So back in early February, I went to buy the OPI Euro Centrale collection. When I walked into the store, I couldn't believe my eyes...they were selling OPI Oz collection!!! Then I basically forgot about the Euro Centrale collection and starting fondling over the Oz collection for the first 5 minutes. At first I was unsure about whether to go for the nudes in this collection. Nudes have been a thing for me for awhile now, but truth is...how many nudes does a girl need? Despite the fact that I feel I probably have too many nudes, I still bought the nudes. Do I have a problem? Definitely. Looking on the bright side, though, I love the 2 nudes I got from the collection! So onto the swatches, this is an extremely picture heavy post (with a lot of commentary from me), prepare yourselves!!!
Up first are the nudes of this collection. I did not get Don't Burst My Bubble because I felt it wasn't unique enough of a nude. As for the two I did get, these were less of a jelly polish compared to last year's NYC Ballet collection. However, these were definitely shiny and sheer, so I would still consider them jellies.
April 2013 addition: See OPI Don't Burst My Bubble swatch here.
Glints of Glinda:
Beige jelly. This is probably the closest to skin colour I have ever got with a polish. I definitely had mannequin hands with this one. Below is 3 medium coats without top coat, and there is still VNL.
I Theodora You:
Baby (or Barbie?) pink jelly. Below is 3 medium coats without TC, tad of VNL. Second picture is more colour accurate to real life. The first picture makes it look more white than it actually is. This is a beautiful pink that is not chalky or white whatsoever. Instant love for me!
Next up the glitters! I wasn't particularly impressed by swatches I had seen of any of these glitters. It was their uniqueness that persuaded me to buy them. Now that I have actually tried these babies on, I am wondering why I ever doubted OPI. All of them are much more amazing in real life than in pictures. Cameras cannot capture all the glimmer and colour changes of these glitters. I highly recommend them, minus one unless you are not afraid of some work (later on this).
Light of Emerald City:
Large opaque white squares with medium sheer opalescent squares in a clear base. Below is 2 coats over OPI Eurso Euro. The opalescent squares change colour from orange to yellow to green. These show up really well against dark polish, but tend to fade into the background on light coloured polish due to its transparency. Glitter pay off is aweful if you try to apply it like regular polish. Removal is tough, especially the white glitters.
*Application tip: apply with a huge glob of polish and move the pieces to desired position (glob method).
Below is 1 thick (glob) coat over OPI Steady As She Rose
Which Is Witch?
Holographic large hexagon, small bar and small round glitters in a clear base. This thing sparkles with holographic goodness like there is no tomorrow! Glitter payoff is awesome. Below is 1 coat over OPI Eurso Euro and OPI Steady As She Rose. Removal was surprisingly easy, easier than foils and tad harder than creams. What's funny about this polish is it reminds of paper shavings in puzzle boxes, must be the tiny bar glitter.
When Monkeys Fly!
Huge yellow gold hexagon, large and medium holographic hexagon glitters in a clear base. Glitter pay off is ok if apply as per usual, glob method is recommended. This is my favorite of the 3 glitters! I love how chunky it is, and the holographic glitters sparkle like a diamond does. However, the big con (deal breaker for some) is the curling of the huge gold glitters. I'm guessing the curling may be due to the glitter being so large. The curling does cause this polish to be scratchy, a thick coat of TC I found helped a lot with this. Though, I do not think you will be able to have a glassy smooth finish even with 2 coats of TC. TC will only help to decrease the scratching caused by curling.
How I plan to overcome the obstacle of curling glitter in the future:
Use toothpick or tweezers to flip glitter down, so scratchy characteristic can be eliminated
I even pressed down on the glitters with my nails to uncurl them a bit, it helped. So if you dont mind the scratchiness or tedious task of flipping the glitters over, you should definitely get this one because it really does look amazing. Removal is difficult as per usual for glitters. Below is 1 thick (glob) coat over OPI Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow (amazing combo, a must try!) and China Glaze Kalahari Kiss.
Below shows the curling of the huge gold glitters. This picture was taken before I added one thick coat of top coat.
Finally we have liquid sand!
What Wizardry Is This?
Dark brown with strong gold tones and gold shimmer liquid sand. You may remember that I was not a fan of the liquid sands from the Mariah Carey collection. This baby has single handedly made me a liquid sand fan. I am absolutely in love with this one! In fact, I had this baby on for 3 whole days and when it came time that I had to take it off I find myself struggling to fetch the polish remover. This reminds me of gold in a mine, where the wall of the mine shimmers with gold. Under the sun you can sometimes see hints of green and copper shimmer when looked at closely. Application was easy and opaque in 2 coats. I found the dry time of this one to be tad faster than the Mariah Carey ones. In between coats I gave it 5 to 10 minutes (time for it to get matte and gritty). For complete dryness it takes longer, but I find this polish is not delicate like regular polish so you can start doing tasks with your hands before it is completely dry. Removal is easier than foils and harder than creams.
Phew! Finally at the end of the post. That was a real long one! I was just so excited about this collection that I had to share lots of pictures and my thoughts on it all. Overall, I am very impressed with this collection. I ended up liking (or should I say loving) a lot more of these than I originally anticipated. My picks would be What Wizardry Is This?, I Theodora You and When Monkeys Fly (if you don't mind the curling).
What are you favorites? Which ones will be you picking up next week when the collection comes out?
