All that glitters is not gold...

But, today, it is!  Come see what I mean...

A while back, I tried this Avon Garden Green and really liked it.  Great blue shimmer, though it dries soooo slowly on me.  The lump on my ring finger?  I can't remember.

I layerd on some of Sephora for OPI It's Real 18k gold topcoat, and I loved it.  Oftentimes, I forget about layering, and then I "discover" it all over again.

So, I decided to try it over a few different colors and finishes, and see what, if any, I liked.  First up -

Maybelline Bare Escape.  This is part of an LE collection this spring/summer.  It's a barely there grey, almost white.  Application was ..meh.  I had some issues with it not leveling completely.  The shine on it is really nice, though.

In Real Life, I could barely see the gold flecks.  Very, very, very subtle.  Kind of a waste of real gold topcoat, in my opinion.  A gold glitter with bigger flecks might be just the ticket, though.

One of Butter London's spring pastels, Fruit Machine is a bubble gum pink.  Unfortunately, it had the same application problems as most of the other pastels from this collection.  Problems self-leveling, patchy application.

I really love pink and gold together, but again, this was almost too subtle for me.

Sally Hansen Complete Black and Blue.  A dark blue with cobalt shimmer, this one almost looks like a duochrome.  Two coats are definitely needed to get the full spectrum of color, and it goes on really well.  Really liked this one.

Now we're getting somewhere.  The darker colors are what's really needed to make the gold pop.  I loved the shimmer and shift from beneath the gold flake.

Este'e Lauder Dressed to Kill.  I am a huge fan of these polishes that have a burning glow from within.  This polish is right up my alley.  I think I may have even gasped a little when I put it on.

This was my absolute fave with the gold topcoat.  You can see the fire burning underneath, the gold popping on top, and every direction you look at the mani, you see another dimension of color.  There's even some gold within the polish.  This was a synergistic mesh of polish, where two become something greater by coming together.

ETA:  I was asked to do one with black and gold, so here it is: 

Wow, huh?  Love it.

I was too cheap to pay the full price for this topcoat when it came out, and snagged a bottle on sale.  It's a true luxury to have gold flakes on your mani, and I can see where there are times where regular gold glitter would be acceptable, and even preferable over real gold.

Are you over the gold flake topcoat?  Do you think it's too extravagant, or worth it for a once-in-a while luxury, or would you rock that every day in every way?