As many of you know, OPI like a bit of a collaboration. From Katy Perry back in January, I also hear that a Kardashian collection is in the wings. Oh dear. Let’s not depress ourselves by thinking about that now though when we can take a look at this, one of OPI’s latest offerings produced in conjunction with tennis star Serena Williams.

I’m not a fan of the shatter finish. I just can’t do it. To me, it looks like a skin complaint. I’m also kind of bored of every company under the sun producing shatter topcoats (hats off to OPI and Barry M for getting there first though). The reason I really wanted to test out this pairing was for the base coat alone. It’s breathtaking. I’d seen photos of Rally Pretty Pink on a few other blogs and thought “oh that’s nice” but that was nothing compared to how this looked on the nail.

It is a totally flashy and unashamedly blinging foil with a rose toned base overlayed with the most outlandish gold shimmer. In some lights it looks like you have amazing gold metallic nails and in other lights the pink shines through. It’s amazing  – I hear that it is a dupe for Zoya Faye but I don’t own that and therefore I can gawp away at this like I’ve just seen sliced bread for the first time or something.

In the name of research I added the red shatter for you. It’s not a pillar box red – it is more pink toned than that. Reminds me of the colour of old school  cinema seats (before Vue took over and turned them all blue). Make of it what you will. I don’t love it, but that doesnt mean that there’s anything wrong with it – in fact, this splinters beautifully and works really well. I also like the fact that it is more of a shiny jelly finish, better than the chalky crackle polishes that we have seen of late.

The other set in this new release is Spark de Triomphe, with white shatter. Once again, I fell for the base colour here, and I can say quite unreservedly that this is the best silver glitter I have ever seen in my life. It wouldn’t be out of place in a Christmas collection, actually, but I am pleased that we don’t have to wait that long for this!

I used this over a base coat of a silver frost (thankyou Color Club Silver Lining) as I don’t like wearing glitter righton my nail if I can help it – I prefer to put a layer of something else in, just to minimise any potential damage when I’m removing it. It looks really gold in some lights but is silver in others.

Here’s one coat over Stranger Tides just to show you that it does also lean silver -as well as make for a fantastic layering polish. I was worried originally when I read reviews of this as people talked about the different sized glitter pieces. I hate those large glitter discs you get in some polishes but thankfully, even the larger pieces in Spark de Triomphe are quite small.

It felt like a shame to cover this up with white shatter. You all know I’m not really the biggest fan of shatter/crackle whatever you want to call them, but actually this is my favourite look with it that I’ve seen so far. Unlike looking like your nail is falling apart, this splinters away nicely to reveal the glitter peeking out below the white matte shade. I could have done with a topcoat here to stop it looking so chalky. I’m still not on board with the trend, but I don’t loathe this as much as some others, so that’s progress at any rate. Expect me to be on the full-on shatter bandwagon in a couple of months time. (errr).

So, what do you think? Is shatter here to stay? Are these  pairings game set and match for you? (sorry…)

The sets will be available any day now from Lena White and will cost  around £23.00

Helen

* Rally Pretty Pink was a PR sample. I purchased Spark de Triomphe myself*