OPI DS Temptation has the perfect name because it surely tempted me in the store…multiple times! I can’t even tell you how many times I picked this up to admire it and then put it back in the display. (I swear I heard the bottle screaming about being abandoned…)
And while it tempted me, it teased my camera like a burlesque dancer. It was very hard to take good photos of it because of all the twinkling glitter. Even the slightest hand movement blurred the image!
(And, yes, I still refuse to use a tripod. Haha, I prefer to complain about the same thing! Mary is stubborn. And she likes to refer to herself in the third person sometimes.) 😉
While OPI DS Temptation is a far cry from the absolutely perfect, smooth holographic nail polishes in the old OPI Designer Series line, I still think that it’s pretty, and I enjoyed wearing it.
But the question is: Was it worth the higher OPI Designer Series polish price tag? Allow me to tell you my nail-snob opinion! 😉
OPI DS Temptation Pictures
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Natural Light
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Natural Light
OPI DS Temptation Ingredients
OPI DS Temptation Swatches
All swatches have:
- Nail Tek Foundation II Base Coat
- 2 coats of OPI DS Temptation
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Flash Photos
Natural Light Photos
Claim: TRUSTED
√ A provocative sparkle of deep purple
Key Notes
- Name: OPI DS Temptation
- Amount: 15 mL (0.5 fl. oz.)
- What I Paid: $8.75 CAD (Retails for a lot more – I think around $15 CAD or so.)
- Where to Buy: Trade Secrets
OPI DS Temptation Review
Colour
The OPI Designer Series Temptation is unlike any other purple-glitter polish I own. That being said, it has a similar feel as Nicole by OPI Kendall on the Katwalk, which I loved.
They’re not dupes. Temptation is purple. Kendall on the Katwalk is blue. The only reason I think they have a similar feel is in terms of their chunky glitter and how they have multiple colours of glitter that all sparkle strongly together. They also both eat up top coat like crazy, so be prepared to use more than a single layer of top coat if you want it to be smooth.
OPI DS Temptation is a purple glitter polish that has predominantly purple glitter, but you’ll also see a sprinkling of fuchsia and turquoise. Sometimes I thought I saw blue and other colours, but that may have been the reflection of the light hitting the glitter on an angle. (It’s really hard to tell with the naked eye. And I’d feel really weird looking at my nails under a magnifying glass.)
Finish
This is a glitterbomb, so the finish has an obvious texture. It’s not the scratchiest glitter polish I’ve ever worn, but it’s also not the smoothest. And, yes, you’re not going to have fun removing this. If you do the glitter crime, you have to do the time. 😉 (Of course, you could use the Foil Method to make things a bit easier on your fingers…)
Application & Formula
You just need 2 coats to completely cover your nail. The glitter is packed, so you don’t have to worry about any bald spots. It goes on pretty thick. Be prepared for this polish to thicken up over time. In the time that I took to paint all my nails with this, the formula already felt like it got slightly thicker by the time I was done.
Make sure you close the lid tightly when you’re finished with it. And have some polish thinner handy for the next time you use it.
Is the OPI Designer Series Line Worth the Higher Price Tag?
The old OPI Designer Series polishes were so wicked, Maleficent would trade in her black outfit for a holographic one and send that malicious crow packing!
(Seriously, they were pure perfection. If you ever get a chance to buy OPI DS Extravagance, snatch it up fast! The formula is perfect, the colour is incredible, and the scattered holo will hypnotize you in seconds.)
Unfortunately, I don’t think that OPI DS Temptation is worth the retail price. If you can purchase it on a discount, then it’s fine. It’s very beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But…if you’re going to pay $15 CAD or so for a Designer Series polish, you should be paying for a linear or scattered holo, not this type of glitter.
And if you ever pay upwards of $15 CAD for a glitter polish, you should have some sort of out-of-body experience because of it. 😛 Hehe! (I had that with Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe.) 😉
Pros
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Cons
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Final Verdict: 8.5/10
OPI DS Temptation is a stunning nail polish in its own right. If I didn’t know about the previous amazing holos from OPI DS past, maybe I wouldn’t pick on Temptation so much.
If you love purple nail polish and glitter, you’ll probably fall head over heels over bottle of lacquer for this one. 😉
What’s your favourite OPI DS nail polish? Have you ever spent $15 CAD or more on a single bottle of polish? What’s the most you’d ever pay for polish?
I totally agree with you! When I saw this new DS I was so disappointed! Where was the holo? I wish I had any of the first linear holos, they are in my wishlist!!
I only have one DS, Reflection, thar has a sublte scatterd holo effect. It’s beautiful and the formula is simply perfection, but I didn’t pay the full price. I would be very happy to pay more if OPI make new linear holos, is the brand that started my nail polish love and I particulary love the OPI bottles so much!!!
I have to confess, I paid more than $15 for some of my polishes… I have some Chanel, Dior, Illamasqua, Lynnderella, Deborah Lippmann… OMG I hope my husband doesn’t read your blog hahaha
It looks great on you, I’m happy you could get it for such an awesome price!!
mara recently posted: Cult Nails Divas & Drama Collection part 1: Seduction
Hey mara!
Was it advertised as a holo? I don’t even know! I just automatically assumed that because the previous DS polishes were holos, this would be a scattered holo. Even though it’s just a glitter, I still liked it!
Haha, I doubt your husband reads my blog…but if he does…*ahem* Mara is only kidding about how much she spends on polish. *Phew* Did that work? 😉
You are SO right about this one, Mary.
When this polish hit the market, I had to have it. It really DOES have a siren song that is irresistable to purpleholics like me, but that sweet song developed a bit of a sad whine after the first time that I tried it.
I knew it would need a few topcoats like glitters generally do, but the amount of topcoat necessary to smooth this out was just insane. My nails looked like I’d gotten a cheap mani in a back alley under dim lights. I’m pretty sure my nails were saying ‘Does all this polish make us look fat?’…and the answer was yes.
I have several DS polishes, including the old ‘bad-boys’, Extravagance, Reserve, and a few more of the newer ones and every one of them lives up to the cost of their worth, but Temptation just doesn’t do that. Now, instead of just drooling over the DS line, I stop and ask myself ‘Is this going to be another Temptation letdown?’.
Hey karen!
Hahaha, I just loved your description – “cheap mani in a back alley under dim lights”! Hahahahaha! Now the next time I wear this, I’m totally going to be thinking about that! 😀 At least I’ll get a laugh out of it.
This polish is gorgeous–I have such a soft spot for opaque glitters–but in comparison to the original holographic ones, I don’t think this is worth the price. If I wanted just a plain glitter, I could easily find a cheaper polish. I wish OPI would bring back holographic polishes again! I’ve been coveting some from the original DS collection but they are nearly impossible to find.
Hey Jessica!
Yeah, you know what? I wonder how people would’ve reacted to Temptation if OPI didn’t originally put out those older holos in the DS series. Maybe people would really love it because there’d be no comparison…We’ll never know!
While I love shiny things and I love purple, I did not love this polish. I think it’s pretty and all for a glitter, but there is no way that I would think of paying full OPI DS prices for this polish. I also got it for a lot less (around $6.50) so it wasn’t that bad.
lacquerloon recently posted: Why I Love MUFE Aqua Creams
Hey lacquerloon!
Wow, $6.50! That’s a great score, and, yeah, for that price, it’s worth it. Paying $15 CAD+ for this? Not so much…
I found this one to be a bit of a let down too. Mine was brand new and on first application I felt it was too thick, too much glitter? (yikes did I really just say that? Too much glitter – never!), I thinned it out and it was much better, but I didn’t love it on the nail So no, definitely not worth the money… Extravagance on the other hand, amazing and beautiful – so worth it.
You should get a magnifying glass or jewellers loupe and have a look at your polishes, I work in jewellery and happen to have a loupe to my eye all the time, so I see every polish I wear at magnification. I’m just amazed at how beautiful some of these polishes really are – sometimes a boringish polish looks so cool under magnification and you wish it really looked like that, other times you’ll look at a glitter and just marvel at what makes it look so amazing!!! Try it!
Hey Lauren!
Hahaha, I bet the polishes would look incredible under a magnifying glass…but…I just would feel so silly. Haha, plus maybe it would turn me into a weirdo, constantly wanting to look at nail polish under the lens. I don’t want to become ‘that person’. 😛 I’m already a nail addict! Don’t want to take it any farther or I’ll need a diagnosis…hahahahaha!
This is gorgeous!!!! I love it on you Mary! My favorite DS right now is Reserve. My kind of color ;0). I paid $11.99 US for it. Not sure what that is in Canadian money. But I wouldn’t spend much more than that on a polish.
Marisa recently posted: Lex Cosmetics – Tuilleries
Hey Marisa!
Thank you! 🙂 And, yes, it totally IS your kind of colour! 🙂 You rock purples…and well, every other shade in the rainbow, actually! (It was challenging to remove, but I expected a struggle. :P)
I live in New Zealand. Retail stores don’t sell China Glaze, not many sell Essie either. OPI’s are about $26-$30 in stores and about $16 online from local suppliers. The most I’d pay is about $35 NZD
Hey Juss!
Holy moley! I wouldn’t be able to afford to be a nail enthusiast if I lived in New Zealand! 🙁
As much as I like purple, I can’t say that I am taken with all the glitter, just feels like a teenagers polish. I certainly wouldn’t pay over $15 for a bottle, the most expensive was just over $10, and I thought that was extravagant!
Cindy recently posted: Fashion expert signals the end for bling
Hey Cindy!
I get where you’re coming from – it’s definitely not a sophisticated polish. It’s screaming to be noticed…haha! And then it eats up all the top coat like a fiend.
This is a very pretty glitter, but I agree it’s not worth the DS price. I’ve always thought DS polishes were expensive because they contained “diamond dust”, which is usually listed in the ingredients. This doesn’t.
They really need to bring back the old Holos, I wonder why no american company is interested now a days?! Can’t they see the big $$$?
Hey Vivian!
Perhaps the ingredient is way more expensive now, or maybe these polish companies just don’t want to inflate their prices (even though us polish addicts would gladly fork over more money for outstanding holos)…*Sigh* Where there’s a will, there’s a way! That’s why so many people are just frankening their own colours and starting their own indie-polish companies! 🙂
I don’t know if I just got a bad bottle or what but the entire thing peeled off like sheets! Within 24 hours, one hand was completely gone. I reapplied and the same thing happened again!! 🙁
Hey Nina!
I think the peeling off in sheets may have to do with a number of factors. What top and base coats do you use? Some don’t play well with each other. Also, are you applying thin or thick layers? With a chunky glitter polish like this, you’ll get better mileage if you use thinner coats and let it dry in between each coat.
I actually had a lot of trouble with this polish. It peeled off in sheets TWICE! Within 24 hours, one entire hand was gone! I was so sad since I LOVE purple polish. Did I just get a bad bottle? 🙁
I agree with a few of the comments, my attempt to wear DS Temptation also resulted in it flaking off in chunks within 24 hours. It seems ridiculous that it doesn’t play well with OPI’s own base coat.
That said I love their DS polishes, especially the old ones. My local store had a lot of the old ones, I kept looking at them and walking away because of the price, around 16 USD. Seriously, nobody bought them.
Eventually I surrendered and over a few months I got DS Glamour, Original, Fantasy, Sapphire and Amethyst. Best. Decision. Ever. They are absolutely beautiful, OPI seriously needs to think of bringing them back, even for a short while.
Viktorija recently posted: OPI DS Jewel
Hey Viktorija!
Hmm…that sucks! It must be because the formula is so chunky. Polish rarely flakes off on me, so I didn’t have this problem with Temptation, either. Such a pity that it fights with even the OPI base coat!
Nice collection of the older DS polishes you’ve got! 🙂 Can you imagine the insanity that would follow if OPI re-released their amazing old DS polishes? A frenzy! 😀 They should do it!
Even if they would have to charge higher prices because the pigment costs more etc. people would still buy it, and OPI would make a small fortune 🙂
Viktorija recently posted: OPI DS Jewel
Hey Viktorija!
I really wonder if the pigment is really THAT expensive. Maybe OPI doesn’t think it’s worth it if they have to jack up the price to some crazy amount…like $25 CAD a bottle. Who knows? I wish I could find out why exactly holos are so expensive to produce.
Before I read the entire post and comments, I was thinking to myself that this was definitely making it to the wishlist. I’ve since revised that opinion. Yes, it’s gorgeous and so very sparkly that it’ll leave Hammie awestruck for sure, but that thickening issue is a definite pass for me. Applying polish should be a fun experience and if I have to work too hard to get it just right, it’s not for me.
I’m usually pretty frugal with nail polish purchases so while my regular price cap would be nothing above $10, the most would be nothing above $20. Maybe $25 but that’s totally pushing it. (I’ve since accepted the fact that I’ll never own Clarins 230 with prices upwards of $50 a bottle)
Carmela recently posted: First Ever Birthday Month Giveaway!
Hey Carmela!
Glad that I could save you some money. Now you can put it aside for another awesome nail polish! 🙂
Who knows? A bottle of Clarins 230 may be in your future. Keep checking eBay. There’s bound to be a price drop. When I got mine, that’s when the price hit an all-time low, so I bought it quickly.