Manicure Monday: School Spirit

Last Friday was school spirit day at the elementary school where I work.  Our feeder high school (where my students will eventually attend) was having their annual homecoming parade and it runs past our school so all the kiddos get to watch the parade from the street.  The high school's colors are royal blue and white so we all wore the colors and I decided to make my nails blue and white too.  I wanted something simple that wouldn't take up a lot of time, as I was starting to not feel so hot.  It turned out, I have a head cold.  I spent most of my weekend on the couch resting.

I decided to do a royal blue base with white crackle on top.  Quick, simple, and fit the color scheme.  However, I was less than pleased with the results.


I started out with what I've been using as my base coat as of late: Nutra Nail Strenghtener.  I followed with two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue It.  I love these polishes!  Every shade I've tried from this line applies like a dream in two coats, has a great dry time that is neither too fast nor too slow, has a great brush that's easy to use... I could go on but I won't.  The only exception with this shade was that I could have gotten away with one coat but I wanted to be sure it was opaque on every finger in every lighting.  What an easy polish to work with!  I looooooove this shade and it reminds me of a new blue car!  Check out the close up for a view of the gorgeous, yet subtle shimmer.

Next, when that was dry, I added a coat of Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat in Snow Blast.  It fit the color scheme but I just think I'm over crackle polish.  I love crackle when I like the actual color of the crackle but in this case, I felt like it just ruined the manicure.  The blue was so stunning on its own and this dumb white crackle just covered it up.  Blah.  I have a few crackles that I like but I think in general, I'm over this trend.

Lastly, I topped it all of with a coat of Seche Vite.  I guess if there is a silver lining to this ugly manicure, it would be that it lasts really well.  I painted these Thursday night and by Sunday it was just beginning to chip and the chipping isn't noticeable at all because of the crackle.  I'm still over it though.  Off it comes and something new will be put on instead.