Punkee Tries: Nail Polish Shades To Match Your Star Sign
Standing at the shelves or staring at your screen with absolute decision paralysis as a bazillion beauty products gawk back at you? SAME. Which is why we started our Punkee Tries series – where real humans get real up close and personal with the beauty bits and bobs you’ve been eyeing up so they can give you their honest verdict.
This week, Katie (she/her), Punkee’s Editor who defines her nails as shockingly brittle after years of Shellac-based abuse, reviews O.P.I’s zodiac range of nail polishes.
I have been a nail-biter for 29 years. In fact, I’ve actually been a nail biter and a nail picker for 29 years, which means my fingers have always looked a bit of a shambles. Bleeding, peeling, scraggles left, right and centre.
Luckily for me, I’ve found the perfect cure: Manicures.
When I get my nails done, I don’t bite, pick or pull apart my cuticles. I just let them sit pretty and soak up the loveliness of having non-manky fingers for a couple of weeks.
And while that’s glorious, dragging myself to the nail salon every other week is quite an expensive habit. So I’ve been looking into some DIY alternatives that won’t completely crush me in the cost of living crisis. One that’s actually stuck is OPI. They seem to have a formula that makes my nails feel stronger and because of the millions of shades available, I can switch up my fingernails to literally match my mood. …Or to honour my star sign.
Here’s my full review of the OPI Zodiac range, so you can see if you want to join me in the budget-friendly manicure space while we chat shit about star signs.
What does it claim to do?
OPI has been a bit of a heavyweight in the nail space for a fair while – lining shelves at nail salons and catching my eye at every duty free walk through at the airport. But what does it actually promise? Well with every fast-drying stroke, OPI claims to last for seven days of wear. And that’s seven days of opening bottles, rummaging in handbags and washing hands without a scuff or scratch on the polish. Bold statement.
Let’s see if it holds up to its claims when I test out the zodiac collection.
My first impressions…
I’d have to say, I’m a bit of an astrology dabbler. I don’t understand all the bits (and definitely get my rising moons and suns mixed up all the time) but I do enjoy learning more and more about this world. Now, I’ve downloaded CoStar and added all my colleagues (sorry guys), I get my daily dose of star insights and feel more connected to my sign – which is Picses, by the way.
This is why I’m now obviously indulging in more Astro-adjacent bits and bobs. Namely, the OPI Big Zodiac Energy collection.
It’s a set of 12 shimmery shades to reflect each of the star signs. There’s a bright, sunshiney yellow for Leos, a seductive, bold blue for Scorpios and a purple pop for Libra.
And for me, the little fish of the sky, is a gorgeous pearlescent baby blue.
Before I apply my first coat of Picses, I whack on a lick of Base Primer, to get my nails ready. When I take the brush out of the Picses The Future, it’s so gloopy and shiny. There are so many levels of glitter in there catching the light.
It glides on like a dream – so full of colour straight away. I try my best to keep inside the lines, and do a decent job with it, before doing a second coat and then topping off with OPI’s trustworthy top coat.
I’m very impressed with my first go! My nails look sparkly, strong and maybe even a little bit professional.
In the thick of the roadtest…
My nails hold up fairly well for the following week. I’m naturally clumsy – trapping my fingers in doors is a near-daily occurrence – so the fact that I get through to the end of the week with just one chip is nothing short of a miracle.
I also got a fair few compliments during my week of Picses fingers. Usually, I opt for a neutral block colour, so having a shimmery blue alternative drew attention, but the feedback was great. I think I will definitely be going for round two with this hue.
I’m also adding the other star sign shades to my basket for my Astro-obsessed pals. Christmas = sorted.
Image credit: OPI + Punkee.