February 23, 2013

OPI Euro Centrale Polishes [Swatch] & [Review]


Today [tonight!] I have four polishes from OPI's Spring 2013 offering, the Euro Centrale collection, to show you.  First up is the color that got me hooked into the collection to begin with-

OPI- Can't Find My Czechbook:


Can't Find My Czechbook (ba-dum-chk) is a slightly dusty-looking, medium aqua blue creme.



Artificial light, two coats:


It's a really bright, clean-looking color.





It didn't really come through in the photos, but it seems to dry a smidge darker than the bottle color.

Window-filtered daylight:


Outside, shade:


Sun:


Formula: I like this formula! The first coat is streaky, but doesn't really cuticle drag, and self-levels very well. Second coat goes on like delicious butter. Two easy coats for opacity.

One thing is that it chipped very readily on me.  (I wore OPI- Nail Envy as base, and INM- Out The Door topcoat.)
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Next up is-

Suzy's Hungary Again!




Suzi's Hungary Again is a very bright, medium-toned,  warm-leaning pink.  There is supposedly shimmer in this, but it did not show up for me...in the bottle or on the nail.

Artificial light, four coats:




Missing shimmer notwithstanding, this is a really special shade of pink!  It looks like sort of a normal medium pink in the bottle, but was surprisingly bright and happy.  Love the color!



Mixed artificial & natural daylight:


Window-filtered daylight:


^In some lighting, it almost looks like it leans coral- pretty!

Outside, shade:




Now for the downside-

Formula: The formula was a big disappointment for me. The first and second coats are streaky, and I needed three coats for some semblance of opacity.  And then, still, I needed a fourth coat to even out streaky patches, and achieve a smooth, even finish. Bummer.  It also dries darker than bottle color.

Such a shame; the color is so amazing, but the formula makes me not want to bother.
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Nextly, is-

My Paprika Is Hotter Than Yours! 




My Paprika Is Hotter Than Yours! is a bright, red-leaning orange polish.

Like Suzi's Hungary Again!, it is also supposed to have subtle shimmer, but it was completely non-existent for me.  You would think that I could locate it while editing photos up close, but no!

Artificial light, three coats:



I am a real sucker for red-orange cremes, so I'm not surprised I chose this one- totally in my comfort zone.



It also dries darker than bottle color; it looks more orange in the bottle than it will dry on your nails- although to my eye it still falls solidly in the orange family, not the red.

Window-filtered daylight:



That said however, my boyfriend said "Wow your nails are really red!" while I was wearing this one.  And I hardly ever hear comments from him on my various nail colors.  So, who knows.  (Although I'm pretty sure he is at least slightly red/green colorblind, not kidding.)

Outside, shade:


I do really like this shade, but it reminds me of another OPI I have- I'll do a comparison soon!





Formula: Thick; first coat goes on well with some streaking, but self-levels decently. However, the next coats do not level as well as the first one...for some reason. Two coats are mostly opaque, but I needed three to fix streakiness issues.  It does dry quickly, though.  Oh, and this one really wanted to stain my skin and cuticles during removal.  Ew.

All these streaky polishes are sort of a let-down from OPI!
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Lastly, is-

OPI- OPI...Eurso Euro:


I...hate the name of this polish.  It's a terrible pun, but who would say that "you're so Euro!" anyway?  I don't know, it just makes me cringe!
 

Anyway, this is a really lovely color that totally surprised me when I received it!  All swatches that I saw prior to seeing it in person showed it much too blue.  (Digital sensors do have issues capturing violet light.)

There's a decent amount of purple in this, and it verges on being a true indigo creme.

Artificial light, two coats:


Mixed artificial & natural daylight:


Window-filtered daylight:



This is a keeper.  It's a really great color, and I have nothing exactly like it, although it's well-within my dark blue/indigo creme comfort zone. 

Outside, shade:




Sun:


Looks much more purple in the sun.

Formula: It's pigmented and on the thinner side, but not too thin The first coat is a little patchy, but not bad. The second coat fixed all the patchiness and was opaque.  Like all the others I tried, Eurso Euro also seems to dry slightly darker than its bottle color.  Another thing is that the smell was a little strong.

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Overall, I don't know, I feel pretty neutral about these.   The colors are all really beautiful, but aren't terribly unique, and two that were supposed to have subtle shimmer seemed to have none at all.  

I also hate to see streaky formulas from OPI- that's certainly not what I expect from them, and when I have to apply four coats of a polish to get an even finish I get a little disheartened.  These weren't awful by any means, (in fact, two that I tried had pretty decent formulas), but I tend to expect a higher level of consistency from a major label!


What do you think?  
Were there any others from this collection that wow-ed you or were disappointing?

10 comments:

  1. February 24, 2013 at 11:41 AM

    These four colors look lovely together!
    I'm most excited for Eurso Euro (silly pun and all), it looks wonderful in your swatches!

    Reply
    Replies
    1. February 25, 2013 at 11:39 PM

      Thank you! I love that one...Mmmmm, indigo.

  • goodlacknailFebruary 25, 2013 at 4:06 AM

    I look forward to the Paprika polish :)

    Reply
    Replies
    1. February 25, 2013 at 11:39 PM

      It's a nice Summery color!

  • AnonymousFebruary 25, 2013 at 3:34 PM

    'Nextly' is not a word!

    Reply
    Replies
    1. February 25, 2013 at 11:38 PM

      Thanks...I'm aware. ;)

  • February 26, 2013 at 11:00 AM

    I like Paprika the most out of these, colors are very nice but sad to hear that they have formula issues, that usually makes me pass on the polish. Oh and my bf is also colorblind to my knowing, he only ever notices neons on my nails :)

    Reply
    Replies
    1. February 27, 2013 at 2:10 PM

      That's funny he only notices neons! I think red/green colorblindness is really common in males; my brother has it too. :)

  • February 26, 2013 at 7:24 PM

    I like Eurso Euro the best! I try to ignore polish names most of the time when they are puns. I don't think there is such a thing as a good pun :P

    Reply
    Replies
    1. February 27, 2013 at 2:11 PM

      Haha...I try to ignore them too, and it doesn't affect my appreciation of the colors, but OPI is one of the worst name-offenders. It's just funny sometimes!