Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Like Radioactive Love and Girls Night Out, Mintastic was released in March this year by French boutique polish maker Il Était Un Vernis as part of the Juice Bar collection. It is described as a milky mint green enhanced by gold shimmers and silver microparticles, and wow, it's like, the prettiest, pearliest minty pastel EVER! To my eye, the base color is actually a silvery light cyan. Abundant glistening microflake shimmers in gold cast a greenish hue through the base, giving the polish a minty appearance that is similar to the way aero blue looks on a computer screen, but with a more delicate, silvery quality. I suspect that the silver microparticles are holographic, as they light up in a subtle, dainty pre-dawn flush of pale gold and pink at certain angles to the light. There's a delicate visual texture to this polish, a lustrous, finely-grained aspect that reminds me of silk chiffon. It's a remarkable effect, a completely updated, modern take on the pearly frosts of yesteryear.

Application was pure bliss. The consistency of Mintastic is fluid, light and super smooth with a medium viscosity and a buttery, self-leveling slip over the nail that goes right where you want it to and stays there, just superb! Pigmentation is very good. Evenly opaque coverage can be had in two coats, although three may be better at camouflaging ridges if you use very thin coats. Cleanup is easy. Mintastic dries naturally in very good time to a smooth, shiny finish. 

Photos show two coats of Mintastic over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. The polish color skews slightly to blue in these -- in person, there's a touch more green to it.

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Il Était Un Vernis Mintastic

Mintastic, indeed! This is just so beautiful! Luminous and shimmering on the nail, the color is very clean and fresh and there's an unobtrusive semi-metallic aspect that adds a certain silky sleekness to the look. Holy moly. Bé and Stéphanie have completely outdone themselves. 

Minty polish enthusiasts out there (you know who you are!), you would absolutely adore this, it is unique among mints! I order directly from the brand's big cartel shop -- shipping to the US has always turned out to be less than the international shipping charge added in the shop, with overages promptly refunded to my paypal account. Totally doable! And while you're at it, you can pick up another polish or two or three (you won't be disappointed with anything from Il Était Un Vernis) to make the shipping even more reasonable. 

love,
Liz