OPI When Monkeys Fly! Swatch

EDIT (March 20th, 2013): This is one of my most popular posts and I figured I'd update this story. On March 11th, OPI issued a statement on their Facebook page: "On the “When Monkeys Fly!” issue: We are grateful and appreciative for all of your feedback. We have determined that in some instances, due to the glitter’s size and shape, it can curl over time as it sits in the lacquer base. This was not experienced during field-testing and is now being addressed. Those of you who are dissatisfied can contact our customer support team with the batch number listed on the bottom of the bottle and they will replace it with another Oz shade of your choice. (Customer Support: http://mail.opi.com/HelpDesk/HelpDesk.nsf/WTSF?OpenForm) Thank you for your continued passion for OPI!" I have submitted my own service request and OPI responded quickly. I hope this helps any of you who have found my blog from this polish. I have not made any further updates to my original post. Cheers!

-

I wasn't planning on updating today but my Zoya PixieDust order arrived this morning and that'll be my next "Shark Week". There's another reason too - Today I'll be looking at OPI When Monkeys Fly! and there are some lessons to be learned here.

This week Jen "The PolishAholic" posted her swatches of OPI's latest and greatest soft shades collection based on the movie Oz. When it came down to When Monkeys Fly!, she mentioned the oversize glitters were curling and "smooth with a coat of top coat but you can still see the taconess of them". Taconess. It was funny to me when I read it... But now rings ever so true now that I've used it.

I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to buy this polish. The plastic nail swatch looked OK in the store. I think maybe I was so high from the end of No Buy February that I just rolled with it. Where do I start with this?... First of all, really cool concept. Again, I am so glad to see mainstream polish brands like OPI pushing themselves to create new things like this. Ideally, great mix - oversize gold glitters and larger and smaller hex holographic glitters go swimmingly well together. I had no problems with fishing out the big golds like a lot of oversize glitter polish. That was great.... But the one thing that made this polish such a dick to work with? (Yes, I can't believe I just called a nail polish a dick)... The big gold glitters curled.

How do you work around this? A lot of setting the glitters on the brush correctly. You could also use a smaller brush to place the glitters. Despite working around, it does not lay flat. Be prepared for one day wear on this one. I couldn't stand how they were lifting off my nails so I took it off right away but I assume they would snag on everything. Not cool.

Here's OPI When Monkeys Fly! over top of 3 layers of OPI You Callin' Me a Lyre?"



And here's two coats of When Monkeys Fly!:





And because we haven't seen enough jelly sandwiches these days (hehe), here's When Monkeys Fly! sandwiched between You Callin' Me A Lyre?:





I thought it was cool that the big glitters had that kind of reflection but it wasn't until I actually used it when I found out that the "reflection" was actual due to the curling. Those are the fold lines!!!

I love When Monkeys Fly! over a non-soft shade. Here it is over OPI Live and Let die:



And surprise surprise, it looks especially sexy with a matte top coat:





Final thoughts? Cool polish, horribly executed all thanks to the taco glitter. As for the rest of the Oz collection, I skipped out on the shades due to the similarity in the previous soft shade collections. The formulas look a little opaque (couldn't really see the mixing balls) compared to the NYC Ballet soft shade jellies, which I adore to no end. I also decided to pass on the liquid sand in this collection because I didn't find the swatches I've seen more appealing and I don't think "adding a top coat" should be allowed as a 'fix' on textured polish - they need to be great AS IS! I was going to get Lights of Emerald City but again, there is something wrong with the square glitter. The square glitters have tails. I was hoping that it would be a bad batch but all the swatches I've seen online and in store are the same. Such shame but oh well. If you don't have any soft shades and you want a little bit more opacity, these soft shades are for you. If you don't mind the tails on the square glitter, I'd definitely say it's my pick for the glitter selection.

And next time someone tells you the glitter has "taconess", you should probably listen to them...