OPI Danke Shiny red

Danke Shiny-red is part of OPI's Germany Fall 2012 collection. I am slightly late with this purchase and review but I haven't realized how pretty this polish is until I actually tried it. It looked nice in photos but I was concerned that's too shimmery. Well I was wrong. It is metallic red with extremely shiny finish. It is so shiny and luminous that I had hard time capturing real color. Formula is perfection - opaque, and gives full coverage even with one coat, and does not streak nor it leaves ugly lines like some polish with similar finish do. In the photos below I have two coats of Danke shiny red topped with Poshe top coat. It's such a nice color for holidays. 

OPI My chihuahua bites!

OPI my chihuahua bites is part of the OPI permanent range.  This is a perfect summer shade. It's bright red with a strong orange base. In my photos it looks more orange than it really is. Formula is not the greatest. It is really thin, watery and goes on very streaky. Even after three coats I had bold spots that I was trying to fix. It has very glossy finish. Nice pick both for hands and feet especially during summer. Color is not particularly unique but it is eye catching. 

OPI Dutch Tulips

OPI Dutch tulips is a part of OPI's permanent collection. It is one of their classic shades that might get unnoticed with so many limited edition releases, but this shade is so worth your attention. I got it after being convinced by seeing swatches of my fellow nail polish addicts (especially you Liv! :) )



I am sucker for red nail polishes and I do not mind having as many of them as possible. To me they are all different :p  Dutch tulips is bright red with strong pink undertone and creme finish. Upon first application I was so disappointed. Formula is not so good. Thin and runny. 3 coats for full coverage. And somehow I figured it does not compliment my hands. Does not look good against my skin. So it god put back in the box and I have not used it for months. Actually I planned not to use it ever again, that's how disappointed I was.

I do not even remember how I got an idea using it on mu toes and BOOM ! I loved it! Classy red but bright enough. Such a nice surprise. I am glad I gave it another chance.

Photos below are my old swatches made indoors with the flash.
I tried making new swatches today and ended up going crazy. Formula is giving me such a hard time. Doesn't go even, streaky, I keep adding on coats and it just looks awful. I give up using it on my hands, I'll just stick with my toes.

And to add real Chicago tulips

OPI Wooden Shoe like to Know

 OPI Wooden Shoe like to know is part of the Holland collection, that I was not really excited about. Actually I have not been excited about OPI in years. Unfortunately. When they started with the whole shatter, Katy Perry and all other celebrities charade I gave up on them and got obsessed with Essie. Then I realized I am missing true chocolate brown nail polish in my collection. I did find the perfect one in Lancome Chocolat Mordore but I was also suggested looking into Wooden shoe. It wasn't really the color or the finish I was looking for BUT when I saw how amazing it looks on Ivana I had to buy it. She is one of the rare people that can sell me anything!


Color is very unique. It is light chocolate brown, more of a milk than a dark chocolate with tons of duochrome golden-copper-red shimmer in it. Shimmer is more noticeable when polish is still wet - I wish it would stay that way. But even when it dries it's still nice but more subtle. Formula is great - two coats and I got full coverage. I used Poshe top coat over it.

Indoors with flash

Outdoors direct sunlight

Outdoors in the shade

These super cute wooden shoes actually traveled from Holland to Chicago as a gift from my very dear friend. It was years ago but they still have their place on my bookshelf in the living room. She is one of the nicest people ever, and I am so grateful I met her. :*

Nail polish comparison - Purples

OPI Euro centrale collection - Vant to bite my neck?

Vant to bite my neck? is part of new OPI Euro centrale collection for spring 2013

It is dark eggplant purple creme that leans cool especially in artificial light. First photo of the bottle at the top of this post shows you the color in daylight where it does not look so cool.

This kind of color is really hard to photograph. It either looks too dark or too bluish. 

It is really beautiful purple. I am not sure how unique it is. I already made swatches of all the purples I have for comparison and will post as soon as I get some free time. 

Formula is on a thinner side. First time I used it I applied Essie base coat and application was awful - streaky, with patches. I literally had to dab thick coats of polish into the nail. 

This time I did not use any base coat. It was much better  although I had to do two very thin coats and wait in between for them to dry. 

I think it looks nice on shorter nails and against the light skin. 

This is my only pick from this collection and I made this decision based on Ommorphia's swatches. Oh man she can sell me anything! lol 

What will you be picking up from EURO collection?

OPI Eiffel for this color

OPI Eiffel for this color was first released in 2008 with the La France collection. OPI described it as a wine color but I would say it's just almost black. When you look at the color in the bottle it looks like beautiful dark purple with shimmer but on nails it's just almost black. Too bad. 

This is one of my rare OPI disappointments. 

I love how the color looks like in photos with flash but in daylight not at all. I bought it a while ago, used it only once and since then it has been sitting unused. I wanted to give it another chance. Did not work out. I really don't appreciate shades that look good only in certain light. It takes three coats to get the full coverage.

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OPI an affair in Red square & OPI pretty at the premiere

These two colors are by far my favorite "special occasion reds".

An affair in Red square was first released with Russian collection for fall 2007. Color is bright red with fine shimmer in it. In sunlight and artificial light it looks simply stunning. Whenever I wear I just can't stop looking at my nails :) This color is classic and must have! Great choice also for holiday season. It gives that old Hollywood glam to your nails, very sophisticated and womanly.  This became part of OPI's permanent line. This is one of the only couple of polishes that I actually used up and had to buy new bottle!

Pretty at the premiere is maybe even prettier than Affair... color is not so bright . It is more of a rich shimmery burgundy. It is kind of a color that you would not wear every day. It does require little black dress or a pretty gown and certainly a special occasion like a "premiere". This shade is so opaque it's unbelievable. In photos I took I only have one coat of polish! I believe it has been discontinued (WHY OH WHY?).