Walk, Don't Run, to Sample OPI's India

Colors shown on model: Lunch at the Delhi on lips and nails.

Last weekend, my friend and I headed over to our local Ulta to check out the much hyped about India Collection by OPI. With all the buzz generated on the net about this collection, I think I was expecting colors much more extraordinary than what we actually found. Out of the 12 shades in the collection, we only found a few of them to be actually wearable on a daily basis.

Let's start with the most nasty shades first:




Curry Up Don't Be Late!
Honestly, this was the most hideous shade I have ever seen. I know yellow is all hot for spring, but this was just the ugliest color of the bunch. My friend was trying to give it a chance thinking, "Well, how about for a wedding, with gold or yellow clothes?" Umm, no. Not even for a wedding with gold or yellow clothes. There was only one word that was coming to mind looking at this color, "hoochie", and we were not gonna wear a color that made us look hoochie.





MonSooner Or Later
You know what killed this shade? The orange mixed with the red. Orange-based reds are hard to pull off by most desis, I think you have to be very fair have this color look good on you. If you're a darkie like me, avoid this color. It looked terrible on me.


Some of the colors were so pretty, we couldn't stop looking at them and actually picked them up. Here's what we went home with:




Yoga-ta Get This Blue!
Never has there been a shade more aptly named. In the bottle or on your nails, this color is gorgeous. A deep royal blue with sparkle that is bound to make you look hip and happening. If you're having trouble finding Chanel's Blue Satin nailpolish, give OPI's version a try. Not only will you get an equally phenomenal color, your wallet will thank you for it. It's true, Yo (Really) Go-ta Get This Blue!




Get Me To The Taj On Time
This was my friend's favorite shade, and mine too. Perfect for both the office or at home, this pink opal shade glides on sheer (you can make it look more opaque with a basecoat, or two-three coats of polish). And since it's so light, chips don't appear that obvious, giving you more mileage between manicures.




Royal Rajah Ruby
This is a great shade, but definitely not "ruby". On me it goes on like a dark burgundy brown (more brown than burgundy) with sparkle. This is one of three shades that also comes with a matching lipstick. I didn't try the lipstick, but judging from how great the shade looks on my hands, I'm sure it's equally flattering. This is one shade that would look great on both fair and dark desis.


The other shades in the collection were nothing to shout about. The hot pink shades like I'm india Mood For Love and ElePhantastic Pink weren't really our style, I think you need to be wearing really colorful clothes and like pink ALOT to pull those two shades off. The Black Cherry Chutney and Keys to My Karma were okay and suitable for daily wear, but nothing that hadn't been seen before. The Black Cherry Chutney was actually a bit like Lincoln Park After Dark, which I still haven't finished yet, so I passed on buying it. Moon Over Mumbai was nice and sheer, but a little too grey for our taste. When it came time to chose between Moon Over Mumbai and Get Me To The Taj On Time, the latter won hands down.

Charmed by a Snake and Lunch at the Delhi, these were the other two polishes that came with matching lipsticks. Bottom line, these colors are too difficult to pull off for everyday. We found for both, you have to wear really colorful clothing and bright makeup to make these colors look good. Probably a great choice if you live in the tropics, but not if you're wearing mostly black and freezing your butt off on the East Coast.

Overall, there's probably something for every nail personality in the OPI India Collection, but don't worry about rushing to the store to buy these. Unlike some "it" shades out there in the beauty world, I don't think there's a risk for any of these shades becoming scarce, with the exception of course, for Yo-ga ta Get This Blue. This nifty blue shade really is the cream of the crop.