ABC Challenge "D" + TIOT: Julep Daphne & Elevation Polish Ama Dablam

Hi friendsies! (is that less lame than nailistas? Probably not.)

You maaaaaay have noticed but we have a new layout, it's sort of weird I guess but if anyone has any comments please let me know!

Anyhow! For this overcast, muggy TIOT (which also happens to be ABC Challenge "D" week) I had just gotten Elevation Polish Ama Dablam in my mailbox and really really needed to wear it. But that doesn't start with a D, you say! So I hunted through my spreadsheet and figured out which "D" named polish would work underneath, and settled on Julep Daphne. Daphne reminds me of Zoya Wednesday, but just not as nice. More on that later :/

It was also time for Round 2 of PVA Basecoat Fun. I found some Aleene's Tacky Glue in the back of my storage closet, and according to Duncan's site it's a water-based polymer emulsion. The bubbles in the below pic are totally my fault, guys, I tried adding some water to the glue and shaking it was a bad idea. Oops. Once the basecoat, polish and topcoat go on you can't tell, but Round 3 will be focused on eliminating the bubbles.

Drying time was about 10-15 minutes for both hands. The water in the glue made it sort of lumpy, I don't recommend this for even drying times. I followed the glue with Barielle basecoat, then Julep Daphne. I just don't like these colors on me. I love them in the bottle or on other people, just not me. Plus it had my usual complaint with Julep polishes, which is the runny + globby, crappy brush problem. I had to slap this on in 2 thick coats to get it to look OK. Like I said before the color reminds me of Zoya Wednesday but I like both the Zoya color and formula better.

I feel like my camera makes it look a little brighter and less green here than it really is.

After loading that up with SV I used tape to do angled Ama Dablam tips. AD is awesomeeeeeee. Elevation Polish describes it as being packed with micro multi-colored glitter, micro copper colored glitter, green teal square glitter, blue teal holographic hex glitter and copper colored round glitter. It makes me so happy to look at. Here are bottle shots of both, isn't that just amazing?

This is 2 coats of Ama Dablam brushed over the tips, I didn't need to place the glitter at all.

Julep polishes can be purchased at their site for $14. Elevation Polish announces her releases on her blog, but you can also check out her Etsy or their website. Unfortunately Ama Dablam is no longer available and will not be restocked, according to the preorder page, but her other polishes are gorgeous as well!

So far I see no difference between the glue basecoat and normal basecoat (and I've showered, washed dishes, etc. since last night) but I will follow up with removal either later today or tomorrow.

Has anyone else tried the PVA basecoat?

Thanks for reading!

 K x