Last winter, as I was cruising my favorite nail blogs, I remember coming across a very rough preview of the newest OPI Muppets collection. We’re talking rough. The pictures of the polishes were thumbnail size and only pixelized when I tried to zoom in. Even with all the polishes crammed into a 1″ photo…I knew that I was going to go gaga over this line. As more and more sneak-peeks and previews of the line started to surface, I started to drool over the amazing glitters, metallics, and Miss Piggy pinks that taunted me through my computer screen. The collection was released in stores a few weeks ago, but I resisted heading to my local BeautyFirst store because I wanted to wait until I hit my I-lost-30 lbs. mark and my I-cleaned-my-disgusting-apartment mark to treat myself to some new lacquers.
Lucky for me (and you), I hit those marks. Wahoo!!
After about 6 hours of cleaning on Saturday, my boyfriend and I headed to our nearby shopping plaza for a trip to Target…and BeautyFirst. He even came in the store with me (what a guy, right?). After months and months of anticipation, I could finally hold the bottles, shake them, and check them out in person. It. was. EXCITING! (unless. you. were. my. boyfriend!….then it was ridiculous.) As I waffled between what colors to buy, he was standing over my shoulder saying “Just buy it. Just buy it.” …because he really wanted me to treat myself…or…because he reaalllly wanted to leave the store. Either way, I left with two amazing colors.
The moment I saw pictures of the muppet glitters, I knew I’d have to get my hands on Rainbow Connection, an amazing rainbow glitter. As soon as I saw the bottle in person, it was a done deal. EASY-PEASY. Out of all of the glitters this collection has to offer, Rainbow Connection is certainly the most…5 year-old’s birthday party meets a 20-something’s New Year’s Eve. But don’t you dare get me wrong- I mean that in the BEST WAY POSSIBLE. I love glitter, so this polish is basically my dream come true. This polish indulges my inner 13-year-old Hot Topic shopper, but it also satiates this 23 year old who loves a sophisticated yet funky manicure. While Rainbow Connection is a Glitter polish (with a capital G), when worn over other colors or as an accent nail, it can certainly be made to look fun yet grown-up.
First, let’s look at this polish up close and personal. Let’s get all up in its grill. (yeah…I said it.)
Stop. Breathe. (I know it’s amazing, but you have to breathe!)
Seriously, though, it’s incredible.
Let’s talk about how dense this glitter is and how much you get in one bottle. Silver, gold, pink, blue, orange, yellow, green – round, hexagonal – small, medium, and large. It’s a party in a bottle.
The other thing I love about this glitter is that its base is absolutely clear. No gelly pink or blue or gray. Just clear. PURE GLITTER. (Heaven.) The clarity of the base makes it an easy layering polish (it will look the same over black as it will over white.)
My first reaction when I picked up the bottle was how closely I think it resembles Deborah Lippman’s Happy Birthday. I say think because I don’t actually know how close it is. I’ve never seen DL’s rainbow glitter in person, and for $18 a pop, I never will. I may be a polish addict, but I’m not rich enough to be spending anything close to $18 on ONE bottle of polish. I find that price tag absurd. (Although one day, when this blog makes me millions of dollars, I might splurge on Deborah Lippmans. And $18 will still feel like a splurge – even though I’m a millionaire.)
When I was looking at the painted swatches at the store, I noticed that the polish was totally opaque. I’m not an idiot, though, so I asked the lady how many coats that took. She replied, “I think, like, six?”. It looked awesome, but six coats of glitter is a recipe for bad drying time and early chipping. And so, when I got home, I got to picking the color I would use for my base color. I originally wanted to go with silver, but since Rainbow Connection is so silver-heavy, I didn’t want to lose the glitter against a silver base. I went between a few other colors but eventually settled with my favorite navy blue, Roadhouse Blues from OPI’s Touring America collection. I wanted a dark color for the glitter to pop against, and I knew it would do the trick.
OPI - Rainbow Connection
Since I knew I’d use two coats of Rainbow Connection, I chose to paint just a single coat of Roadhouse Blues. It is, after all, just a base color. After the navy dried, I applied one coat of Rainbow Connection. I purposely chose not to slather it on but to apply a coat of average thickness so that I could get a sense of the density of the glitter. You guys, it was GLITTERY. My giddy self started to hold it up to the light to watch it sparkle right away. After a second coat, I was thrilled. The navy blue obviously shows through, and I’m interested to see how Rainbow Connection will look over a lighter color or even a metallic. However, the glitter is definitely the star in this mani. It is super dense and extremely metallic. This polish shines in any light, and it shines bright. The silver glitter is particularly sparkly, but the larger chunks of color definitely pop. I love that from a distance, my nails look like a solid color but close up, you can see all the individual colors and sizes of glitter.
I topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite and it was dry and ready to go in about seven minutes (not shabby for a glitter manicure!). About an hour later, I headed out to meet a good friend from college who I hadn’t seen in years. I met her on High Street, and even in the dark, she almost immediately noticed my nails. Ladies and gentlemen (probably not gentlemen), THAT is the effect of this polish. Even on a dark street, this manicure shines and sparkles. I love it. I LURV IT! (Lurv = when you love something so much that you distort the word whilst saying it. Think Kristin Wig as the Target Lady. She would definitely say LURV.)
I think that this polish will end up being an awesome accent nail and a great mani for any holiday party. It’s eye-catching, fun, and a definite shining star within the Muppets collection.
What’s your favorite glitter? Do you have a favorite from the new OPI Muppets collection?
Coming up next: another AMAZING Muppets color. I won’t tell you which one, but I will tell you that it’s freaking GORGEOUS! Get ready!
The Mani-Maniac 