Pink Sugar

I’m ending this week of unintentionally rainbow-ordered manis the way I began it, with a swatch, but this time of an older, textured glitter polish from my stash, Nicole by OPI’s Candy is Dandy from last year’s super sweet Gumdrops Collection. I posted a photo of this polish last Spring when it first came into my possession, but with the benefit of a year comes MUCH better looking nails and a greatly improved polishing technique (to say nothing of my enhanced iPhotography skills), and so I thought I’d take another run at this sparkly textured beauty.

And never are well-tended nails and careful polishing more important than with textured lacquers, let me tell you. There’s not a lot of after-the-fact tinkering that can be done, so go slowly, paint carefully and allow each layer to dry fully before moving on to the next. I also find it helps to tidy as I go; I keep an orangewood stick with a pointed tip nearby to quickly scrape off any little over-polished boo-boos. Having said that, Candy is Dandy provoked very few inadvertent boo-boos in the first place, applying smoothly and covering completely in three light coats. Texture-wise, this polish isn’t too rough. It actually feels very much the way it looks – like your nails have been dusted with pink sugar. Of course, if you absolutely detest the sandpapery texture, you can always top it with one thick coat of Seche Vite; it looks quite (Candy is) Dandy that way.

Regrettably, the Nicole by OPI collection, a trend-oriented, drugstore alternative to OPI’s pricier salon line, seems to be on a bit of an extended hiatus. I haven’t seen any new polishes come out for the Nicole line since last year’s four-piece Roughles Collection, which is a shame, because the Nicole line skews a little less expensive and a whole lot more fun than OPI’s regular offerings. Come back to us, drugstore nail polish choice!