Friday 25 February 2011

My Take On Texas - 5 OPI Texas Collection Swatches

So the promotional photographs and info regarding OPIs Texas Collection for Spring 2011 left me feeling a little unexcited, especially with regards to the so-called "sorbet finish" on half of the polishes in the collection. Sorbet Finish sounds to me like a glitzy way of describing a jelly finish, i.e. sheer. I have to admit I'm not the biggest fan of sheer polishes, unless the colour itself is extremely special or unique, and I'm not sure I think any of the polishes in this collection really fit that bill, none the less I started to see some swatches of the collection that sparked my interest a little more, so I picked up the OPI Texas Lil Shooters Minis (Austin-tatious Turquoise, I Vant to Be A-Lone Star and Do You Think I’m Tex-y?, rapid dry top coat) and two large bottles: It's Totally Fort Worth It and San-Tan-Tonio

Austin-tatious Turquoise
I have to admit Austin-tatious Turquoise was the colour I was most excited about from this range. It's a mermaid turquoise shade packed with shimmer, but unfortunately is extremely sheer, this was 4 coats and I still wouldn't call the coverage opaque. It is a beautiful colour though, depending on the angle, this polish flashes blue and green and the shimmer really makes it sparkle. I imagine this colour would look quite lovely layered over a blue creme polish, will have to try that out soon :D
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Here's a comparison swatch of Austin-tatious Turquoise alongside some other turquoise polishes, I've not found an exact dupe, but these shades are definitely similar if you love the turquoise effect.
L-R GOSH Ocean, Orly Halley's Comet, OPI Catch Me in Your Net, OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise

 I Vant to Be A-Lone Star 
I Vant to Be A-Lone Star has swiftly become my favourite shade from this collection, it's a very light pearly grey/blue shade with a subtle shimmer effect when you look closely, the effect is quite similar but a little more obvious than China Glaze Sea Spray from the Anchors Away Collection:
China Glaze Sea Spray
Sea Spray is a little darker than I Vant to Be A-Lone Star, but they both have that awesome subtle shimmer, gorgeous colours! I Vant to Be A-Lone Star was opaque in 2 coats, which actually surprised me, I was expecting this one to be sheer, so that's a definite plus :D

Do You Think I’m Tex-y
So I finally get to see what all the fuss is about with this "Sorbet Finish" OPI are raving about. This was 3 coats of Do You Think I'm Tex-y? a berry pink shade. So on a closer inspection, there is a difference between this finish and your average jelly polish, although the nail line is visible its quite evident that that is the desired effect of this polish, I guess its going to be a love/hate thing, It does make me think of an ice lolly though, so I do see the appeal of this finish as the weather warms. However if I'm honest I don't really think I'd be wearing this finish too often, which is why 1 mini bottle with this effect is definitely enough for me.

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In case you're interested the 6 polishes from Texas which have this "Sorbet Finish" are: Do You Think I’m Tex-y?, Y'all Come Back Ya Hear, Too Hot Pink To Hold-Em, Big Hair...Big Nails, Guy Meets Gal-Veston, Houston We Have a purple.

It's Totally Fort Worth It
Another Sheer shade *sigh* from the Texas Collection. It's Totally Fort Worth It is a shimmery silver/grey shade, on a close inspection you will see gorgeous pink shimmer in this polish, which does give it a more interesting dimension, however its sheerness means this polish will be better suited to layering, this was 3 coats. It's Totally Fort Worth It reminds me a little of a Zoya polish: Laney:
Zoya Laney
Laney is more on the silver side and where It's Totally Fort Worth It has pink shimmery particles, Laney has green shimmer, so although the colour is different it's definitely worth checking out if you like the effect of this polish, also Laney is far more opaque at 3 coats.

San-Tan-Tonio
The main reason I picked San-Tan-Tonio is the fact that I don't own any colour like it and it's one of the few cremes in the collection. It's a warm caramel shade, and reminds me of that suede material you'd see on cowboy clothes, would probably look quite funky matte. It's too dark to be considered a nude, but it's definitely a great colour for everyday or if you generally prefer an understated look. This was opaque at 2 coats, with a glossy finish. It was pretty easy to apply, however I do find it slightly tricky to apply polish with OPI's pro wide brush, especially on my little finger nail, I think the brush must be designed for people with wider nail beds than me :)

On the whole this collection is still a little on the disappointing side for me, yes there are a few awesome shades I will definitely be wearing a lot, I'm just a little sad that so many are so sheer, and also the fact that a lot of the "sorbet" shades are very similar in colour, it would have been nice to have some funky different bright colour shades with this effect, I expect to see more of them popping up in summer collections. So what do you think of the "Sorbet Finish" will you be wearing it this spring?

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