Girly Bits Shift Happens

After wearing China Glaze's Stone Cold, a matte silver-infused charcoal polish, for a couple of days, I added Girly Bits Shift Happens, a multi-chromatic top coat.  I figured it's not often that I wear black nail polish, and with the base already done, a manicure with Shift Happens could not be easier.  I reviewed China Glaze Stone Cold here.

This top coat was very easy to apply.  At just one coat, it looked like fiery red sparks.  At two coats, the full multichromatic red-orange, gold, and green colors showed up.  It made me really happy to look at it . . . again and again.  It dried quickly, and the second coat didn't mess the first one up, even though for the first time, I didn't wait in between coats like I usually do with manicures.  The polish has a good brush, thin and round.  And, basically there was no cleanup needed.  It wasn't shiny enough for me, though, so I added Seche Vite.

This top coat is one of many dupes for Clarins 230 a/k/a "Unicorn Pee."  I don't have the Clarins, so I can't compare them, but I'm very, very happy with my "dupe."  I only spend crazy amounts of money on polish when there are no dupes out there, like with OPI Black Spotted.  I just paid $39 (plus $2 shipping) for that on eBay.

Here are lots and lots and lots of pictures, because I took many more than I usually do and even narrowing the choices a lot still left a lot of photos:

Indoors

Indoors

Sunlight

Sunlight
It can get really green at some angles!

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Indirect Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Indoors
It looks like it has little embers in this picture.

Indoors

Indoors, office lighting.

Indoors, flash.
Blurry, but looked neat.

Indoors, office lighting.

Thank you for reading my blog!

China Glaze Stone Cold

Thank you so much for your patience while I was sick and then while I completed a very long continuing legal education course in my "free" time.  I should be back to blogging more now, and I will start exercising and keeping a food log again on Tuesday.  I explained why Tuesday on the blog's Facebook page.  If anyone uses the iPhone's Lose It! app or uses Lose It! online, please send me a private message if you would be my Lose It! buddy.

At the end of September, I will have been blogging for six months.  I am planning a giveaway, and I will probably have some indie minis as the prize.  If I reach 50 fans on Facebook (I'm at 48), I will start the giveaway then rather than at the end of September.  I was also keeping an eye on my number of published posts to start the giveaway if I reached 100 published posts before the end of September, but I'm at 80 published posts--this one will be #81--so the Facebook fans will probably reach 50 before I can reach 100 published posts.  Finally, I'm watching my number of followers through GFC (Google Friend Connect), and if those were to reach 75 before the end of the month, I will start the giveaway then; I'm at 67 GFC followers.  At the latest, though, the giveaway will start at the end of September, for my blogging demi-versary.  Yay!

On to the polish review:

I am pretty sure that this was the first time I had ever worn black nail polish.  I would not have thought I would like black polish, and I had no idea how much I would love China Glaze Stone Cold.  When I first swatched it on a nail wheel after I bought it recently on clearance, I was surprised to see it dried matte!  I thought I had bought the other dark Hunger Games collection polish that did not dry matte.  I was very excited about having the matte polish, though.  I like it so much!

It's an amazing formula, opaque in one coat!  It dried quickly.

Cleanup took a while, but it was easier than cleanup of black creme polish.  Using acetone for the cleanup around the edges of my nails took a bit of the black off on the edges, revealing silver underneath.

I was very worried it would not last without top coat, though.  I did do a "funky French" with top coat free-handed on the tips, and I even tried to wrap my tips (maybe for the second time ever, I just can't seem to do it without ruining the manicure with clumps over the edge), but I worried the matte parts of the manicure would chip.  It wasn't long before my OCD self insisted on topcoat somehow.  I wore the funky French for a couple of days, though.  And, for those two days, each morning I touched up the tips with a new layer of top coat.

Here are some pictures:

Sunlight.

Indoors, office lighting.

Indoors, flash.

Indoors.

Indoors, flash.

Indoors.
My poor little thumb nubbin has completely grown out now!  It's been a month since I took these pictures.

Thank you for reading my blog!