230 Pick-Me-Up and HK Girl TC Review

Hi all! Do you guys have a certain mani that you wear if you are needing a pick-me-up? Well I have a weakness for red-green color shifting topcoats (and if you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know this) so what better for a mood booster than the holy grail of red-green color shifters, Clarins 230. I love it layered ove everything, but especialy purple shimmers. It just makes them glow!

For this mani, I started out with Bettina 28, a purple shimmer that was a gift from perhaps the biggest purple shimmer lover I know, Kristy over at The Polish Haven. It is so lovely! It reminds me of a hybrid of two of my most loved purple shimmers: OPI Diva of Geneva and Claire's Magic. Then I layered 1 coat of Clarins 230 on top.

 

 

 

Now I will show you the Bettina on its own. It was really lovely...until the Hong Kong Girl topcoat struck. I had heard about how this top coat was supposed to be super shiny and quick drying like Seche Vite but without the shrinkage problems. Now, I broke up with Seche Vite ages ago due to shrinkage issues so I was very excited about to hear about something comparable. It dried quickly like Seche Vite, but it dulled the polish as it dried. It also had the most offensive smell I have ever encountered with any polish or topcoat. It literally made me nauseous. So...yeah...I'm not on board the Hong Kong Girl Topcoat train. I'm gonna stick with my super cheap and easy to find NYC Grand Central Station.

 

 

 

 

Has anyone else had experience with the HK girl topcoat? I'm interested to hear how others have liked it because I have heard rave reviews as well as people with similar experiences to my own. Perhaps it is a body chemsitry thing? Thanks for looking everyone!