OPI nail varnish

[didireallysaythat]

Is it worth the price ?

And what's your favourite shade ?

[SundaySimmons]

Between my daughter and I we have over 100 bottles of OPI as I keep ones I've done with and my daughter has them. This is over many years so I don't feel so bad at having amassed so many and we chuck out any that congeal or go off.

My daughter will wear different colours on each finger but nowadays I stick to pink or red on toes and red or natural on fingers.

My current favourites are Samoan Sand for natural, Red lights ahead for red, Shorts story for hot pink.

I don't find them expensive in terms of application and look and they don't chip or wear, so I find them cost effective. My only complaint would be that sometimes you can get bored of a colour on your toes but because the colour hasn't chipped it seems wasteful changing the colour!

[Hopefully]

I've always been dubious, but after much trial and error, I really think they are better than the cheaper alternatives (I like Nails Inc as well). Saying that, no nail varnish is going to last well without a proper nail cleaning, base coat, couple of colour coats and top coat. I recently bought a cheaper nail varnish because I love the colour and OPI didn't have an equivalent, and it's not lasting nearly so well.

[SundaySimmons]

I meant to say that if you are buying a colour for a one off wear you can buy the mini bottles which whilst little in size do give you quite a bit of usage without the price of the full size bottle.

Here is an example of small ones, although they have sold out a lot of colours

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OPI-Mini-Polish-Collection-3-75ml-Best-Nicki-Minaj-Holland-Nail-Envy-/180828336371?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Nails_Manicure_Pedicure_CA&var=&hash=item2a1a3570f3

I often buy a collection on ebay, as its cheaper that way and often its cheaper to buy from US sellers even with the postage.

I do agree with hopefully that you should apply all polish properly. My daughter just slaps it on but I remove all traces of old polish, use a drop of oil to massage in, wash nails, then apply base coat, two coats of polish and a top coat.

[valiumredhead]

No, not imo and they don't last that long in bottles either so you need to use them up quickly.

[cloudpuff]

If you have a branch of "the factory shop" near you, they have a few opi shades for £5, the larger bottles too, I do find some of them are hit and miss though.

[fromparistoberlin]

Essie are much better IMO

[Hopefully]

I like Essie too, the brushes are fabulous - really easy to do coat quickly and neatly. My local boots doesn't carry as many colours as local John Lewis does of OPI though, and I hate buying without seeing it in RL.

[Lizzylou]

I am a recent convert from Nails Inc to OPI.
Essie is OK, but I much prefer OPI these days.

I am shite at applying nail polish though, just find OPI easier.

[didireallysaythat]

I haven't found anywhere to buy OPI or Essie in RL so I'm a slave to the tinternet. Essie colours are harder to judge in the pictures I've seen but I'll give them more attention.

I had a pedi with Opi plum chutney - bit too dark really but lasted forever. I can't find a nice natural/nude so I'll take a look at the sand variety... Was leaning towards Dulce... At £8-£11 a pop though my online basket will cost me a fortune.

Thanks for all the advice/suggestions.

[dontyouwantmebaby]

I used to really love OPI as they had a better range of colours but other brands have caught up now. Their normal size pots go too gloopy after a while and are a nightmare to apply so I buy the mini pots if I see them now. Less waste, easier to apply. The mini sets are good value.

My fave colours are their neutrals/greys - barefoot, dulce de leche, upfront.

[dontyouwantmebaby]

PS you can get Essie in larger branches of Boots now, OPI in John Lewis & a lot of beauty salons sell it. Oh and sometimes you can pick it up in TK Maxx too.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I'm not a nail varnish wearer but I love OPI when I do wear it.

I love "Aphrodites Pink Nightie"
and "I'm Not Really a Waitress"

I've got "Rainbow" from the Muppets series. It's a bugger the devils own job to remove (multi-coloured glitter)

I find it lasts ages, I love the brushes (my nails are very small, )
DD has purloined all my mini bottles for the Nail Bar when they do their school fundraiser.

[JamEyelid]

OPI is £3.99 on Fragrance Direct I just bought a couple the other day. They don't have a huge amount of colours but it is a lot cheaper if you wanted to try OPI.

[Lottapianos]

I love OPI and think it's worth the money if it's a colour you really love. I find it much easier to apply than the Essie bottle I had. Favourite colours are:

Dim Sum Plum (cool bluey pink)
Just a Little Rosti at This (rich dark plum)
Fly (from the Nicki Minaj collection, bright turquoise blue)
Uh Oh Roll Down the Window (horrible name but a fab dirty olive green neutral colour)
Cajun Shrimp (fabulous pinky coral, amazing for pedicures)

[BlueSkySunnyDay]

Im a big OPI fan - if I do my toenails it can last up to 3 weeks and I pretty much get sick of it before it wears off, I do use base and top coat too. At the moment I have "Ski Teal" we drop on, I like "Russian Navy" and "Greenwich Village" too

I am very hard on nail varnish but my favourite is "tickle my france-y" - if it wears off the tips it just looks like I have had a french polish

John Lewis do a brilliant "top ten" pack of small polishes for £28....hand twiching to buy but I have a fair few hundred quids worth already so I shouldn't really Sometimes QVC have good deals. Lena White is the distributer in the UK - I have used that site too although like QVC the postage can be a deterrent. I have bought both fake and real on Ebay - all you can do really is trust the feedback.

I find google images is brilliant for checking out colours im interested in.

[BlueSkySunnyDay]

Oh yes you will need their polish remover, my old boots one wouldnt even touch it!