In the last year, my local supermarket has begun stocking the latest OPI and Essie releases, which is both an incentive to go grocery shopping and a severe test of my willpower. I’ve been disenchanted with Essie for a while now, but OPI has impressed me over and over with the quality of its formula and the creativity of its shades.
First Class Desires, whose bougie name cracks me up, is part of the 16-piece Holiday 2014 collection. The theme of this collection is rather mysterious. OPI reports that it’s inspired by Gwen Stefani, but the shade names and colors are typically “holiday,” and Stefani already lent her name to last year’s holiday collection. Not that it really matters to me: I know almost nothing about Gwen Stefani except for that awkward Harajuku Girls phase in 2004. More important, from my magpie point of view, is that this polish is complex and sparkly and pretty much flawless.
First Class Desires is a deep plum packed with gold microglitter. This photo reminds me of an ink bottle, which makes me wish that the polish existed in ink form, too. It would be the perfect ink for composing magic spells.
In direct sunlight:
First Class Desires applies very smoothly and has an average drying time. It’s a bit on the thin side, but is pretty much opaque in two coats. I used three for these photos anyway, because I’m obsessive about the opacity of my nail polish. I applied First Class Desires (plus base and top coat) on Monday night and it wore well for three days. In the first two days, I counted two minuscule chips, easily touched up; by the third day, there was some visible tipwear. I have a hard time making any polish last more than a day or two without chipping, so I count this a victory. And after removing the chipped polish, I reapplied First Class Desires because I couldn’t stand the thought of having anything else on my nails during Halloween.
In the shade, FCD looks almost black on the nail; in direct natural light, the purple blazes forth, along with a pinkish cast that’s hard to capture on camera. FCD is festive but not gaudy, subdued but not somber. Perfect for a grown-up Halloween.
Indoors, natural light:
Outdoors, overcast:
Outdoors, sunny:
Macro shot, i.e. glitter porn:
And here’s today’s FOTD! I’m saving my Effie Trinket costume for later, when I hand out candy to neighborhood kids; this is my daytime look for library visits and coffee-shop work and other #gradcore activities.
On brows, Milani Clear Brow Gel; on eyes, NARS Lhasa and theBalm Serious eyeshadows and CoverGirl LashBlast Length mascara; on cheeks, tiny dabs of Illamasqua Zygomatic blush; on lips, & Other Stories Droguet Purple lipstick layered over Barry M Plum lip liner. I don’t mind looking pale and severe today. Yesterday I blow-dried my hair, which I almost never do, so it’s straighter than usual.
I’m also wearing an orange wool miniskirt and black tights that look like spiderwebs. I take this holiday fairly seriously. (I took it even more seriously as a child, because it was two days before my birthday, and birthday season was a time of great solemnity.) Happy Halloween, for those who celebrate it, and happy Friday, for those who don’t!
Auxiliary Beauty 
Happy Halloween, AB! You look so pretty! I cannot wait to see the full look with costumes. :DFCD looks amazing on you and appropriate for the occasion to say the least. I still lean towards Essie but OPI does come out with many shades with pizzazz like this. :)Hope you have a great time at the theatre later on today. And let me wish you a happy birthday as well! 🙂
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A fellow November baby! ALL RIGHT. I love this color – so dark and sparkly. But I swore off round bottles for storage reasons, so no more OPI for me.
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You need to rock this FOTD more often — your pale complexion was made for purple lips! I like OPI in general but their names are so ridiculous and collections so plentiful that I just stopped keeping up with them. The last time I indulged was the James Bond collection which had some killer shades. First Class Desires looks awesome!
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I'm still hesitant to wear such a dark lip color on a day that isn't Halloween, but I love how it looks, too! I just wish Droguet Purple were a lower-maintenance color–it comes off on everything.The punny names are a real turnoff, though I still don't think they're as bad as Illamasqua's porno polish names, like Load and Thrust. I like my nail polish R-rated or below, thanks. And the James Bond collection was amazing! I didn't buy anything from it, but I remember spending way too much time staring at swatches online.
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Wooo November babies! Happy early bday to you. I'm glad I was born early enough in November that the weather usually doesn't suck too badly. And I like being able to say that I was born on All Souls' Day/Dia de los Muertos.My polish storage space is limited to the built-in shelves in my bedroom, and I'm using all the shelf space right now, so I'm adhering to a one in/one out policy. I can see how storing OPI bottles would be a pain if you were using boxes or drawers, though.
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Thanks, Lena! 🙂 I confess, my costume was sort of thrown together at the last minute because I'd spent so much time planning my makeup. When I actually go see Mockingjay at the end of November, I hope I'll have a proper Effie Trinket wig. Maybe I can find a cheap one online.There are still a lot of Essie polishes I love, but I find the brand to be hit-and-miss. I've never been disappointed by an Essie red, though.
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love this color! And girl, that dark lipstick looks amazing on you. You have such classic coloring :)rae of love from berlin
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Thank you! I'm starting to think I should wear it more often. 🙂
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[…] 14. OPI Nail Polish in First Class Desires (review) […]
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[…] Purple is the most sinister lipstick I own, and until this week I hadn’t worn it since Halloween. To make the color less heavy and severe, I sheered it out across my lips, working it into the skin […]
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