OPI Black Shatter

"Resistance is futile." - Locutus of Borg, Star Trek:  The Next Generation

Oh you didn't know I was a Star Trek nerd?  (Ok, let's be honest I'm a nail polish, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Warhammer, Harry Potter, and Star Trek nerd.  But that's besides the point.)   Well, I resisted Black Shatter for a while.  I'd seen early swatches of this stuff on MUA and a few other blogs, and while I thought it looked really cool, I just didn't want to go through all the hassle of trying to track it down.  Being released as part of OPI's Katy Perry collection, this polish was insanely popular.  I think it sold out on Trans Design in something like two hours??  Craziness.

Anywho, I decided a few days ago that I would probably regret it one day if I didn't get this polish, so off I went!  I told myself I'd check my local JC Penney salon to see if they had it.  If they had it, I'd get it.  If they didn't, then it just wasn't meant to be and I'd just go without it.  So I made the turn around the corner, and what did I find??  An almost completely full Katy Perry display, but only one Black Shatter.  Mine!  It was like the nail polish gods ('Cause believe me, they exist.  Don't piss them off.) were on my side that day.  Woo-hoo! 

The hubby and I went out with some friends to watch the UFC fights last night, so I of course needed an equally bad ass manicure for the event.  I was so exited to try out Black Shatter, and lemme tell you, it did NOT disappoint!  I applied it over my previous manicure, China Glaze Ahoy!, and I was so thrilled with the result!  I love the combo of the black and pink!

 (click to enlarge)

So the deal with Black Shatter is that it's meant to be applied over completely dry polish.  Thinner coats lead to more cracks, so you can see more of the base color underneath.  Thicker coats lead to fewer cracks, but you have those nice chunky black parts.  So you can really play with the application to get the look you desire.  I used a good medium coat, and I was really pleased with the result!  It wasn't too hard to work with either, but I was definitely surprised to see that this stuff starts cracking almost as soon as you apply it, so work quickly!  You'll also want to slap a top coat on it as soon as possible.  Some girls on MUA ran into some problems with it flaking off if they went too long without top coat.  Also, it may start to thicken on you pretty quickly (I noticed thickening by the time I finished my manicure), but according to OPI, you can add some good ol' polish thinner to Black Shatter to make it good as new.  :-)

The Katy Perry collection is out now at JC Penney Salons and Ulta, but don't worry if you can't track down Black Shatter, because China Glaze is releasing its own line of crackle polish in six different colors (black, white, pink, grey, purple, and turquoise).  Those should be at Sally's within the next month or so and at Trans Design in the next few weeks.  Who knew crack could look so good?  ;-)