Time to Remember the Nails of November....

Then follow! Follow! Er, that song was in my head as I started thinking about the NOTDs of November I haven't posted yet. "Try to remember the kind of September..." My nails of November include a couple of very lovely OPI Designers Series polishes. In this post I remember the first OPI DS I have worn: OPI DS "Illuminate," or as I call it "Caramel" since I can't keep the OPI DS names straight.

I had purchased a few OPIs at ULTA in early November. When trying all my new lacquers on different nails, I was positively blown away by two particular polishes: They were....3D!! They literally looked like the shimmer particles were glowing ABOVE the surface of the nail. As I moved the nails in the light (indoor overhead light), the shimmer particles glowed in a different color altogether. Delightful!

The most fab one was OPI DS Extravagance, a berry-purple, while the other was DS Caramel, I mean Illuminate, a caramel-tan.

I was eager to wear these! With a meeting scheduled the following day, I wanted to stay with a conservative, fall theme on my nails but couldn't resist the idea of a touch of holographic effect. Not as in one's face as out and out glitter, the tan caramel DS Illuminate, I thought, would provide a little bit of colorful shimmer to an otherwise conservative nail!

Well, I was a bit disappointed. Throughout the day, the nails did not shimmer, much less show the 3D color-changing effect. The little particles showed as specks. Specks, unless they are glimmering and shimmering, are not interesting.

Above, you can see the speckles; I think this picture captures the basic speckledy-ness! Toward the end of the day, I did start seeing some of that shimmer but never the 3D glowing effect. I think it is all in the lighting. Indoor lighting, no fluorescent or natural light...hmm, maybe this is an evening polish that doesn't work as well for work.

My pictures seemed to have picked up some of the glow of the "speckles."

It's a pretty polish, and did go well with my brown patterned top (mock croc!) and woven pants. Maybe going out to eat at night in a dimly lit restaurant, complete with flickering candlelight, will bring out the glow.

The shimmer in the polish is purportedly diamond dust. Doing a little research, I found this copy: "its breakthrough state-of-the-art formula combines precious dazzling diamond dust with pigments so saturated with color that they glow." Well, in the right light, the formula does glow, so maybe OPI is onto something with this diamond dust technology! I'd like to wear this polish some time where I can observe more of it.