At long last, this duo is in (or perhaps on?) my hands!

Well, cheesy at it seems but the minute I set eyes on the promo visuals, I knew I had to check these out once they were launched. Okay. my smaller voice actually said 'pick this up'.

I seldom go by the populated shopping areas these days, with my office and transport location being nowhere near malls. So when I was in town last Wednesday and saw this collection out on display, I bee-lined right over...

...and this came home with me.

The Golden Jungle Vernis Duo comes in a set and If you ask me, S$47 for 2 Dior polishes is pretty much a steal! For reference the normal Dior polishes are S$37 and also 10ml per bottle.

I was smittened with Amazonia too but managed to peel myself away before doing more damage.

With the Golden Jungle Duo, you get a 'base-color' (gold shade) and a croc-shatter 'topcoat (darkened-olive shade). These shades don't have actual names to them which is quite a shame because that gorgeous golden base really needs a name.

I only own one other Dior polish but to what I know, these come with a different applicator from the usual lot.

Instead of the flat brush with a rounded edge, the applicators for Golden Jungle are 'normal' but thankfully still a short brush. I do prefer relatively short polish brushes because they give me better control.

There are instructions encased with steps on how to best use the combo. While the idea of applying a base color followed by a shatter topcoat seems simple enough, I went ahead and read the instructions anyway.

One key thing to note is to apply the top-shatter before the base color is completely dry to the touch.

I had experimented with using the top-shatter over a week-old manicure and nothing happened so it's either this only works with the Dior basecoat or the tip above is extremely crucial for a good shatter effect.

Regardless, here are swatches of the duo in action!

Here's 1 coat of the golden base color and can I add that this, alone, is positively gorgeous (and opaque!).

It's almost a white-gold shade, leaning a little warm but with plenty of white. I think at least, seeing that I don't actually own a gold polish to compare this to.

(taken with flash)

(taken with flash)

(taken with daylight lamp)

Thankfully, and I can't believe I'm thankful for this, the base color doesn't dry extremely fast. That allowed me to paint it, take some shots with flash and with a lamp before deciding I should proceed. That in total probably took about 1 minute from the first painted nail?

The base-color was in a semi-dry state — surface doesn't get imprinted but feels slightly tacky — when I went on to step 2.

For the top-shatter I estimated a thick enough layer for good coverage yet I didn't want too thick / cushion-looking a shatter either.

It doesn't matter if it appears to be uneven because along the way as it dries and shatters, it works out to look fine.

The shattering process is fascinating to watch because it takes its time and creeps in from the edge of the nail. It is unlike the usual shatters that seem to have a race to see who will shatter and dry the quickest. In a sense this makes painting the nails with this a very leisurely indulgence.

My pinkie received a thicker coat of the top-shatter, hence it was a bit slow with the effect though it was painted first.

And here is the final croc-shatter effect (without a topcoat).

(taken with daylight lamp)

(taken with daylight lamp)

(taken with flash)

(taken with flash)

The images taken with Flash are closest to how it looks in person. While the top-shatter polish is actually a darkened olive shade, with a medium coat of it, it dries to an almost bronze-ish shade most likely influenced by the gold base beneath.

I didn't get any shots of this in daylight but you can check out Sophia's lovely shots of it. That top-shatter really does lean different shades in different lighting conditions.

The top-shatter takes awhile to dry and if you use a top-coat, that would be best to seal the polish down (and give it a gorgeous gloss). I left it as it is, topcoat-less and realized that days into wear, while it is definitely dry, it still has a slight tacky feel to it, very intriguing.

Thus far I haven't seen a bad Dior Golden Jungle shatter and I love how unique this shatter pattern is.

While some may feel that Dior is belated on this whole shatter thing, I would prefer to think of it as them taking their time to perfect their take on it. I am probably repeating myself but this shatter really is so unique and sophisticated at the same time.

Alright, enough of me rambling, do you have your sights set on this or purchased it already?

Thanks for reading!