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!
I don't know much about HK Girl top coat but I've heard that it is advertised as "2-free" probably meaning it still contains the least harmful of the big three: toluene. What else contains toluene? Seche Vite.... that's what causes the shrinkage when SV is used with big-3 free polishes, so I don't see how HK girl could manage to be shrinkage-free. At least SV is super shiny to make up for shrinkage!
ReplyDeleteI used to love SV but the shrinkage became unbearable. Even with a brand new bottle I was getting terrible shrinkage. And apparently some people find the HK Girl TC to be super shiny, but it just didn't do that for me.
DeleteBeautiful combo! My mom bought me this Bettina while in Puerto Rico, but it's an untried... I think I'm going to have to try it out soon!
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried the HK one, but you and Cilucia have both not liked it, so I don't think I'll bother. I have been happiest with the Beauty Secrets Fast Finish (at Sally's) and the ProFX one (at Walmart). They are both very similar - thin, shiny, dry fast, and no shrinkage! Plus the bottles are HUGE and they are CHEAP! :D
I still wonder if I got a bad bottle of Pro-Fx. It was very thick and bubbled like mad. I threw it away. I wanted to love it...really did. I might give the Beauty Secrets one a shot though! I do love my NYC Grand Central Station...cheap cheap cheap and it works.
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