Nicole By OPI Totally In The Dark

This is another of those polishes I almost didn't buy.  I first saw it when The Polishaholic reviewed it back in...wow...was that January??  Really??  I searched for it for weeks and when I finally found it at the best CVS in this area (24/7, sells OPI, gets almost every new drugstore brand collection promptly, nail bar, all of it...and near where I work too!) something just...fizzled.  I looked at it and for some reason my enthusiasm just deflated.  Maybe I was in a bad mood, I don't know.  I still gave it a look every time I saw a bottle and...it just didn't strike me.  Then a whole bunch of crazy, stressful shit happened and I needed some stress shopping.  I had CVS coupons (I shop there so much that I *always* have coupons) and had already gotten pretty much all of the other new stuff I wanted...so in addition to some backup bottles I'll probably never touch, I shrugged and reached for the bottom shelf of the Nicole By OPI display.

Totally In The Dark has a black base packed with microfleck shimmer.

...and WOW am I glad I did!!  Totally In The Dark is phenomenal!  Photos will *never* do it justice.  I am obsessed with shimmery black polish, but this shot straight up my list of favorites!  Two coats to opacity, really easy application, and just alive with shimmer.  It's what I wanted Sally Hansen Raven's Wing to be.  Not that I don't like Raven's Wing, but Totally In The Dark has a better formula and the shimmer isn't silver. A black polish with black microfleck doesn't seem to exist, and might not look like much, but this is the one that's come closest to satisfying that wish for me.  The color of the flecks is hard to describe.  They're similar to the mica look of the flakes in Sally Hansen Glass Slipper, that almost-gray, almost-silver, almost a faint color.  They contrast the black base without dominating it or fading into it.  And the base is just so black!

Blaaack!!  Gorgeous, dense, rich black!!  And the shimmer's always there, even if it's just a hint of twinkle...just so damn perfect!  It's like a night sky....I love it so much!

....but it kinda looks gross mattified.

I used Butter London's intensely matte Matte Finish topcoat, which might have been overkill.  It might look better with a softer satin matte.


I completely and unquestionably recommend Totally In The Dark!


So...three posts in two weeks?  Things are still kinda crazy here, but I miss blogging so much!  He's home from the hospital and doing really well, better than he was before he went in...but there's drama and craziness and life and stuff.  Still, my family knows how important my nails and this blog are to me and I'm gonna make time to do what I love.  Hope to see you more often next week, and thanks again to everyone who wished him well while he was still in the hospital.  He really appreciates it!