Zoya Tiffany, OPI Silver Shatter, and Sephora by OPI Traffic Stopper Copper: Swatch Pictures and Review

The other day, I was in the mood for a blingy manicure, so I came up with this!

I began by applying 2 coats of Zoya Tiffany, a peach-copper foil that was released with Zoya's Fire & Ice Collection. Tiffany applied pretty well; the foil particles made it less smooth to apply than say, a creme, but overall the polish had a good texture.


Next, I applied 1 coat of OPI Silver Shatter. This was my first time using Silver Shatter (or any shimmery crackle polish, for that matter) and it took me a few nails to get the application right. In order to make sure that the polish cracked well and my base color showed through, I was doing pretty thin coats of Silver Shatter, but unfortunately they were too thin to crack properly. Once I started using slightly thicker coats, however, the polish "shattered" well.

I really liked that Silver Shatter was more of a foil than a straight shimmer, and I'm looking forward to using it over other polishes (I think it would make for a pretty look over dusty pastels, similar to those in the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection it was released with). The only downside to this polish is that it has a tendency to get goopy pretty quickly when it's exposed to air, so if you wipe off your brush on the bottle neck like many of us do, you'll probably need to wipe the bottle neck down with remover before you put the polish away.


Finally, I topped the whole manicure off with 2 coats of Sephora by OPI Traffic Stopper Copper, which I bought after seeing kittytokaren's beautiful manicure of TSC over a nude. Traffic Stopper Copper features both small copper glitter and larger, hexagonal copper glitter in a clear base. The glitter in TSC isn't too densely packed, which makes it perfect for layering, and I though it providing a great finishing touch to this shiny silver and copper mani!

swatch: zoya charla

since i hated that last mani so much, how about i now post a mani i love:


zoya charla is probably my favorite of this past summer's sparkle collection (although ivanka is a close second). so sparkly and vivid (and a bit more green) irl! i actually haven't worn this since the summer, as in my opinion this color and finish don't go well with the more professional attire and fairly subdued hues i sport during the school year (i know there are others who disagree and wear any nail polish with any outfit, but this is what works for me and my style). but i loved this color when i wore it a few months ago and can't wait for the warmer months (with their accompanying bright colors and bold prints) to roll around again so that i can break this shade out once more! this picture is of three coats.

boy says: "zoya seems to make good nail polish." direct quote, i kid you not.

swatch: opi the show must go on!

the day after thanksgiving i wore opi the show must go on!, which quite frankly, i hated... screamingly bright pink-orange foil is so not my scene:


this polish applied smoothly (two coats are shown above), and i know many people love this shade, but again, the color really just isn't for me. i'm actually somewhat relieved, as i bought mac bad fairy right when it was released but never wore it because i was disappointed by the murky/muddy quality it had. at the same time, however, i was hesitant to jettison something so highly coveted without even a cursory swatch. but now i can safely assume that i won't like bad fairy either and can feel comfortable offloading it!

boy says: "that looks finely textured, like pink aluminum foil."

swatch: opi dazzled by gold

dazzled by gold was an ulta exclusive during last year's holiday season. i was luckily able to score this polish through a swap, as there's no ulta here. this is my very first real gold polish (i.e. one that isn't a glitter topcoat)!


i'm a big fan of chunky, over-the-top rings and bracelets, but yesterday i thought i'd wear the bling on my nails for a change! i wasn't a huge fan of this polish at first, but it grew on me, and by the end of the evening i couldn't stop admiring my nails. btw, i think this would look totally striking on someone with a darker skin tone!

dazzled by gold does go on quite sheer at first, but as you build up the layers the big shimmer particles come together to create an awesome foily finish. this polish was pretty much opaque in three coats, but i did four just to make sure any bald spots were fully covered.

p.s. happy mother's day to all you moms out there, especially mine! ♥