But, OPI must be famous for a reason, and while I don't really see it, let's take a look at some shades and I'll explain why their polishes don't appeal to me much:
OPI "Gargantuan Green Grape"
This color is probably my favorite OPI that I have tried thus far, and oddly, there are 2 different versions of this shade. This one is apparently the more elusive of the 2. I have both versions. Here is a bottle shot of the 2 side by side:
L - "GGG" in light blue R - "GGG" in pale green
I don't yet have swatches for the pale green version of "GGG" but maybe will have one soon. That said, although the 2 are distinctly different colors, they are essentially the same formulas. Both, while finishing extremely glossy and drying fairly quickly, take at least 3 coats to make opaque, unless you're able to keep a thick amount on the brush and are lucky enough to get it on in 1 swipe. I was able to do that with my pinkie, but I think it was just dumb luck, lol.
You should probably work with thin coats on this one, and be ready to do at the very least 2 coats, though, as I said, you will probably need 3.
That is one of my problems with OPI polishes. Maybe I've just picked the wrong shades to base on judging the brand, but most of the ones I have got, like "GGG," take at least 3 coats to make the color opaque. Take, for instance, "Did It on 'Em," (seen in photo of my OPI collection group bottle shot below, though in the back. Sorry about that - no time to retake right now!). A semi-pretty color, sort of like a muted neon cactus green, but can take up to 4 coats due to the thin formula. OPI, why so many coats?
From Left to Right - Front Row: "Swimsuit...Nailed It!"; "Got A Date To-Knight"; "Call Me Gwen-ever" Back Row: "GGG" (blue); "GGG" (green); "Did It On 'Em"; "Do You Lilac It"
These polishes, with the exception of the 2 "GGG"s, are all just OK shades at best to me. The "GGG"s, "Did It On 'Em," and "Got A Date To-knight" all have lackluster formulas, thin and just too much of a hassle to deal with. Not too spectacular to make all that time spent painting worth it.
"Swimsuit... Nailed It!" is a shade I just can't forgive after it stained my toes quite badly when I wore it as a pedicure back in summer for about a week. I used base coat, too. I dared to try it on one of my fingers today, and after hardly 1 minute of wear, I tried to remove it and it stained my cuticles. Granted, most deep blues do generally stain, but this one seems even worse than something like Essie "Midnight Cami," which in my view, stains very minimally compared to this. So, no, don't like this one.
"Call Me Gwen-ever" seems like the quintessential November color, I suppose because of Thanksgiving. It's a burnt orange creme. It reminds me a combination between Thousand Island and Catalina salad dressings when I look at the bottle, kind of in between those 2 colors. Anyway, this shade is too muted and boring for me.
"Do You Lilac It" is one of the better shades of my small OPI collection. I believe it was one of the first OPI shades I purchased, and I do like the color of this polish - a blueberry yogurt sort of color, like a light purple, but not lavender. It's not even really a lilac though the name says otherwise. Lilac suggests a softer, more delicate lavender. This has too much deep blue at its base to even qualify as lilac. It's kind of unique, so this one's pretty good.
Swatch of "Do You Lilac It"; accurate color portrayal
I'll stop rambling about OPI here, at least for now. We'll see if I happen to pick up anymore of their polishes. They pop up at TJ Maxx a lot, and that's really the only place I'm likely to find them. They come in sets of 2 for $8, so 2 for 1.
I will have posts about some of their Liquid Sand polishes (which I actually like) soon, and one more shade that sadly got left out of this post. Thanks for reading!
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