Work appropriate mani Monday: Not so appropriate shrinkage

Further to my last post where I exposed the Seche Vite "shrinkage" phenomenon, I thought I'd use this work appropriate mani Monday post to demonstrate more of this top coat travesty.

I originally did this mani back in May, but never published it, because, well, it's pretty obvious why. Look at those horrendous edges! The tip wear without any actual wear! These shots were taken maybe a couple of hours after I painted them. Seche Vite fail.

Seche Vite bottle image credit

A good example of a bad thing: this mani and Seche Vite. That's because I used white as my base coat before applying one coat of the olive green over striping tape. I have found that the shrinkage is much more obvious if you use a light polish as base coat under a darker polish because it tends to push itself through the top colour layer.

While the top coat shrinkage tragedy did indeed ruin this mani, I figured I should post it regardless, if only for educational purposes. I've since turned to Glisten & Glow's HK Girl top coat, which has all the same perfect quick-drying and glossy finish qualities of Seche Vite but none of that dreaded shrinkage. 

If we can forget about the horrendous shrinkage for a minute we can get back to the 'work appropriate' element of this post. I was inspired by my boyfriend's sweater, which he sometimes wears to work on casual Friday's. I think this look is simple enough and has a neutral earthy colour palette that is perfect for being at the office, but still being you (if you're addicted to nail art). What a nice sweater, huh? That's 'cause I bought it for him, from Banana Republic, hehe.

My kitties wanted to join in, claiming that their eyes matched the colour scheme.

Polishes used:
- OPI 'Uh oh roll down the window' (olive green creme)
- OPI 'Alpine snow' (white creme)