Liquid Sand -- 4 polishes from the OPI Mariah Carey Collection

I finally tried some new sand/matte textured polishes!  Curiosity was killing this cat so I got a mini-set of the four new Liquid Sand shades from the Mariah Carey Collection.

It’s great of OPI to offer all four of the sand polishes in this mini-set, and not just one or two with a couple of boring cremes thrown in.  As usual with OPI’s minis, the bottles are really mini — only 1/8th of an ounce or 3.75 ml, so while you’re paying more per ounce, it’s a good way to try a color to see if you like it.  One idea is to go in with a friend or several on the set and each pay for and pick one or two.  Just an idea.

When I first heard of these new matte textured polishes, I was opposed to the idea.  I thought they’d be as rough as coarse sandpaper.  Well, they’re not; the feel is more like the fine side of an emery board.  No worries that I’ll injure myself or others with jagged, shard-like polish.

I did find, though, that as I built up the coats of polish, each coat became a little more difficult than the last in that the brush dragged so much.  Not a big deal, but added to the fact that these mini-bottle brushes are mini themselves, I had to dip into the bottle two or three times to get enough polish to coat a nail each time.

To get the matte look, be sure to apply thin coats and let each coat dry thoroughly.  I found a big difference in the dry time of individual polishes.  So let’s get to the swatches!  For each color there will be a photo in reflected outdoor light and then with the flash, three coats with no top coat unless otherwise stated.

First I tried the purple, Can’t Let Go.  It dried quickly to a very pretty matte blue-toned purple with sparkly micro and small hex glitter.  The glitter keeps it from being too “dead” of a matte look.

Next I used The Impossible, a color that I find hard to describe.  It’s coral pink, maybe leaning red.  It seemed more sheer than the other colors.  The Impossible is advertised as having large star glitter in addition to its micro and small hex glitter, but I found no star glitter whatsoever.  Not one piece.  I checked the bottom of the bottle and turned it over and over, looking for stars (kind of like that old toy from the 1990s, the “Where’s Waldo Glitter Wand”) but didn’t see a single one.

Now, I’m OK with that because I didn’t want any stars on my nails anyway, but be forewarned that if star glitter is one of the features of this polish that you want, you’d better look at and buy a bottle in person.  The Impossible dried quickly as well.  It was very sheer and even with three coats I could see my nail line a little.

I was intrigued to try Stay the Night because it’s so unusual.  It’s a dark gray base that builds to black with tiny pink-red glitter.  I’ve read it described as looking like embers in a fire, and it really does… I’m just not sure I want that look on my nails.  This one was so sheer that I needed four coats, and it dried excruciatingly slowly.  I thought the look was just “eh” so I tried it with a shiny clear top coat (third photo) and think it’s prettier that way.  Yes, I know that defeats the purpose of having a matte polish, but experimenting and finding the look you like best is what it’s all about.

Finally, the blue Get Your Number.  Really a pretty color but no matter how long I waited — and I waited a loooong time for each coat to dry — it just didn’t have a very matte look.  Part of that is all the glitter but part of it is that it’s just not inherently as matte as the others.  I’d call it semi-matte, and maybe you’d like that better.  It is a beautiful, sparkly blue.

This one reminded me strongly of Angel Eyes from Orly, which I showed you here.  Angel Eyes is more glittery and silvery, however, and not matte at all.  Still, if you had one I don’t think you’d need the other.

Overall impressions:  OPI’s Liquid Sand polishes are much less rough than I expected, and I like that.  The degree of “matte-ness” varied widely among the polishes, which is neither good nor bad.  The Impossible was advertised to contain star glitter but my bottle had none.

Can we older women wear these new matte textured polishes?  I say yes.  I thought they would make my skin look crepey (not to be confused with creepy) but don’t think they do.  Still, the black Stay the Night is a bit witchy for my taste.

Removal was surprisingly easy — following a tip from OPI’s Facebook page, I held a remover-soaked paper towel on my nail for about 30-60 seconds and the polish wiped right off.  Easier than most glitters I’ve tried!

My favorite of the four colors is the purple Can’t Let Go.  It’s bright yet matte, and unusual but not wacky.  Stay the Night is very odd and I can’t decide if I like it or not.  I’m really glad I got the mini-set and not a full-sized bottle of any of the colors, because I can’t see wearing any of these that much but they’re fun to try.  I’m looking forward to seeing if Zoya’s Pixie Dust Collection (due out about February 1st) is going to be different as far as coverage and matte look.

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