Pirates of the Caribbean

Jack Sparrow and the grey bottle of disappointment.

Published June 16, 2011

Let me start you on this tale with a question: Do you know that rush you get when you find a polish that you’ve heard a lot about? That one that you’ve been thinking about getting?

I had that rush last Saturday. Okay, I have to admit I get it every time I buy nailpolish, but this time it was special because I was buying some O.P.I. polish. A fabulous brand that sadly isn’t very easy to come by here in the Netherlands yet. And not just any O.P.I. Nope, it was one of the colors that was released in the Pirates of the Caribbean set.

It’s called “Skull and Glossbones” and I thought it looked very interesting. I also loved the name, but that’s usually a given with O.P.I. polishes isn’t it? You might have heard of the color as this set has been widely hyped and reviewed already. The color is hard to describe, it’s sort of an off white, but also has a bit of beige and grey going on. Anyway, it was something I thought would look nice on my nails as it’s not as harsh and bright – having that ‘white out’ look – as most white nail polish on your nails.

Boy was I wrong… For the first time in my life, my nail color actually bothered me. I thought it looked exactly like cheap recycled toilet paper and it also somehow managed to make my skin look sickly. You see, I am quite pale, and when I happen to be in the sun for a while I don’t tan really, I just turn red like a lobster, so I like to avoid the sun like the plague. And that’s why the color just will not go with my skin tone.

I hate ruining a good manicure even if the color doesn’t work for me so I eventually added a lovely coat of Navy Crackle, also by O.P.I, but that didn’t help. In the end, I had to take it off again the same night. Sadly, the O.P.I. Skull and Crossbones is a don’t for me. It isn’t because of the quality – as always O.P.I. put together a quality polish that covers well and goes on beautifully. It’s simply because of how the color looked on me.

For me it’s not completely ruined as it might make a nice stamping polish for my Konad kit, or for adding detail to nailart, but I will never wear it on it’s own, it just did not suit me at all. Which is sad because it’s an expensive and good brand of polish.

Don’t be discouraged though as I do believe it will be different for all you tanned and darker skinned goddesses out there, but you should check that out for yourself I think. Just don’t make the mistake I made by purchasing the full sized bottle and get the little miniature set which comes with the following colors:

Planks a Lot (A nice creamy lilac color.)
Skull & Glossbones (A light beige grey.)
Sparrow me the drama (a sweet opaque creamy pink.)
Stranger tides (A sister of Skull & Glossbones but instead of grey this has a greenish tint.)

So if you’re not completely sure, try this set out to see what the color does on your nails, who knows, it might be the perfect color for you this summer.