I finally have my Silver Shatter, but it’s not been easy. I had been looking for Silver Shatter for several weeks, and I finally ordered a bottle from eBay. But when I opened the package and tried to pull my bottle out by the cap, just the cap part popped off and came out by itself! Which was a bad sign. When I got more of the wrapping off, the whole bottle basically fell apart in my hands; it was totally cracked. That’s the first time I’ve ever had a broken bottle, and it was pretty sad (and messy). So I stopped by Ulta last weekend even though I had called and been told there was no Silver Shatter (I’m persistent like that), and was pleasantly surprised to find several huge displays of it!
It really seemed like they had prepared themselves this time. There were probably about 36 bottles of Silver Shatter on each display, and I found two different displays scattered through the store. Oddly, there wasn’t any displayed at the front of the store, as they usually do for new OPI releases. I don’t know if they were trying to conserve their stock or prevent hysteria or what. Maybe the people who set it out didn’t really know what they were dealing with. I also don’t know why I was told that there wasn’t any in stock. But anyway, I was excited to get it home and play with it.
I thought I should start by trying it over one of the colors from the Pirates of the Caribbean Collection, to get the full effect. I chose Mermaid’s Tears because it’s such a nice, watery green that it just seems to call out for the silver. I found Silver Shatter to be a bit goopier than OPI’s shimmer-free shatters, but I felt like it still shattered pretty well. It’s really sparkly and glittery looking, and I think it really lives up to the promotion pictures. The below pictures show one coat over Mermaid’s Tears, followed by two coats of China Glaze Fast Forward. Success!
Here’s a picture I already posted of a quick swipe of Silver Shatter over the Yellow Brick Road manicure I was wearing when I got home from Ulta. I liked this too; there’s a nice contrast between the silver and yellow, but it’s subtle because Yellow Brick Road is a bit sheer.
As I was experimenting, I tried a thicker coat over my CND Veronica manicure. This was okay, but I like thinner coats that create more shattered effect better. I’m okay with it over this fuschia-red color, but I also think it’s better over greens or blues that are closer to the grey color of the Silver Shatter.
Next I tried it over Essie’s Smooth Sailing, from the Summer 2011 Collection. It’s a medium blue with a bit of purple. It has silvery shimmers that I hoped might peek out from under the Silver Shatter, but it didn’t really come through. Still, I like this combination of colors; the grey and blue complement each other, but the blue is just deep enough to create a nice contrast. I realized as I reviewed my pictures that I forgot to put topcoat over this combination, and you can see that without topcoat Silver Shatter is a bit matte, just like the other shatters. It’s still shimmery, which is why I think I forgot the topcoat. I like it better with topcoat since it brings out the sparkle. I also used a thinner coat for this picture, and I like the more shattered effect.
Finally, I tried Silver Shatter over Absolutely Shore, another polish from Essie’s Summer 2011 Collection. This was my favorite combination of all! I’m definitely going to wear this as a full manicure sometime soon. Absolutely Shore is a pale green that’s whiter and therefore a bit brighter than OPI’s Stranger Tides. This combination looks so delicate and soft, but the green is strong enough to flash out from underneath the silver. It kind of reminds of decorated ceramic bowls or vases. Very pretty.