| by Lou | 12.20am UK time |
It has been busting my balls (ovaries?) to keep from you all that I got my hands on some O.P.I. Black Shatter. Two bottles, in fact. One secretly went to Bel for her birthday, and one immediately went on my nails. Now that she has received hers (though her birthday isn't till next week, if you're panicking), I can share my piccies.
The first time I layered it over orange, but the orange wasn't fully dry. It was dry enough to pass in terms of things like washing your hands and getting your oyster card out of your pocket, but not dry in terms of their idea that your nails should be "fully bone dry".
The finish was average - it cracked more at the bottom so it was like having a patch of orange across the bottom of my nails, with shatter above. And I made the stupid mistake of reapplying it onto one toenail after accidentally only putting a thin layer on (I ended up with an almost fully black nail).
First tip: Evenly apply on first go. There is no second chance.
Second time I put it over yellow, with the difference that I had put the orange on the previous day so it was completely dry when I put over the black shatter. The result of this was that it shattered much more evenly (paying attention to the above principle of once-only even application), and strangely shattered better on my right hand, ie where I had used my non-dominant left hand to apply. (I will experiment next time, but I believe this would be to do with having a thicker brush on my non-dominant hand.)
Second tip: My god, this stuff chipped immediately. Way quicker than even normal nail polish. Right now I am typing on day 4 with half my index finger nails and one of my thumbs bare. Contrast this with the previous week's staying power and I would say: apply about an hour after the colour. It seems like doing when it's not completely utterly dry causes them to fuse to the nail.
Next attempt: over sparkle!
EXCITED!! Thanks for the tips :D
When you say it chipped, just the shatter layer or all the polish??
Wow, that wasn't bad considering how drunk I was when I posted it.
(Clue as to how drunk I was: A closing-time round of whiskeys.)
Oops I forgot to answer your question: the whole lot is chipping off. Black shatter, yellow, basecoat.
I had made some muffins for work and then did the dishes then looked down to notice a LOT had disappeared and had that horror moment of "I hope that chipped off when I was washing the dishes...". No deaths reported so far.
FYI I am on Day 5 and only very minimal chips! I had 2x coats of OPI Do You Lilac It underneath but no base or top.
The chipping is also quite well disguised thanks to the look of the shatter! hah
:D