OPI Hong Kong Meet Me On The Star Ferry Nail Polish

This one is definitely not new- both on the market and in my collection. Meet Me On The Star Ferry was released by OPI as part of their Hong Kong collection for spring/summer 2010. I picked it a few months later when I was actually looking at fall colors and have been loving it ever since. Obviously, this is not a typical summer shade even if the actual color, as you can see in the swatch, is not as dark as it looks in the bottle. You can usually count on OPI to have something for everyone, even if it's just one nail polish from each range. Since I'm not a pink or orange person I usually pass on summer collections, but this shimmery purple was a true love.

Meet Me On The Star Ferry looks somewhat dramatic, especially on a spring or summer day. I'd save it for a night out if you work in a conservative environment (the Hong Kong collection has a couple of light pink and lavenders. And there's also Chop Sticking To My story, a rich and creamy caramel). Still, this is a fun and beautiful color in the expected OPI quality, thick wide brush that makes application quite painless for the klutzy ones (=me) and great tenacity in the face of normal household chores.

OPI Hong Kong Meet Me On The Star Ferry nail polish and the rest of the Hong Kong collection can be found online for around $5 a bottle or even less. Some Ulta locations might still have a bottle as well as nail salons.

All photos are mine.

OPI San Tan-Tonio Nail Polish Spring/Summer 2011 Texas Collection

I was pretty sure I was not interested in anything from OPI's Texas Collection for spring/summer 2011. The colors were too simple, too bright and just not my thing. I don't know why out of all the beautiful shades one can find in the Southwest landscape OPI went with these. Oh, well, maybe one day they'll come up with a Santa Fe collection. Wouldn't it be marvelous?

 But then I stopped at my local Ulta the week they got the Texas Collection and among all those blues and pinks I saw San Tan-Tonio, a surprisingly sophisticated warm beige, tan, cafe au lait or whatever you wish to call it. It came home with me.

San Tan-Tonio is a cream formula, completely opaque and comes with OPI's standard wonderful wide and thick brush. I know not everyone is into this OPI feature, but for me it's probably the easiest brush to use. San Tan-Tonio requires just two coats for a full-coverage true to the bottle look. It dries very quickly- when I started taking these pictures I realized that for once all the nails on my left hands were free of polish (my normal state is three different colors being tested on the left hand and an unrelated fourth on my right hand). I quickly slapped San Tan-Onio on, first coat before I started and a second one half way through- it dried out that fast. I didn't use a base or a top coat (bad Gaia!) and my application is far from perfect, but you can see how nice and wearable this shade is. And the quality is so good- even without the requisite protective aids it has yet to see any chips, even four days later.

OPI San Tan-Tonio ($8.50) and the rest of the Texas Spring/Summer 2011 collection are available from Ulta and select nail salons.

All photos are mine.

OPI Boris And Natasha Nail Polish

Since we're back in Winter Wonderland (it looks like about three inches of snow, maybe more), it's appropriate to revisit OPI's Russian collection from 2007. I found a lone bottle of Boris & Natasha at my local Ulta a couple of years ago and grabbed it because it was much prettier than I remembered.  Boris & Natasha is a creme formula, no shimmer that I can detect. The color is a deep burgundy plum, more red than purple when you keep it at 1-2 coats, darker as you pile it on. My photos were taken in strong natural light. at night or under low yellow lights the polish appears darker but not blackened. I'm still not sure how office friendly it is- this OPI color is quite sultry. Still, it's very pretty and fits today's winter is back mood.

Boris & Natasha was part of OPI's limited edition Russian Collection. It's still readily available online, usually under $5.

All photos are mine.

Sephora by OPI Do I Know You? Nail Polish

I just broke another nail while tending to feline waste management, so my nails are once again a bit of a mess. As soon as I finish typing this post I'm going to take care of the situation: file, buff and polish using a color that makes everything look more... polished, I guess. Do I Know You? from Sephora By Opi is a sleeper color, a rosy beige mauve thing, classy with enough personality. It doesn't attract much attention but it complements warm skin tones and looks elegant but not boring.

I love the application of most Sephora By OPI polishes and Do I Know You? is no exception. It's not streaky, dries quickly (especially for a creme formula) and is low maintenance- just polish and go. A clear top coat every morning makes the manicure last for almost a week with only minor wear to the tips.

Now if I could only get the cats to clean after themselves.

Sephora by OPI nail polish ($9) is available from Sephora stores and online.

Photos by me.