You Might Just Get Royal Part 2

Welcome back to my blog! This is part two of my thoughts on glass fleck polishes that could work as ingredients for frankening this beauty.

Here is a link back to part one.



Here, again, is OPI Designer Series Royal

Three coats of a red violet with a shifty blue/violet glass fleck. Perhaps one of the coolest and unique Designer Series polishes to ever come out. It has never really been truly copied, as many (many, many men - just had a Blanche Devereaux moment) of the OPI DS holographics.

You can see that in some light it runs very blue and dense, and as my fingers shifted in this photo, it runs more red violet and sheer.

In its day it was a rare beast that everyone coveted.

Pretty amazing. Running about $45 on eBay just at this moment.

Continuing with some glass fleck polishes that might be a good way to franken this puppy yourself...





OPI Designer Series Royal and Jesse's Girl Confetti

Left to right on the bottom:
OPI DS Royal
Jesse's Girl Confetti
OPI DS Royal
Jesse's Girl Confetti

For $3.99 a bottle on the Jesse's Girl website, there isn't much to say except: YES!!!

Though my photo doesn't show it well, this polish does shift. It's got that same delicate blue, too.

Much win. I am also very glad that Jesse's Girl (you know that 80's song is now an earbug, gaaaah!!!) didn't abandon this polish, because it's a classic beauty: great topper material. I cherish mine.

Three coats, as with OPI DS Royal.




OPI DS Royal and Whimsical Ideas by Pam Bliss

Left to right:
OPI DS Royal
Whimsical Ideas by Pam Bliss
OPI DS Royal
Whimsical Ideas by Pam Bliss

Another win. This was a bit of a surprise when I purchased it, because it basically is a dupe of Jesse's Girl Confetti. There are differences. It has more of a lustrous finish. It might be because of the suspension base, but I don't know for sure. I like it a bit more than the Jesse's girl, it is somewhat more shifty and more luminous.

I would be, in all honesty, more reluctant to franken this one as it is so beautiful on its own. I wanted to throw it out there, though, because it is gorgeous and just as magical as are all of Pam's polishes.

She sells through her Facebook page (I've added a link, but I'm not affiliated and buy my own polish)




OPI Designer Series Royal and Nicole by OPI Canadian Star

Left to right:
OPI DS Royal
NOPI Canadian Star
OPI DS Royal
NOPI Canadian Star

This is a polish that came out in 2011 and was a Canadian exclusive for a certain youtube sensation pop singer that went mainstream thanks to teenage hormones. (Never underestimate teenage hormones: they gave you Joan of Arc and Salem Witch Trials and probably Queen Elizabeth I's balltasticity.)

Meanwhile, I've blogged it here. It's a gorgeous polish that shifts beautifully. It isn't quite as light an airy as the glass fleck in OPI DS Royal, but it is in a deep blurple jelly base that does do a very good job of deepening this polish.

I think it could work, but tweaking the base would be problematic and the payoff would be less red violet and more purple.

But, it is still around on eBay here and there, I found mine there when it was first job lotted and am glad I have it. I do like it a bit better than OPI DS Magic, it is very similar, but Magic is more blue and less shifty. Not a total disadvantage, just more my taste.



There you have it, a small collection of polishes that really stand up against OPI DS Royal as potential to tweak into a copy of DS Royal.


First place would be Jesse's Girl followed by SH DVD, largely due to price point, it's still fairly cheap on eBay, then Whimsical Ideas by Pam, less of a front runner due to it's stand out beauty and price point (I don't enjoy frankening special polishes), finally NOPI Canadian Star, due to it's blue base being rather strong.

I think the trend in nail polish today is away from the collector of the super hard to find and more to the opportunities that are almost endless for excellent variations on color and finish. I think it's very exciting that instead of lamenting the loss of a one off hard-to-find, you can make a great facsimile or even find a bespoke indie. Times certainly have changed.

I will, though, give a nod to the collectors, like myself, who, though they can buy indie or knock off, enjoy the hunt. There is something to be said for finally scoring that one polish that seems elusive.

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!