*PR sample

Hello lovelies,

I'm a bit late with swatches of the OPI San Francisco colection but I still hope you'll enjoy them.

"San Francisco by OPI brings street chic style with West Coast flair to nails and toes for Fall/Winter 2013. This new collection features a palette ranging from sky and sea-colored hues of blues and gray to reds, burgundies and browns inspired by some of the city’s most iconic elements – Chinatown, the Golden Gate bridge and the Embarcadero. This fall mélange is mixed with texture, seen in three new Liquid Sand™ nail lacquers in earthy hues of taupe, blue and gray: It’s All San Andreas’s Fault, Wharf! Wharf! Wharf! and Alcatraz…Rocks. Liquid Sand lacquers dry to a textured, matte finish, infused with reflective sparkle."

First up are the three new Liquid Sand polishes. They've had the same formula that applied easily and had good pigmentation. They dry fast in thin coats. When I applied slightly thicker coats, the texture wasn't as gritty because it seemed to drown the particles.

Wharf! Wharf! Wharf! - vibrant blue textured polish. The surface is not very rough, it seems to me that the base colour somehow dulls the effect. The polish itself doesn't dry completely matte but has a bit of gloss.

It’s All San Andreas’s Fault - taupe brown textured polish. The shade is a bid warmer in real life and it is the kind of classy and elegant taupe polish. Again the texture is not very rough and has a tiny bit of gloss to it.

Alcatraz… Rocks - mix of purple, gold and blue flecks in purple-ish blue base. This is very interesting and beautiful Liquid Sand and it's also my favourite out of the three new shades. It has the grittiest surface, probably thanks to the glitter particles. It looks absolutely awesome with topcoat on but unfortunately I knocked my nail right before photographing it so no photos with topcoat on.

A-Piers To Be Tan - creamy light brown with yellow undertones. The shade reminds me of caramel, very specific and unusual brown to see in the collection yet perfectly matching Fall colour-palette.

Dining Al Frisco - light denim blue with silver shimmer. It is slightly streay so I had to pay attention to the brush strokes. This shade is not really my cup of tea and I would probably put it in a Spring or Summer collection.

Haven't The Foggiest - steel grey with dark charcoal shades and with foil finish. Beautiful, very beautiful shade! It doesn't look ordinary thanks to the charcoal undertones.

Keeping Suzi At Bay - medium blue creme. OPI says it's navy blue but navy is darker blue, right? Anyway it's a good yet not very original creme shade. I've already used it for a cool Halloween design.

I Knead Sour-Dough - dusty reddish brown shimmer. I like the warmth of the shade and it seems perfect fo Fall.

First Date At The Golden Gate - muted red creme. This shade has a bit of tomato red in it but it's not bright but rather dusty, muted.

Lost On Lombard - red creme with strong brown undertones. This red is not very original shade but it's  kind of a classic amongst the Fall collections. I've seen it many times yet I don't mind it at all.

In The Cable Car-pool Lane - red-based dark purple creme. I like this shade very much, I've always been into vampy colours. This one is slightly jelly-ish so I needed two thicker coats.

Embarca-dare Ya! - rose pink foil shimmer. Interestingly, this polish has a slight duochrome effect shifting into gold shades but I could only see it in the bottle. It didn't translate to the nail very well.

Incognito In Sausalito - dark navy blue creme. Beautiful shade of aljost blackened? blue with amazing pigmentation.

Peace & Love & OPI - silver-grey metallic base with multichrome effect. The colours shift to teal and purples. It's really beautiful but a bit streaky.

Muir Muir On The Wall - brown shimmer duochrome with strong purple undertones. In the sun the polish looks like red-based purple shimmer but in the shade it shifts to burgundy and brown tones.

The formula of all the polishes was good but varied a bit. The creme shades were perfect with good pigmentation, easy application and fast drying time. The shimmers and foils were slightly streaky but still applied well. I didn't encounter any major problems.

As to the colours - the colour palette suits the Autumn season nicely but I can see some shades that are repetitive and not very unique. I realy like the Peace & Love & OPI and Muir Muir On The Wall and OPI's attempt on duo/multi-chrome finish. I'd like to see similar attempts in the future :)

OPI polishes are available at your usual outlets. In UK the official distributor is Lena White but OPI is also available at Beauty Bay, Look Fantastic, etc.

*PR sample