You Might Just Get Royal Part 1

OPI Designer Series Royal, that is.

So, you will agree that I am not a blogger that gets new stuff breathtakingly fast. Even if I get it "early and often" (which seems like my collecting mantra if I love something), I still tend to waffle around on other things on my never ending list before I get them swatched.

OPI Designer Series Royal

Three coats, light nude translucent base to take the stains out of my nails.

This is a sheer polish, no doubt, but it does build into a beautiful red violet shot through with a delicate light blue that shifts into that same violet tone.

See the shift? Nice.

Personally I almost gave up on this polish, but happened about 3-4 years ago, on a seller on eCrater who had it for about 11-ish dollars. I bought it, the only one available. Talk about a lucky fluke.

As soon as I had it in my hand I thought, dang, this IS frankenable. Completely.

I have to say that I never got around to frankening a dupe, largely because I had the original, but I did believe it to be less impossible as I saw more and more glass fleck polishes rush into the market place.

I thought I'd compare OPI DS Royal to some glass fleck polishes that would be very good nominees.

Although I didn't try to compare red violets, but I think that would be less difficult to find, in fact, pretty easy when I thought about it. It would be a matter of testing and cutting it down to a an intense jelly. I should get around to it, note to self.



OPI DS Royal and Gosh Gasoline

Left to right:
OPI DS Royal
Gosh Gasoline
OPI DS Royal
Gosh Gasoline

I threw this in here because it has similar bones.

If you see what I see, then you see that you can take some of the Gosh Gasoline and mix it with more glass fleck, thus diluting the heavier violet base into less of a strong presence.

I'd call it a close relative. Like George the 4th and Queen Victoria.

Here it is again  - same order - and the similarities mount.

Bottle shots:

It's almost a matter of percentages, isn't it?

It is difficult to suggest a polish that is only available in stores in Europe, but it does show up on eBay on occasion, and is no longer a rare hard-to-find polish.




OPI Designer Series Royal and Sally Hansen DVD

Left to right:
OPI DS Royal
SH DVD
OPI DS Royal
SH DVD

Sally Hansen DVD has been blogged before here. I will add that my photo then shows more of the shift than my photo here.

It is the same pale blue that seems to run almost to a frosty feel on DS Royal. But when I turn my hand in this photo, it seems to go darker.

DVD is three coats, no base coat. I will add that it is an excellent topper, truly worth having as a back up, it never lets me down and surpasses anything that CND came out with in their hey day of Color/Effects polishes.

It might work, though, if you look at the previous blog post. It does shift and it does carry that same light bright blue.

I have to give Sally Hansen serious slow clap for stationing herself at the front of the glass fleck bell curve. OPI did have access to these finishes, but it took years before it really decided to jump in with both feet.


More soon, three more to be exact!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!