OPI What's Dune? (Black Label)

I got my bottle of What's Dune? for $8. EIGHT DOLLARS! Even though it's about 2/3 full (right up to the line beneath OPI on the bottle), that's a damn good deal. If you know anything about this polish, you'll know that it and the entirety of the collection it was a part of are highly sought after. I'm considering myself very, very lucky. 

This comes from the beach-themed 2003 S/S It's Summer for Shore collection (meaning it was released around the same time that my little sister was born, and she recently turned 18... let that sink in). To my knowledge, this was the first time that OPI would ever produce holographic polish. Of course, many of the well-known Designer Series polishes would utilize holographic glitter, but apart from that, I don't think OPI has ever made another entirely holo collection! These are different from your standard holo, too, featuring subtle linear holographic glitter in shimmery bases. While I'm not usually the biggest fan of holo, these are really something special!

What's Dune? (whose name I still don't really understand... is it supposed to be a pun on "what's new"?) is comprised of a shimmery white base, a blue/pink shift, and that subtle holo I mentioned... quite a lot going on with this polish! I'll be honest, I've never seen anything like this before! It's fairly sheer, with 3 coats still leaving some visible nail line, but I don't really mind -- in fact, I think it lends itself to the delicate, exquisite color. (You could layer it over black to bring out the shift and the holographic qualities, but I'm not a layering type of girl, nor do I think this polish needs altering.) I think they really nailed the beachy theme with this one, because it reminds me of a seashell... specifically, mother of pearl or white abalone. The ultrafine linear holo is reminiscent of the rainbow sheen on these shells, and it's really beautiful! 

While the holo is not quite as noticeable under regular lighting conditions, it really sparkles under my phone's flashlight! I think this blurry photo does a pretty good job at demonstrating this. Here, it looks more like a strong holo you might see from an indie brand these days.

That's one of the things that strikes me about this polish, and the rest of the collection -- for 2003, this must have been pretty special. I'm not sure exactly how prevalent holo was back then -- I know the Sally Hansen Nail Prisms line existed, some of which featured holo -- but I'm sure it was not utilized nearly as often as it is today. I'm imagining this collection could have been some nail polish fans' first introduction to what would become such a beloved mainstay in the current polish world. It also reminds me of how fun OPI used to be... of course, they still pumped out the same reds and pinks that we see in collections nowadays, but there were gems like this that are far more whimsical than what the company would dare to release nowadays. Exciting finishes & colors are usually relegated to indie polish, and that's just not my scene. 

To conclude, I really like this polish. It's a gorgeous, unique color unlike anything I own or have even seen before. Though it's quite rare and my bottle is not entirely full, I think I will be using this with some regularity... it's too pretty not to.

And until next time... PEACE! xoxo

OPI Show Us Your Tips!

Ever since I laid eyes on this polish 2-ish years ago, I knew I had to have it. It was a no-brainer. I'm a sucker for this particular shade of cornflower blue, and the added shimmer was a big bonus. Somehow, I didn't own it until today. I can't explain why. My bottle was $7.99 on eBay. It's not exactly a huge investment. I kinda just forgot about it. But I didn't, really, because I'd think of it now and then and wish I had it... but I wouldn't buy it... to quote Patrick, "the inner workings of my mind are an enigma". 

So here it is. FINALLY. Five years after its debut in the 2016 S/S New Orleans collection, and two years after first falling in love with it, I finally have the beautiful Show Us Your Tips!

So is it everything I've dreamt of and more? Well... kinda.

Here it is in 3 not-so-easy coats with some Seche Vive on top. I bumped up the saturation to try and match the color I'm seeing in person, but it's a tough one to capture. As mentioned above, it's a shimmery cornflower blue, veering towards periwinkle. It is just as pretty as I had hoped, oh my goodness. Though this came out in the Spring/Summer collection and it's May at the time of writing, I think this would work really well as a winter shade. Doesn't it remind you of icicles, Jack Frost, and all things magical about the colder months? At the same time, it does work as a warm weather shade -- I think this would really pop on tanned skin. 

Despite my glowing endorsement, this was an absolute pain to apply, as you may have guessed by my "not-so-easy" comment. It was thick and gummy, and patchy in sections. However, 3 coats was enough to smooth it out for the most part -- all that remains is a very slight section of patchiness on my index finger that you may just be able to make out in the photo. Another not-so-great aspect of this polish is the sheerness. Even with 3 horrible thick coats, there is still some VNL if I look closely. Thankfully, though, it is opaque at a glance, so I won't berate it too much for this.

A cool aspect of this polish that I didn't realize until I got it is the dimension of the shimmer. I had initially thought this was your bog standard shimmer, but if you look closely, there are intermittent flashes of pink that peak out every now and again (hopefully this blurry photo will demonstrate that). It's a nice touch, though I don't think a polish this pretty needed it.

Today I got a massive lot of Zoya from a nice lady in one of my Facebook groups. I swatched all of the colors and fell in love with a few, so expect to see them popping up sometime soon. This is my first ever experience with Zoya, and I'm so excited to add another brand to my frankly massive arsenal of polish!

Thanks so much for reading! And until next time... PEACE! xoxo

OPI Up the Amazon Without a Paddle (Black Label)

I know, I know. It's been 5 months since I posted last. Yes, I'm fine... kinda.

Ladies, this semester has been one hell of a ride, emphasis on the "hell" part. I am not cut out for 5 classes. At all. I'm especially not cut out for giving speeches and presentations at 9:30 AM. I've also landed a side gig as a transcriber for an insurance adjuster, so in addition to my schoolwork, I'm spending anywhere from a few minutes here and there to hours not dissimilar to a full-blown part-time job per week doing this (the influx of work is not very consistent). Oh, and my 15 year old cat died. Who I love more than anything in the world. Yep. I know that no one (or next to no one) reads this blog, but if you've been wondering, that's where I've been. 

Anyways! Today I've got a fun little shade that's fallen to the wayside in the books of nail polish history. OPI's 2002 S/S South America collection was not unsuccessful by any stretch of the imagination. Some of its colors are still produced by the company 19 years later, such as the sizzling pink La Paz-itively Hot and the beloved nude Dulce de Leche. Other polishes from this collection did not get so lucky, and were neglected for the permanent lineup.

Today I bring to you one such example, Up the Amazon Without a Paddle (love the name). My bottle is first edition!... but only because it was swiftly discontinued after the collection's run, along with other unloved colors like the amusingly-named Galapa-ghost (a whiteish nude) and Santiago Sangria (which looks virtually indistinguishable from La Paz). And honestly... I can kind of see why.

Not to say this isn't a great color, because it is. It's a bright coral with an obnoxious pink shimmer to it. In both of the pictures I've attached, I've used the flash on my phone camera to really emphasize that pink glow. I would call it "stealth shimmer", but that'd be a lie -- even when not under direct light, this shade hums in such a way that these old shimmery OPIs tend to do. There's also some golden shimmer swirled into it, if you can tell. It's real nice. 

So why was this discontinued if it's so great? Well... it just looks outdated. It simply screams 2002... well, if I'm being honest, it screams 1996 a little louder. Not that I remember (I was bigger on watching Barney the Dinosaur and shitting my pants over nail polish back then), but I get the vibe that by 2002, the nail world was starting to get antsy. Pinks and reds and nudes weren't cutting it anymore. Those wacky, edgy shades popularized by brands like Street Wear in the 90s were beginning to really catch on. Why wear a pearl coral when you COULD be wearing green glitter? Maybe for the conservative crowd or the office workers, a pearl coral could be nice. But for the cool college girls and Phoebe from Friends types, a funky color is much more en vogue. Then again, I could be totally wrong... but I'm just speculating! (Oh, and it's MAD sheer... like, 4 coats and I still see VNL sheer. That could have had a hand in its discontinuation, methinks.)

Check it out, on my stubby little nail, on my fat little finger. Ain't it puuuurdy? I'll answer that question for you -- it's alright. Y'all know I love a good vintage polish more than damn near anything on this planet (with the only exceptions being my mom, my cats, my BF, and sushi), but this one doesn't really do it for me. Yes, it's bright and fun and all that good stuff, but... I don't know. I just don't love it. Then why'd I use it? It's called shopping the stash, people! Sometimes you just gotta close your eyes and do a full manicure with the first polish you grab. With ~1000 polishes under my belt, it can get hard to choose with my eyes open. It's not like I picked this out for myself, anyway -- I got it as part of a $5 lot on Facebook. I got some other BLOPIs in there too, including Kinky in Helsinki, which remains one of my best finds 2-ish years later. One (wo)man's trash is another (wo)man's treasure... :')

So that's gonna do it for today. If you've read this far, I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't, go to hell. :) Jk. And until next time... PEACE! xoxo