Comparison Thursday: Deep Purple Shimmers

Tonight's going to be a quick one...  I'm phoning it in, as it were, lol.  It's been a looooooooong day, but I didn't want to skip tonight!  Let's take a look at a comparison of deep purple/blurple shimmers: OPI Ink, Zoya Mimi, and Color Club Glitter Wonderland.

Oh, and don't ask me why I don't have macro shots...  I'm not really sure why I forgot them!

Ink

Ink is a deep blurple that leans purple in some lights and blue in others.  There is a strong pink shimmer that glows in low light.  Unfortunately, you can't really see it here...  Application is a little difficult.  It's definitely one that you have to work quickly with to ensure that you don't drag, clump, or bald.  It's a bit of a stainer, too, so be careful when you're painting and avoid getting any on your cuticles.  If you do, just use a little bit of cuticle remover once your polish is dry and scrape it off.  Or, scrape it off in the shower after your polish has had time to dry.  I purchased my Ink at a salon, but there was also one hanging out at my local grocery store for quite a while.

Mimi

Mimi is a deep purple multichrome that flashes pink and blue.  It's also a lot more sheer than I had expected with the first two coats going on a bit streaky.  It builds nicely in four coats, which is what I've used here.  It looks great alone, but it's also fantastic with a mattified glitter layered on top.  Mimi is more of a true purple than Ink, but not quite as purple as Glitter Wonderland.  I purchased Mimi on sale at Ulta a few months ago.

Glitter Wonderland

Glitter Wonderland is a pretty purple with blue and pink shimmers.  The shimmers are just as evident on the nail as it is in the bottle.  It applies well enough, but it definitely doesn't have the best application of the three. It's a bit tricky in that certain top coats can cause some serious shrinkage.  Also, it's scented, which isn't one of my favorite things.  Glitter Wonderland was a limited edition shade that came out in the Winter Affair collection this last year.  I've seen them in the sales bins at Sally's recently, so if you want this baby, definitely check there!

There you have it!  They're not really dupes or near dupes, but they were close enough for me to decide I don't need all three.  I'm trying to overcome my hoarding ways when it comes to polish, so I'm making sure I get rid of anything that is near enough that I don't really need to have more than one!

Which is your favorite?

OPI Ink!

I totally rocked out to Dead Weather and Cindy Lauper on the drive home from work today.  It made my day, let me tell you.  There is nothing better than belting out some pretty amazing tunes to change your mood for the better!  After dealing with this one dude who just doesn't seem to like women, or at least assertive and intelligent women, I was kind of done for the day.  Ahhh the life of working in a male-dominant profession.  They really just don't get that...

Source

Oh, and one more note before we get to the polish today!  I've mentioned on my Facebook page that when (if?) I reach 1000 GFC followers, I will give away 3 mini sets of 4 of my Valentine's Day polishes.  The polishes included in the giveaway would be: Rescue Me, Deepest Inquisitions, All I'll Ever Need, and (hopefully if I can get the formula just right) Easy to love.  Click on the pic below to enlarge.

Left side picture (from l-r): Rescue Me, Deepest Inquisitions, All I'll Ever Need, Every Touch Electrical, and Wicked and Divine
Right side picture: Easy to Love

The giveaway will consist of 2 questions (the first person to answer each question correctly gets a set of 4 minis) and an easy Rafflecopter giveaway without any crazy requirements.  It's just going to be a "do you follow me via GFC" kinda thing to really thank you guys for being here with me on this little journey.  Wow.  I've got a lot of giveaways going on...  It's like the damn Price is Right up in here!

Source

Alright, let's get on to tonight's polish!  In keeping with the mainstream theme, let's take a look at OPI Ink!  Ink originated in the OPI Night Brights collection circa 2007.  It's a beautiful blurple that really does look like ink.  The color is just so rich and lush...  Let's get to the review!  This is going to be very picture heavy as I had some issues getting accurate photos.  I used three different light sources for these photos, so hopefully you'll get a good idea of the true color.

Color: Dark purpleish blue with flecks of pink.

Finish: Chrome – a polish that shifts between colors depending on the angle you look at it.

Bottle / Brush: OPI bottle with the new wide brush – if you have small nail beds, this brush may be too large for you.  The wide brush tends to cause the polish to flood your cuticles, so you have to be very careful when applying.  Don't get too much polish on the brush when you're ready to apply it to the nail.  The brush length and cap are both the standard that OPI uses, and has a pretty average application.

Here's a comparison between the old OPI brush and the new pro-wide brush.

Opacity: Medium – achieves opacity at three to four coats.  Here, I used three coats.

Glitter Application: N/A

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles despite the wide brush.

Overall Ease of Application: Difficult – applies with some dragging and streaking.  Requires quick work to get a smooth result.

Stampability: Not tested for stamping.

Dry Time: Quick – dry to the touch without smudging in under 3 minutes.

Macro shot to see the pink flecks a little better.

Overall Thoughts: The depth of this polish is pretty amazing.  In some lights it's blue, in other lights it's purple, and then it can look like a blurple with pink flashes.  Application was a little annoying, though.  The first two coats are streaky.  It dried so quickly that it clumps, and then it would bald in spots when I would go back over it with the brush.  You really need to work fast when applying in order to get it even.  The third coat, however, really evens it all out nicely.  If you're looking for a vampy inky color, then Ink is the polish for you.  See what I did there?  Heh.  Unfortunately, it's not a super unique color.  I'm pretty sure I have at least three more colors similar enough to justify not having both.  I'll try to get a comparison post of those up sometime soon.

You can buy Ink where OPIs are sold.  I purchased mine at a salon, but I remember seeing it at Kroger (a grocery store in the south) a few weeks ago.

What's your favorite blurple?