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February 25, 2013

OPI Euro Centrale Swatches Part 2!!


Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats OPI Hands Off My Kielbasa!
Top: one coat Poshe
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)


I am really loving the OPI Euro Centrale collection, but being part Polish, I have to wonder if the couple of Polish-themed names they came up with in this collection were really the best they could do for the country of my ancestors. OPI Hands Off My Kielbasa!, for example, is a lovely sophisticated rosy bronze shimmer with a decidedly unsophisticated name. I can't help but feel slightly insulted that the India and Russia collection have nicer names (Charmed By a Snake, Midnight in Moscow, Moon Over Mumbai- these are classy names, people!!), while poor Poland gets "Hands Off My Kielbasa" "I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw" and "Oy- Another Polish Joke". Har har. But anyway, Hands Off My Kielbasa! is a very pretty, almost peachy toned bronze shimmer. I can't think of any dupes off the top of my head.

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Hands Off My Kielbasa! surprised me by only needing two coats to be opaque! I was expecting it to need three, but it was nicely pigmented. The formula was so easy to work with too, really lovely! I love this kind of very shimmery rosy bronze neutral, and I love it even more when it's opaque in two coats!



 Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats OPI Vant To Bite My Neck?
Top: one coat Poshe
Application: average (out of poor, average, good, excellent)


I guess I shouldn't feel too insulted about the Polish names, because apparently all of central Europe is now home to vampires, since there are not one, but two vampire-themed names in this collection. OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? is a lovely deep eggplant purple creme. This looks pretty vampy in most lights. I love a good vampy purple! This is a classic color, if you don't have anything similar already.


 I thought the formula of Vant to Bite My Neck? was a bit thin. It wanted to pool in my cuticles, so be careful applying and you will most likely need to do a fair amount of clean-up. It only needed two coats though, so that's a good thing.




Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: three coats OPI Oy- Another Polish Joke!
Top: one coat Poshe
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)



I am always in the mood for a good gold shimmer polish, and OPI Oy- Another Polish Joke! definitely fits the bill. This is similar to the chunky shimmer finish of OPI Goldeneye, but much brighter and more of a clear gold.  The sun and my camera like to make this finish look sheer, but it is not sheer in real life. I really like this finish where you can see each shimmer particle, I'm glad OPI seems to use it a fair bit.


Oy- Another Polish Joke! definitely needs three coats. That's the only thing about this finish, they always need 3-4 coats. It applies very well though, no complaints there. In person, this definitely looks perfectly opaque. 




Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: three coats OPI My Vampire Is Buff
Top: one coat Poshe
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)



I was quite surprised how much I liked OPI My Vampire Is Buff. I was not originally too excited by this pale creamy off-white creme, but I think it will prove very useful in my collection. It's somewhere in between a nude and white. It doesn't look stark, more like soft and creamy looking. At the same time, it seems to make more of a statement than a regular nude creme. I think it will be an excellent base for a myriad of glitter colors too!


 This is three coats of My Vampire Is Buff and I was happy to find it was not too streaky! It was a bit streaky on the first two coats, but the third seemed to even it all out. The formula was very nice, not thick like some pale cremes can be. It was very easy to get this close to the cuticle with no clean-up necessary.




Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: three coats OPI A Woman's Prague-ative
Top: one coat Poshe
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)



OPI A Woman's Prague-ative is an excellent orange-y copper with that same chunky shimmer that I love. This is a much brighter, more vibrant version of some of the other similar colors OPI has done in this finish, like Pros & Bronze. Some people have been wondering if China Glaze Harvest Moon is close, but I think it has a lot more brown in it. I can compare them for you though. The Polishaholic compared this to Pros & Bronze, if you want to see, they're really nothing alike.


A Woman's Prague-ative was opaque in three thin coats, and I think two slightly thicker coats would work well too. I had no troubles with the formula at all, very nice!




Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats OPI I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw
Top: one coat Poshe
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)



OPI I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw officially wins the award for The Most Annoying Name To Type in Nail Polish History. Fortunately, I love a good deep blue creme, so the polish itself is a redeeming feature here. This is a dark blue, but it never looks black even in low light. It's quite a bit less of a royal blue than Eurso Euro. It's a classic color that everyone should own, so check your stash.


I didn't have any real issues with the formula, it was good. I didn't feel it was excellent and buttery though, so I give it a solid good rating. Just not perfect. It was nice and opaque in two coats though. I think I'll put this on my toes when I finally take off Can't Find My Czechbook!


Overall, I like this half of the collection just as much as the first! While I may not be a fan of the names, I do feel that these shades are just as classic and memorable as the polishes in the Russia and India collections (two of my all time favorite OPI collections). My Must Haves for the collection are Can't Find My Czechbook, Eurso Euro, Oy- Another Polish Joke!, and A Woman's Prague-ative, but I really feel that there isn't a dud shade in the whole collection.


Euro Centrale by OPI  are available now at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. 
            For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

Products sent for review. For more information, please read my Disclosure Policy.

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