All About OPI

A recent attempt at organising all my beauty products revealed that my weakness definitely lies in nail polish. I seem to have litres of the stuff. While my Revlon nail polish collection continues to grow, my OPI collection remains modest but treasured. Part of the reason why I don't have that many OPI polishes is the exorbitant price of OPI in Australia. The limited edition, chunky, dense glitters that I'm generally drawn to can also be a little hard to find. (Still lamenting the fact I never managed to track down Mad as a Hatter from the Alice in Wonderland collection.) If price and availability weren't an issue, my whole nail polish stash would be OPI. It's just better.

From left to right: Rainbow Connection, You Don't Know Jacques!, Parlez-Vous OPI?, Teenage Dream, Not Like the Movies with Black Shatter (which dries matte) and clear top coat.

You Don't Know Jacques was the first ever OPI polish I bought, after seeing it on Rumi's nails and deciding that I had to have it (she sells it so well in this picture). It's a dark mushroom/taupe which shouldn't be flattering or even interesting, but somehow just works. Parlez-Vous OPI? was a spontaneous purchase, I was immediately drawn to this slightly dusty, medium-dark purple. This was before my nail polish habit blew up, so I didn't have anything remotely like it. I probably didn't even have a single purple polish. I don't wear this in warmer weather but it's the perfect polish for the colder months.

I've already waxed lyrical about OPI's glitter polishes. Teenage Dream encapsulates everything I love about nail polish. I must scout a backup bottle. I'd recommend painting Rainbow Connection with a light, neutral base coat (shimmer or creme), because I don't think it looks as good over a naked nail, which I've done in these swatches. I usually don't have issues removing glitter polish, only because after a few days I find it comes a bit loose by itself and I just peel it off.

The same polishes as the previous picture, but substituting the index finger with My Private Jet and the middle finger with The One That Got Away. My Private Jet is supposed to have holographic glitter but it doesn't really show except under flash photography. A friend remarked it's reminiscent of a granite kitchen benchtop which is extremely accurate. The One That Got Away is much richer and deeper than the picture shows, a jewel-toned garnet/wine metallic with raspberry shimmer. If Katy Perry did anything right, it was her OPI collaboration.