I recently received four polishes from the OPI San Francisco collection. Upon first glance they are two glossy crèmes and two holographic duochromes, but on closer inspection and when wearing them they are two deep, rich high-gloss crèmes and two amazingly holographic micro-glitter duochromes! The names of the OPI San Francisco collection are smart references to places in San Francisco, OPI once again impress with their humorous use of the English language.
In The Cable Car-Pool Lane nail polish by OPI
In The Cable Car-Pool Lane is a rich deep cherry red; it reminds me of the flesh on the inside of a black cherry it’s that deep. I have searched and searched for a deep cherry red like this that is full coverage in two coats, not sheer or streaky, and is that perfect shade and true to the bottle, but this is the first one I’ve found that ticks all the boxes. It is opaque in two coats and dries to an evenly opaque glossy finish with no visible nail line. You can buy the In The Cable-Car Pool Lane nail polish by OPI here.
Incognito In Sausalito nail polish by OPI
Incognito In Sausalito is deep petrol blue; it is a perfect for wearing at work. It looks lighter blue with the first thin coat but after two coats, it takes on lovely deep royal petrol blue. It is perfectly opaque in two to three coats and will dry glossy with no visible nail line, quite like In The Cable Car-Pool Lane. You can buy the Incognito In Sausalito nail polish by OPI here.
Muir Muir On The Wall nail polish by OPI
Muir Muir On The Wall is a lovely rich plum duochrome, but it is a little difficult to get opaque. With one coat it looks very brown and like muddy water, but after two to three coats it is opaque and is a rich plum with duochrome that goes from red to bronze with bits of green coming through too. It is a very subtle effect; many people have seen me whilst wearing this and have mistaken it for just a regular glossy colour. You can buy the Muir Muir On The Wall nail polish by OPI here.
Peace & Love & OPI nail polish by OPI
Peace & Love & OPI is a lovely duochrome polish with a very slight holographic effect, in the shade it looks like a deep charcoal grey, but in the sunlight it really comes to life jumping from turquoise to lilac. This is my favourite polish from the four I was given as my favourite colours are turquoise and purple, so I can see myself always going back to this polish as an everyday wearable one. You can buy the Peace & Love & OPI nail polish by OPI here.
The Verdict
The OPI San Francisco nail polishes are overall very good, definitely my favourite at the moment, the formula is great and is perfect coverage in two coats whereas some other brands of nail polish are thin towards the cuticles on the first coat whereas OPI are generally opaque and even throughout even on the first coat. They don’t have an overpowering smell of chemicals whilst applying like some brands do, and OPI are a 3-Free brand, which means that their polishes contain no dibutyl phthalate, no toluene and no formaldehyde. This is great news for me as the side effects these ingredients can cause are nasty. Formaldehyde can trigger asthma, cause skin problems and is also a carcinogenic, while DBP (dibutyl phthalate) is mutagenic and cancer-causing, and toluene can cause liver damage, foetal development damage and skin irritation, and I know I definitely don’t like the sound of that! OPI gets a huge thumbs up from me on that front as I already have asthma and eczema and struggle to keep them under control.
The colours in this collection are all very pretty, my particular favourite is Peace & Love & OPI as I am always drawn towards holographic and duochrome glitter effects, especially if they’re lilac or turquoise.
The bottles are a comfortable shape, as I sometimes hold the bottle between my thumb and pointer finger with my hand flat when applying polish just for stability when coating the brush in product, the way the bottle tapers smaller towards the bottom is very comfortable.
I especially like the lid and the brush and how it is long and thin, allowing me to hold it more comfortably, almost like a pen, and get great neat results also thanks to the flat wide brush that lets me cover a wider area at once and get closer to my cuticles for a neat, professional looking finish.
OPI nail polishes are available exclusively to purchase in salons at £16.75, but if you don’t have a salon nearby that stocks OPI then there are many places to order them from online at £11.50 RRP, but the Amazon links mentioned above have them for £8.25, which is a bargain for a nail polish of this quality.
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