This is one of those posts where I chose a color based on the glitter I wanted to put on top of it.  I have a remarkable number of toppers to get through, given that we’ve established that I’m all weird about mismatched glitter.  I mean… okay.

As far as I can tell from some casual research, the “nail care market” has been undergoing insane growth since about 2008, with a 32% increase in profits in 2012.  Analysts were upset because 2013 was “only” showing 19% growth (I’m playing a bit loose with dates, but roughly).  The market is starting to saturate, with some people declaring the nail polish fad to be drawing to a close, although in actuality if the market stabilizes at its current sales rates there’s a hell of a lot of nail polish going out into the world.  In fact, since 2008, nail polish recession sales outpaced the famous “lipstick effect” that I had never heard of.  (Short: during recessions lipstick sales rise, as women put off bigger pick-me-up purchases.)

Meanwhile, there are only so many colors the human eye can differentiate, and even fewer that most people care about.  The number of nail colors is further limited by chemistry – there are only so many body-approved, stable, acetone-soluble, mutually compatible, etc. pigments.  So, there are only so many nail polish colors.  Hence, finishes.  Glitters, shimmers, cremes, glass flake, flakies, textured polishes… I know I’m missing a zillion variants.

Why the economics lesson?  Because there’s huge money in continuing to produce nail polishes that differ from previous ones.  (Well, and also because I’m something of a pedant.)  Anyway, even given my sharply limiting preferences, there’s always something interesting to buy, and often it’s new toppers.

Enough lead-in?  Yeah, I thought so.  Here’s Sinful Colors Opening Night.

Which, all things being equal, is a very nice, very shiny, very dark teal.  I don’t think I have anything similar.

I wouldn’t call it a foil, but those are the trees outside my apartment window, so maybe I have to?

Nice, anyway.  In indoor lighting it’s much darker, but not so much that you can’t see flashes of color.  Chosen, as I said, to complement…

Wet n Wild Slap the Bass:

Whiiiich is actually there. Although you might have to take my word for it.

While the glitter is almost invisible, it does make the polish quite a bit brighter.  Mostly it makes it look like a very well-lit Opening Night.  I really liked the effect on myself, especially as the light failed.

If you’ve ever wondered why it’s sometimes Wet-n-Wild, sometimes Wet n Wild, sometimes Wet’n’Wild, and so on: it’s because they themselves are inconsistent; I mostly just copy from the bottle.

If you wondered why “Slap the Bass” is a name for a teal glitter, I can’t help you.  I can tell you it’s funnier if you assume they’re talking about the fish, though.**

** Yes, this is the part of the post I spent the most time on.  Do you suppose they’re actually going to give me a PhD?  It seems… unlikely somehow.