If you follow us on Twitter, you may have been anticipating this post, since I was asking not only OPI, but you all for tips on how to use their shatter polishes. I tried the navy shade for the first time last week, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. The polish clumped up around the rim of the bottle, it was difficult to apply, and I wound up looking like my nails were viciously scratched by feral cats. However, I was willing to give OPI the benefit of the doubt, and I’ve discovered 5 tips that will hopefully make my next round far more successful. The first three are via OPI’s Twitter account (thanks for the reply!) and the last two are my own.
Photo: opi.com
- Store in a cool place.This was a bit of a doh! moment for me, since I live in Texas. I suppose perhaps my bathroom isn’t the coolest place in the world, so my shatter may be moving to my kitchen cabinets. Before you know it I’ll be storing sweaters in my oven a la Carrie Bradshaw.
- Put on a fairly thin layer. This is tough to do if the polish is clumping, and it’s tough to gage how much is on the brush at times. But, I could definitely tell after the fact which of my nails had received an extra dose. It’s not cute. So, when in doubt, less is more. If you’re not happy with the results, you can always add more.
- Roll bottle in hands before opening and applying. I’m going to feel like a nail technician when I do this. I just hope my results are as good! It makes sense to prevent clumping, and that was by far my biggest complaint, so I will give it a shot. Yes, it’s a bit annoying that this polish has to be babied a bit, but no one ever said beauty was easy.
- Use a bright color for the base, and LET IT DRY.I didn’t follow my own advice on either of these and I think it would have made a huge difference. Number one, a brighter undercoat would have made my manicure look more intentional and less neglected. With the baby pink, my nails just looked like a three car pile up. And I’m infamous for not allowing my nails to fully dry, so I’m sure that contributed to the difficulty in application.
- Use a top coat. Obviously this won’t help ease the application process, but it will make even the most disastrous results look at least presentable. The texture after applying the shatter feels like your nails are cracking, so a top coat can even that out. In addition, it dries matter, which I’m not a HUGE fan of, so I would have preferrred a little touch of shine.
Photo: opi.com
I tweeted a pic of my first round, and I will certainly do the same for my next efforts, so follow us on Twitter if you haven’t already. It’s good times over there…
Photo: opi.com
XO,
A
