I've been having a bit of a play around with my shatters the last few days. I only have 4 (so far) but check them out!
OPI Shatters
Black Shatter over Pink Flamenco. Look how beautifully this shattered! I am really happy with this. Much better after a few times practice. The trick is not to put too much polish on the brush and to paint it over the nail quickly in as few swift brushes as possible. These shatters MUST have a top coat!! The black dries kind of matte so you need the top coat to make the crackle stand out. Love this. It was released with the Katy Perry range earlier this year which is also amazing if I do say so myself!
Pink Shatter: Pink of Hearts for Breast Cancer Research - Limited Edition. What an amazing colour for an even more amazing cause. This is over OPI Peace, Baby! It's actually quite a light pink shade with a shimmer through it. I was so shattered (pardon the pun) that I missed the Otis Foundation ball when I was recovering from surgery so I was wearing this at home as my support for this truly amazing foundation. For those who don't know, the Otis Foundation provides cost-free retreats for men and women living with breast cancer.
Have a look at their link!
Blue Shatter over French Quarter for Your Thoughts. This is one of my favourite shatters - the colour is so gorgeous! The formula is quite thin which is good for application - better than the black shatter that gets a bit thick after a few uses but it also means you have to work quickly. It hasn't shattered as well as the pink and black which is a shame. Probably because of the consistency of the formula so it crackles in longer, thinner segments. I'd say an electric sort of blue also with a shimmer throughout. As I said, I love the colour but not sure if I'll get heaps of use out of it because I don't own many light colours that would look good as a base behind it.
Silver Shatter over Mermaid's Tears. Honestly, the silver is a little bit of a disappointment. It's really really shimmery which makes it so hard to see the crackle effect. Unless you look really closely it just looks like a really sparkly silver polish. When I heard OPI had released a silver shatter (I believe this was the second one to come out after the black which I had already trialled and was so impressed with) I quickly rushed out to the shops to get it and paid FULL PRICE!! This is uncommon for me because I like to get a good bargain - a fair attitude to have I think considering the number of polishes I own! Normally I buy half price online so yes the polish was a bit of a disappointment because you can barely even see the crackles! Oh well. It still looks pretty cool over the Pirates of the Caribbean range which it was released with so that's a plus.
and finally.....
All my shatters! How pretty do they look?! From left to right: Blue Shatter, Silver Shatter, Pink Shatter, Blue Shatter (again) and Black Shatter. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a top coat over the shatters, otherwise the crackle isn't as effective. Now I just need some more to add to my collection.....I'm thinking White next :) Here's the range - minus pink and silver:
That is enough from me for now but I have been busy swatching so I imagine you will hear from me very soon, providing work allows it!
- Hansi
