Although OPI My Car Has Navy-gation isn’t what I consider ‘bright’, it’s part of the OPI Brights 2015 Collection.

The more I stared at the collection as a whole, the more my eyes kept coming back to this bold navy-cobalt blue. It has an electric touch that made me more curious than a cat peering into a paper bag.

(Haha, when I was proofreading this post, I looked it over quickly and misread that as a cat peeing into a paper bag! Definitely not the same thing.) 😉

P.S. There’s a bit of orange around my cuticles. I’ll share with you a review on the nail polish that I wore right before this, which left the orange behind. (Hopefully I’ll show you this week.)

OPI My Car Has Navy-gation Pictures

OPI My Car Has Navy-gation Swatches

All swatches have:

• OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener (Used as a base coat)
• 2 coats of OPI My Car Has Navy-gation
• KBShimmer Clearly on Top Quick Dry Top Coat (Provided by Harlow & Co.)

Artificial Light Photos

Natural Light Photos

Claim: TRUSTED

• Deep navy blue (Yes)

Key Notes

• Name: OPI My Car Has Navy-gation
• Collection: OPI Brights Collection 2015
• Press Release: Click here to see the official OPI Brights Collection 2015 press release
• Quick Look: Click here to see quick swatches & bottle shots of the OPI Brights Collection 2015
• Colours Available in the Collection: My Car Has Navy-gation, Can’t Hear Myself Pink!, On Pinks and Needles, I Sea You Wear OPI, I STOP for Red, The Berry Thought of You, Hotter Than You Pink, Down to the Core-al & Life Gave Me Lemons
• Amount: 15 mL (0.5 oz)
• Retail Price: $9.95 CAD
• Press Sample: This was provided by PR.
• Where to Buy: NailPolishCanada & select beauty-supply stores, spas & salons

OPI My Car Has Navy-gation Review

Colour

My Car Has Navy-gation by OPI is a vivid navy that looks blue and not black. (It’s not one of those near-black shades that you have to scrutinize to see the non-black nuance in the polish.)

It has some cobalt personality shining through that gives it a ‘lift’ that prevents it from veering into flat territory.

You know that green has my heart, but there’s something about blues like this – they’re commanding and strong. It’s totally a colour that I’m comfortable sporting because it provides a lot of contrast against my skin tone.

This is the type of colour that I love seeing on very-short nails because it looks really chic. I painted my nails with this spontaneously, and I didn’t bother trimming my nails. But now, I wish I did. This shade was made for short nails!

Finish

What I really like about My Car Has Navy-gation by OPI is that it’s a creme-jelly hybrid. It has a squishiness to it (that seems to be more evident in person than it translated in my photos. I have a feeling that if I used my usual Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat, it would’ve showcased this more.)

It has a very shiny finish that I can’t get enough of. If you pair it with the right top coat, you can totally get nails that look like glass. (For this manicure, I used a different top coat than my favourite one, but I still enjoyed the way it looked.)

Application & Formula

Application was a little strange and not what I’m used to from the majority of OPI nail polishes I own. It was very streaky and watery, but at the same time, the polish seemed to be of a thick consistency.

Maybe it was just my bottle, but the polish was hard to apply thinly. I used my usual medium coats, and I had to load up the brush because if you re-dip your brush into the polish and try to go over the same area on your nail, I found that it pulls the polish and looks gooey like honey.

As long as you load your brush up and don’t re-dip, you can get a pretty smooth finish, but I recommend working quickly. (It’s almost as if the surface of the polish dried quickly to a tacky touch, which is why going over it messes it up.)

If you do accidentally go over an area and it gets tacky, just load up your brush again and go over it with sufficient polish. Then, it won’t pull and will cover it up. But try not to do this because it’ll make the layer thicker, which means it’ll take longer to dry and be more prone to dents.

I also noticed that the first coat was very streaky. Some parts were opaque, but others looked like you took watercolours and painted them on your nails.

With a second coat, everything evened out, and I didn’t feel the need to wear a third. Thank goodness because the formula isn’t too forgiving, and you have to pay more attention to your application than when using a typical OPI nail polish.

With a deep blue like this, I’m sure that fellow nailphiles are wondering if it stains your nails and/or skin. (As of writing this post, I’m still wearing it, so I’ll have to update this later to let you know when I finally remove it.)

Edit: After removing this polish, I was really happy to see that it didn’t stain at all. It doesn’t even colour your cuticles like a lot of deep blues tend to do. I think this is because it has a jelly-ish quality. You can remove this baby quickly without having to scrub your hands a lot. It comes off easily with just regular nail-polish remover.

Pros Vivid navy that doesn’t look like a near-black polish Shiny, creme-jelly finish I think this is an amazing shade for short nails, especially

Cons Formula is a bit finicky (watery, streaky, yet gooey)

Final Verdict: 7.5/10

I really love the colour so much, and based on just that, I would’ve given it a 9 out of 10, but the tricky formula made me deduct some points.

If you don’t mind putting in more effort, this blue is very beautiful and worth it. But, if you’re new to the wonderful world of nail polish and haven’t had too much painting practice, this may not be the right one for you because the formula could frustrate you.

What’s your favourite navy blue to wear? Do you still wear dark nail polish in the summer? What is a lacquer with a fussy formula that you still wear because you love the colour?