Mid-week quickie

I've been so busy the last week with the start of school again! The kids in my class have been trickling in for their second and last year with me, and before that I spent two days setting up my classroom. That included A LOT of lifting. Meanwhile after school I've been preparing materials and projects for my class, writing up our monthly newsletter...anyone who thinks teaching Kindergarten is just singing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and coloring should probably try it for a day ;-)

But, as much as I do love my job and the kids in my class, all that hasn't left me with much time for a proper manicure.

However, this afternoon I played around with an ANNY polish I got recently.

To create this look, I started with a coat of Essie Protein Base Coat.

I then painted on two coats of ANNY One and Only, a smoky lavender creme. The bottle I'm holding in the photo is one of their minis, which I really like because they're sold individually and not in sets, so you can get a smaller bottle of a color you want to experiment with or that you know you won't use too often, but without committing to buying or storing a full-size bottle.

I added a coat of Catrice A Million Styles in Have an Ice Day (can you tell how much I love that topcoat?) for the ring finger accent nail.

I then applied one coat of Essie To Dry For as a topcoat.

The Essie base and topcoats aren't my favorites, even though I have them. I still love the staying power CND Stickey Base Coat gives me and the shine, protection and quick but thorough drying I get from Seche Vite. But I'm guessing I'll change this polish in another day or two, and the Essie base and top coats should be fine until then.

I'm looking forward to trying more looks with this shade. It's a softer color than it photographs as, not quite as dark. And like all the ANNY polishes I've tried it has a great formula and applies easily.

Thanks for visiting!