OPI Euro Centrale Spring 2013 Nail Polish Collection Swatches & Review – Part 2

Last week we looked at the blues and purples in the OPI Euro Centrale collection so now it’s time to talk about the rest of the shades. A mix of red, pink, cream and metallic, these shades are a darker take on spring than we’ve been seeing from other brands.

Affiliate Link|Press Sample

According to Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP Artistic Director, “Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania make up an exciting new fashion hotspot. When visiting these countries, you’ll view Gothic churches alongside vibrant graffiti murals, blending two very different aesthetics.

This fusion of old and new was also seen in runway looks during New York Fashion Week, where classic styles were reinvented with modern silhouettes and patterns.

Whether you’re looking to spice up a black and white print, or add neutrality to a vivid brocade, these lacquers are designed to accessorize spring’s hottest looks.”

Formula & Application: OPI is a 4-free brand. The OPI Pro Wide brush is flat, wide and medium in length. It’s of average stiffness and easily spreads out on the nail when pressed. The only downside to the Pro Wide brush is that it can be too wide for slim fingers or little toes.

The consistency of all the polishes is nice and thin, easy to manipulate, but the opacity of each one was a bit different so I’m going to address that in the individual color descriptions.

OPI Hands Off My Kielbasa is a dusty browned pink with golden shimmer. Think of a lighter, summery take on OPI Gouda Gouda Two Shoes. This is two coats. To me, it looks more like a hot dog than kielbasa which I always think of as being darker and more red, when grilled, but I guess this looks somewhat like the inside of a kielbasa. Now excuse me while my inner twelve-year-old boy giggles at the name.

OPI My Paprika Is Hotter Than Yours is a spicy (pun intended) poppy creme. There is a hint of silver pearl visible in the bottle but it only adds to the color’s depth on the nail. The pigment is pretty high in this one so I barely needed two coats. I’d say the color falls somewhere between OPI Cajun Shrimp and Essie Hip-anema. It’s not as red as the Essie and not as pink based as Cajun Shrimp.

OPI A Woman’s Prague-ative is a coppery foil metallic with gold flecks. The base color reminds me of OPI Take The Stage. It applies pretty sheer so it took me three coats to get it opaque. Because it has such a fall feel, I prefer it as a layering polish. Seen below over My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours.

 

OPI My Vampire Is Buff is a creamy bone hue. It goes on relatively smooth, well pigmented and not at all chalky, but I had some streaking issues so I used three coats. I don’t seem to have any opaque colors that are quite this light. RGB Doll is darker and more pink and Zoya Jacqueline looks jaundiced in comparison.

OPI Suzi’s Hungary Again! is a warm carnation pink creme that delivers great coverage (two coats). It also has a barely detectable pearl that adds to the color’s depth. At first I thought it was a OPI Elephantastic Pink dupe but EP is brighter and not as rich. The closest I could come to matching the base color is China Glaze Rosita, which is just a tad softer with a visible shimmer.

OPI Oy-Another Polish Joke is a warm gold metallic foil glitter. It has a sheer, creamy base that is packed with tiny gold flecks. For this reason, it applies pretty sheer. This is three coats and you can still see my nail through it. Like A Woman’s Prague-ative, I prefer it for layering. I think of this as the poor man’s 24K gold top coat.

 

Bottom Line: Like the first half of the Euro Centrale collection, I’m not wowed. To reference 10 Things I Hate About You, I’m “just whelmed.” The colors are pretty but not setting the world on fire. I can’t really call any of these must-have shades. The quality of Paprika and Hungary is good so if they fill out a need in your color wardrobe, get them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t rush out to buy them.

The OPI Euro Centrale nail polish collection is available now at salons nationwide including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA. They are also available at the first authorized online seller ULTA.com. OPI nail polish retails for $9/ea for a .5oz bottle. For more info visit OPI.com.

Thoughts on these shades? Do any of them stand out to you? Would you buy Oy-Another Polish Joke or A Woman’s Prague-ative specifically for layering?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for OPI. Affiliate links may appear via a third party link service. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.