FINALLY!!! I hear you cry! I know, I've been rather late on this one...but hopefully the pretty pictures will earn me your forgiveness. :P When OPI announced that they were releasing an Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection I was super excited, mainly because I missed the initial Alice in Wonderland Collection of Spring 2010. Granted I wasn't paying that close attention to nail polish collections back then, and I had not yet discovered Essie...I know shock horror; see how far I've come (wipes away proud tear). But this time I caught the bandwagon, YAY!!!
I personally only bought OPI's mini Royal Court of Color set because I loved every colour and I thought it was an excellent representation of the collection (which isn't always the case with the OPI mini sets, but they can't account for everyone's tastes, so that's totally okay).
Down the rabbit hole we go...
Get it?! Get it?! I drank the "Drink Me" concoction and suddenly became a giant (although the mini size of the OPI bottle does spoil the effect somewhat)! Who knew the mini pack of cards I got about 10 years ago would actually come in handy (they were just so cute I couldn't bring myself to throw them out and now I'm glad I didn't). I know, you're going to tell me that all this isn't actually technically from Alice Through The Looking Glass, but rather Alice in Wonderland; but let's not get picky. ;)
OPI - The I's Have It (Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection)
OPI released two blues in this collection and although I originally thought that this blue was the most similar to Alice's powder blue dress (in the Disney animation). After looking up images, OPI is right and the slightly darker blue of Fearlessly Alice is a much better match. However, I much prefer the lighter blue that is The I's Have It, even if it isn't technically Alice's dress colour. It is what I most associate with it (even if I'm wrong) so I'm happy they included the lighter blue one in the mini set.
OPI describes this colour as a "light powder blue", personally for me a powder blue has more of a grey tone to it, so I would say that The I's Have It is really more of a bright sky blue really. Either way it's gorgeous!
APPLICATION
- 4 coats on top of Orly's glue basecoat for easy swatch removal.
This one is a pain in the butt to apply! It was very streaky on the first 2 coats, for the 3rd coat I had to load the brush with polish and quickly and gently apply the polish while simultaneously keeping the brush close to horizontal with the nail. I'm not sure if it's the stiffness of the brush or if it's because I'm heavy handed, but without this technique you just end up pulling/scrapping off the previous layers (I've never experienced this problem with Essie brushes). For the 4th and final layer, I let my nails dry for a good 10 minutes before repeating the same technique as for the 3rd coat. The final two layers do smooth out the initial streakiness and self-levels nicely, and no bubbles! If I was to apply an Essie polish, even though the brushes are more supple, at 4 coats I'm almost certain to get bubbles (different and thicker formula most probably the culprit), it's a no-win situation unfortunately.
WEAR
I have tested this one out twice as a full manicure (I love the colour that much), both times on long nails. To be completely honest this polish has an awful wear time, which is a real shame when you have to go through such a kerfuffle for application.
As I've mentioned before in previous nail posts, I always apply my nail polish before bed, and I got a major chip on my ring finger of my non-dominant hand the very next day (i.e. 1st day of wear). I hadn't done any particular manual jobs that day either. On the 2nd day of wear, the chip had become so bad (half the nail polish had come off) that I had to repaint the nail that morning, I was thinking it was a fluke since it was only on one nail. However, by the evening of the 2nd day, three more chips (small this time) had appeared on other nails and another major one on my middle finger (dominant hand this time). By day 3, I had to remove the manicure it was so bad!
The second time around, the manicure started to chip the 2nd day, again really wasn't impressed! This lack of longevity could be due to the fact that both times I had long nail, which we all know makes chipping more likely. But I think the formula and the fact that you need 4 coats is probably more likely to blame.
REMOVAL
Like any other creme nail polish though, super easy removal.
OPI - I'm Gown for Anything! (Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection)
I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say "hello", "goodbye"! I'm late! I'm late!! I'm late!!!
I know tea-time is very important to us Brits (we never actually do find out what the rabbit was late for) and the perfect colour to wear for one is definitely this pale "creamy lilac" (I don't contest OPI's description for this one).
APPLICATION
- 3 coats on top of Orly's glue basecoat for easy swatch removal.
Having learnt from my mistakes, I was sure to let I'm Gown for Anything! dry for a good 5 minutes between layers (as opposed to starting the 2nd coat immediately after finishing the last nail of the 1st coat). This prevented the whole pulling/scrapping of the previous layers. However, like with The I's Have It, the first 2 coats are quite streaky, so it really does need the 3rd coat which also self-levels beautifully.
WEAR
I haven't tested this one out as a full manicure yet, so I don't know if it behaves as badly as The I's Have It.
REMOVAL
Again, I haven't worn this as a manicure, but I'm sure like any other pastel creme nail polish it has super easy removal.
OPI - Oh My Majesty! (Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection)
Checkmate! I kid, this polish is described by OPI as a "pearly alabaster". Now because I had to bump up the brightness of the picture so much in Photoshop for it to not have a grey background (it was sunny when I took the photo I swear!) I unfortunately also lost the reddish pearlessence originally captured. Basically, if OPI's Alpine Snow and N°7 Pearly Pink had a baby it would be Oh My Majesty! (see comparisons below). The pearlessence in this polish is not the typical silver pearl you come to expect from a frosted polish, but way more of a red/orange warm sheen to an otherwise fairly standard white nail polish. It really is quite beautiful! Definitely my favourite from the set; you can find a better and more accurate swatch from Imabeautygeek here.
APPLICATION
- 4 coats on top of Orly's glue basecoat for easy swatch removal.
I repeated the same technique as for I'm Gown for Anything! (letting it dry for 5 minutes between layers) but as the polish is a pearl and not a creme polish, which makes it more translucent, it did require a 4th coat for full opacity.
WEAR
I haven't worn this as a full manicure yet, but because of its pearlessence the polish has more of a gel-like finish, which I think might make it last longer than the typical OPI creme. But this is pure speculation at this point. :P
REMOVAL
Haven't tested it out yet. But as a pearl polish, removal is in no way comparable to a glitter polish (as a pearl is more of a sheen) and should therefore still be rather easy.
Painting the roses red, We're painting the roses red, We dare not stop or waste a drop, So let the paint be spread...dum...dee...dum...dee...dum We're painting the roses red!
Sorry I just couldn't resist! You'll at least have one Alice in Wonderland song stuck in your head by the end of this post, I can guarantee it! I would feel bad but you're only just getting a drop of my Disney lunacy, so count yourself lucky! ;)
OPI - Having a Big Head Day (Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection)
Described as a "hot red" it is quite a dark red but by no means is it a burgundy! Having a Big Head Day is just not the bright poppy red I expect when I hear "hot red". Still a gorgeous red though, and if every nail polish collection out there didn't already carry at least one red I might be more excited. But if you're just starting off your nail polish collection and are lacking in the classic red polish, then by all means try and get your hands on this one.
APPLICATION
- 2 coats on top of Orly's glue basecoat for easy swatch removal.
Oh what a relief this formula was! Much less streaky than the others and a bit more crelly-like in formula (hybrid between a creme and a jelly), it just glided on! No visible nail line after just 2 coats either, a true pleasure! Bravo!!!
WEAR
I haven't worn this as a full manicure yet so even though it was amazing to apply, wear-time might be a whole different story, I just don't know...sorry!
REMOVAL
While applying this for the swatch photos I did get some on my cuticles and skin, removing the unwanted excess did leave a bit of a red stain, but this is nothing unexpected when it comes to red nail polish. Plus, as it's rather crelly-like I would think that removal is rather easy too.
OPI Nail Art using Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection
This is the first time I'm including nail art in my swatch posts. This is mainly because I really like the look of a pure block nail and also because nail art is very time consuming and your dominant hand always looks rubbish in comparison to the non-dominant one (hence why I only did it on my left hand to show you...sneaky...sneaky).
As a base I used 2 coats of Essie's Ballet Slippers...I know using an Essie while showing an OPI collection...Off with her head!!!
Then I used all four shades from this set to create a French tip on each nail using a nail art brush (I did at least 3 coats for each). On my index and pinky I used Having a Big Head Day, on my middle finger The I's Have It, on my ring finger I'm Gown for Anything! and finally on my thumb Oh MY Majesty!
Then I added little heart accents on my ring finger (Having a Big Head Day and Oh My Majesty!) and thumb (Having a Big Head Day and The I's Have It).
Super simple and pretty! Don't be fooled, it's still time consuming though. :(
There you have it, my swatches of the OPI Royal Court of Color from the Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection. Hope you enjoyed this Disney-fied post, I certainly had fun taking the photos (editing...not so much).
Have you picked up anything from this collection? If so which ones? And how were the formulas?
What is the most time-consuming nail art you've come up with, or tried to recreate?
What Disney collection would you like to see OPI do? Personally, my favourite has always been The Little Mermaid but the new Disney Beauty and The Beast with Emma Watson (as Beauty not the Beast, just to be clear!) is coming out soon...so maybe that one, hint hint OPI! :P
xxxemma