OPI Nail polish

[jag beklagar]

Well, I think it is time for me to lose my OPI virginity...
The thing is, I have never tried out this nail polish - but I absolutely love doing my nails. For me, it has always been too expensive, really. I don't have much money - I always need to think twice before I buy anything, because I know that I won't be able to buy anything for a while.

I know this might sound weird because it's just nail polish, but I hope no-one laughs at me for that. :/ It's just that... I simply don't have any money to spend on the more expensive products, when I can get twice as much for half the cost.

Okay, but... I have heard some good things about this polish and have wanted to buy it for a while now, and I would like to know - has anyone here tried it?

What I would like to know is, how good *is* it? In the past, I have heard from people about these GREAT products, but I thought they were just average and overrated. So I would really like to know, is this polish really as good as they say? Does it chip quickly? Do you need more than one layer in order to cover the nail? (You know sometimes, the layers go on really light and almost transparent, so you need to apply more!) Does it dry quickly?

Any help would be appreciated!

PS. Sorry for my bad English :/

[mistella]

I think OPI is a fairly good line. It goes on smooth and it's pretty opaque. I have over 40 colors.. BUT it's only because I get them for free. If I didn't get them for free, I probably wouldn't buy them because of the price (it's like $6.99 right?)

I think nailpolish is nailpolish. Cheap ones work just as well as the more expensive ones.. it's eventually going to chip away anyway. ZOYA is a good nailpolish and I think it's $3.99-4.99. I've tried some Maybelline, Revlon, Covergirl, NYX and they all look the same to me. although, I do LOVE Lipmann but it's $15. but Anyway, I don't think you should JUST look into OPI. there are a lot of nice nailpolishes out there for cheaper

[jag beklagar]

Mistella, thank you very much for answering Where I live, OPI costs around 20 US dollars (21 to be precise).

I have this one amazing good nailpolish - the brand is Constance Carroll. I don't know if you've ever heard of it. But it is great, it literally stays on until I decide to take it off. I was so amazed by this, really. But from what I've seen, OPI makes a lot of fun colors and plain ones too. When it comes to Constance Carroll, I haven't managed to found any matte colours, just shiny nail polish - and I'd like to just have bold red nails!

[♥MiCHiE♥]

I'm a nail tech and OPI is the most popular nail polish brand. It's priceier than others only because it's in so much demand and is well-known. It's a great line, too. The bolder colors are great. For soft pinks and beiges, I would recommend Essie.

[MsCuppyCakes]

I too love OPI and buy it online for $3.58 at 8ty8beauty.com. HTH

[Beauty Mark]

OPI is very good stuff. I think it's worth the price, but there are also some other great lines too. I like Revlon, too. The OPI has lasted longer on me.

The colors I wouldn't try are the OPI Broadway ones in Rent or Thoroughly Modern Millie. They were a huge disappoint, too sheer to notice the color.

[MAChostage]

Another great line is China Glaze. It can also be had online (often at sites that carry OPI as well) pretty inexpensively.

[jenii]

I like OPI. Most of my nail polish is OPI. It's great stuff, and the colors are really beautiful.

But, as with pretty much EVERY nail polish (including Chanel!), you need to put on two coats. I've yet to find a nail polish that doesn't require more than one coat.

So, I think it lives up to whatever hype it gets. It definitely doesn't chip as easily as other brands, but you should probably invest in a decent top coat anyway, as you would with any other nail polish. I normally use one called Rock Hard. It's really good stuff.

[♥MiCHiE♥]

Definitely use a good base and top coat. Creative's Stickey base coat acts as an anchor for the polish and Seché Vite is a great top coat for natural nails. And, 2 coats should suffice, although I've used 3 with some Creative polishes for a true color payoff. Another trick I use when polishing is using a ridgefiller on top of my base coat as a "primer". It gives the nails a clean canvas and helps improve the color payoff.

[thelilprincess]

i use OPI for my french manicure - i love the light beige that came with the set - i hate hate hate the pink polish that's sometime used in french manicures.

their spinoff line Nicole is nice, too.

Drugstore brands - I love this red color by Jane - i stocked up on 2 bottles a few years ago from Target. I had blue, yellow, glitters from Wet and Wild. I just realized that Target no longer carries Jane or Wet and Wild. I also have a black color (my junior high best friend was a skater and introduced me to it) from a brand i don't even remember.

shop the clearance if you can - that's where i found my OPI nail polsihes. holiday mini sets usually end up in the clearance, too. and don't discount some of the other brands - i still fish through my mom's random stash to find a coral or some oher color so i can do my flower designs on my nails.

[c00ki312]

i've jus bought my first colour 'lincoln park after dark' its like a very dark-almost black purple. if you apply two coats and finish with clear topcoat it wont hip for days. ive still got mine on with hardly any chips.

[LatinaRose]

I prefer Essie to OPI. Essie makes beautiful neutrals and pinks and their colors are more milky than shimmery (mademoiselle and orient x-presso are my favorites). I do love Nail Envy by OPI and their gift sets of 4 small bottles are a great way to try a bunch of different colors, like these:

http://www.enailsupply.com/index.asp...S&Category=341

I also love how OPI puts out a themed collection kinda like MAC. I believe Essie has started doing this as well.

[suggrr]

Because of its wide color selection and it's dependable quality, I really do like OPI. I like that OPI has a lot of different colors, and I find that they wear well on me and don't chip off my nail very easily. Of course, part of that is using a good top coat and base coat, too. I also like the new brush that OPI uses, because it is wider and covers my nail with polish in less time. But people with smaller nails don't like that very much! Some people are finding that the new OPI formula is more trouble to work with, but I find that if I do very thin layers of nail polish on my nails, I don't have very many problems. As with any other brand, some of OPI's colors can come out sheer and will require many, many coats of nail polish to look like the color in the bottle. If you are looking at any particular colors, feel free to ask here if any of them are sheer or if they give good nail coverage. I haven't found a lot of nail polish colors that are completely opaque/non-sheer in one coat, but I find that I get the color I want out of most OPIs by using two to three coats.

OPI is a great brand for colors, but Essie is also a good company, especially for sheer colors. (Though I am starting to like OPI's Passion over Essie's classic Mademoiselle!) My favorite nail polish collection ever was Essie's Anniversary collection- so many pretty colors! China Glaze, Zoya and Misa are also good quality nail polish brands. When you start getting into more expensive polish, like Lippmanns for US$15 and Chanel for US$19 versus US$3.98 for OPI, I find that it usually isn't worth paying that kind of money for a nail polish unless you really love the color or the color is incredibly unique.

jag beklagar, I don't know where you are, but you might be able to order nail polish online from the US (or another country) and have it shipped to you, as long as there's no law prohibiting the importation of nail polish into your country. It would probably cost less than buying it at a retail price in your country. If you can find a much cheaper way to try OPI out, I think you might enjoy their polishes.

[`juicy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ♥MiCHiE♥

I'm a nail tech and OPI is the most popular nail polish brand. It's priceier than others only because it's in so much demand and is well-known. It's a great line, too. The bolder colors are great. For soft pinks and beiges, I would recommend Essie.

i agree. you took the words out of my mouth.

[chameleonmary]

ive actually found opi and chanel varnish to be significantly longer-lasting than most brands i have tried (such as covergirl, maybelline, revlon, loreal, rimmel). i adore the darker shades and religiously wear black onyx, lincoln park after dark and opi red.

i strongly recommend opi over chanel only because its around half the price! in australia, i find loreal and revlon polishes for around $12, some nail salons sell opi for $15 and department stores sell it for around $20 so for me personally, its not that significant.

[nibjet]

I only use OPI. I have my nails in water all the time being a stylist, and they stay on pretty well, all things considering.

My absolute favorites are Lincoln Park After Dark, I'm Not Really a Waitress, and La Boheme.

[*Dani*]

I love OPI for their great colours, but I haven't got that many bottles because of the price (I still haven't got a job yet, so I can't afford to spend all that much ) but I do think they're worth spending a little bit extra on because of the quality of the polish, and because of the pretty colours!

[MAChostage]

^^Don't forget that there are several places online that sell OPI for a steal, and the shipping's not usually ridiculous. Also check out any nail supply places that you might have locally. We have one that has virtually every OPI color made, for a very reasonable price.

[Magic Markers]

Call me crazy, but I don't really like OPI nailpolish. I bought some that was on super markdown that's like an orange with some glitter, I don't know the exact shade name. It was less than a dollar though, maybe 75 cents? It was opaque and shiny and the color lasted a long time, but not considerably longer than L'Oreal or another drugstore line like NYC.

I just didn't see what the hype was about. Definately not worth $21 for one bottle. I'd go to CVS or another local drugsore and look for some clearance bins. Nailpolish gets pretty reasonable at 75-90% off. I have tons of it

[Showgirl]

I love OPI nailvarnishes, but I wouldn't pay the cash for 'em full-price. I buy 'em when my local Sally has a sale, or from ebay, there are darn good deals to be had.

My personal favourites are Big Apple Red (a creme red, very starlet) and - OPI's biggest seller - "Not Really a Waitress", a lush slightly berryish metallic dark red. The polishes apply beautifully and last really well, and the colours are amazingly rich. The metallic ones are particularly stunning, they're so complex and shiny they're almost like car finishes.

I've recently discovered China Glaze polishes and I'm wearing one of them just now ("Let's do it in 3D" - a holographic pewter) and I'm amazed at the quality and wear in a polish about half the price of OPI (at least in the UK) - seriously, I'm on day 5, and I have one tiny, tiny chip....

My favourite "cheap but cheerful" line of nail varnishes is Rimmel 60 seconds extreme - these are high shine, metallic finish fast-drying nailvarnishes that cost next to nothing (about £2 UK, whereas China Glaze cost about £6 and OPI £10). They last pretty well, not as well as the two higher end brands, but still pretty good. Many are duochromes: my all time favourite is "Zeitgeist", a metallic berry-mauve with a gold and green duochrome "flash" - the one shown in the middle here :-)

http://www.divastique.com/hibreed/up...-Nail-Poli.jpg

"Shocker" is also pretty good, it's an uber-hot metallic pink.

Anyway - I don't know where you're from (your profile doesn't say, I'm guessing UK because you know Constance Carroll) but if you are in a country where can get your hands on the Rimmel polishes cheaply, they are worth trying. I still prefer OPI and China Glaze, but Rimmel IMHO is the best budget buy. You're right about Constance Carrol too, they have some surprisingly nice stuff for the price, I think their creme polishes are pretty nice (I've got a great red by them), but for metallic/glittery ones in the same price range I honestly think Rimmel are better.

http://products.rimmellondon.com/en/...nails&prod=233

HTH

[Bybs]

I use OPI exclusively. I've found them the best for durability and colour selection.

[Beauty Mark]

OPI costs like $7 max per bottle. I don't know where you would get it for over that

[Aevalin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty Mark

OPI costs like $7 max per bottle. I don't know where you would get it for over that

It's more than that in Canada but not hugely more - a dollar or two I guess. I get mine on Ebay. I figure if I can get the polish for around 2 or 3 (which I usually can with persistance) and pay around $3 for shipping, it's less than buying it in the store, and about the same price also other middle range polishes that I like.

I've been investigating Essie and China Glaze, but haven't purchased any yet!

OH my favourite OPI colours are Have a Tempura Tan-trum and Gone Platinum in 60 Seconds.

[L0VELY]

I've heard good things about OPI, and one of my friends collects them. I haven't tried OPI yet, but I'm willing to try it out, since it's $10 compared to a $12 MAC nail lacquer. But if OPI is too expensive, then there are cheaper brands, like Mistella said... because nailpolish really is just nailpolish.
=)

[Showgirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty Mark

OPI costs like $7 max per bottle. I don't know where you would get it for over that

Its £10 here in the UK, which is what, over $20...