Here’s a demure polish that’s way outside my comfort zone. It’s the popular OPI Bubble Bath.
Seeing this polish on my fingernails was strange – like being transported into an episode of The Twilight Zone…except not nearly as cool.
I’ve had it in my stash ever since I got into nail lacquer more seriously, but I only busted it out now. That shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone considering my swatching history.
Truth be told, I’m much more comfortable having a bright or loud hue on my nails than I am having something soft on them.
And while I’ve seen people embrace the Mannequin Hands trend, I couldn’t really see myself joining in. But sometimes you just gotta try to see if you like it.
While I think the colour doesn’t clash with my skin tone like I thought it would, I’m still not completely loving it on me.
Because it’s so discrete, every time I looked down at my nails, I felt like I needed to paint them. I felt naked! It was like wearing a lace bra over your t-shirt. I felt very self-conscious (and un-Lady-Gaga-like).
Maybe it just takes some more getting used to. I’ll try other Mannequin Hand-esque polishes to find out for sure. Perhaps I’ll grow to appreciate them. Or maybe you can take the horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink…haha! 😛
Do you like soft, muted polishes like this, or are you like me and usually gravitate toward bold hues?
OPI Bubble Bath Pictures
OPI Bubble Bath Swatches
All swatches have:
- 1 coat of Nail Tek Foundation II Base Coat
- 4 coats of OPI Bubble Bath
- No top coat!
Direct Sunlight
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Natural Light
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Flash
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Direct Sunlight
Natural Light
Claim: TRUSTED, but Product: BUSTED!
√ Soft neutral
Key Notes
- Name: OPI Bubble Bath
- Amount: 15 mL (0.5 fl. oz.)
- What I Paid: $5.25 USD
- Where to Buy: Trade Secrets & Nailsupplies
OPI Bubble Bath Review
Colour
Bubble Bath by OPI is not my cup of tea. Yes, it’s a pretty, soft, marshmallowy white with a tinge of pink that most people find easy to wear. But I’m an oddball – I feel most comfortable with loud and vivid hues on my nails.
If you want something that’s going to ‘go’ with everything, this is one of those colours. If you want something that’s natural and the opposite of flashy or trashy, this is also for you.
Finish
OPI Bubble Bath is a creme polish with maybe a slight jellyishness to it because there’s still Visible Nail Line. And even without a top coat, this dries fairly shiny. (But you should always wear a top coat anyway.)
Application & Formula
The formula itself goes on smoothly, but it’s a streaky mess from 1 coat all the way up to 4 coats! It’s on Makeup Santa’s Naughty List fo’ sho’!
Normally I don’t expect a polish (especially a light one like this) to be a 1-coater, but I wanted to mention that it’s very streaky with 1 coat in case you were thinking about using this colour for a traditional French manicure. It looks awful!
Then, I worked all the way up to 4 coats to see if this is a colour that could be worn by itself. Nope! It’s streaky, and I didn’t bother trying 5 coats because, honestly, I didn’t have the patience for it and I doubted that anyone else would, either.
How to Make OPI Bubble Bath Less Streaky
For those who are stuck with this polish and still want to wear it instead of write it off as a waste of money, it is salvageable if you put in some extra effort.
All you need to do is layer it over a good white-creme polish. But, really, I don’t think this colour is special enough to warrant this extra work.
Ingredients
OPI Bubble Bath contains Formaldehyde Resin, so it’s not Big-4-Free.
Pros
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Cons
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Final Verdict: 3/10
The colour doesn’t make my heart skip a beat. The formula is streakkkkyyyy. I really dislike this polish. Can you tell? Haha!
Sorry, OPI Bubble Bath, but instead of relaxing me, you give me more stress than you’re worth. For this reason, you’re totally Busted on Swatch And Learn!
One positive? Despite its name, at least it didn’t bubble!
Funny moral of the story? Nice polishes finish last! 😛
What’s the most number of coats you’ve ever used when polishing your nails? Can you recommend any opaque Mannequin-Hand polishes for me to try? (I’m around an NC20.)
Lol so in other words you love this shade!? Lol. I love how you shunned it to the “makeup Santa naughty list”. Lol. I like the dark/fun shades but crave a pallet cleanser like this every now and then. I reconnect with my nails so to speak (because I can sort of see them.. ) I do not own this shade… I want it though. Do you have OPI “Tickle my France-y”? I think you might like that one a bit better ?
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Hey Marta!
Hahaha, yeah, I love it. *Crosses fingers behind back like a little kid* NOOOO! 😛
OPI Tickle My France-y is amazing. Now that’s a polish I can get down with! It sometimes looks pinkish in certain lighting and more tan in other lighting. That colour is edgy (as edgy as shades like this can be). Loved it when it first came out – the France Collection was what got me into collecting nail polish more seriously! Haha, but when my mom saw me with Tickle My France-y on my nails, she said it looked like zombie nails. My reply? Cooooool! I like it even more now! 😉
I totally second Tickle My France-y, my mom hardly wears nail polish ever and she adores this color.
I personally love Essie Sand Tropez for a nude, Sally Hansen CSM Malt is nice too. Essie Jackie Oh My isn’t a mannequin hands color but it totally is a palette cleanser.
I had a Nina Ultra Pro in Lime Light, a neon green jelly, which I tried on for size one day. I gave up after like, 7 coats I think to try to make it nice and opaque. I relegated it to the franken bin after a jelly sandwich! Seriously this polish is an asshole
Hey CiCi!
Your mom’s cool! Every person I’ve showed this colour to (who isn’t a nailphile…hehe) doesn’t like it even though I LOVE it! I guess it’s because it’s not your typical neutral. It has some unexpected drama.
WHOA – 7 COATS? I’ve never even gone beyond 5 coats of colour. You have some serious patience – I’m impressed! Because…with a base and top coat, that’s crazy: 9 layers! (The neon green looks cool in the bottle. I know exactly the one you’re talking about. Almost bought it the last time I was at Sally’s.)
Hahahhaa…I’m laughing at your comment: “this polish is an asshole” 😛 Hahahaha!
Great review. It’s a shade that all should have -but it can be frustrating, Also there are 2 versions – the original black label that was far more white/light pink than the one sold now.
Hey meme!
Thank you – Even when a product really lets me down, I feel bad when I have to bust it on here. But it had to be done to warn others in case they buy it and have high expectations.
Do you have the black-label version? I wonder if that one’s more opaque than the green-label one I have.
“Lace bra over your t-shirt” made me laugh so hard! Now it makes me wonder if Superman feels just as conscious with his spandex undies on over his pants (/leggings..?) for all the world to see. 🙂
I definitely second-second Tickle my France-y. It’s neutral/nude but dark enough to still be a bit edgy and I love it. Bubble Bath looks too white for me. I personally prefer more pink/brown/mauve toned nudes like OPI Passion or Zoya Nikki/Pandora/Shay.
Hey Carmela!
Well, as they say…It takes a real man to feel comfortable looking foolish. Okay, so nobody says that except for me. 😛
Thanks for the OPI and Zoya suggestions. I haven’t tried any of those. Maybe I’ll like them more. Which one of those is the most opaque – that’s my main issue. Colour-wise, it’s hard for me to find a nude. Some actually make my hands look dirty instead of clean.
Zoya Pandora and Shay are from the Summer 2011 Touch Collection and very opaque. Nikki is older, I forget which one but it’s more lilac toned, like when your hands get really cold. All of them have a slight pearl finish, fyi. I liked these two better just because the other one it came with, Minka, was too yellow toned for me.
OPI Passion came in the same collection as Bubble Bath but this one is a light pink jelly. I don’t like the sheerness of it but I can’t resist the squishy-ness. 🙂
I’ve heard Essie Lyford Lilac is similar (but not a dupe) to Tickle my France-y but I won’t get to check it till next week. 😉
Nikki sounds interesting to me. I love polishes that are lilac-toned nudes.
Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Ha! I think I am the exact opposite of you…I always try to wear big and bright and funky colors (and love *some* of them) but I feel the most “at home” with a (boring) neutral 😉 I think Bubble Bath looks great on you! LMAO Then again, every color looks great on your nails!
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Hey Maribeth!
Yes, we certainly do seem like opposites, but our love for polish brings us together! 😀
Neutrals can look really pretty – just wish that I could wear them more often without feeling self-conscious. Haha! I have a few other neutrals in my untried list. I’ll need to bust them out and stop being such a chicken. *Bawk bawk bawk*
Aww…and thank you for saying that every colour looks good on me. Haha, I disagree, though…You should see me with a bubblegum pink. My fingers look dirty. And tomorrow, I’ve scheduled a post for a polish that I like the colour of, but I don’t think it looks so hot on me. Boo hoo…Nail-polish sob story!
I have troubles looking at my nails when painted in light colors (ie. Orly Pure Porcelain) but yours look like 10 times more awesome than mines do!! Not twilight-y zone! You have me laughing really hard with that!
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Hey Marcia!
I’m right there with you in terms of having trouble looking at my nails when they’re painted in light colours. Guess we’re both so used to darker shades.
Aww…and you flatter me! Honestly, with this colour, I didn’t think it looked great on me.
Debi (who joined me on Google+) made a great suggestion the other day – to use it for a nail-art base. I think this is such a great idea because it’ll make sure this colour doesn’t just end up collecting dust in my Helmer and because I think it actually would be perfect for a really girly design (like with flowers or lace).
P.S. Nice job on the the Green Lantern nails you did on yourself and your sister! 🙂
I understand your discomfort with this polish, Mary; I’m not a big fan of sheers/nudes either. And it really sucks that the formula on this was so horrible! That said, I still think this color looks pretty on you! In the pictures, the polish doesn’t look streaky and it suits your skin tone SUPER nicely! I love how it looks really calm and clean on you. In fact, I’m kind of tempted to try out a Bubble Bath-esque polish now, lol!
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Hey Ruthe!
Ah, the streakiness is way more apparent in real life for some reason. Streaky polish is a pet peeve of mine…hehe, especially after putting on so many coats and trying to apply them carefully. Too high maintenance for me.
Haha, even after all my complaints, you still want to try it? Hahahaha! Oh no! Well, maybe if you layer it over white it’ll look better. But…noooooo! 😛
I have the black label version of this, but it looks great with stamping over it!
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Hey Janelle!
I’m definitely gonna have to try stamping over it for sure. Then I’ll get more use out of it.
I got this polish for $1 at a garage sale and just tried it last night. Like you, I’m not a big fan of the neutrals, but I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like BB. Yes, it is streaky w/ VNL, but it’s also shiny and demure. I’s very interesting to me that it seems to blend in with my skin color and does the same with yours, despite the fact that I am darker skinned than you are. Overall, I’d say I got my $1 worth!! BTW, the only reason I tried it was because it had failed miserably as a water marble color and I already had it out.
Hey Another Cristina!
What a score – just $1! How awesome! 😀
Yeah, I can’t imagine it being great for water marbling just because it’s not very pigmented.
Hi! I’m wearing this right now, and with my light skin…I love it! I would love to have a similar look in pale yellow. Any sugesstions for Bubble Bath’s yellow sister? Thanks!
Hey Amy!
Glad that you like it a lot more than I did. Hmm…I don’t have many pale yellows, so the only one that springs to mind is Lemon Fizz from China Glaze’s Up & Away Collection, but that’s still not as light and sheer as Bubble Bath.
Does anyone else know? Please tell Amy your suggestions! 🙂
Hey Mary!
Quick question, does nailsupplies ship to Canada?
If so, is their shipping expensive?
-Candy.
Hey Candy!
Yes, they ship to Canada. It’s a bit pricey. To make it more worth it, you need to order many bottles, or the shipping fee is too high.
If you order up to 9 bottles, the small flat-rate shipping is $20 USD.
I’m Asian and about an NC20-25. I saw your review of Glints of Glinda and it looked really nice on your skintone. A lot of other pictures on Google look really yellow or gives a stained nails look. Do you think it’s a nude that would work well on Asian skin because many nude polishes clash against my skintone.