OPI A-Piers to Be Tan from the San Francisco Collection coming out on August 7 isn’t a colour that would typically catch my attention.

I don’t wear a lot of browns, and when I do sport one, it’s usually really dark and shimmery.

So, this is completely out of my comfort zone, but sometimes you’ve just gotta try something to see if you’ll like it.

Well, I didn’t fall in love with it. It suited my skin tone, the formula was smooth and perfect, but the colour itself was too toned down for my taste. (Haha, I tend to get excited more about tacky manicures than sophisticated ones.)

But I was determined to find another way to wear it. Drop by Swatch And Learn tomorrow, and you’ll see the freehand nail art I did with this as the base. (I’ll also include a step-by-step tutorial for it.) I ended up loving that manicure, and OPI A-Piers to Be Tan was the perfect base colour I needed!

OPI A-Piers to Be Tan Pictures

OPI A-Piers to Be Tan Swatches

All swatches have:

• OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener (Used as a base coat)
• 2 coats of OPI A-Piers to Be Tan
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Natural Light Photos

Flash Photos

Claim: TRUSTED

• Chocolate-like tan (Yes)

Key Notes

• Name: OPI A-Piers to Be Tan
• Collection: OPI San Francisco Collection Fall/Winter 2013
• Press Release: Click here to see the OPI San Francisco Collection press release & quick swatches of all the shades
• Colours Available in the Collection: A-Piers to Be Tan, Dining al Frisco, Haven’t the Foggiest, Peace & Love & OPI, Keeping Suzi at Bay, Incognito in Sausalito, Lost on Lombard, I Knead Sour-Dough, Muir Muir on the Wall, In the Cable Car-Pool Lane, Embarca-Dare Ya!, First Date at the Golden Gate, It’s All San Andreas’s Fault (Liquid Sand), Wharf! Wharf! Wharf! (Liquid Sand) & Alcatraz…Rocks (Liquid Sand)
• Amount: 15 mL (0.5 fl. oz.)
• What I Paid: Nothing! (This was provided by PR.)
• Where to Buy: Trade Secrets & select beauty-supply stores, spas & salons (Available August 7)

OPI A-Piers to Be Tan Review

Colour

I have nothing like OPI A-Piers to Be Tan in my collection, but that may be because I don’t often get drawn to browns.

This one is interesting, I will admit, because instead of the usual dark-chocolate type of brown, it has strong orange undertones.

It reminds me of the gooey caramel syrup you pour over a mountain of ice cream topped with rainbow sprinkles. (Mmm, I’m starting to crave a sundae now.)

Since I don’t have much experience wearing these kind of shades, when I saw the colour in the bottle, I thought that there was no way it would go with my skin tone. Well, I was wrong. It seemed to look okay, actually!

I feel like it’s a brown with a retro attitude. It would be neat to pair it with something like avocado green and do a 1970s look.

Finish

A-Piers to Be Tan by OPI has a creme finish that’s smooth and glossy. It’s simple and to the point.

Application & Formula

Wow, this nail polish applied absolutely perfectly! It was a nailphile’s dream! It glided on smoothly, and it’s the type of lacquer that doesn’t need to be carefully applied to look good. Great formula!

Pros Interesting brown that leans orange & has a retro feel Excellent, easy-to-use formula

Cons Not really my style (Browns rarely excite me, but if you like browns, the formula on this makes it a great choice.)

Final Verdict: 7.5/10

Despite not being a fan of brown nail polish, I still gave this a 7.5 because the formula is so awesome. I can’t fault it too much for the shade because it is exactly what it claims to be, and it’s so easy to work with.

Sometimes I have fun setting up challenges for myself to make polishes work for me. Well, I did some freehand nail art with this as the base colour, and I fell in love with the manicure. Come back tomorrow, and I’ll show you what I whipped up. There will also be a step-by-step tutorial in case you’re interested in recreating it.

Do you wear brown nail polish? What’s your favourite brown nail polish? Out of all the OPI San Francisco Collection polishes I’ve showed so far, which do you like the most?

Edit: Click here to see the Freehand Owl Nail Art I did using OPI A-Piers to Be Tan as the base! Also, there’s a step-by-step tutorial included.