DizzyNails

Alright Nation, I have come up with a ridiculously terrific combination using Clarins 230. I'm going to toot my horn, yes I am. This is smokin' crazy hawt!!

Inspired by one of my nail wheel experimental choices from last evening, I decided to go with Cetuem 224 as my "underwear." I used two coats.

Don't worry - I will still be posting wheel pics soon.

I added one coat of Clarins 230 on top of Cetuem 224.

SHAZAM! They are so meant for each other. And why wouldn't they be? Both are groovy rockin' multi-chromes.

If you missed my original swatch pic post with Cetuems, you can find it here.

I absolutely love the rainbow of colors that can be seen in this manicure.

It is the ultimate chameleon duo of polishes - at least, so far!

And the green flash (which you know is my favorite part), really picks up strongly with these two.

Hooray for green!

Sometimes it gives me a bit of a Space Cadet/Beetle vibe, too, only prettier.

Isn't it great?!

Someone at work today asked me what polish I was wearing. I almost felt bad telling her! I was like, "I am wearing two different polishes, both of which are quite hard to find." Then I proceeded to explain what and where and all that. She probably thought I was nuts. And I am - nuts for polish, oh yeah!

Alright, well I have a ton more pictures and not much left to say, so I'll just let you keep looking (and perhaps drooling).

Also, I took more pictures of Zoya Roxy and 230 together, rather nicely showing off the green flash. I edited the original post from yesterday, so if you would like to see them, just give it a look. There are seven pictures added to the bottom of the post.

I finally got my bottled magic!! I have gobs of ideas as to what I want to pair it with, but I decided to start with my original plan, Zoya Roxy. Three coats of Roxy went on first.

Then one coat of the infamous Clarins 230.

These first pictures are all taken under the desk lamp right after I finished applying.

I immediately noticed the beautiful and bright shimmer. It absolutely glows and comes alive in the light.

It looked mostly orange at first.

Sometimes it seemed red. Then it would look more golden.

My favorite is when the shimmer is green! It has to be at the right angle and in the right light, but when it goes green, oh man, it's pure magic!

It definitely looked cool over Roxy, but I wasn't fully loving the over all burgundy sort of look. Maybe it's partly due to the length of my nails?

If you're wondering where I got my Clarins 230, I will tell you right now: Ebay. I have wanted it for years but never thought it would happen.

I thought maybe it would find its way to me somehow. And then I decided instead of waiting for it to come to me, I would go get it! Yeah, I paid a lot for it, for sure, but I am also super glad to have it finally.

Prices have been lower lately, it seems.

It goes without saying that I really wish a nail polish company would figure out how to replicate this very special polish. You would think one of them could....at least come close.

Heck, they should do a whole collection of polishes like 230! It could be the Unicorn collection.

Until then (see how hopeful I am?), we just have to do the best with what we have.

I swatched a wheel tonight with various types of "underwear" for 230. It was a whole lot of fun! I'll have to take pictures tomorrow and post them soon.

EDITED to add more pictures!

I wasn't satisfied at my attempts to show off the groovy green side of 230...so here are some better pictures.

This is Zoya Roxy. I used three coats.

As I applied it, it quite reminded me of a cross between red and black raspberry jam! Yummy.

My first and second coat I was a little unsure of the color, to be honest, but by the third it was awesome and mega gorgeous.

This was meant to be underwear for Clarins 230. I have been expecting it in the mail for nearly a week now but am having all sorts of problems with the post office (long, boring story).

Needless to say, I should be able to pick up my 230 after work tomorrow. *le sigh*

This is two coats of Rococo Andromeda.

It was storming out when I took pictures, so I only have one (less than dazzling) natural lighting look.

This applied perfectly. I really enjoyed wearing it and looking at the holographic particles many times throughout the two days I wore it.

And yes, it is a glorious dupe for OPI My Private Jet. It may be easier to find, as well!

The picture below I took in the rain.

For this mani I started with two coats of Nicole by OPI Nicole's Nickel, one of the new Spring Target exclusives. Nicole's Nickel is a black and silver glitter extravaganza! It has at least two sizes of silver glitter, which I love.

Next I added China Glaze Crackle Broken Hearted.

I REALLY like how this turned out! I would have been happy to wear it all week.

Alas, I made a tragic error in top coats and it only lasted just under a day. The polish nearly popped off my nails in whole or mostly whole pieces!

I should have known better, but I guess I don't use Seche Vite enough to really get all its ins and outs. I'm guessing my problem was in putting SV over Nicole's Nickel, then putting CND Air Dry over Broken Hearted. Live and learn!

This is my wacky accidental Mardi Gras crack manicure. I say accidental because I did not set out for this to look like a crazy Mardi Gras party, but after I sat with the final result for a while, I realized that that is what it reminds me of.

Really I just wanted to pair China Glaze Fault Line with a color that contrasted nicely. Also, I do like purple and green together (those used to be my favorite colors together some years ago when I was a kid). I started with one coat of Nicole by OPI One Time Lime, from the Justin Bieber collection. It looked great in just one coat, Nation!

Then I added two coats of Ulta Pinata-Yada-Yada. I really wanted to have glitter under my crack. In the future I think I'll stick to smaller glitter because I'm not sure I like how the bigger glitter looks under the Crackle.

Next I waited for everything to dry. Then I added a coat of China Glaze Crackle Fault Line. It applied pretty well but I do think I'll thin it some next time around (I read on MUA that this helps it behave and crack better). I suppose I need some more practice in applying Crackles because I'm so mad at myself for not getting the purple all the way over the green near my cuticle, most especially on the index finger. :P

I was not sure that I was feeling the over all look, so I added a coat of Zoya Sparkle Gloss to try and make things better.

I have to say that it did grow on me through the day. :) Not a total disaster, but definitely not what I had hoped for when I first dreamed it up.