China Glaze Swanky Silk

Good morning, guys and gals!!  When the Deborah Lippman Mirrored Chrome collection came on the scene, I singled out Sugar Daddy as my favorite.  The last thing I need to do was get my self hooked on another spendy polish brand, though, so imagine my delight when I learned that one of the new China Glaze Bohemian collection polishes is a possible dupe!  Here it is; it's called Swanky Silk.

Swanky Silk is a pink to champagne gold duochrome with kind of a wildly elegant feel to it.  I've heard all sorts of things about this one, that it's not very duochrome-y, that the pink shows more over a pink base.  I haven't tried the pink base, but I'm not disappointed in the duochrominess of this in the least.  I've also heard it's kind of sheer and needs three coats; I used two and don't find it to be sheer at all.  Swanky Silk is flashy without being over-the-top, as elegant as a duochrome can get, and neutral enough to go with most anything.  It applies like a dream, too.  However... it is not without its flaws.  It's suuuuuper brushstrokey, and no one seems to want to address this.  Of all the chrome swatches I've seen this year, these ChGs are the worst offenders.  This one highlights every flaw in the nail, too.  There are ways of minimizing this, though, ways to make this polish look its best.  First, use a ridge filler as a basecoat.  It eliminates flaws, creating a perfectly smooth surface to build upon.  I used OPI's version.  Second, don't rush the second coat.  This polish can be an air bubble nightmare if you don't wait for the first coat to dry properly.  This polish is kind of a pain, really.  It's super pretty, though, so I'll keep playing with it until I get it right.  

Thanks for reading! <3