OPI Vesper

OPI Liquid Sand in Vesper, natural light

I should say this from the get-go: this is a pedicure. I know you probably don't love my toes, and that's okay. I think toes need polish, too. It makes them feel less ugly. For today's pedicure, I decided to try out one of OPI's Bond Girls collection of Liquid Sand polishes--Vesper.

Vesper Lind was one of the most controversial of all Bond Girls. In the film, Casino Royal, she was portrayed by the gorgeous and mysterious French actress, Eva Green. The controversy regarding Vesper stems from the fact that she is neither a true Bond heroine, but she isn't fully a villain. She's somewhere in between. She does great things with our favorite spy, but also betrays him in some serious ways. In the novel, Bond reacts in a rather unexpected way to said betrayal. It's softened a bit in the movie version, but in both, she remains unique in her ability to walk the line of good and bad, and play the game almost as well as Bond does.

OPI Liquid Sand in Vesper, flash

In the bottle, OPI's Vesper polish looks like a very dark brown. When you put it on your nails, it looks like a very deep purple. It definitely needed a couple of coats to be opaque. I used three for the pictures. It's a liquid sand, so it has a matte finish, and a rough texture. The matte texture comes across beautifully, though the texture seems minimal in this polish. OPI is traditionally heavy with the use of glitter in the liquid sands, but Vesper's glitter is almost non-existent.

I'm going to say that part of the problem I have with this is that I used it on my feet. Maybe the smaller surfaces don't show off the color terribly well. Then again, maybe I just don't love this polish. It's very dark, almost black. While I like the vampy look, the matte finish actually seems to make this look flat and a bit boring.

OPI Liquid Sand in Vesper, artificial light

I have every intention on putting some top coat on top of this. Maybe a glitter? I'm not sure, but my toes don't look fancypants--they look stiff and dull. Actually--dull is perhaps the best description of this. I loved the surprise of putting on what looks like a brown polish, and getting a purple. That was reminiscent of its namesake, Vesper Lind. Unfortunately, I don't think it has the same charm.

I actually like a number of OPI's liquid sand polishes. They're generally well-crafted, full of dimension and eye-catching depth. Magazine Cover Mouse from the Couture de Minnie collection is a great example of this, as I wrote about in my last post. Vesper just falls flat. I think I'll stick to Jinx from the Bond Girl collection. It's very orange, but it really is dazzling.

Hopefully, if you were thinking about tracking down a bottle in your favorite specialty beauty store or Amazon, you may decide to pass on this one. Sadly, that is my recommendation for Vesper. Anyone out there agree or disagree?

I'll be posting about a definite favorite of mine that I have yet to really feature here. Expect to hear from me soon.

Until then,
Emily, the Manic Paintress