ALU’s 365 of Untrieds – Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver from the Justin Bieber One Less Lonely Girl Collection
365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to.
You don’t EVEN have to say it. I already know what you’re thinking. But come on, you knew it would happen didn’t you? That eventually one of those damn Justin Bieber polishes would suck me in. And if you didn’t guess that it would be the green, it’s like you don’t even KNOW me. The first set of Nicole by OPI Justin Bieber One Less Lonely Girl polishes had some cute shades but nothing that tempted me to twist off the cap. When I saw the bright minty green, My Lifesaver, I screamed, “UNCLE!” Now what I didn’t know when I first learned about the collection is that it was created to raise awareness and funds for Pencils of Promise which helps to build schools and increase educational opportunities in the developing world. How can I scoff at Nicole by OPI for partnering with the Biebs when it’s for a good cause? His tween fans are a guaranteed sell-out audience so even though it seems odd for Justin to be associated with nail polish, at the end of the day I get it. |
Formula & Application: Nicole by OPI is a 3-Free brand. The bottle shape is distinctive with its bulbous base and long, tapered, matte plastic cap. This was my first time using the new “Perfect Stroke” brush. The new brush is flat and curved at the tip, similar to the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri & CSM brushes only shorter and thinner. And when I say shorter, I mean tiny. Like shorter than my pinkie nail.
The bristles are pretty stiff, a la MAC, so dragging can be an issue unless you use a light touch. The only major prob I encountered was that my brush had a slightly wonky curve so it didn’t give me a perfect line along my cuticle HOWEVER I checked my other Perfect Stroke brushes and they were perfect.
My Lifesaver is smooth and thin with a lot of pigment. I was able to get it opaque with two medium coats. There is evidence of dragging near my cuticles but that’s just due to my inexperience with the brush. I could have and probably should have applied a third coat to give you a flawless shot of the polish but I wanted you to see how opaque two coats is.
Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver is a bright minty green creme. This is not some shrinking violet pastel. It’s far from subtle. What I like is that it doesn’t read as chalky and that leans slightly blue while still maintaining its green stature as you’ll see in my comparison shot below.
I thought for sure I was looking at a dupe of some sort when I put on My Lifesaver but it turns out it has no twins in my stash. Not even Mermaid Tears which I immediately assumed may be the case. As you can see, it falls smack dab between Orly Ancient Jade (left) and Orly Gumdrop (right). If you mixed the two and added a bit of white, you’d have a match. Neither Maybelline Minty or Barry M Mint come close. My Lifesaver stands alone.
Bottom Line: In spite of the brush issue I’m impressed with the pigmentation and brightness of this color. I know we’ve seen what seems like a million mint polishes by now so this isn’t necessarily a “must” but since most of them were limited edition and are now long gone, if you missed out on that train you can still hop on board with My Lifesaver.
365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: I recently reorganized my polishes after acquiring a third Helmer in December and my light green drawer is pretty empty so for now I’m STASHing it.
Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver is available now as part of the Justin Bieber One Less Lonely Girl collection. You can find Nicole by OPI both online and in store at Walmart, Target and ULTA. Polishes retail for $7-8/ea for a .5oz bottle.
Who else gave in to the Justin Bieber polishes? Which ones did you get and what is your favorite? Thoughts on My Lifesaver?
Disclosure: A product sample was provided by Nicole by OPI. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
This is sitting in my “untrieds” pile. Must pull it out!
I got the “One Less Lonely Glitter” from the Beiber collection. It’s just light purple glitter in a clear base, but I love it. It looks amazing over a darker purple creme.
Okay, you get a pass since it’s for a good cause.
I already own Essie T&C, so I am letting this one go. Even though T&C is more blue, I don’t think I need both. I have been wanting to try out some Barry M polishes. Mint looks like a good one.
Looks a lot like Essie Mint Candy Apple to me!
I love this colour! But I find Nicole by OPI to have an annoying bottle shape because it doesn’t fit well against my other polishes where I store them. Oh wells.
I feel the same way about the bottle shape and years ago tossed all of my Nicole polishes. Even putting them in my boxes upside down did not help. I look rarely at them now and never buy.
I never would have guessed Justin Bieber would lead to such great nail polish. I want to get the glitters so bad!
Saw this at Shoppers Drug Mart the other day. It’s so pretty!
I think I hate this colour. It reminds me oh hospitals. Sorry
I’m ashamed to admit that I want a couple of the Bieber polishes… but I haven’t taken the plunge and actually bought any yet. There are a lot of awesome purples in the collection, but I already own a lot of different purples so I can’t decide if it’s worth it.
As far as mint greens go, I wonder how this compares to Re-Fresh Mint by CG or Office by AA. I get the feeling they are not quite as green.
Sad confession time; from this collection I have: One Less Lonely Glitter, Me + Blue, OMB!, Count On Me and One Time Lime. I’ve used a fair amount of Count On Me for franken polishes and OMB! is a lovely red… One Time Lime was great on my nails but I’m STILL growing out the yellow-green stain it left behind. I don’t know if this is a base coat fail (was using Stickey) or what, but I only had the polish on for 24 hrs and it stained.
That’s a fabulous color, but I agree I have T&C so I will live without this one! And the bottle shape does nothing for me…
Being a teenage belieber, and nail polish fanatic, this is my all-time favorite color in my collection. it takes forever to chip and the color is gorgeous! plus, i’m supporting my future husband, and pencils of promise!
Believe me, I have been temped by these polishes many times. lol I might just have to get this color! I love the Nicole polishes. Always great colors and pigmentation for the price point.
That is such an unique color…kinda cool and soft looking! Fonda
I’m actually wearing this right now and although very pretty, the formula was so thick even after applying thinner. I also found the bristles on the brush to be too thick and caused marks in the polish
I picked up a few polishes from this collection (and I agree that OMB is a gorgeous color, as someone above mentioned). I just ignored the fact that that little teen boy was involved, promptly removed the little tag with his picture on it and threw it in the trash and now I just have some pretty polish. Plus, the good cause thing, how can you argue. I grabbed up this color, pretty color, good formula, ok brush, HATE the bottle. But I’ll suffer for polish…
I love the OMB! red, I got it for fifty cents at my office beauty products sale. It’s not unique looking at all in the bottle, a great read with micro glitter, but it just looked so fantastic on, much better than similars I’ve had. I really love it. Hated the brush though, It also had a weird curve and made a mess, but I am really happy with the polish.
gorgeous!
I’m slightly over the mint green phase. However, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Orly Gumdrop. It looks fabulous on – more blue minty than green minty.
It looks a lot like sally hansens xtreme wear version of the color and essie and revlons mint candy apply color – not a huge fan of the nicoles by opi haha i am not sure why
I gave in! I also have this one in my “untrieds” box.
I have a sally hansen polish that is almost and exact dupe. Ill have to dig it out to get the name. Mint Sorbet. Although I like the application of the nicole colour better, it was more opaque and didnt need as many coats as sally. plus its for a good cause!
Did anyone find that this polish and CG’s for Audrey were a similar?
I have this one already, and considering picking up For Audrey because I love china glaze formula, and everyone is just raving about it. But on a student budget, it’s not feasible to have two similar polishes. Should I spring for the CG, or will this suit my need?
This color is lovely! Can’t wait to buy & try em.