For the love of the jelly sandwich...

Okay I admit it, I've never been a fan of jelly polishes. For those of you that don't know, a jelly polish has a transparent consistency. On the nail it looks a bit like jelly... there's color, but it's see through, and it's kinda shiny and squishy. My first jelly was Essie Marshmallow. That was back before I realized what different types of finishes there were and I have to say I HATED that polish for the longest time. I couldn't master it... it was streaky and never built up to full opacity. I don't like being able to see my nail line so I used like 5 coats. It was just awful. So it went in the polish drawer for like a year and a half. 

Fast forward to the time in my life when I started discovering nail blogs and learning about all things nail polish. I started seeing these manis called "jelly sandwiches" and they were incredible! But I couldn't find any explination or definition of what they were. After much searching and asking stupid questions I found out that a jelly sandwich mani is simply a mani that sandwiches a glitter polish between a couple of coats of jelly. Oooooh.... that made sense. And they are great! But, I never really tried one until one fateful day a couple of weeks ago when the lovely Amy McPolish on Instagram decided to do a giveaway. (Go check out her Instagram, trust me she's amazing.) She reached 2000 followers and decided to do a giveaway with "I Love Jellies" as the theme. So, I decided to get on board and enter a few times. Now you should keep in mind that since I discovered what this jelly sandwich thing was I bought a couple more jellies but hadn't played much with them. 

When Amy posted this giveaway I decided it was time to give a few a try. I knew I had a few amazing glitters that would work well, and I've got a handy dandy macro lens for my iphone that I absolutely love. So I went to work. 

First up is OPI I Theodora You with OPI Polka.com sandwiched in between.

Second is one that I did with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, then Lush Lacquer Freckles, then Essie Marshmallow. 

And last but certainly not least is my quadruple decker jelly sandwich. I used OPI Don't Burst My Bubble and OPI Lights Of Emerald City. One coat of DBMB, one coat of LOEC, one coat of DBMB, one coat of LOEC, and topped it with DBMB. This one was my favorite. 

All three of these manicures are topped with Glossy Glam from Just Ricarda on Etsy. My very favorite topcoat ever. Yeah that's right, I said it. It's hundreds of times better than Seche Vite, my former favorite quick dry topcoat. Go check out her store here, buy yourself a bottle. Trust me, you won't be sorry. All the glassy shine of Seche but without the shrinkage and scuffing/scratching. Yeah, it's that good. 

So what do you all think about jelly sandwich manicures? I love them. I'm wearing one now that I will post tomorrow. :) 

Talk to you soon!

~casey

**All polishes in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use.**