OPI makes a good polish. They make my (and cult) favorite red, I’m Not Really a Waitress. Their wide brushes changed the application game when they hit the market ages ago; they’re a staple in many salons and policy fanciers’ collections. Even though I am primarily a gel fanatic these days, I feel that I can typically rely on OPI for quality and consistency.
But in the last couple years, they’ve been getting a little silly. Not all of their collections have been eyeroll-worthy – the Coca Cola collection, for instance, was pretty cool. But when I saw OPI Color Paints in a recent Ulta email…well, they screamed, “gimmick!”
And not just, “gimmick,” but, “TIRED.”
The OPI Color Paints collection features a mostly-opaque silver, “base,” coat and several translucent colors to slap on top — wait.
Isn’t that similar to another collection of OPI’s I’ve written about?
Anyway, the one thing that is kind of neat, I guess, is that the colors are, “blendable.” Really, I’m guessing that’s a nice way to say, “They’re self-leveling but take a while to dry so you can mess with them and swirl the colors around.”
The goal is for you to achieve a water-marbled effect with multiple colors swiped across the silver-coated nail plate. Silver makes the colors pop and gives them a metallic shift – but every one of the, “watercolor,” manicures I’ve seen with this product just look sloppy, frankly. The colors layered over the silver in a classic, single-color-nail look neat, but reviews suggest that the longevity of them (and the watercolor-style) leaves much to be desired.
For those that enjoy fleeting fingertip color, this could be fun. As a professional in an industry that is a bit demanding of your time, I don’t have time to re-polish every few days (and that’s why gel is so perfect for me).
The set of minis (pictured above) runs $21.95 at Ulta. Full-sized bottles of everything run $9.50 each. If the OPI Color Paints were cheaper, say in the Sinful Colors price-point, it might be fun to experiment with, or if you’re a die-hard OPI collector, there’s that. But for me, that’s an investment for something I feel is too trendy, gimmicky, and high-maintenance for my tastes. The idea of blendable polish is neat in essence, but I can’t picture a truly perfect execution.
What about you – how do you feel about the OPI Color Paints line?