OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, indoors, natural ligh

Hey gang! As promised, here is my run-down of OPI's Tomorrow Never Dies. This is from their Skyfall collection, introduced late last fall/ early winter, in time for the James Bond movie's premiere. Each of the colors in the collection were named after a Bond movie's title. "Tomorrow Never Dies" was a Bond film of the Pierce Brosnan era. I prefer Daniel Craig over Brosnan any day, though Sean Connery is my favorite Bond. Brosnan was too... something. I don't know. The plot of "Tomorrow Never Dies" was interesting, and the movie was certainly fun, but I wouldn't have expected the polish to outshine the film. That being said, it really does.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, indoors, natural light

Of the Skyfall collection, Tomorrow Never Dies and You Only Live Twice were my two standout favorites. They were also the only ones I purchased. You Only Live Twice is very close to the previous year's Meep Meep Meep from the Muppets collection, so I'm not going to swatch and review it terribly soon.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, indoors, artificial light

Tomorrow Never Dies excited me, because it was a shockingly vibrant purple metallic color. I've heard a lot about Zoya's Imperial Russia Zang Toi trio that had a vibrant blue purple in it, and I'm betting Tomorrow Never Dies is a similar animal. I have to say, as much as I love the color, it has a bit of an identity crisis. I bought it for the purple, but it vacillates between purple and electric blue. To be honest, I think it leans blue more often than purple, but it's too beautiful for me to complain. When I think of periwinkle, I picture a soft and light blue/purple, so I'll have to call this a darker, electric periwinkle. It does tend to photograph on the blue side, so know that it does lean purple, as well. You can see, both in the bottle and on the nail, some micro fuchsia glitter in there.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, indoors, artificial light

The formula is actually quite lovely in this OPI polish. It glided on my nails quite nicely, and took just two thinner coats to be opaque. I used Zoya Anchor, OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, Zoya Armor, and Zoya Fast Drops for this manicure, and it was done in about an hour or so, from prepping my nails with nail polish remover to dry. Not bad at all. I'm a bit bummed, because I did the mani last night, and I already have some very visible chips in the tips. I've been spoiled by Zoya lacquers that last a few days with no chips.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, outdoors, sun

Sigh. I guess I can't have anything. I'm excited to see what Zoya's Belinda in their upcoming Holiday 2013 Zenith collection will be. It describes it as "cosmic purple," which might be very similar to Tomorrow Never Dies. Then again, Neve from the Zoya Satins collection is put in both the blue and purple categories, so that might be a winner, too.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, outdoors, full sun

I love the color of Tomorrow Never Dies, and I think it was a total standout for me in the collection. You can still find this and the rest of the Skyfall polishes on Amazon, as well as elsewhere on the net. Some are still hanging out in beauty stores, that sell through their older stock of OPI polishes well after the collection debuts. At least around me in Massachusetts, I've found that this collection sold out pretty quickly, so I wouldn't bet on that, though. Online is still your best bet.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, outdoors, shade.

This polish is a total statement, bright, fun, and electric. The formula is great; it glides on beautifully, and has excellent coverage. I am disappointed in the chipping situation. Sad Emily doesn't like chips.

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies, flash

I'll be posting some thoughts here soon, and have more swatches in the queue.

Till next time, kids,
Emily, the Manic Paintress

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

OPI Magazine Cover Mouse

OPI Magazine Cover Mouse, outdoor shade

I have to admit that I first became addicted to textured nail polish when I tried an OPI Liquid Sand polish in their Mariah Carey collection. I loved the idea and the colors, so I bought all four of the textured polishes in that collection: Stay The Night, The Impossible, Can't Let Go, and Get Your Number. The only real misstep in the collection was The Impossible, as the star-shaped glitter pieces tended to chip off and ruin the look. It was a shame, because I really love the coral color.

OPI Magazine Cover Mouse, outdoor sun

OPI continued to make Liquid Sands for the OZ the Great and Powerful collection, and the Bond Girls collection, which was made up exclusively of liquid sands. I have three of the Bond Girls polishes--Pussy Galore, Vesper, and Jinx. I have yet to try Vesper, as it screams fall/winter with how dark it is, and Jinx is fantastic beyond words, particularly on toes. Most recently, OPI included a liquid sand in their Couture de Minnie collection. Magazine Color Mouse is a very bright berry color. It is mostly red, with subtle glitter in gold and pink that give the polish a lot of depth in color.

OPI Magazine Cover Mouse, indoor, artificial light

Compared to Zoya's PixieDust polishes, the OPI liquid sands are much more pronounced in their texture. The matte is quite evident in lower lighting, and you can visibly see the bumpy texture. It also feels a lot rougher than the PixieDusts.

I really have been impressed with the Couture de Minnie collection. I really like Magazine Cover Mouse, as I think it has a lot of dimension in and out of light, and it looks pretty fantastic against my skin, which is always nice. I have all of the collection aside from Chic From Ears To Tail, and really like all of them. Minnie Style is the polish that most screams Minnie Mouse to me, as it really looks like polka dots on the nail. All of them, however, are really quite pretty. They're girly, and make no apologies about that fact. Innie Minnie Mighty Bow and Magazine Cover Mouse are more red/berry colored, so they might appeal to those who don't truly love the pink.

OPI Magazine Cover Mouse, indoor, natural light

I wear a base coat under every nail polish I have. OPI, like Zoya for the PixieDusts, recommends putting the liquid sand polishes on bare nails. They might last longer, but I really like how a good base coat will also strengthen your nails, so I just won't skip it. I'm using Zoya Anchor. Liquid sands tend to last for a long time, though. They can be difficult to actually remove, but I think that makes them excellent for pedicures. If the texture bothers you when it's on your fingernails for a manicure, toenails might be the option for you to wear this polish. I'm not bothered by the roughness, but I know people who are. If you do paint your fingernails, make sure you run a nail file along the edge of your nails, because some of the grit can be scratchy if left alone.

OPI Magazine Cover Mouse, outdoor shade

I really love this polish. I think most of my current favorite polishes in my stash are textured, and this is no exception. It really boils down to the depth and dimension they create. The OPI liquid sands are much more sandy than the PixieDusts--sort of like comparing a salt scrub to a sugar scrub.

OPI Magazine Cover Mouse, flash

I'm going to be rocking the textured look for a while to come. I highly recommend doing the same.

Keep on painting, my fellow polish addicts. Until we meet again,
Emily, the Manic Paintress