Think about a blue that first comes to mind when someone says ‘denim’. Now, imagine that it’s holographic. You’ve got OPI DS Glamour – it’s an oldie, but a goodie!
I really miss these kind of holographic colours that used to be in the OPI DS (Designer Series) collection. They were really outstanding in every way.
Like all OPI DS polishes, they cost more than your typical bottle of OPI. Thankfully, when I first got into nail polish, this was really easy to find for even less than the retail price of a regular OPI bottle, so it didn’t hurt my wallet.
There are still new colours added to the Designer Series collection, but I think they pale in comparison to the beauties from just a few years ago. I wonder if it’s because of a pigment shortage or a price increase for it.
If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on it without paying a small fortune, I urge you to buy it. This is a very special polish!
OPI DS Glamour Pictures
Flash
Flash
Dim Sunlight
Dim Sunlight
OPI DS Glamour Swatches
All swatches have:
- OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
- 3 coats of OPI DS Glamour
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Flash
Flash
Flash
Flash
Dim Sunlight
Sunlight
Sunlight
Sunlight
Sunlight
Sunlight
Natural Light
Natural Light
Natural Light
Natural Light
Natural Light
Natural Light
Flash
Sunlight
Sunlight, too!
Natural Light
Claim: TRUSTED
√ Holographic
Key Notes
- Name: OPI Designer Series Glamour
- Amount: 15 mL (0.5 fl. oz.)
- What I Paid: $5.75 USD
- Where to Buy: Probably eBay since this is an old polish.
OPI DS Glamour Review
Colour
The reason I love OPI DS Glamour is because the holographic rainbow goodness is very obvious on your nails and not just in the bottle. It comes alive in bright light or sunlight, but even in dim natural light, I think it looks pretty because it has a speckled look.
The main colour is a denim-type blue. (Most often, you’ll see the shade of blue shown in my natural-light photos, but you’ll mainly see the holographic-ness that you see in the other photos.)
It’s really quite a magical polish because you get what looks like a fine-pixelated rainbow on your nails.
Finish
OPI Designer Series Glamour is a holographic polish that is both scattered and linear at the same time. It dries completely smooth. There is zero grit even without a top coat.
Application & Formula
OPI Designer Series polishes from back in the day are known for their ease of application and their perfect formulas. Glamour is no exception – it applied as smooth as butter…not that you’d put butter on your nails!
It was really easy to control where the polish went, and you really only need 2 coats for full opacity. I applied 3 because I wanted to see if it would maximize the strength of the holo even more – it didn’t.
Pros
|
Cons
|
Final Verdict: 10/10
This is one of my favourite holos to wear because it packs a punch with a strong rainbow that you don’t have to really squint to see. It’s vibrant, easy to apply, and it looks like pure magic on your nails.
Do you own any of colours from the OPI Designer Series collection? Is there a holo that you wished companies would make? What’s the last holo you wore?
SO GORGEOUS!!! I have had many DS polishes come into my collection, and I ended up swapping most of them away because I found more easily accessible alternatives. But DS Glamour is one of the few that has remained in my collection because it is just. so. awesome. I don’t know of any other holo out there that is this color, such a lovely denim blue. And I agree with you, it even looks great when the light dims the holo effect. A total keeper in my book =)
Jacqui recently posted: Twitter Swatch Requests: Hard Candy Pea Soup, OPI Two Plums Up & Essie Lollipop
Hey Jacqui!
I’m happy to hear that you were able to get a bottle – hehe, don’t swap it (I know you won’t)! It’s one of those colours that you’ll really cherish, and I’ve also never seen another holo that’s exactly this shade and with the same holo strength.
What kind of cruel torture is this?! Posting amazing swatches of a gorgeous color that can only be gotten for $50 on eBay?! Meanie 😛
Hey Maria!
Yes, I am the meanest of meanies. 😛 In fact, my castle sits atop Meanie Hill, and my home is covered in thorns as the lightning strikes down upon it during rainy nights. 😉
Holy smokes – $50 on eBay? That’s around the same price of Clarins 230! Craaaazzzy!
Expect more meanness from me in the future. I have a bunch of OPI DS polishes from back in the day that I want to show off. 🙂 *Nose in the air* Haha!
Hello Mary! I just started reading your blog after stumbling upon it through Vampy Varnish and I need to tell you how much I am enjoying it. This color looks gorgeous and your nails look perfect. Your previous review has me wanting to try a two Britney Spears fragrances, something I never thought I would do!! Way to be an enabler!
Hey Barbara!
I’m glad that you found your way here and cared enough to leave a comment! 😀 (I loooove reading and responding to comments.)
Haha, well, my nails are far from perfect, but I’ll take your compliment because it really brightened my day!
Now, about Britney Spears fragrances…I know…I’m still embarrassed that I bought or liked/loved any of her fragrances. Sometimes I have to remind myself that her fragrances are actually made by Elizabeth Arden. Haha, I know it’s silly that I need to ‘justify’ it like this. In the end, though, the original Fantasy is my all-time favourite and I get so many compliments on it (even by random strangers, which is sometimes awkward), so it’s not just me who thinks the original one smells divine! 😀
If you do end up testing out her perfumes on your skin, hope it works with your body chemistry, too! Her scents always go on sale, so it’s always nice to find great and affordable fragrances.
OMG! This has been on my wish list for a long time and one of my most wanted! To bad it is so hard to find and SO expensive!
imfeelingnail-venturous recently posted: Lacquistry Twinkling Tree = Perfect Christmas Polish
P.S. LOVELY swatches!
imfeelingnail-venturous recently posted: Lacquistry Twinkling Tree = Perfect Christmas Polish
Thank you! 😀
Hey imfeelingnail-venturous!
I can’t believe how high the price mark-up for this is. Geez! I consider myself really lucky to have snatched this up when it was so easy to find for such a cheap price.
I love this color, especially in the picture shown in natural light. It’s gorgeous!
PinkGlitter recently posted: Handmade Love Vol. V
Hey PinkGlitter!
That’s the only type of lighting where you see the speckling, and I’m quite fond of it, too. But it’s the holo in other lighting that makes me stare at my nails for probably longer than I should.
I love this color! Do you know where you can buy these in stores? I know Trade Secrets has the new DS colors but I’m looking for the old holo ones. When these came out, I was a tomboy who didn’t wear nail polish. Now, i’m entering my teenage years and I am obsessed with nail polish. Great review and pics! 🙂
Hey maddy!
Unfortunately, this is an old DS colour that’s extremely hard to find in any stores…unless you know of a small beauty-supply store that carries really old collections. The only place I can think of to get this is through eBay. The prices there are exorbitant, though…
I haven’t seen holographic nail polishes for a long time! I wish the China Glaze OMG! collection was still out cause I would love to buy some from that collection. I want at least 1 holographic nail polish in my collection.
YES – the OMG Collection was amazing! I only managed to get one or two from that collection when it was still readily available. I’m kicking myself now for not getting LOL (the purple). Back then, I kept putting it in my cart and taking it out. Then, one day, it was out of stock…everywhere. I did, however, get DV8 (the teal) and one other one, I think.
But, actually, I have more of the China Glaze Kaleidoscope Collection, which features the scattered holos. I prefer that look more because it sparkles in all light much better than straight-up linear holos. Linear holos only really excite me in direct sunlight or bright light. Other than that, they usually have a dull colour.
But that’s also why I love these old OPI DS holos – they’re both linear and scattered holos at the same time, so you always get to enjoy your polish in any light. 🙂
Omfg that’s GORGEOUS! I don’t actually own any holo polishes (sad face!) But if I ever found this in a store, I’d buy it without thinking twice.
Hey Rivuletsbeauty!
If you’re able to find and buy a holo, you’ll treasure it! 🙂 You’ll be admiring your nails the entire time you have it on because it’s fun to see the rainbow.
Hmm, it’s tricky finding holos in physical stores. I bought most of mine from etailers (except for Nubar Reclaim – which is an awesome green holo. That one, I was lucky enough to find at a beauty-supply store for a good price, too.)
Oooooh! So shiny! I really like how it seems to have sort of the same effect as a glitter but without the removal hassle. (Still love glitters though!) If I were directing a nail polish company I never would have thought to create a holographic nail polish–it’s an interesting idea.
Hey Jessica!
Yes, these holos are waaaay easier to remove – as easy as removing a creme polish! And the formula of these old holos applied like a dream…unlike some glitter polishes where you have to pay more attention to filling bald spots on your nail.
Oooh, this is gorgeous Mary! Your swatches are really great. I wish OPI would make DS polishes like this again. I only own the new, Reserve. It’s beautiful, but can’t compare. Glamour and other DS polishes on eBay are usually high from what I’ve seen. Sometimes I wonder if people purposely buy the polishes at cheap prices just so they can jack up the prices for their own amusement.
I’d love to see more holographic polishes. Some brands are doing them but they’re kind of expensive and not easily accessible. Like when Milani did them, those were easier to get because they were cheap and you could find them in drugstores or order them online for reasonable prices. If OPI and China Glaze did them again, there’s no doubt they’d be popular.
The last holographic I wore was either Milani Cyberspace or China Glaze High Def. It’s been a while, so I can’t remember.
Melissa recently posted: Haul/Unexpected Finds!
Hey Melissa!
If OPI made these kind of old DS polishes again, I agree with you, they’d be HUGE hits. Imagine all the hype surrounding their release? INSANE! There must be some shortage of the pigment or maybe it’s just even more expensive to manufacture. If that’s not the case, I really can’t understand why they’d stop making these gems.
It’s really too bad that a lot of holographic polishes are more expensive. Definitely limits who can enjoy them, and that’s a shame because beautiful polish should be accessibly to everyone who wants a little fun in their lives. 🙂
How did you like China Glaze High Def? I don’t own any of the holographic polishes in the Tronica Collection. That blue looks really pretty! How was the formula?
Since I missed out on OMG and Kaleidoscope, I really didn’t want to miss out on Tronica. I have four of them, but High Def was one that I wanted the most. It’s the only one I’ve worn so far.
The formula was pretty good, I think I only did about two coats. It’s definitely not as holographic as OMG or Kaleidoscope, but it’s still really pretty. You can tell it’s holographic but it’s not super in your face. So maybe that’s my only complaint, that it was a tad more holographic, but I still like it though. I’ve read reviews where people were disappointed because they were expecting the Tronica collection to be the next OMG and Kaleidoscope. Oh well, I think they were worth getting.
Melissa recently posted: Haul/Unexpected Finds!
Even if the Tronica collection isn’t as intensely holographic as the older China Glaze holos, the swatches I’ve seen online of them are super pretty. 🙂 You’re lucky to have them in your nail-polish collection.
I’m not surprised you scored this 10/10. That is a stunner! 😀 *sigh* If only it wasn’t so hard to find and expensive now. :S I guess I shall just have to live vicariously through you! 😉
Carmela recently posted: Rimmel London 60 Seconds Camouflage ushers in the Christmas cheer with greens and golds
Hey Carmela!
Unfortunately old holographic polishes like this are becoming the modern-day Unicorn Pee. At $50ish on eBay, I’d rather spend that money on Unicorn Pee than this polish, even though Glamour is beautiful. I’m surprised that it’s that high already, considering that it hasn’t been a long time that it’s been classified a hard-to-find polish.
$50??? It was sooo hard for me to drop the $25-30 for the Chanel Peridot (although technically, I swapped with the other Mary since she refused to take outright payment but I made sure we both got the same value/price) and this one’s going for $50 a bottle??? Aiya. You’re right though. I would definitely go for Unicorn Pee over this if I were to spend that much anyway (although I doubt I could…). I still drool over your swatches even if I’ve seen them already. Just imagine how much more amazing they’ll be with your new fancy camera! 😀 Hope it’s not giving you trouble with learning to use it. I’m really, really excited to see you work its magic! 😀
Carmela recently posted: Rimmel London 60 Seconds Camouflage ushers in the Christmas cheer with greens and golds
Haha, you should’ve seen me when I bought Unicorn Pee on eBay for $50ish. I had the worst internal debate, and then when I took the plunge, I felt so guilty about caving in…that is, until the beauty arrived in the mail. 😉 Then I thought, “I should’ve bought a back-up!” But I doubt I will – that was the biggest splurge I’ve ever made on a single bottle of polish, but I think it was worth it because it’s unique and discontinued. Plus I’m just crazy sometimes when it comes to polish – I’m sure you’ve come to that conclusion more than once. Haha!
The camera’s a pretty easy transition, so I haven’t had any trouble so far. 🙂 It’s fun playing around with some of the features that my old camera didn’t have. But I haven’t used it yet to take photos of anything Swatch And Learn-related. I can’t wait to introduce it on here…and it might have to be sooner than I initially wanted to because my old camera’s flash is conking out now. Seems like a new part of my old camera is breaking down week by week. :S
This is an amazing looking polish!! Wow!!
Ashesela recently posted: Poinsettia Manicure
Hey Ashesela!
Glad you like it, too. 😀
Sorry…had to wipe the drool off of the keyboard.
Gorgeous! Simply Gorgeous!
If only OPI would kick it up a notch and come out with more of these. I have Original (which I lovingly refer to as The Holy Grail) and Sapphire ( both courtesy of a very sweet friend who found them on sale) in addition to several of the newer ones but you are right when you say that none of the new ones quite match the beauty of these older holos.
I’ve checked everywhere for this one and haven’t found it within affordable price range, so guess I’ll just add it to my wish list.
Hey karen!
Ooohhh…Original is a true beauty. I think that’s one of the older ones that I don’t have. And it’s strange, since I love purple holos so much! Guess I just missed out.
And how sweet of your friend to help you get Sapphire! Gorgeous!
This is so pretty! I love dark, vampy holos. Unfortunately this one is not available anymore 🙁
On the bright side, I recently got some Spectraflair pigment and managed to franken a dark blue holo very similar to DS Glamour…
Great swatches, as always!
Hey Susana!
Yeah, it’s such a shame that it’s not available except for insane prices on eBay. I’d love for OPI to bring this baby back!
Ooohhh…that sounds exciting how you were able to franken your own holo – what a great idea! I think that’s even better because you have a one-of-a-kind polish.
I love this nail polish it looks so beautiful on anyone I was so glad I bought it. And an unrelated note I forgot to thank you for letting everyone participate the new giveaway your having so cool of you sense I live in Texas not Canada. Happy holidays 🙂
Hey Maria!
Yes, anyone can pull this off, and it would look stunning! Plus the formula’s so dreamy.
Merry Christmas to you, too! 🙂 It was my pleasure holding a giveaway – I have to give back to the community that helps motivate me to continue blogging! 🙂
Hello sweetness of a colour! How did I miss this GORGEOUS POST!?
I swear you have some of the most interesting bottles housed in your Helmer!
This is GORGEOUS ON YOU! I swear, you can pull off any shade/colour!
Marta recently posted: A Week in Summary!
Hey Marta!
You can, too! I seriously drool over your nails…so I hope you wash your hands thoroughly after I pay you a visit. 😛
I have nothing more to say that WOW and thanks for all those great swatches with different lighting… I only want it more! Haha! :o)
Bridget recently posted: Illamasqua ‘Throb’ & ‘Untold’
Hey Bridget!
Thanks for checking out my post! Hehe, our Twitter conversation was cute. You’d make a good detective. 😉 And I’d make a lousy criminal…haha!
Maybe this will pop up one day for a good price, and you snatch it up. Who knows? 🙂 I was really lucky because I bought this when it was still very easy to find at etailers for a low price. Wonder if they actually sold out of every bottle or if someone, somewhere, will discover an old box full in the stock room and put it back online…(Love when that happens!)