Finger Paints: A Tale of Two Teals

Teal is one of the few colors I usually overlook. I'm not sure why that is. I have decided it's actually a really beautiful color and it looks nice with my skin tone.

I picked up a bottle of Finger Paints: Avante Garde Green and some matching glitter: Art You Wondering? for a teal mani. I couldn't decide what design to do, so as usual, my hands look different....

Bokeh nails holding Finger Paint's Art You Wondering?

Finger Paint's Avante Garde Green

These pictures made me realize two things:

1) My cuticles are very dry, so I'm doing an experiment.
2) I need to try to take less blurry pictures!

The Avante Garde looks like a teal metallic in the bottle, with an almost holographic quality and undertones of purple.

When I put on the first coat I was horrified. It was an ugly, dull gray metallic color that looked nothing like the color in the bottle. It was streaky and magnified any minute imperfections on my nails. I would definitely NOT recommend wearing only one coat of this, unless you want to look like you have some kind of fungal growth. Yuck.

One coat vs. three coats. Is that even the same polish?! (Please excuse my french tip peeking through there. Old acryllics. It does show how sheer one coat is, though.)

The second coat really made this polish! I couldn't believe the difference one coat made. However, now that I know this about the polish it makes it more fun to paint with it for some reason. Maybe because it's like the ugly duckling turning into a swan.

Teal nails and comfy pants!

Overview of Formula:

• You will definitely need more than one coat. Plan on using 2-3, depending on thickness of application.
• This polish is thick enough to stamp with.
• This polish is a glossy metallic.
• This polish takes a little longer to dry, but that might be because of how I applied it.
• It highlights imperfections.

Onto the glitter. Art You Wondering? looks exactly the same in the bottle as it will on your fingers, provided you use 2-3 coats. It is a beautiful shimmering jewel-tone teal. It reminds me of a color a mermaid princess would wear. The glitter sparkles in turquoise, teal, and a touch of kelly green. It really is a beautiful polish. It has a lot of dimension once you put it on, appearing to have more depth than many other glitters I have used.

The glitter is finely cut and set in a clear base. While one coat will give you non-opaque glitter coverage, if you're going for a lighter look, this probably is not the polish for you.

The glitter is much more sparkly in person.

As is the case with most glitter polish, it can be a little trying to remove if you don't hold acetone or remover on your nail Deborah Lippmann style. (Make sure you press hard and push from the base of your nail out when you do this, by the way.)

Thumb and middle: 1 coat; Index and ring: 3 coats; Pinky: 3 metallic/2 glitter
No topcoat.

Overview of Formula:

• If you only want partial coverage/light glitter (light..glitter? Is that an oxymoron? Maybe for me.) one coat should be sufficient. If you want opaque glitter, you will need to use 2-3 coats.
• Fast drying and a fairly smooth surface for a glitter polish!
• I would not recommend stamping with this polish. If you are able to stamp something amazing with it, please show me!
• It is a very beautiful glitter with a nice sheen, even without a topcoat.

Happy Painting!