Sometimes I wonder why something suddenly becomes a trend in the cosmetics industry. From the liquid lipstick last year to the textured nail polish and light-reflecting setting powder this year, is it simply a trend or is there some kind of technology breakthrough behind it? In any case, I recently welcomed the first textured nail polish into my collection: OPI What Wizardry Is This? (RRP in Belgium: 14,50 euros. Availability: end of March) from the OPI Oz The Great and Powerful Collection.
By now, if you read beauty blogs in general, you must have seen a Liquid Sand or two around. In short, it is a textured nail polish finish. I have heard that What Wizardry Is This? is less textured than the previous ones, which is fine by me!
OPI What Wizardry Is This? is a very multi-dimensional color. In the bottle it looks like a shimmery copper, on the nails however, it is a shimmery antique gold with brown textured bits. Now, if you have been reading Mostly Sunny for a while, you might have noticed my soft spot for antique golds. You might also remember most antique golds pull green/khaki on me. Well, What Wizardry Is This? is no different! You will see it in the full-face/hand photos below.
The consistency of What Wizardry Is This? is perfect. It is easy to apply and doesn’t pool up at all. With one coat it’s on the sheer side, but with a second coat it becomes completely opaque. It looks shimmery and glossy before it dries down, but once it dries down it becomes matte and textured.
This is one coat of base coat and two coats of OPI What Wizardry Is This?
I anticipated the texture would drive me up the wall, but it doesn’t bother me too much!
The instructions specifically ask no top coat to be used, but I did an experiment anyways. With the top coat, it is less textured (but still, you can feel it is not 100% smooth), and it becomes as shimmery as it is before it completely dries down.
The interesting thing is I have the impression that top coat actually makes What Wizardry Is This? show tip wear/chip faster! I have worn this twice now, and each time I put top coat on a couple of the fingers. They always end up looking battered faster than the other ones. Without a top coat it shows tip wear a bit more easily than regular OPI nail polishes on me, but not by much. Removing it is less painful than what I thought it would be as well. It doesn’t take much longer for it to come off clean!
Here are a couple of photos with my hand next to my face with OPI What Wizardry Is This? on, so you get a better idea about how it looks from a distance (on my lips: Tom Ford True Coral Lip Color. On my cheeks: MAC Fiery Impact In Extra Dimension Blush):
I think you can see pretty clearly that it pulls khaki on me at certain angles in this picture!
Bottom line: While I don’t think I’ll start collecting textured nail polishes, I really adore OPI What Wizardry Is This? It is easy to work with, interesting to look at (and feel), and on a more personal level an antique gold that pulls green is always a winner!
Have you tried any OPI Liquid Sands or other texture nail polishes? Or are you in the camp “they-look-like-a-peeling-wall?” More importantly, have you seen Oz The Great and Powerful? I think the cast looks really promising, and the review seems good! Now I need to find someone who is willing to go to a 3D movie with me (for some reason many people I know just can’t do it)!
Sunny, your beauty culture translator xx
