KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

Dark & Twisty was released by Indiana-based indie polish maker KBShimmer as part of the Fall 2015 collection in September this year. I was originally hoping to swatch this one for Halloween but somehow managed to miss that opportunity, so it has been waiting patiently in my swatching chute for just the right moment. That moment has come. It's one of those days where I feel like some amorphous blob hauled up from the murky depths to flop about gasping on the dock of time and space. Appropriate enough for cardio at the gym, but not for life in general and my psyche, which seems to have all the charm and flexibility of a Siberian corpse in February, is not up to the strain. I'm definitely in need of a nail polish intervention.

Enter Dark & Twisty, a fabulously-named black jelly swimming with metallic hex glitters in a rainbow of colors, variously sized from small to micro. Savannah of Addicted to Polish called this one "the polish embodiment of a scary clown," so I knew it would be eminently apropos for today. It's sleek and jet black on the nail, with bright glints of color from the glitters as the light hits them. We have overcast skies with a cold rain here today, so I've no idea if I can coax proper photos of this polish from my camera but I think it will be smashing under the lights at the gym, provided I can actually get myself there.

Application was somewhat empowering and thus one of the high points of the day. The consistency of Dark & Twisty is fluid and smooth, with a nicely-balanced viscosity for painting and a purposeful, self-leveling flow over the nail. Glitter payoff is great, with a generous assortment of glitters per brushful dispersing randomly over the nail. Pigmentation is very good. The built-in translucence required for the glitters to show necessitates multiple layers, but opacity builds quickly and wearable coverage can be had in two coats with full bottle color in three. Cleanup is fairly straightforward with some expected pigment travel. Dark & Twisty dries naturally to a mostly smooth, shiny finish with any slight texture from the glitters easily smoothed by a single layer of topcoat. 

Photos show three coats of Dark & Twisty over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of Seche Vite. Despite my fears, they turned out well enough to share.

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

\

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

KBShimmer Dark & Twisty

I did manage to haul my amorphous ass to the gym but Dark & Twisty was not as spectacular under the lights there as I had hoped -- the shiny black was all crowded with reflections so you couldn't really enjoy the full extent of the colorful glitters. Tory said, "Whoa, black!" when she saw my nails, and I felt the tingle of potential dangerousness that lasted until we got to the bench press, during which I swayed and wobbled in my efforts to keep the bar "just below the nipple line" as Tory bluntly instructs. The combination of ungainliness and feeling completely unable to sense whether the bar was properly positioned got the better of me. 

Perhaps this malaise and the rain will both dissipate overnight, in which case there will be much rejoicing. Otherwise it may be difficult to select a polish to write about tomorrow.

love,
Liz