Duochrome Nail Polish for <$4!

If you've never heard of "duochrome" before, it's sort of like those prism or chameleon paints you sometimes see on cars. You know, from one direction it looks a certain color, and from a different angle, the color changes?

I recently purchased what I thought was going to be a great duochrome.
It's from the Fast Dry line Wet and Wild released this spring, called Gray's Anatomy.
When I was about 12, I have a color very similar to this, that I loved, so when I saw this, I couldn't pass it up.

I purchased this at K-Mart for about $1.89 I think.  I couldn't wait to try this polish on!

It was so sheer, I had to put four coats to somewhat achieve a color that shifted from purple to green. Otherwise, it was this mucky gray. I love gray nail polish, but I didn't think was going to be gray. What a let down.

...Until...

I decided to try this polish with a base color underneath. 

The first color I tried was black. This was a very cool effect, but it took away from the gray/silver base that I liked.

So the second color I tried was Sinful Colors in Nirvana. This is a gray/taupe/brown shade that's really popular this year. It is also a dupe for OPI in "You Don't Know Jacques."

I purchased this at Walgreens for $.99, regularly $1.99. Essie "Chinchilly" is a similar shade.

(I used a base coat and top coat to make the polish last longer- the Wet and Wild polish will chip without one.  I used Nail Life "Gripper" as my base coat, purchased at Sally's for $5, regularly $7.50. and Nail Life "Speed Demon" as my top coat. Also purchased at Sally's for $5, regularly $7.50. You do not need a top and base coat for this look, but it will make your polish last longer.)

I used 1 coat of Gripper, 1 coat of Nirvana, 2 coats of Gray's Anatomy, and 1 coat of Speed Demon.

I was very impressed with the results. The duochrome had just the effect I was looking for. It was so much opaque than from just the Gray's Anatomy alone.

 This is the finished look. On the two fingers to the left, you can see the green undertones, and on the two to the right, you can see purple. The thumb shows both colors.