OPI Red Shatter & Teenage Dream

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd give OPI Red Shatter a try over OPI Teenage Dream, and I really like how it turned out.  I used base coat, two coats of Teenage Dream, and top coat, waited a few minutes for it to dry, then added Red Shatter and another coat of top coat.  I'm finally adjusting to Shatters not being totally smooth, so I didn't load it up with a lot of top coat to make it that way.

OPI Red Shatter over OPI Teenage Dream

The sun wasn't glaring when I took this picture, just bright enough to make the colors show well, so the Teenage Dream glitter isn't sparkling away here like it is on my hands.  I've discovered that I especially like tons of glitter under some of the Shatters, and Red Shatter is one of them.

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

OPI Red Shatter & Teenage Dream

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd give OPI Red Shatter a try over OPI Teenage Dream, and I really like how it turned out.  I used base coat, two coats of Teenage Dream, and top coat, waited a few minutes for it to dry, then added Red Shatter and another coat of top coat.  I'm finally adjusting to Shatters not being totally smooth, so I didn't load it up with a lot of top coat to make it that way.

OPI Red Shatter over OPI Teenage Dream

The sun wasn't glaring when I took this picture, just bright enough to make the colors show well, so the Teenage Dream glitter isn't sparkling away here like it is on my hands.  I've discovered that I especially like tons of glitter under some of the Shatters, and Red Shatter is one of them.

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

OPI Black Shatter & Wham! Pow!

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I realized yesterday that for the '80's theme, no woman have been represented, so I picked one who matches today's manicure of Color Club Wham! Pow! and OPI Black Shatter.

First, the mani.  It's two coats of Wham! Pow! with Poshe topped with Black Shatter, and then I added a coat of Gelous and a coat of Poshe to smooth it out.

OPI Black Shatter over Color Club Wham! Pow!

I know Halloween's the first reaction to bright orange and black, but if you think of it in terms of this week's theme, there's one and only one woman who became famous then who'd be a fit.  No, not Cyndi Lauper - she'd need yellow tips, and honestly, watching her perform always made me so uncomfortable that I'd have to look away.  Something about the super awkward poses made me a little embarrassed for her, so she'd be a bad pick.  Instead, I went for a super cool lady from the early part of the British invasion.

Annie Lennox of Eurythmics

Annie Lennox gets my vote.  I remember hearing Sweet Dreams on the radio and thinking it was really cool, and Eurythmics made quite a stir with the video for it.  By today's standards, the video is low tech and on the slow and boring side, but it was cutting edge then.  Of course, that was when MTV was new and actually played music.  It operated like a video version of a radio station, and VJ's like Martha Quinn and Adam Curry were there for their commentary and knowledge of music rather than as a set decoration.  It was fun, but I would never exchange now for then because I'd have to go back to using a dictionary and thesaurus, the phone book, and time my long distance calls since they'd be ridiculously expensive.

So that's the last neon Black Shatter manicure for a while, and the end of the work week's theme.  This really could have gone on forever - if I could have worked in Nena and 99 Luftballoons or Taco and Puttin'on the Ritz, I would have.  That's when we didn't require a language we speak for a song to be a hit, and I think only in the early '80's would an Irving Berlin cover by a super creepy guy tap dancing in a tux be successful.  I double dog dare you to try that for yourself and prove me wrong by becoming the next Taco (would that be a good thing?).

That's about it for today, Dear Reader.  I've enjoyed this week with you, and until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

OPI Black Shatter & Wham! Pow!

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I realized yesterday that for the '80's theme, no woman have been represented, so I picked one who matches today's manicure of Color Club Wham! Pow! and OPI Black Shatter.

First, the mani.  It's two coats of Wham! Pow! with Poshe topped with Black Shatter, and then I added a coat of Gelous and a coat of Poshe to smooth it out.

OPI Black Shatter over Color Club Wham! Pow!

I know Halloween's the first reaction to bright orange and black, but if you think of it in terms of this week's theme, there's one and only one woman who became famous then who'd be a fit.  No, not Cyndi Lauper - she'd need yellow tips, and honestly, watching her perform always made me so uncomfortable that I'd have to look away.  Something about the super awkward poses made me a little embarrassed for her, so she'd be a bad pick.  Instead, I went for a super cool lady from the early part of the British invasion.

Annie Lennox of Eurythmics

Annie Lennox gets my vote.  I remember hearing Sweet Dreams on the radio and thinking it was really cool, and Eurythmics made quite a stir with the video for it.  By today's standards, the video is low tech and on the slow and boring side, but it was cutting edge then.  Of course, that was when MTV was new and actually played music.  It operated like a video version of a radio station, and VJ's like Martha Quinn and Adam Curry were there for their commentary and knowledge of music rather than as a set decoration.  It was fun, but I would never exchange now for then because I'd have to go back to using a dictionary and thesaurus, the phone book, and time my long distance calls since they'd be ridiculously expensive.

So that's the last neon Black Shatter manicure for a while, and the end of the work week's theme.  This really could have gone on forever - if I could have worked in Nena and 99 Luftballoons or Taco and Puttin'on the Ritz, I would have.  That's when we didn't require a language we speak for a song to be a hit, and I think only in the early '80's would an Irving Berlin cover by a super creepy guy tap dancing in a tux be successful.  I double dog dare you to try that for yourself and prove me wrong by becoming the next Taco (would that be a good thing?).

That's about it for today, Dear Reader.  I've enjoyed this week with you, and until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

OPI Black Shatter & Mrs.Robinson

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's title seems ominous to me, like the nail polish equivalent of The Devil & Tom Walker.  Don't be scared, I promise it's not!

Today I have Black Shatter over Color Club Cub Mrs. Robinson, a neon purple creme.  I went to go get a neon purple, and for some reason I remembered Essie Perky Purple as the most neon purple, and also as kind of a PITA in that neon way.  Since I'd been sorting, Perky Purple was with Color Club Mrs. Robinson, which I recall being low maintenance, and I was surprised to see they're really close.  Not exactly the same, but close enough that I'll take the one that's less effort.  I grabbed the Essie bottle when I went out to take pictures so you could see them together.

Neon Purple Nail Polish Comparison: Color Club is my pick

I applied three coats of Mrs. Robinson (I really could have used two, but I hate even a hint of translucency to my tips) and let it dry before adding the Black Shatter.  I was pleased with my results evening it out with Gelous and then a coat of Poshe to dry everything, so I went that route again.  Here's the manicure.

OPI Black Shatter over Color Club Mrs. Robinson

This was one of the most physically painful rounds of pictures I've ever taken.  I have a weirdo chronic eye condition called scleritis that started in recent years (Google if you will, but the reason I didn't give you a definition link is that there are always absolutely awful pictures that'll give you the willies really badly), and I'm wrapping up a bout with it in one eye right now.  One of the major characteristics of scleritis is that it causes incredible pain in the affected eye when it acts up, and with that comes tremendous light sensitivity.  Well, the sun came out today and since my little town is pretty much shut down from the blizzard, there's undisturbed snow as far as the eye can see, so it was the glaring reflected light everywhere and I looked like half of my face was weeping the whole time I was out.  It's my own fault - I should have considered that before choosing the single most difficult color for me to photograph, the one I'm only able to get in direct sunlight.  I just thought I'd mention that so you know why today's pictures are some of my weaker ones - it could either be a more attractive picture or color accurate, so I went for color.

Enough about that!  It's time to show you who matches today's manicure.  

David Lee Roth

If you think about it, neon purple isn't a color a lot of people wear, but anyone who was a fan of good ol' Diamond Dave during the era when Van Halen became Van Hagar will remember this album cover.

David Lee Roth: Enamored with Bright Colors?

If I can't rely on the man on that album cover to appear in photos wearing neon purple and black together, I can't rely on anything!

In including DLR today, I certainly don't mean to classify him with hair bands of the '80's.  The fact is, he has a long track record of success that proves he's talented.  When his first solo album came out, I saw his live show to promote it, and he's a heck of a showman, and his success makes sense to me.  That being said, he really embraced the whole '80's over-the-top way of doing things wholeheartedly.  I know there are quite a few younger readers who probably don't have memory of this time, so I thought I'd show you a poster that was on my sister's bedroom wall then.  Here, you can see much of DLR's appeal was more in what he didn't wear.

Wow.

That was before the regrettable process of transformation...

I Don't Like Where This Is Going

Now Diamond Dave is everybody's Great Uncle Dave, and it's really, really not the same at all.  However, I think we can still take a few lessons away from these pictures: martial arts do a body good, everybody ages, and even if you're wearing spandex pants you can always find a place to stash your spare sweat socks.  It's all about learning.

So that's today's manicure and a corresponding picture from the '80's.  This work week's theme has evolved into an interpretation of the '80's through OPI Black Shatter, a far narrower and more specific theme than I ever would have consciously chosen, but it seems to be working out alright.  I think it would be fun to do another theme for next Monday through Friday, but I don't have any ideas that seem this silly.  If you have suggestions you think would be entertaining, please let me know!  If I get a few good ones, I'll put them to a vote over the weekend and go with the winner.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader,  until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Black Shatter & Mrs.Robinson

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's title seems ominous to me, like the nail polish equivalent of The Devil & Tom Walker.  Don't be scared, I promise it's not!

Today I have Black Shatter over Color Club Cub Mrs. Robinson, a neon purple creme.  I went to go get a neon purple, and for some reason I remembered Essie Perky Purple as the most neon purple, and also as kind of a PITA in that neon way.  Since I'd been sorting, Perky Purple was with Color Club Mrs. Robinson, which I recall being low maintenance, and I was surprised to see they're really close.  Not exactly the same, but close enough that I'll take the one that's less effort.  I grabbed the Essie bottle when I went out to take pictures so you could see them together.

Neon Purple Nail Polish Comparison: Color Club is my pick

I applied three coats of Mrs. Robinson (I really could have used two, but I hate even a hint of translucency to my tips) and let it dry before adding the Black Shatter.  I was pleased with my results evening it out with Gelous and then a coat of Poshe to dry everything, so I went that route again.  Here's the manicure.

OPI Black Shatter over Color Club Mrs. Robinson

This was one of the most physically painful rounds of pictures I've ever taken.  I have a weirdo chronic eye condition called scleritis that started in recent years (Google if you will, but the reason I didn't give you a definition link is that there are always absolutely awful pictures that'll give you the willies really badly), and I'm wrapping up a bout with it in one eye right now.  One of the major characteristics of scleritis is that it causes incredible pain in the affected eye when it acts up, and with that comes tremendous light sensitivity.  Well, the sun came out today and since my little town is pretty much shut down from the blizzard, there's undisturbed snow as far as the eye can see, so it was the glaring reflected light everywhere and I looked like half of my face was weeping the whole time I was out.  It's my own fault - I should have considered that before choosing the single most difficult color for me to photograph, the one I'm only able to get in direct sunlight.  I just thought I'd mention that so you know why today's pictures are some of my weaker ones - it could either be a more attractive picture or color accurate, so I went for color.

Enough about that!  It's time to show you who matches today's manicure.  

David Lee Roth

If you think about it, neon purple isn't a color a lot of people wear, but anyone who was a fan of good ol' Diamond Dave during the era when Van Halen became Van Hagar will remember this album cover.

David Lee Roth: Enamored with Bright Colors?

If I can't rely on the man on that album cover to appear in photos wearing neon purple and black together, I can't rely on anything!

In including DLR today, I certainly don't mean to classify him with hair bands of the '80's.  The fact is, he has a long track record of success that proves he's talented.  When his first solo album came out, I saw his live show to promote it, and he's a heck of a showman, and his success makes sense to me.  That being said, he really embraced the whole '80's over-the-top way of doing things wholeheartedly.  I know there are quite a few younger readers who probably don't have memory of this time, so I thought I'd show you a poster that was on my sister's bedroom wall then.  Here, you can see much of DLR's appeal was more in what he didn't wear.

Wow.

That was before the regrettable process of transformation...

I Don't Like Where This Is Going

Now Diamond Dave is everybody's Great Uncle Dave, and it's really, really not the same at all.  However, I think we can still take a few lessons away from these pictures: martial arts do a body good, everybody ages, and even if you're wearing spandex pants you can always find a place to stash your spare sweat socks.  It's all about learning.

So that's today's manicure and a corresponding picture from the '80's.  This work week's theme has evolved into an interpretation of the '80's through OPI Black Shatter, a far narrower and more specific theme than I ever would have consciously chosen, but it seems to be working out alright.  I think it would be fun to do another theme for next Monday through Friday, but I don't have any ideas that seem this silly.  If you have suggestions you think would be entertaining, please let me know!  If I get a few good ones, I'll put them to a vote over the weekend and go with the winner.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader,  until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Black Shatter & Hot Green

Good morning, Dear Reader!

In a moment when my mind drifted off yesterday, I reflected on how much fun I had matching the last two Black Shatter manicures to a hair band and considered a few other neons and whether a related image came to mind.  I immediately thought of two more, and figured it might be fun to do an impromptu theme week (well, work week).  I have several newer polishes I want to show you, but they've all been released so it's not a race to swatch in time for a release date, and I'm having a good time. ☺

So the first color I thought of, as you've guessed by now, was green.  This is the first thing that came to mind:

Although C.C. DeVille was apart from Poison on Monday, since he's been in two out of three you might be thinking I was a huge Poison fan.  I wasn't.  I've concluded that my knowledge of images associated with them is God's way of punishing me for relentlessly mocking them at the height of their popularity.  I can't remember this much about bands I liked!  But since C.C.'s showing up today by means of his "music" on this album (the quotes probably bought me another five years of remembering these pictures), I thought I'd toss in the C.C. DeVille story.  It's mildly amusing at best so feel free to skip the next paragraph if you don't care.

My sister's the  key player in this one.  She's almost a year older than me and quite pretty, and really, really funny.  She'll say completely outrageous things to strangers when it's funny enough (and sometimes when it's not).  The rest of the setup, I'll do in the style of Sophia Petrillo.  Picture this: downtown Chicago, late 1980's, in then-trendy now-long-gone club I can't remember the name of...

My sister, MM, goes to the club with some girlfriends, and they're given access to the VIP area.  She figured out early on that by identifying the head bouncer and then flirting with him, it's easy to get access to the VIP room (I didn't believe her that it was that easy but tried it anyhow - it really does work).  As they assess the crowd, MM sees a striking woman on the other side of the bar and notes how strangely pretty she is.  She and her friends continue milling about, and throughout the evening MM keeps seeing this striking woman wherever she goes.  Finally, she goes to get a fresh drink, and the striking woman approaches her and offers to buy her drink, but it was in a man's voice, completely throwing her off.  Not knowing what this person's deal is, she politely declines and is answered with an indignant, "Do you know who I am?"  She replies that she does not, so he tells her his name: C.C. DeVille.  MM continues to look at him with a blank stare, and he goes on to say that he's the guitarist in Poison.  She breaks out into uncontrollable laughter (who do you think I was mocking Poison videos with?), this huge throw-your-head-back-and-belly-laugh kind of laugh that she and I have, and is completely unable to regain her composure, until C.C. finally walks away.  The End.

That was our storytime, so here's the manicure.  For the green, I used Nubar Hot Green because it's a 2-3 coater (2 medium, 3 thin), then Black Shatter.  This time, I used a coat of Gelous to smooth it out before a final coat of Poshe.  Gelous didn't work as a base coat for me (I had major chipping in hours), but it works well as the fill-in coat over polishes that suck up a lot of top coat.  Here it is after it dried.

OPI Black Shatter over Nubar Hot Green

It does work for the album cover colors, but if you recall, for the previous two I showed you the image that came to mind looking at the finished manicure.  As I was taking pictures of this, I thought, "This looks like Bruce Banner blew out some black pants."

So now even I'm not sure what the theme is - hair bands or what the manicure brings to mind... I found a bonus picture while looking for a Hulk picture that's only barely related if you think about it long enough, but I'm tacking it on anyhow.

Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you! 

OPI Black Shatter & Hot Green

Good morning, Dear Reader!

In a moment when my mind drifted off yesterday, I reflected on how much fun I had matching the last two Black Shatter manicures to a hair band and considered a few other neons and whether a related image came to mind.  I immediately thought of two more, and figured it might be fun to do an impromptu theme week (well, work week).  I have several newer polishes I want to show you, but they've all been released so it's not a race to swatch in time for a release date, and I'm having a good time. ☺

So the first color I thought of, as you've guessed by now, was green.  This is the first thing that came to mind:

Although C.C. DeVille was apart from Poison on Monday, since he's been in two out of three you might be thinking I was a huge Poison fan.  I wasn't.  I've concluded that my knowledge of images associated with them is God's way of punishing me for relentlessly mocking them at the height of their popularity.  I can't remember this much about bands I liked!  But since C.C.'s showing up today by means of his "music" on this album (the quotes probably bought me another five years of remembering these pictures), I thought I'd toss in the C.C. DeVille story.  It's mildly amusing at best so feel free to skip the next paragraph if you don't care.

My sister's the  key player in this one.  She's almost a year older than me and quite pretty, and really, really funny.  She'll say completely outrageous things to strangers when it's funny enough (and sometimes when it's not).  The rest of the setup, I'll do in the style of Sophia Petrillo.  Picture this: downtown Chicago, late 1980's, in then-trendy now-long-gone club I can't remember the name of...

My sister, MM, goes to the club with some girlfriends, and they're given access to the VIP area.  She figured out early on that by identifying the head bouncer and then flirting with him, it's easy to get access to the VIP room (I didn't believe her that it was that easy but tried it anyhow - it really does work).  As they assess the crowd, MM sees a striking woman on the other side of the bar and notes how strangely pretty she is.  She and her friends continue milling about, and throughout the evening MM keeps seeing this striking woman wherever she goes.  Finally, she goes to get a fresh drink, and the striking woman approaches her and offers to buy her drink, but it was in a man's voice, completely throwing her off.  Not knowing what this person's deal is, she politely declines and is answered with an indignant, "Do you know who I am?"  She replies that she does not, so he tells her his name: C.C. DeVille.  MM continues to look at him with a blank stare, and he goes on to say that he's the guitarist in Poison.  She breaks out into uncontrollable laughter (who do you think I was mocking Poison videos with?), this huge throw-your-head-back-and-belly-laugh kind of laugh that she and I have, and is completely unable to regain her composure, until C.C. finally walks away.  The End.

That was our storytime, so here's the manicure.  For the green, I used Nubar Hot Green because it's a 2-3 coater (2 medium, 3 thin), then Black Shatter.  This time, I used a coat of Gelous to smooth it out before a final coat of Poshe.  Gelous didn't work as a base coat for me (I had major chipping in hours), but it works well as the fill-in coat over polishes that suck up a lot of top coat.  Here it is after it dried.

OPI Black Shatter over Nubar Hot Green

It does work for the album cover colors, but if you recall, for the previous two I showed you the image that came to mind looking at the finished manicure.  As I was taking pictures of this, I thought, "This looks like Bruce Banner blew out some black pants."

So now even I'm not sure what the theme is - hair bands or what the manicure brings to mind... I found a bonus picture while looking for a Hulk picture that's only barely related if you think about it long enough, but I'm tacking it on anyhow.

Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you! 

OPI Black Shatter & China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm here today with another OPI Black Shatter manicure, one with a very long title.  Last night I'd decided I'd stop with the Black Shatter for a bit, but today I really, really, really wanted to try it over a good highlighter yellow, so I went with it.

The yellow I used was China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, which is a super neon yellow creme.  The yellows that really look like a highlighter are usually a hassle, and this one was no exception.  I put it on while I had my first cup of coffee, and being caffeine deficient at the time, I didn't pay attention to exactly how many coats I used but it was from five to seven very thin coats.  I know using white under it is an option to cut down on the number of coats, but the results are slightly different that way and I like how it looks with a billion coats of just the neon better.  In the plus column I'd include the fact that neons often dry quickly, and that was the case here - the dry time after applying quick dry top coat was no longer than usual, so the only extra effort involved is in the actual painting.

Once Yellow Polka Dot Bikini had dried, I applied a thick coat of OPI Black Shatter.  This time, I gave it a minute or two to crackle, and I found that Black Shatter really will just flake off without top coat.  A flake came off of one nail  after a bit, so I sealed the mani with top coat so no more came off.  I'm using up what I have around so I've been using Poshe, and I again used three coats of it to level Black Shatter off.  I did a thin coat of Poshe, then waited a minute or so for it to set, then added another and waited again before the final coat, sealing the edges with each of the three.  I've found that when I use it that way, multiple coats of Poshe do not shrink my manicure.  Here's the final result.

OPI Black Shatter over China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

This one seems to have lost that Cece Deville feeling that the Black Shatter and Shocking Pink manicure had, but yellow and black seemed a little Def Leppard to me.  Again, I was able to confirm that my sense was accurate.

Mullets All Around

I was also able to verify that the colors in this picture weren't just a fluke.

What's Up with the Guy on the Right?????

Here, we can see that I like Black Shatter with neons, and that any time I pair a neon with black, I'll be overwhelmed with '80's nostalgia and find the band wearing corresponding colors.  I'm tempted to tell you some funny Def Leppard stories, but this post is long and I don't want to bore you.

With that, I'll wrap it up and get to work.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

OPI Black Shatter & China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm here today with another OPI Black Shatter manicure, one with a very long title.  Last night I'd decided I'd stop with the Black Shatter for a bit, but today I really, really, really wanted to try it over a good highlighter yellow, so I went with it.

The yellow I used was China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, which is a super neon yellow creme.  The yellows that really look like a highlighter are usually a hassle, and this one was no exception.  I put it on while I had my first cup of coffee, and being caffeine deficient at the time, I didn't pay attention to exactly how many coats I used but it was from five to seven very thin coats.  I know using white under it is an option to cut down on the number of coats, but the results are slightly different that way and I like how it looks with a billion coats of just the neon better.  In the plus column I'd include the fact that neons often dry quickly, and that was the case here - the dry time after applying quick dry top coat was no longer than usual, so the only extra effort involved is in the actual painting.

Once Yellow Polka Dot Bikini had dried, I applied a thick coat of OPI Black Shatter.  This time, I gave it a minute or two to crackle, and I found that Black Shatter really will just flake off without top coat.  A flake came off of one nail  after a bit, so I sealed the mani with top coat so no more came off.  I'm using up what I have around so I've been using Poshe, and I again used three coats of it to level Black Shatter off.  I did a thin coat of Poshe, then waited a minute or so for it to set, then added another and waited again before the final coat, sealing the edges with each of the three.  I've found that when I use it that way, multiple coats of Poshe do not shrink my manicure.  Here's the final result.

OPI Black Shatter over China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

This one seems to have lost that Cece Deville feeling that the Black Shatter and Shocking Pink manicure had, but yellow and black seemed a little Def Leppard to me.  Again, I was able to confirm that my sense was accurate.

Mullets All Around

I was also able to verify that the colors in this picture weren't just a fluke.

What's Up with the Guy on the Right?????

Here, we can see that I like Black Shatter with neons, and that any time I pair a neon with black, I'll be overwhelmed with '80's nostalgia and find the band wearing corresponding colors.  I'm tempted to tell you some funny Def Leppard stories, but this post is long and I don't want to bore you.

With that, I'll wrap it up and get to work.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

OPI Black Shatter & China Glaze Shocking Pink

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Last night I was changing my polish for today, and I decided I'd fulfill my promise and wear Black Shatter one more time so I could forever be done with it.  I said I'd try it over a neon pink, but wearing the last Black Shatter manicure for a couple of days convinced me it wasn't for me.  I decided to do what I could to make this one more tolerable and got on with it.

I applied three coats of China Glaze Shocking Pink, which I've shown you before.  It's a retina-searing, distractingly neon pink creme, and is kind of a PITA to apply in the same way that the China Glaze OMG's and Nfu Oh holos are, but also like those, the color is completely worth the effort.  I topped that off with quick dry top coat and while it dried, considered what I didn't care for in Black Shatter and how to work around those things.

The first thing is that I don't like how the tinier cracks look, and the second is it bugs me when my nails aren't smooth.  When I applied Black Shatter to Shocking Pink, I used a thicker coat of it so it would make bigger cracks, and I finished it like it was a glitter and used three coats of top coat.  As for smoothness, there are still some small bumps from the crackle but they're tiny and now it's very glassy, so that worked out well, and here you can see that the thicker coat of Black Shatter worked too.

OPI Black Shatter over China Glaze Shocking Pink

What was truly shocking here is that I like it.  Previously, I think the fact that it's black was a big problem as well - I never would have combined black with a pale pink glitter, but I would (and have) with Shocking Pink, so this one just works for me.  I was surprised at how much I really like it.

In fact, as the top coat finished curing, I was admiring this mani when into my head popped the thought, "This looks like something C.C. DeVille would wear."  Consulting Google for a mere moment confirmed that this was indeed true.  Note the hot pink guitar strap and Black Shatter jacket.

Black Shatter & Shocking Pink?

At first this just struck me as really funny, and later I realized that there's some dark recess of my brain that's always at the ready and burning up precious mental energy, just to offer me disturbingly accurate and brisk recall of the stage attire of 80's hair bands.  But, you know what they say: every rose has its thorn.

That's my manicure for today, and the one that's swayed my opinion on crackle polishes.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

OPI Black Shatter & China Glaze Shocking Pink

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Last night I was changing my polish for today, and I decided I'd fulfill my promise and wear Black Shatter one more time so I could forever be done with it.  I said I'd try it over a neon pink, but wearing the last Black Shatter manicure for a couple of days convinced me it wasn't for me.  I decided to do what I could to make this one more tolerable and got on with it.

I applied three coats of China Glaze Shocking Pink, which I've shown you before.  It's a retina-searing, distractingly neon pink creme, and is kind of a PITA to apply in the same way that the China Glaze OMG's and Nfu Oh holos are, but also like those, the color is completely worth the effort.  I topped that off with quick dry top coat and while it dried, considered what I didn't care for in Black Shatter and how to work around those things.

The first thing is that I don't like how the tinier cracks look, and the second is it bugs me when my nails aren't smooth.  When I applied Black Shatter to Shocking Pink, I used a thicker coat of it so it would make bigger cracks, and I finished it like it was a glitter and used three coats of top coat.  As for smoothness, there are still some small bumps from the crackle but they're tiny and now it's very glassy, so that worked out well, and here you can see that the thicker coat of Black Shatter worked too.

OPI Black Shatter over China Glaze Shocking Pink

What was truly shocking here is that I like it.  Previously, I think the fact that it's black was a big problem as well - I never would have combined black with a pale pink glitter, but I would (and have) with Shocking Pink, so this one just works for me.  I was surprised at how much I really like it.

In fact, as the top coat finished curing, I was admiring this mani when into my head popped the thought, "This looks like something C.C. DeVille would wear."  Consulting Google for a mere moment confirmed that this was indeed true.  Note the hot pink guitar strap and Black Shatter jacket.

Black Shatter & Shocking Pink?

At first this just struck me as really funny, and later I realized that there's some dark recess of my brain that's always at the ready and burning up precious mental energy, just to offer me disturbingly accurate and brisk recall of the stage attire of 80's hair bands.  But, you know what they say: every rose has its thorn.

That's my manicure for today, and the one that's swayed my opinion on crackle polishes.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

OPI The One That Got Away

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I was happy to see that the sun had peeked out a bit (not blazing clear-sky sun, but much better than it's been), so I looked for a polish that I thought needed decent sunlight for a good picture, and OPI The One That Got Away was first on the list.

The One That Got Away seems to be the least-loved of OPI's Katy Perry Collection, but I think it's fantastic. It's a deep red-berry shade that's full of the sparkly pigment we saw so much of in the last half of 2010 (OPI Holiday, Nubar Venetian, Zoya Fire & Ice).  The polish is thin but still easy to control, and after two coats the coverage was adequate but didn't have as much sparkle as the polish in bottle, so I added a third and it now it does.  This is The One That Got Away completely dry in moderate sunlight.

OPI The One That Got Away Nail Polish, Three Coats

I know it's not as out of the ordinary as Black Shatter or Teenage Dream, but it's an infinitely more wearable shade with a great finish, and I think there's something to be said for that.  Since I didn't see as much hype around The One That Got Away, right after I placed the order including it I was kind of kicking myself, but I was quite pleasantly surprised at just how pretty it is when it arrived.  It's probably my favorite of the OPI Katy Perry Collection.

I'm off to start a busy day that will be lightened by peeking at a pretty sparkly nail polish in the sun, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!