China Glaze Spellbound Top Coat

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning, I was undecided on a manicure for today, and someone suggested I just go with something I had not yet worn, which helped a lot. Then I decided I felt like glitter, which narrowed it down to one: China Glaze's Spellbound Top Coat. I didn't know this one was marketed as a top coat until I got it from Head 2 Toe (they have just the Spellbound individually, not only in the set with the GID, which I already have). In any case, it's my only untried glitter, so Spellbound it is!

It's a silver and orange glitter in a clear base. I thought that to be the most Halloween-y, it would be best over black, and that black would also best accentuate both the silver and orange glitter. Some like the subtlety of matching a glitter and a base, but when we're talking about orange and silver glitter, I think all subtlety is already out the window!

I started with one moderately thick coat of Nubar Black, enough to make it opaque in one coat. I picked that one for two practical reasons: it dries very quickly and it was already out. By the time I finished the tenth nail, the first was dry. I added one coat on Spellbound, and the glitter was sufficiently dense to let just the teeniest bit of black show, but very thoroughly cover the nail with glitter, so I stopped at one. This made it very low maintenance, being only two coats for a layered manicure. I topped it with Diamont and called it done. Here's the finished mani under artificial light.

For comparison, I'll show you the pictures of the Color Club Master of Disguise & Abracadabra manicure I did not too long ago, using a black base and orange glitter. The orange glitter was in and orange tinted base, and is also one coat each. They look quite different to me.

The China Glaze glitter is quite a bit more dense, and the silver glitter adds some interest to it. I think the Color Club one is definitely more straight-up Halloween and is smoother, and the China Glaze one is more disco Halloween. I like both. Now that I think of it, I wore the Color Club one on a Sunday morning as well - I went out with some girlfriends, and one grabbed my hand and said, "Look at those nails!" and they became a conversation piece for a moment.

That's the scoop for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!