The Moody Blues

Hi Goddesses

So by whatever dark and dirty spilling of trade secrets, Zoya and OPI have managed to dupe themselves in their Spring Collections, with both their shimmery dark purple and their shimmery pale blues.   Originally, this post was only going to compare Skylar, I Don't Give A Rotterdam and I Have A Herring Problem, but as I was gazing at one of them, it started to remind me of Butter London Victoriana.  So I widened my parameters lol.

Behold - your Moody Blues -

thumb = Butter London Lady Muck

index - OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam

middle = Zoya Skylar

ring - OPI I Have A Herring Problem

pinkie = Butter London Victoriana

So we clearly have a split camp here - thumb and index v the other three.  Let's take Thumb and index first.

These are not dupes at all, with Lady Muck paler than Rotterdam, and actually quite similar to Pam's Stormy Skies  (here).    Lady Muck's sparkle is also a lot finer and more silver, whereas the OPI is golder and grittier and therefore more obvious to the naked eye.

Now to Skylar, Herring and Victoriana - don't they look similar?  Whilst none of them are EXACTLY like the other, that's like saying Katy Perry and Zooey Deschanel don't look EXACTLY like each other - they look similar to confuse all but the most obsessive fan.

Victoriana is the odd one out.  It has a slightly teal tinge to it (which you don't notice unless you wear it next to Herring lol) and looks quite flat / matte in comparison.

Herring and Skylar however are almost twins.  There is a deeper intensity to Skylar's pigmentation, but they both share the same goldy sparkle and beauty.

It's also worth noting that everything had 2 coats - except the OPIs, which needed 3.   I want to return to that "has OPI got thinner" question - here they all are at 1 coat, I'll let you decide.

So, let's sum up.  Do you need all 5 ?   Definitely not.   So which ones are you going to give up, Crumpet?  Er, er .... really?  You want me to give up polish ?   Much as I surprise myself by saying this, if I were going to give any up, it would be the 2 OPIs.   The Zoya has the better colour density, and then I do love my Butter Londons ....

Sigh, what IS a Crumpet to do ??  Help .... gulp ...

Enjoy xx :)

OPI - I Have A Herring Problem

Hi Goddesses

I've been cooing about this polish ever since I first saw snaps of it, plus it has a cool OPI name that makes me smile.

Once on, actually, I was disappointed, and I'm going to launch straight into why.  This polish shrinks.  Shrinks.   Look - here is a horrible photo of it at 1 coat.  You can see on about 3 digits and especially the thumb, exactly what I mean.    Now, I might tolerate that from a cheap brand, but from OPI I expect better.

I'd had the same problem with Rotterdam, and just put it down to me being careless, or that it didn't like my base coat or Poshe, but when I put Herring on, it literally receded before my eyes, like time lapse photography of a balding man's hairline.    I asked the girls in PAA, and Kelly mentioned she'd seen the same on The Polishaholic's nails.  And it's true.  If you check out her review of the Hollands, although she doesn't specifically mention it, you can see there are major shrinkage issues with the blues.

So, WTF?   As I said, I cannot believe that a brand like OPI, which is usually so reliable, would allow this to happen.  OPI goes on easier than almost any other polish, and it NEVER causes issues.   I don't know what happened, but curiously, someone else remarked that they thought the formula was thinner than normal OPIs, and although I disagreed at first, I now do agree completely - maybe that's where the shrinkage is coming from.  Maybe they thinned the perfect formula too far.

So anyway, all I'm going to say is this - buy Zoya Skylar instead.  They are almost identical, and the Zoya doesn't shrink.   If you're still not convinced, wait for the comparison post.

Maybe I have a faulty bottle - I hope yours isn't giving you the same problems mine is.

Enjoy xx  :/