O.P.I. Shatter Polish (and Significant Other Color) Review

Hi Everyone! I hope you've all be enjoying my sudden wave of posts.  I know that I haven't posted this much since 2009 (crazy to think that I've been doing this for so long!), and I've really enjoyed it.  On the days I don't work overtime, I feel a nice amount of relaxation from doing my nails.  I probably won't be able to keep changing my nails so often, but I'll try to keep the posts coming. =)  So, I'm taking a short break from the challenge to give you this review. Hehehe, but don't worry, I'll be back working on Stripes soon enough!

Anyhoo, I got a chance to use Significan Other Color, which is a light pink, shimmery polish, along with Pink Shatter (both from O.P.I.). 

I actually a good amount of pics, although not all of them are the clearest.  As a total sidebar, I just wanted to let you know that the MyTouch 4G slide (with a boasted 8mpx camera) was what I had been using to take all these pics recently.  At first, the pics I took were amazingly clear.  And then, for some reason, the quality started deteriorating.  And also, it wouldn't focus on the right spots - for instance, I would try to focus in the middle of the screen, but it would focus on the outsides.  STUPID THING!  I was getting so frustrated!!!  But anyhoo, my contract is up in a couple weeks, and I will be getting the Samsung Galaxy S2.  Its camera is supposed to be good...and I guess you all will get the chance to see it for yourselves. =)  Kk, back to the review....

Here's Significan Other Color with 2 coats.  If I was going to wear this color without the shatter/crackle on top, I would definitely use another coat.  Although it's hard to tell from the pic, every finger has 2 coats, except the middle finger has 3.  Can you see the difference?  It's a little more opaque and more even.  Another O.P.I. polish that needs three coats from the haul!!! LOL  I suppose it's not a big deal...like I said, 2 coats works for the most part.  I just like having a more even look.

As for the Pink Shatter, I actually like it alot!!  Okay, so this pic on the right is how it turned out on my left hand.  The crackle is pretty gross, right?  Well...this is because I used a very thin application.  I was just testing to see how it would turn out...and (obviously) it turned out badly!  Once again, it looks like I just did a bad job of putting on polish, hahahaha.  This makes me want to go back and re-try the China Glaze one that's been giving me issues.  I'll prolly go with a really thick application and see how it works.  At this point, I believe that this pink crackles better than China Glaze's pink, but China Glaze's black crackles better than this Pink Shatter.  I will try more tests and confirm, hehehe.

Moving on to my right hand.  I did a semi-thick coat on my thumb, and progressively got thicker towards my pinky.  I definitely think this is the "trick" to this polish.  Just lay it on thick enough that you can apply polish to the whole nail with it starting to separate (crackle).  Also, try to swipe only once per part of your nail...sections where I overlapped didn't crackle as nicely.

All in all, I think it was a nice crackle polish to work with.  Once I got the "trick" down, it seemd to work pretty well.  As always, with crackle polishes, make sure your base color is COMPLETELY dry.  I absolutely love this bold pink color (similar to Essie's Watermelon!) and I'm glad a part of the proceeds with to help fight breast cancer.  As for price, I paid $4.50, so I think it's totally worth it.  However, I know the regular price of O.P.I. is around $8-$10, and I would really have to put more thought into it if I had to pay full price.  I think I would get this anyway, because I like the color and it shatters nicely.

I didn't test how it worked/looked if you swipe the the crackle polish from side to side or diagonal.  I guess I'll have to do it sometime, to see how it turns out.  I've seen XSparkage do that in a video (I might look up the link to to post here), and the polish crackles in differen directions.  I think it's kinda cool, although (for some strange reason) I just like the classic verticle cracklet best.

I'll probably be working on the next challenge soon.  I have an idea or two...I think...LOL.  Anyhoo, till next time!

Disclaimer:

1. I bought every product I'm showing by myself (nothing was sent to me for free).
2. No one has paid me or compensated me for this video or blog.
3. I am not affiliated with any of the companies of the products I used.
4. These are my honest opinions.

31 Day Challenge - Day 8: Metallic

Hey everyone! Day 8! Wow...I had such a hassle with this look. I know I'm reusing the crackle, but I didn't have the polish I originally had planned.

Anyhoo, so these are the colors I used:

Pink Base Color: Essie's Watermelon

Black Base Color: Orly's Goth

Metallic Crackle: China Glaze's Latticed Lilac

I'm not sure if I've reviewed Essie's Watermelon before.  I absolutely love it!  The color goes on wonderfully, and has a pretty good look with just one coat.  I usually add a second coat just to even out the bald spots (although they aren't that noticeable).  In this look that I'm wearing, I have 2 coats on my thumb, and one coat on the rest of my nails.  I don't think you can even tell...Also, Essie's brushes are a little on the skinny side, but it does the job. =)  Essie's polishes aren't too cheap...usually around $7 a bottle.  However, I feel like Essie is a little inconsistent.  You'd have an awesome coverage, awesome non-chipping polish (like Watermelon), but you also get ones that chip easily (like that Minty one).  I would definitely recommend this color, but I'm not sure if I would recommend Essie as a brand in general.

Orly's Goth is also a pretty cool color.  It's a nice black polish with silver glitter.  I don't really have too much to say about it.  It needs two coats to get a good, opaque coverage.  It seems to take longer to dry than other polishes.  It's pretty, and it works for this purpose. 

If you read my Day 5: Blue post, you might remember that I was complaining about the China Glaze Crackle polish in pink metallic.  I have found out that I have a pale purple (not pink), and I am still complaining about it.  Maybe I still haven't figured out the trick to the crackling part yet....I've tried laying it on thinly, and that seems to work TERRIBLY.  I only tried it because other people who have reviewed it claim the crackle effect works better when you apply a thin layer.  Not for me.  I actually think it works better when you apply a thicker layer, HOWEVER, you have to apply it quickly and evenly.  I think my problem comes when I'm swiping my third swipe (I usually do one stripe down the middle, one to the left, and one to the right) I accidently go over my first stripe.  Then that creates a non-crackling area.  Did that make sense?  Maybe in simpler terms, if you go over the same area more than once, it doesn't crackle.  At least for me.  Let me know if you have had different experiences!  I think I will give this polish one more chance.  Probably not for any more challenges, but for just a regular day sometime in the future. =)

I also wanted to let you guys know I bought a Silk'n Flash & Go, which I am using right now.  I think in a few more weeks, I will post a review on it, just so I have some definitive idea of how well it works. Hehehe

I have a couple ideas for the next challenge, Rainbow, so I'll try to get that out to you soon!
(The Challenge:)

Till next time!

Disclaimer:
1. I bought every product I'm showing by myself (nothing was sent to me for free).
2. No one has paid me or compensated me for this video or blog.
3. I am not affiliated with any of the companies of the products I used.
4. These are my honest opinions.

31 Day Challenge - Day 5: Blue

Hi everyone!  Woot, another post, sent in a timely manner.  Don't I feel on a roll...I think I got to this point last time too, but I am determined to keep it up this year! (Even if I'm starting 4 months into it...hahhaah)

For the challenge, I have this summertime Zoya color called "Breezi", and some Hot Topic polish in a sparkly purple color on my ring finger, all topped with China Glaze's silver crackle polish.

I guess I could take this opportunity to do a mini-review on China Glaze's crackle polish line.  I bought almost every color at Nail Warehouse Supply (they had a special that was buy 2 get one free).  So I bought the white, silver, and pink metallic.  I had already bought the black a week before.  I have tested all 4 colors on a variety of polishes (and am banging my head wondering why I didn't take pics of them!!!).

Here are my thoughts:
1.  You need to put the crackle coat on only after your base color has completely dried.  I had one nail that was kinda wet, and the crackle polish totally did not work out too well.

2.  All the colors seem to have a similar crackling amount, although it looks like Black crackles the best.  Direction of crackle is dependent on which direction you apply the polish.  Also, I find that having a little more on your brush works better, but some people say a very thin coat works the best.  You're going to want to play around with this to find what works for you.

3.  The black works best on light color polishes, especially a metallic silver.  I think that combination just looks the best, in general.  The silver, white, and metallic pink work best on darker colors.  As you can see in my challenge pic, the dark purple just seems to have a better contrast.  I actually had tried the metallic pink over a ballerina pale pink, and it just looked like I did a bad job of applying the polish,  You had to look up close and personal to tell that it was a crackle polish!

4.  I would definitely wear a top coat with this.  The crackle polish is almost matte, and I think it would chip off easily if you don't protect it with a top coat.  This mani lasted me about a week with minimal wear & tear.  Unfortunately the hot topic polish chipped after 4 days (the Zoya lasted a week, lol).

5.  These are relatively inexpensive (I got mine for $5 a bottle...and that one free one, lol).  I'm not sure how much they charge elsewhere, but I doubt it will be more than $8 each.  It's a fun and easy way to give your nails some texture without actually needing to do some tedious nail art (which I miss having the time for!).

6.  Would I recommend it?  OF COURSE!  I absolutely enjoyed wear these polishes, and I got lots of compliments at work (yes even now, a year after crackle has made it back in, hahahah).

I will try to get out some pictures of the different colors and stuff, so you can see what I'm talking about.

Till next time!