Jen D'Arcy's Archibald Prize portrait of Julia Morris painted using only OPI lacquers

As a brand, OPI seems to me like it has a good sense of humour: the colour names are usually amusing, the colour range is extensive and pushes the limit and stars are lining up to collaborate and create their own lines. It is a fun brand. So, it was perfectly fitting that artist Jen D'Arcy would choose OPI as her paint medium to do a portrait of comedian Julia Morris. Jen D'Arcy consumed over 1071 bottles of OPI (16 litres of nail lacquer), painting directly from individual OPI bottles, to complete the portrait. OPI offers over 300 different shades, so there was never a concern in terms of providing the right colour palettes.

Commenting on behalf of OPI, Bill McKendrick Managing Director of OPI Australia said “We were thrilled to be part of such as quirky, creative and innovative project. OPI is all about colour, being creative and innovative, so this project spoke volumes in terms of what OPI offers as a brand.”

Obviously, as a comedian, Julia Morris has a wonderful sense of humour. “I am a massive fan of Jen D’Arcy's. work, so when she approached me with her genius idea of using nail lacquer to paint my portrait, it really appealed to my sense of humour. In fact, as young people would say; it made me LOL!"

When I head about the idea of this portrait I imagined it to be quite small, but it is massive - larger than life size. No wonder it took over 1071 bottles of OPI (16 litres of nail lacquer) to complete.

If you have ever wondered why OPI needed so many different shades of red, you now have your answer!

It is phenomenal to think that Jen D'Arcy painted the entire artwork directly from the bottle using the OPI brushes. I guess, if she made a mistake then a dab of nail polish remover would fix it right up! 

The finished product

FYI: The Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious art prizes. It’s awarded to the best portrait painting, preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics. The Archibald Prize was first awarded in 1921. In establishing the prize, JF Archibald’s aim was to foster portraiture as well as support artists and perpetuate the memory of great Australians. Over the years some of Australia’s most prominent artists have entered and the subjects have been equally celebrated in their fields. The Archibald Prize winner will be announced: 22 March 2013, whilst the People’s Choice winner will be announced on 16th May 2013. The Archibald Prize 2013 exhibition will be shown from 23rd March until 2nd June 2013.

OPI Euro Centrale: You're Such a BudaPest swatch

Another swatch - this one is from OPI's Euro Centrale range. This range is super varied and there is a colour in it to suit everyone. When I get my butt into gear I will do a post showcasing the whole range, but for now here is You're Such a BudaPest.

I would say this is a blue but The Crazy Kid insists that it is a purple. Either way, the formulation is beautiful. You can just about get away with one coat though there is the tiniest amount of streakiness. Two coats and it is perfection.

So, who is right - me or The Crazy Kid? Is this a blue or a purple?


All opinions are my own and I received no remuneration for this post. This polish was provided for consideration.

OPI Modern Family She's Lily Something

Here is the next swatch I have for you from the Nicole by OPI Modern Family Collection - She's Lily Something. This is described by OPI as a fantasy land filled with glittery pick, confetti and stars.

Ordinarily, I would say that OPI are the glitter pro's. Their formulations are usually flawless. However, I had issues with this one. All of my stars sunk to the bottom of the bottle and it took ages to shake them back into the formulation and, even then, it was very difficult to pick them up with the brush. I initially did one thin top coat on each nail and half of my nails did not end up with even a single star on them. I then went back and did a second coat and this time made an effort to keep dipping the brush back in the bottle until it pick up a star. I then had to dab the polish on kind of thickly to get the stars to stay.

The final look is quite effective and funky but I am not sure if it is worth the effort. I love the random stars and the glitter is awesome. It is very fine and a mixture of pink and hologram. There is plenty of it and it gives the nail a reflective sheen.

 I did have one other issue with the stars. The corners of the stars lifted up easily which made the nails kind of sharp and scratchy. Maybe I should have applied another top coat over them to really seal them in. As cool as the stars look once applied, I don't think that they were worth all the effort.

The below swatches of She's Lily Something have been applied over butter LONDON Molly-coddled (swatched here).

If you missed my swatch of Luke of the Draw from the same collection here it is.

What are your thoughts on the stars - worth the effort or give it a miss?


All opinions are my own and I received no remuneration for this post. She's Lily Something was provided for consideration.

Nicole by OPI Modern Family: Luke of the Draw

The other day I brought you the news that Nicole By OPI had released a Modern Family Collection. Here is my first swatch from the range - Luke of the Draw. OPI describes it as an adventurous gunmetal grey; however, I would not describe it that way at all. It is a black jelly base jam packed with tonnes of various shaped silver glitter pieces. The effect, once applied, is striking. The different shaped glitter gives the final finish a real depth - a bit like staring into a star packed milky way. The glitter applies very thickly so there is only slight gaps between the particles. The glitter is easy to apply and two thin coats is all it takes for totally opaque coverage. After the first coat it looks patchy and streaky but this completely clears up after the second coat.

I absolutely love this polish.. I have not seen a glitter polish like it before. Most glitters seem to be sparse topcoats but this is a glitter packed lacquer. It is super sparkly when on and quite striking.

The swatches below are all two coats, with one top coat shot in various lights.

Luke of the Draw and the rest of the Nicole by OPI Modern Family range will be available from 14th March at selected pharmacies Hairhouse Warehouse, Petra Haircare and on-line at www.nicolebyopi.com.au, $14.95 RRP incl. GST.   For stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.nicolebyopi.com

Have you discovered any other glitter polishes that are jam packed with glitter - I'd love suggestions!

All opinions are my own and I received no remuneration for this post. Luke of the Draw was provided for consideration.

OPI Modern Family Collection

At the moment my husband and I have 3 favourite shows - Sons of Anarchy (we are a bit late to jump on this bandwagon and are only just watching season 1 on Foxtel), My Kitchen Rules (my hubby is actually a doppelganger for Pete Evens but it is Manu that I have the crush on....he could talk to me all day long!) and Modern Family. There is next to no chance that there will ever be a Sons of Anarchy collaboration with OPI (unless they decide that we need 12 different shades of gunmetal with the odd blood red thrown in!), and even less a chance of a MKR collection, but, great news...Nicole by OPI has collaborated with our third favourite show to create the Modern Family Collection. Each lacquer in the collection represents the personality of the character it is named after and, in usual OPI form, the names are all quite amusing.

The colours are (from left to right):

My Jay or The Highway – a sophisticated pale taupe grey

A Phil’s Paradise – a desirable slate grey that will SELL, SELL, SELL

Candid Cameron – this year’s Pantone Colour of the Year, Emerald Green

What’s The Mitch-uation – a more serious shade of Olympic Blue

Back in My Gloria Day – a rich sexy plum

Basking in Gloria – a rich ruby red that is saucy and spicy

She’s Lily Something – a fantasy land filled with glittery pink, confetti and stars

The colours continued are (from left to right):

Am I Making Myself Claire? – a delicate shade of lilac

Alex by the Books – a subtle yet intelligent mint green

Stand By Your Manny – a beautiful pale blue

I Do De-Claire – a frosty rose pink

A Like Haley Story – a fabulous coral pink

Haley Good Looking – a feminine pink glitter that will always have admirers

Luke of the Draw - an adventurous gunmetal grey

There are so many colours in this range that I want to try - it looks like such a wearable range. The only shade that doesn't really tickle my fancy is My Jay or The Highway - taupes just aren't my cup of tea. I should have swatches up of a couple of them in the next couple of weeks so keep your eyes out (or if you are desperate to see swatches now, have a look at The Polish Aholic - her swatches are divine!).

The Nicole by OPI Modern Family range will be available from 14th March at selected pharmacies Hairhouse Warehouse, Petra Haircare and on-line at www.nicolebyopi.com.au, $14.95 RRP incl. GST.   For stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.nicolebyopi.com.

What are your thoughts on the range? Are there any colours that you are dying to try?

OPI Oz The Great and Powerful: When Monkeys Fly! swatch

There is a new Oz movie coming out - Oz the Great and Powerful. It is the prequel to The Wizard of Oz and tells the story of how many of the characters ended up in the land of Oz.

To celebrate the release of the movie, OPI have created a new range of lacquers inspired by the movie - the Oz the Great and Powerful range. As soon as I heard that there was a range based on The Wizard of Oz, I straight away imagined sparkly ruby red and emerald green - but, of course, they are colours from the original movie and not the latest installment. Instead, the Oz the Great and Powerful range is all soft shades and glitters, described by OPI as:

The soft shade limited edition range by OPI - Oz the Great and Powerful - is bursting with magic and excitement designed to capture the magic and whimsy portrayed in the film. The collection features soft neutrals in white, beige and pink combined with glittery shades of white, gold and silver.

There are seven shades in this range:

Which is Witch, a silver glitter lacquer with a magical iridescent sparkle.

Glints of Glinda, only a good witch could turn beige from bland to chic.

When Monkeys Fly! you will go bananas for this gold confetti (swatches below).

Don’t Burst My Bubble, an irresistible white like puffs of clouds

Lights of Emerald City, like a white confetti spray bursting with excitement

I Theodora You, an adorable sheer pink that is bewitching.

What Wizardry is This? – designed specifically for The Great Wizard - a rich taupe hue with reflective sparkle in OPI’s new Liquid Sand formula

I managed to get my hands on When Monkeys Fly! and have swatched it below. When Monkeys Fly! is a glittery top coat with a mixture of 3 different types of glitter - super chunky gold circles, tiny hologram specks and slightly larger hexagonal (or perhaps octagonal!) hologram disks. In the swatches below I have just applied one coat. The large round gold glitter randomly scatters over the nails, so some nails end up with only a couple of dots whilst others have heaps. The gold glitter is really striking - it looks a little bit like diamontes on the nails. I have swatched this over two different colours and it looks fantastic over both. I honestly think that it would look amazing over just about any colour (probably not gold - would get lost on that one, but any other colour!).

When Monkeys Fly! swatched over Suzi's Hungary AGAIN (from the Euro Centrale range)

When Monkeys Fly! swatched over You're Such a BudaPest (from the Euro Centrale range)

OPI’s Oz the Great and Powerful will be available from mid February at selected salons, David Jones and Myers, $19.95. For more information on stockists contact 1800 358 999 or www.opi.net.au.

What are your thoughts on When Monkeys Fly? Do you love the chunky gold glitter? What colours are you hoping to get your hands on from the Oz the Great and Powerful range?

All opinions are my own and I received no remuneration for this post. When Monkeys Fly! was provided for consideration.

Mariah Carey by OPI collection: Can't Let Go Swatch

This morning I brought you swatches of Get Your Number from the Mariah Carey by OPI collection. Now, here are my swatches of Can't Let Go. This is a lovely deep purple that applies easily and is pretty much opaque after one coat (I used two here to ensure perfection!). OPI describe it as a matte purple with a dazzling sparkle. I found the sparkle to be silver (as opposed to hologram in Get Your Number). I think I prefer Get Your Number, mostly because I love the hologram sparkles.

Deliberately out of focus to show sparkle

There are 8 shades in the Mariah Carey by OPI collection - the following four Liquid Sand lacquers:

• Can't Let Go -  matte purple with a dazzling sparkle
• Get Your Number - matte blue with dynamic sparkles
• Stay the Night - matte black with a red glints of glitter particles
• The Impossible - matte fuchsia shade with confetti star power 

As well as four normal finish lacquers:

• A Butterfly Moment - frosty tan nude 

•  Anti-bleak - deep, creamy purple

•  Pink Yet Lavender - pink glitter with a lavender shimmer

• Sprung - shimmery copper

Which shade do you most want to try in this range? Are you a fan of Mariah Carey and/or her music?


All opinions are my own and I received no remuneration for this post. Can't Let Go was provided for consideration.