new shades without spending too much money.

What is your favourite shade to invoke a summery feeling?

Wishing you good luck and happy days,

Kindra x

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