This or That: Mint Green Nail Polish (Essie Mint Candy Apple vs Wet n' Wild I Need a Refreshmint)

Hey guys! I'm back in action after an exhausting but productive exam series.  Since I am feeling in a very summery mood, I've got two nail polish blog posts for you.  This one will compare two mint green shades and the next post will compare two coral shades, since mint and coral are the colors to have this summer!

I'm comparing Essie's Mint Candy Apple with Wet n' Wild's I Need a Refreshmint.  These are two of the most popular colors in the stores right now, and let me tell you, it was a pain to find both!

Even though Mint Candy Apple is part of the regular line and not a seasonal shade, I must have struck out a good 10-15 times before finally spotting one lone bottle at my Walgreen's.  There are slots for this at Walgreen's, CVS, Wegman's (for you north easterners!), Target, and Walmart.  I'm sure there are others stores as well, but these are the ones I've personally checked.

Wet n' Wild's I Need a Refreshmint is a seasonal shade.  This means it's even trickier to find.  I ended up ordering it from drugstore.com during a 30% off all beauty items sale.  I also used Ebates, which I've posted about before, to get 6% cash back on that haul, which was awesome. Combine all that with the lower price tag on Wet n' Wild polishes compared with Essie polishes, and this one is a real winner if you're pinching your pennies.

COLOR

This
Mint Candy Apple is the quintessential mint green.  If you're looking for true mint green, stop reading here are start looking for this color.

That
I Need a Refreshmint is named as a mint green, but in truth, it's a bit off of mint green.  It has a hint of blue to it and it is not quite as bright as the Mint Candy Apple.  However, this color is still right on trend for spring, and for those who are not keen on wearing super bright colors, this color represents a toned-down version of mint green.

BRUSH

This

The Essie brush is small and flexible.  It is easy to maneuver, but I find that it contributes to some of the streakiness of the shade because you have to go over the nail many times in order to get a consistent coat.

That

The Wet n' Wild brush is huge! It looks a lot like the Sally Hansen Complete Manicure polish brush.  It is wide and wonderful, in my opinion.  I prefer big brushes like this because it takes less strokes to get the nail completely covered.  I think this brush is easier to work with and contributes to more even coverage.

APPLICATION

First coat. Mint Candy Apple is on top, and I Need a Refreshment is below.

This

Mint Candy Apple applies a bit streaky.  I expect this with lighter colors, but I think the small brush really contributes to this because of how many times you have to go over the nail.  I think that even with my fairly small nails, I had to apply a thicker, gloopier coat in order to get even coverage on the first coat.  The second coat covers up this streakiness, though.

That

I prefer Wet n' Wild's application.  The first coat was more even, though still somewhat streaky due to the nature of lighter colors.

FINISHED RESULT

Second coat. Essie on top, Wet n' Wild below

I'm happy with the finished result of both shades.  I think both formulas have shine on their own, though I'd probably top it with a top coat for staying power anyway.  The color came out even with both polishes.

THIS OR THAT?

To be honest, I think there is definitely room for both colors in anyone's collection.  There are similar, but they are just different enough that I can easily justify keeping both.  I can even see how easy it would be to use both in the same manicure.  If you like the ombre look, where the color subtly changes from nail to nail, these would look great right next to each other.  You could use one to do subtle polka dots or another pattern on top of the other.  You could use one as an accent nail.  The possibilities are endless.

But, since the blog post is called This or That, I'll make a selection.  I personally prefer the Essie shade. While I prefer the brush and lower price tag of the Wet n' Wild, the true mint green of Mint Candy Apple is just so perfect for spring and summer and so bright and cheery.  I can already tell that Mint Candy Apple is really going to pop against my mid-late summer tan.  If I had to give one of these colors up right now, I would say bye bye to the Wet n' Wild and hello to true minty goodness.

Exam time

Hello all! I won't be posting any new blogs until May 12th because I've got exams until then.   Time to hit the books!  See you all on the other side.  Leave me a comment suggesting a post topic for when I'm not surrounding by notebooks and outlines!

How to Use Dew Points to Pick Your Hair Products

The media and beauty industry would have you believe humidity is what curlies should fear more than anything. Dew point, a cousin of humidity, is a much better indicator of how your hair will behave in given weather conditions. 

Humidity is a misleading number when dealing with haircare. Chances are, you know this intuitively already.  You know from experience that 100% humidity in the summer and 100% humidity in the winter are not the same feeling. This is because those numbers represent relative humidity. Also, 100% humidity in Arizona is very different from 100% humidity in Florida, even if we're talking about the same time of year.

Dew point is very easy to find out. Just check weather.com, accuweather, or any weather service for your dew point.  It'll be posted as a temperature, like 70 degrees.

Dew point is the temperature at which water will condense to form dew or fog.  20 degrees and 100% humidity means the dew point should be at 20 degrees (because the air is saturated). So dew point and humidity are related, but dew point helps you gauge how much moisture is really in the air more accurately, which can tell you a lot about what kinds of products to use.

Dew points are why a lot of curlies find that one product may be a holy grail in the summer, but results in flat, stringy curls in the winter.

What does all this mean for your hair?

Low Dew Points: Negative infinity through 30 degrees

• This is the winter in my hemisphere. It is dry! If there is no moisture in the air, your hair cannot retain any. Your hair wants to be in equilibrium with its environment. This means that if there is no moisture in the air, and your hair has some, it will give up its moisture to the air. If the air around you has 0 figurative drops of water and your hair has 10 figurative drops of water, your hair will expel moisture until the air around it has 5 drops and it has 5 drops. This is the battle of winter. You have to continually replenish moisture because your hair will be continually giving it up to the dry air in low dew points. 
• Deep treatments, rich conditioners, hair butters, creamy leave ins, and humectant-free products will help you in winter. 
• Humectants are products which work to make that equilibrium between your hair and the environment happen faster and more efficiently. As we'll see, they are your friend in moderate dews, but your mortal enemy in low dews, because they will just be pushing moisture out of your hair and into the air! Common humectants are glycerin, panthenol, honey, propylene glycol, and vitamin B5.

Moderate Dew Points: 40-60 = moist and happy! 

• This is a favorite time for many curlies. 
• The air is now comfortably moist, so the air now has the 10 figurative drops, and your hair has 0 (well hopefully you've been taking better care of it than that so it isn't that dry, but this is for illustrative purposes). You want to use products that will help pull some of that moisture from the air into your hair.
• Humectants will pull moisture into your hair to balance it out. Don't ignore your moisture treatments, but you can now use lighter products.

High Dew Points: 60 and up = muggy and 80s hair revival. 

• Some curlies will outright skip rinse out conditioners. 
• Humectants become somewhat dangerous here, because they can pull too much water into your hair, making it swell and poof. 
• Here, you will want to use antihumectants. These ingredients are water repellents. Castor oil, beeswax, coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, and shea butter are antihumectants. 
• A hard hold gel will be your friend in these muggy conditions as well, as these gels create a barrier around hair strands, which will block some of the moisture from the air.