REVIEW of Sephora By OPI in Queen of Everything

Hello cupcakes,

It is finally time for my review of Sephora by OPI Nail Colour in Queen of Everything. And yes, I'll admit a significant percentage of the reason why I picked it up was because of the name. And also because the finds at the Big Lots I visited in San Francisco were rather disappointing. It's not like I needed another silver polish. Though, let's be honest, at this point it's not like I need most the polishes I'm buying. I could be a gypsy manicurist if anyone would let me near their nails without a license.

Color: Queen of Everything is a silver metallic polish. Call it a frost. Call it a shimmer. Call it a chrome. It really doesn't matter. It's your basic silver polish with a smooth finish and visible brushstrokes.
Formula: The polish is a little bit thick.
Application: The first coat of polish glided on very smoothly though the brushstrokes were immediately apparent. Also immediately apparent was the terrible and potent chemical smell. I mostly do my own manicures so it's not like I'm a stranger to the scents that various polishes and nail care products give off. But this was offensive enough to have me choking on the fumes. The second coat also went on smoothly but with visible brushstrokes. This is one of those polishes that requires careful application. On short nails this polish was almost opaque in two coats. I added a third for full opacity. I will note that while this polish goes on pretty smoothly, it gets harder to keep things neat with each successive coat so I would not recommend overworking this one with your brush or adding any more coats that necessary. You could also try waiting longer in between each coat.

CONCLUSION: I wouldn't enthusiastically recommend this polish but if you want a basic silver for your collection and you can get this cheaply it might be worth picking up. I think I only paid two or three dollars for this bottle. I have flashier silvers but this is a nice alternative when you want that color without grabbing too much attention.

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REVIEW of Sephora by OPI Top Coat in Only Gold For Me

Hello chickadees!

This isn't really a review as there's not much to review with top coats but I wanted to share my recent manicure with you. I wanted to do something special since I was attending the final matinee of Side Show and I kind of missed the boat on doing a flashy New Year's Eve look. So in honor of Side Show and my inclination towards something sparkly I painted by nails with three coats of Sally Hansen Red Zin and topped it with two coats of Sephora by OPI in Only Gold For Me. I haven't the slightest clue when or where I picked up this polish. I don't have any record of getting it from Sephora but I also didn't get it in California when I discovered some Sephora by OPI polishes at Big Lots.

You can find my original review of Red Zin here. Application was still easy though I found the polish very sheer. Even at three coats it wasn't opaque. I'm not sure if this is something that happened with time or if it's always been this sheer. Anyway, it didn't matter much as a good glitter top coat can hide a multitude of sins.

Only Gold for Me is a glitter top coat suspended in a clear base. It contains gold glitter particles and gold hex glitter. To my eye, the hex glitter is slightly smaller than regular hex glitter, giving this top coat a more refined look. It made me think of champagne bubbles dancing around in a glass. The gold glitter is a cooler-toned gold but it doesn't go so far as to appear silver. The top coat went on very smoothly but it was hard to get the glitter placement exact. This is one of those polishes with a lot of base liquid so you have to struggle to balance getting too much of the polish base on the brush with still picking up glitter.

CONCLUSION: If you can still get a hold of it, I would recommend Only Gold For Me. It's not going to amaze you as far as gold glitter top coats go but it's a nice one to have in your collection. It goes on smoothly and the glitter is small enough to not be overwhelming but large enough to have an impact.

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REVIEW of Sephora by OPI Nail Colour in I Only Shop Vintage

Hello fashionistas,

Obviously, I adore the name of this polish. Maybe one day I'll show you my growing collection of vintage and sample sale fashion. Let me know in the comments if you'd be interested in that kind of thing. I've been staying away from fashion posts recently aside from my regular sample sale reports. I picked this polish up when I was out in California a while back. After taking the bus way, way out of my way to scope out the Sephora by OPI stock at Big Lots I'll admit I was disappointed with what I found but I did pick up a handful of polishes to make the trip worth it. I also picked up a mug which has been very useful for holding my makeup brushes. Right. Enough stalling. On to the review!

Color: I Only Shop Vintage is a brownish gold polish. I would put it somewhere between a shimmer and a glitter. Maybe glass flecked? I don't know. Clearly, I'm confused about how to classify this one. It doesn't have the pretty delicate shimmer I associate with shimmer polishes and it feels weird calling this a glitter. The swatches are pretty clear but still I'll try and clarify things a bit by noting that this polish reminds me a little of Essie Chinchilly. I don't think this color is very flattering on me and it's hard to think of which skin tones it would flatter. It might look better on medium or dark skin tones but it's more the undertones in the gold that seem to clash with everything.
Formula: The formula is neither notably thin nor thick.
Application: The first coat of this polish applied smoothly. It was very sparkly but also rather sheer it one coat. The second coat did not provide a lot of opacity and I still had VNL. The second coat went on smoothly but not super smoothly. There was a little bit of drag without it really affecting the evenness of the polish. With the third coat the drag was a little worse and I could see some ridges and brushstrokes. I had to even out the third layer of polish a bit. However, for a polish you have to work with, it wasn't an issue. At three coats this polish is nowhere near opaque. I would still recommend three coats of polish over two as I think it makes a difference.
Wear: I wore this polish for four days. On the fourth night the manicure was not showing that much tip wear. However, there was either a lot of growth at the cuticle or I hadn't painted the polish close enough to the cuticle to begin with.

CONCLUSION: Honestly, this wasn't a great polish but since I only paid around two dollars for it, it wasn't that bad. Of course you could make the argument that Confetti polishes are opaque and apply nicely at around the same price but if that was my standard for everything, I'd only buy polishes that cost $2 and then where would this blog be? If you think this color will flatter you and you're OK with a polish that isn't completely opaque, go for it. Application is manageable and wear seems fine. It's just not really for me.

As you're doing your holiday shopping this year, please consider starting your shopping trip through one of my amazon links. It doesn't matter what you purchase. As long as you start from one of my links, I will get a small percentage of whatever you spend at no extra cost to you. It really helps me out and I appreciate your support. 

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REVIEW of Sephora by OPI Nail Colour in I'm Wired With SWATCHES

Hello zettabytes,

I've got a quick review for you today. This is yet another Sephora by OPI nail polish from the Tinseltown set I picked up ages ago. It might be more than a year now. Keep reading to hear what I think so you can decide if you want to go through the trouble of tracking it down.

Color: I'm Wired is an orange coral creme polish. It's not a guava/coral but it's softer than a basic orange polish.
Formula: Based on how it drips from the brush, I'd call it a thick polish but it applies like a thin polish.
Application: The first coat I applied with my dominant hand went on smoothly without any drag though it formed shallow ridges when I tried to even it out. The second coat also failed to go on evenly and was a bit streaky but again, there was no drag. I applied three coats for full opacity. There were no major application problems but it just didn't look like a great manicure because the polish didn't apply evenly and there was no way of fixing it. Applying the polish with my nondominant hand, the experience was essentially the same though the results were slightly worse.

CONCLUSION: This polish isn't awful but I wouldn't recommend it. For me, it's not the most flattering color so I wouldn't put up with the results. However, I will be interested to see how this compares to some of the other oranges in my collection. Let me know if you'd like to see a comparison post.

Please consider making your next purchase at amazon.com through one of my links. Regardless of what you purchase, as long as you start your shopping trip by clicking one of the links of my page, I will get a small percentage of the revenue at no extra cost to you. I appreciate your support.

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REVIEW of Sephora by OPI Already Famous With SWATCHES

Hello my little starlets,

How are you today? I'm just in such a better mood now that my laptop has been fixed. Today I want to share the polish I wore to a recent holiday party. Cat, you may be saying, it's the end of January, what holiday party could you have gone to? Chinese New Year is January 31 this year. Happy New Year to everyone who celebrated it. Anyway, let's turn our attention back to this polish. This is another polish from the Sephora by OPI Tinsel Town collection I purchased a while back.

Color: Already Famous is a champagne gold foil polish. I think. This polish isn't exactly like other foils but it's even less like cremes or shimmers or textured polishes. I'd say it's most similar to the hybrid foil formulas like Zoya Seraphina and Julie G Shimmer Island. But it's even more sheer than those polishes and the particles are smaller so you might be tricked into thinking this is some kind of shimmer or glitter polish. This polish is usually a pretty, flattering champagne shade that is a cool-toned blend of gold and silver which made it perfect for a holiday party. However, it can also look like a basic gold polish or take on warmer, coppery tones to be a bit more coppery and rose gold. I wouldn't call it a rose gold polish at any time but it can have that warmth depending on the lighting.
Formula: Already Famous has a very thin, sheer formula. It looks like a sheer base with flecks of shimmer.
Application: The first coat went on quite sheer but very shimmery, also like a top coat. I already had the feeling that it was more of a foil than a shimmer. It went on a bit streaky, which is not unusual for the first coats of most polishes. It didn't coat the nail in one even layer but there was no drag and I was able to even it out so this is a polish you can work with. The second coat was still a little streaky and quite sheer but shimmery. At three coats this polish was still sheer and failed a light test. I really didn't even to do a light test to know it wasn't opaque. The coverage does build up from one to three coats but it's just nowhere near opaque. If you don't mind being able to look through your nails this is fine but it may bother some people.
Wear: I wore this polish for 5 days and didn't experience much wear. It was actually surprisingly easy to remove though like a lot of glitters a few stubborn pieces refused to come off my nails.

CONCLUSION: I would probably recommend this polish, especially if you're getting it at Big Lots where Sephora by OPI polishes are heavily discounted right now. It is very, very sheer but the color is pretty and application isn't aggravating. It's really just the lack of opacity that is holding me back from really recommending this polish as otherwise it's a very wearable, flattering shade.

 

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REVIEW of Sephora By OPI Nail Colour in Havana Dreams With SWATCHES

Hello beautiful dreamers,

Today I'll be reviewing another Sephora by OPI nail polish. I picked this up in a Sephora haul in the summer for $4.50 as they were phasing out the Sephora by OPI line in favor of the new Formula X polishes. I haven't the slightest clue what this polish has to do with Havana but if you do like this polish you can probably track down a bottle online and Sephora still carries the color in their gel polish line.

Color: Havana Dreams is a light blue creme polish. It is a pastel blue but it is just bright enough for me to not call it baby blue polish. As far as blue polishes go, it's fairly demure and very wearable while still being fun. I could see someone wearing this polish as a manicure or pedicure for a wedding as their "something blue." Even though I'm wearing it in December, it's definitely more of a spring/summer shade. I think it's fairly flattering for someone with my yellow undertones though the brightness can make it a little harsh. However, I do think is one of those polishes that could work for a lot of people.
Formula: The polish has a thin, fluid formula. It also smelled rather terrible. It wasn't as toxic as Sally Hansen polishes can be but it was noticeably bad.
Application: Here's where we really run into trouble. First of all, this polish comes with a very wide brush and you know how I feel about wide brushes. That said, to begin with application went fairly smoothly. The polish glided on beautifully though I immediately noticed that the polish was a little sheer. As soon as I went over the polish with the brush, it just pushed the last layer of polish around so I ended up with an even thinner layer of polish. The brush was also a little streaky. The problem was that I could paint a stripe of polish on the left and right sides of my nail but the middle brushstroke would always mess things up. Application of the second and third coats were more of the same. I wish I had a different brush to apply this polish to see how it would perform. Anyway, since the polish was still sheer and failing a light test at 3 coats and I had somewhere to go with this polish I just pushed ahead and added a fourth coat of polish. A light test still reveals sheerness and uneven application but I'll be damned if I'm adding a fifth coat of a creme polish. Seche Vite helped to smooth out the polish a little.
Wear: I have actually enjoyed wearing Havana Dreams on my nails. As long as I don't pay too much attention to the imperfections, it is really a very pretty polish. I wore it for five days and I didn't experience any tip wear in that time. The polish just naturally dulled a bit.

CONCLUSION: I find it difficult to recommend this polish because it's not perfect but even with all of the problems, I still ended up preferring it to Zoya Blu (I will do a comparison post in the future). The polish doesn't end up looking that bad and if you're not a crazy nail polish blogger who does light tests you probably won't notice that the polish isn't fully opaque. It can be difficult to find good pastel creme polishes. This one is not fantastic but all things considered, it's not the worst.

 

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REVIEW of Sephora by OPI Leotard Optional With SWATCHES

Hello peanuts,

I've got a quick review for you today. This polish also came from the Sephora by OPI Tinsel Town Collector's Set I mentioned purchasing in my review of Sephora by OPI A True Romantic.

Color: Leotard Optional is a dusty rose creme polish. Like A True Romantic, even though you would probably call it a "pink" polish, the reason I like it is because of how much it isn't just a pink polish. When I look at this polish it seems to have a good deal of brown in it (whether that makes any sense or not). I guess it has a bit of a mauve quality. Indoors with the yellow-ish lighting in my house it can look like a light tan, mainly at night. The more natural night, the more pink the polish appears, and the more artificial light, the more brown this polish appears. I think this a fantastic sort of neutral polish for me. Sometimes very pale polishes look jarring against my skintone and Leotard Optional just has a very relaxed vibe.
Formula: The formula isn't noticeably thick or thin. If I had to make the call, I'd say it's a thinner polish.
Application: This polish applies smoothly without any drag but it is also streaky. I wouldn't try and work with it too much with the brush. I applied three coats of polish and my manicure still wasn't opaque. While I will sometimes do more coats for a light nude or a glitter I refuse to do more coats (beyond three) for a creme like this.

CONCLUSION: I would have recommended this polish if it wasn't so damn sheer and streaky. While I do like the color of this polish, I can't recommend it based on the formula. However, if, for some reason, you don't mind streaky polishes that are not opaque at three coats, go ahead and get Leotard Optional. I will be looking for a good dupe.

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REVIEW of Sephora by OPI A True Romantic and Butterfly Nail Art

Hello bumblebees,

I felt like I needed a bit of a cleanse after a few weeks of darker colors. No, not one of those horrifying juice cleanses. I tried just incorporating juices into my morning routine and it was bad enough. I would rather eat fruits and vegetables. I don't need to consume them in liquid form. Anyway, I haven't been buying that many polishes lately so I was inspired to pull out the Sephora by OPI Tinsel Town Collector's Set I purchased all the way back in late December of 2012 as a bit of a Christmas gift for myself. And yes, of course there was some kind of sale going on at the time. I haven't used the set until now because I've just had so many other polishes to try out and I didn't want to waste these polishes as I'm not sure how long these little bottles will last. Also, I think Sephora has pretty much done away with the Sephora by OPI line in favor of Formula X so I didn't want to really fall in love with a polish and then worry about tracking it down or locating a dupe. Looking through the set for something refreshing after weeks of dark polishes and metallics, I decided to try out the lightest shade, A True Romantic.

Color: A True Romantic is a pale pink creme polish. I think it belongs more in the family of nudes and neutrals than it does in pink range of colors. That's part of the reason why I like it. It was light enough and had enough of a peachy/yellow tone to not clash too much with my skintone. I still prefer nudes that are more yellow like OPI Samoan Sand but I think A True Romantic is a very pretty, feminine shade and it would look great against very pale skintones with pink undertones. I'd be wary if you have yellow undertones as it could clash a bit. There were times when I didn't love the way this looked on my nails.
Formula: The formula is on the thicker side without being gloopy. Although it is thicker, it is also rather sheer.
Application: And here is where we run into trouble. When I applied the first coat I noticed that the brush seemed a little streaky and the polish seemed a little sheer but that's not out of the ordinary for a light nude polish like this so I just tried not to overwork the polish and go over it with the brush too many times. The second coat applied in much the same way. The polish went on smoothly (without the brush dragging) but streaky. The third coat was the same. I just could not get an even layer of polish. At three coats, it was semi-opaque but streaky. I could have deal with this polish not being completely opaque if I had been able to apply even coats of polish. As it was, it looked streaky and patchy. And here is where you just me. I ended up applying five coats of polish in a misguided attempt to get this polish to full opacity. Even at five coats it was still very streaky and could not have passed a light test in a million years.

CONCLUSION: The color of this polish is alright but the application was terrible. I would not recommend this polish. I was so frustrated by the streakiness that I ended up creating a nail art design to cover up the balding.

 

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REVIEW of Sephora by OPI Leaf Him At the Altar With SWATCHES

Hello my lovely dryads,

Can you believe that this is the first Sephora by OPI polish I'm reviewing? I certainly can't considering the fact that Sephora is one of the first places I started shopping when I really got into makeup. Anyway, if you follow this blog, you'll know that I picked this polish up in a recent Sephora haul when it was on sale. As far as I know, it's still on sale so keep reading to see if I think you should purchase a bottle of your own.

Color: Sephora by OPI Leaf Him At the Altar is a bright, leafy green shimmer polish. I know it's a bit simplistic to call it a leafy green when the polish has the word "leaf" in the name but I can't think of a more apt description. I think it's a gorgeous color and it's very flattering for my skintone. I think this is a polish that would work for a lot of people.
Formula: The polish is on the thinner side and has a liquidy consistency.
Application: Because this is my first Sephora by OPI polish I'll go into a little more detail than I usually do. The brush is long and thin. That is perfect for me because I have never understood the love for wide brushes (e.g. wet n' wild, Sally Hansen). Maybe it's the shape of my nails but I find wide brushes awkward to use. Application was very smooth. Because of the thin, liquidy consistency the polish just glides effortlessly over the nail. The brushstrokes are a little bit visible because of the finish but after I added top coat I didn't really notice them that much. This isn't like a frost polish where the brushstrokes are very apparent. I don't go over the polish too much or try and work with it but you could definitely do that with this polish. It's easy to work with to achieve even coats and I didn't have any issues with the brush dragging. I applied three coats to get this polish opaque. However, when I did the light test (holding my nails up to the light) I noticed that there was still a little bit of balding. It wasn't noticeable except when I was doing the light test especially with the shimmer so I just left it at three coats. Application was just as easy when I was painting with my nondominant hand.
Wear: I wore this polish for five days with no signs of wear.

CONCLUSION: I would definitely recommend this polish. I have had to restrain myself from buying another bottle while it's on sale. The formula is a little on the thinner side but the color is gorgeous and the polish applies very easily.

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