INM Out the Door vs. Julep Fast Drying Topcoat

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Hello there. I promised to give a comparison of Julep Fast Drying Topcoat and INM Out the Door (OTD) Fast Drying Topcoat, so here it is. Both topcoats are thin, almost watery (My bottle of OTD is a little thicker because I've been using it longer). They have a similar odor, although Julep's topcoat smells the slightest bit like skunk in the bottle, not on the nail.

The Julep brush holds a lot of polish, so it was necessary to wipe it off several times before applying it to the nail. I have a 2.5 oz bottle of OTD, so the brush is very long and hard to handle. I actually use an old Revlon topcoat bottle for OTD instead, because it is smaller and the brush is a little wider; I think it prevents the topcoat from thickening too quickly too.

Both topcoats were dry to the touch within 2 minutes. OTD seemed to cure against dents slightly faster than the Julep topcoat. The major difference between these two topcoats was in terms of shine. If you look at the pictures above, you can clearly see the window grille reflected in the nails painted with OTD, whereas you can only make out the shape of the window in the Julep coated nails.

Let me show you pictures of my nails after 4 days very tough wear (I actually broke 2 nails over the weekend). If you are sensitive to chippy nail polish, please read no further.

First, a disclaimer, that terribly chipped left middle finger was mostly the result of a silk patch falling off my nail. Overall, the two topcoats performed about equally in protecting the manicure from damage. That said, I will continue to use INM Out the Door Fast Drying Topcoat. If I need a bottle, I can just hop in the car and go to Sally's to pick one up and I love a shiny topcoat.

What is your favorite topcoat? What do you like about it?

My next manicure is China Glaze Optical Illusion. I'm wearing both topcoats again to see if there is any difference with the glitter, but I don't think I'll have anything to report on that front.

TARDIS Galaxy Nails

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Hello, readers. Tell me, are there any other Doctor Who fans out there? I've watched some of the old episodes and some of them are pretty good, but I am addicted to the series that came out in 2005, helmed by Russell T. Davies and now Steven Moffat. The most recent new episode aired on Christmas and the next season isn't due until this fall!

I needed some new Doctor Who and found it through looking at the little TARDIS on my ring finger all week. Strangely, it did soothe my longing. Let me tell you a little bit about the manicure.

I painted a base two coat of Wet n Wild Black topped with INM Out the Door Northern Lights. I then sponged nebulae on all of my fingers except the left ring finger using Wet n Wild White. I sponged over each nebula using three different polishes per finger and edged each nebula with Julep Melissa and Hard Candy Beetle. I dotted white stars all over my nails. Finally, I topped the entire galaxy mani with another coat of Northern Lights. I love that holographic topcoat! It really was the icing on the cake for the manicure's starry effect. Here is a video so that you can see the flashiness of the topcoat. It was a gorgeous day and it seems that everyone in my neighborhood was mowing their lawns, so I apologize for all the motor noise.

For my TARDIS accent nail, I painted the shape in white and topped it with Revlon Royal. Using a small nail art brush, I painted the windows, sign, and lights on the police box. I used a thin line of Revlon Midnight Affair to outline the corner and roof.

Ugh, was this a chippy mess! By three days in, I had about 5 noticeable chips that just kept getting bigger. If I hadn't worked so hard on the manicure, I would have removed this after four days (five days at the most). Wet n Wild Black will go back to being a stamping or dotting only polish.

I really love galaxy nails. It is a bit time consuming to create the manicure, but I think the results are worth the time investment. If you're interested in trying out galaxy nails, you can check out the same video tutorial that I used. Emerald Sparkled's video shows just how easy it is to create these celestial bodies. Have fun!

Have you done galaxy nails? If you have, I'd love it if you provide a link to photos if they're online. Doctor Who fans, how do you deal with the long absence of the Doctor between seasons?

If you have a moment, you might want to check out the awesome giveaway on Colores de Carol. The giveaway is great, but her blog is fantastic!

I'll be showing you some very subtle stamped nail art on Illamasqua Load next week. Have a good week.

~Alexis

Fresh Paint

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Hello, and welcome to "Mangling my Manicure." I plan to post information about my manicure after I have worn it for a week. I will include at least two photos of each manicure, one when it is new and (hopefully) beautiful and another photo once I have worn the polish for the full week or until my nails are chipped to the point that I can't look at them anymore.

Let me begin by telling you about the nail products that I will always be using. I wear one coat of Seche Retain. I am very fortunate to have strong nails, but I have never been able to grow them for a long time without a break. I started using Seche Retain last summer on the nail and under the free edge. My nails have become even stronger. There are so many times that I jam or catch a fingernail, feeling sure that it must have cracked, but most of the time the nail is still in great shape with a little chipped polish. The other great thing about Retain is that it is Big 3 free. As i recall, the other two treatments in that Seche line, Rebuild and Recondition may not be able to make that claim. I follow Retain with one coat of Orly Bonder Rubberized basecoat. I don't know if my nails are super oily, but without this basecoat, my polish will sometimes chip the very first day. Finally, I top my polish with INM Out the Door Fast Drying topcoat.

I'm excited to show you my first manicure. On my nails are 2 coats of Revlon Colorstay in Buttercup. This is my first time using any Colorstay polish, but I have been happy with several other Revlon nail enamels. The application of this polish was a little streaky, but it looked much better than I expected after the addition of a topcoat. I did have to add third coats of Buttercup to my thumbs to combat the streakiness. I really love the look of pale yellow polishes, but found that Sinful Nails Unicorn stained my nails pretty badly. I hope that this polish does not stain. I'll get back to you next week and let you know how well my manicure stood up to seed starting for my vegetable garden and other activities.

Before I sign off, I love A England's Dragon that was posted about on the Swatchaholic. Definite lust going on right now. Her photos show it off spectacularly. What colors are making your mouth water right now?