Mani Monday: Julep's (Damnit,) Janet!

When it comes to my nail polish, I naturally avoid most "feminine" or "girly" colors. I would prefer not to have to call colors terms like that, but I know that's what most people would understand. However, I try to branch out in the name of trying new things, and also keeping my Mani Monday posts interesting for my readers! This past week, I tried a nail polish that had amazing color payoff, but stunned me in its poor quality. Hence the title, as suggested by my friend Caroline.

This polish arrived in my March Julep box, and I wasn't very thrilled with it since it does fall under the color category I don't wear much. I finally got around to trying it last week, and was surprised at how much I liked the color once it was on. It's such a soft, pale peach. The polish, Janet, is a "soft focus finish," which means it dries to a semi-matte. Y'all know I can't handle leaving polish without a top coat, so I used Julep's Freedom Polymer Top Coat on top. I painted my nails Thursday night, and snapped these photos mid-day on Friday. I already could see minor chipping around the nail tips at this time.

I really don't enjoy chipped polish, so on Friday night I applied a chunky pastel glitter from Sally Hansen on top, and then applied another layer of the Polymer Top Coat. On Saturday, I worked at my retail job. This job is not tough on my hands or nails, so you can imagine my surprise when I looked down at one point and saw that my entire left ring finger was naked! The whole, solid piece of layered polish had popped off! What in the heck... I went about my business, only to later discover that my right pinky finger suffered the same fate! I don't think I have ever had this happen before. I really wish I had remembered to snap a photo for you to see how it looked like that! But you know me - I couldn't handle my tips looking like that so I immediately went home and changed my polish. Counting adding the glitter top coat, I technically painted my nails three times in under 24 hours...

I think that this happened due to the thick, chalky consistency of the soft focus style polish. I had thought that I applied it in pretty thin layers, but maybe I didn't! I'm also definitely going to try to wear this polish again, but use my trusty old Seche Vite polish instead of this Polymer business. I do like the color, and I thought it looked nice on my skin tone. 

Have you ever had polish just totally jump ship? What is your experience with these semi-mattes?

Polishes: 
Pastel Peach: Julep's Janet
Base Coat: Seche Vite
Top Coat: Julep's Freedom Polymer Top Coat