Glitter Gradient with Orly Decades of Dysfunction and Cirque Ophelia

Decades of Dysfunction was released as part of Orly's Dark Shadows collection in spring 2012 and is identical to Pure Porcelain, which was released the previous year. It is a very desaturated nude/pink/blush creme, an off-white or putty color with undertones of beige and pink. I love this cool-toned neutral, it hits a nice note with my pinkage and doesn't feel too stark on me the way a lot of light colored polishes do.

It's a nicely formulated polish with a fluid creamy consistency that is easy to control and flows evenly onto the nail in a self-leveling way. The pigmentation is excellent. I had show-through on my most furrowed nail beds at one coat but on a less-ridged nail or two I was amazed to find almost complete and even opacity -- outstanding for such a light polish! Two coats provided sufficiently even coverage to use as a base for my gradient although I almost applied a third. I'm glad I didn't as it evened out further after the gradient with the application of topcoat. I did get some bubbling on my left thumb nail for some reason, probably because one of the coats was a little too thick. Decades of Dysfunction dries naturally in good time to a lovely glossy finish.

Photos show two coats of Decades of Dysfunction over Seche Rebuild treatment and Butter London Nail Foundation basecoat with no topcoat. Mortifications du jour: lack of clean up finesse (wobbly lines, I can do better), acetone residue and generally dry and tattered cuticles and fingers. PSA: if you clean your bathroom fixtures with Comet and don't wear gloves, this will happen. D'oh.

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction, showing a little bit of streakiness

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

I am kind of delighted with Decades of Dysfunction, I must say. If only the name weren't so totally appropriate for my life!

Using this as a base, I used Ophelia by Cirque to dab a gradient on the tips. Ophelia is part of Cirque's Dark Horse collection released in 2012 and is a glitter topper. It has abundant cornflower blue glitters in microfine and fine iridescent shards and medium hexes carried in a clear base. The color is absolutely beautiful. I wanted so badly to go full on with this pretty topper and cover every available square millimeter of nail with it. Honestly, how I managed to keep from doing just that is a mystery in this world considering my general lack of self-restraint.

Ophelia is as well-behaved as it is lovely. Because I was dabbing carefully and slowly, I had the bottle open for a good while so I added a few drops of polish thinner twice during the process to preserve flow and avoid stickiness. I've learned that for me, one of the most important things to remember in creating a nice gradient after technique is moderation (see above confession re self-restraint). To avoid applying too much glitter at once, I wiped each brushful nearly dry at the neck of the bottle and used the thin side for dabbing. This took longer to do, but it worked.

Photos show one carefully dabbed on coat of Ophelia at the free edge over the Decades of Dysfunction manicure above with a topcoat of Seche Vite. 

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction on the nail, Cirque Ophelia in the bottle

ditto

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Cirque Ophelia over Orly Decades of Dysfunction

It's been a while since I tried out a gradient and I'm happy with how this turned out. Even if the look is a little delicate for this time of year, I love these two polishes together. 

xoxo,
Aunt Liz