Rogue of the Jungle – AmazON…AmazOFF from the new OPI Brazil Collection

Greetings from the passages of an overgrown jungle temple, fellow rogues!

Occasionally, our adventuring party gets to wander even further off the beaten path than usual, and tackle a quest in far-flung, exotic lands. Imagine my excitement when I walked past a local adventure posting board (i.e. Farmers) and noticed a posting for a new series of quests in Brazil…

Yes, that’s right, it was the new display of OPI’s latest collection – Brazil. Full disclosure – my heart leapt when I saw the bright cardboard display, then sank when I saw that what appeared to be half the shades were either brown, or dupes of things from previous (recent) collections. Don’t get me wrong, there are some bright, fun colours here (including a vibrant canary yellow and some hot coral/oranges), but then there is a putty coloured one, and a brown one, and a dingy red one, and a duochrome that is (in the bottle) not wildly dissimilar to the grey/purple duochrome from at least three or four recent collections. To qualify this – the ‘dupes’ are probably not exact at all, and how excited you are by any shade will depend on personal preference, but I just somehow wasn’t as buzzed by this collection as by previous ones.

BUT! There was one posting on that board that stood right out…a gorgeous, deep, slightly teal-y jungle green that I couldn’t take my eyes off. I had to have that quest! To sweeten the deal, I noticed that Farmers seem to have permanently reduced the price of OPI polishes (from ~$26 to $19.95), and there was a 10% off promotion. Huzzah!

I present: AmazON…AmazOFF (cue groans at typical terrible OPI puns)

OPI AmazON…AmazOFF from the new Brazil Collection. Green! Glorious green…and it is acctually a bit less blue in real life.

As mentioned in the caption, the shade is actually a bit more green in real life, which will hopefully be obvious from the forthcoming nail swatches. It’s a creme polish, a little on the thick side like similar OPI shades (Eurso Euro being a good example). This means that you can get nearly opaque coverage in one coat, but I did two over my usual Sally Hansen base coat for good measure.

I was at a bit of a loss for jungle-y things to photograph with this manicure, but I think the design on the cover of this little book is perfect! It may or may not contain spells for getting rid of minor skin afflictions – you’ll have to ask the wizard.

I could be going insane, but when I look at this polish in direct sunlight, on my nails (not in the bottle) I could swear that there’s almost a slight pearl to it. It most definitely just looks like a normal creme polish usually, but…? Anyone else see this? Maybe I took a swig from the wrong vial on my kitbelt…

Dry time was normal for a polish this creamy, and I’d like to note here that the gloss finish you can see in the photos is entirely due to AmazON…AmazOFF itself. No topcoat here! I may put some on to protect it, but like the greenstone necklaces that Sigryn found that one time in that one dungeon, this has its own glossy finish. Unlike those neckalces, this polish does not appear to be cursed with a necrotizing spell.

Wait a minute… I don’t see any spells in here! Sneaky wizards…

The reason I mention that charming little anecdote about the necklaces is that for a couple of minutes I thought the polish bottle was cursed with necrotizing enchantments, as my fingertips started to take on a bluish green colour. Then I realised that it’s just that this polish stains skin (we’ll have to see about the nails, but a good thick layer of basecoat should help) – you can see it particularly on the lower edge of my little finger in the photo above. The cleric and paladin were kind of freaking out and babbling about curses on jungle temples, but I think it just means that you have to be as tidy as possible when putting this polish on.

Amazon…Amazoff in a couple more different lights, so you can see how the colour changes. Still can’t find any spells in this damn book…

I’m predicting that wear time for this will be the ‘OPI average’ for me (i.e. 24-36 hours), which is perfectly decent wear on my nails (yes, I am a freak). I will update this post if this somehow differs from that average, but I highly doubt it – I find OPI creme polishes to be very consistent in that respect! I’m already eyeing it up for a whole slew of topcoat options, the first one being OPI The Living Daylights, followed by Butter London Henley Regatta. What are your suggestions?

 

UPDATE: Here are the pictures of The Living Dayights (from the OPI Skyfall Collection) over AmazON…AmazOFF. I think it works well!

 

 

 

The verdict: This is a gorgeous, jungle green polish that is nearly opaque in one coat and dries to a lacquer-glossy finish. It does have some tricky staining potential to it, but the proper precautions and care should help with that. Definitely the best of the Brazil collection (in this rogue’s humble opinion)! Now for a jungle-themed arty manicure…

The practicalities: OPI colour (and glitter) polishes cost NZD ~20.00/USD ~8.00 each for 15 mL/0.5 fl. oz, depending on where you shop. Topcoats, treatments etc tend to be much more expensive, around NZD 40.00/USD 16.00. OPI is available at your local pharmacy/Farmers, as well as various online distributors; OPI polishes are also available in New Zealand (along with China Glaze, Zoya, Picture Polish and a number of other hard-to-get brands!) from www.candygirl.co.nz.

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided!