OPI Pink of Hearts Duo 2013: Pink-ing of You and More Than A Glimmer

Every year for the past eight in September OPI has released a special limited edition Pink of Hearts polish promotion designed to raise awareness of and funds for breast cancer research and support in the US and Canada. Pink-ing of You and More Than A Glimmer were part of last year's dual polish set, which also included pink ribbon and crystal nail decals. I don't usually buy polish sets, but the glitter polish of the two, More Than A Glimmer, was too pretty to resist. Even though it's not current, you can still find this set available for purchase on ebay and from select etailers.

OPI Pink of Hearts Duo 2013, bottle shot: Pink-ing of You, left, and More Than A Glimmer, right

Pink-ing of You is a cool-leaning light pink creme/jelly hybrid that was previously released and is part of OPI's permanent collection. It's not quite vivid enough to be what I think of as a bubblegum or Barbie pink, but it does have a creamy candy sweetness to it. It reminds me of strawberry ice cream, the kind that comes in a Neapolitan mix, or vanilla cherry gelato from Whole Foods (yum!). I wasn't expecting this to look as good on me as it does, and for a light pink of this sort I actually really like it. 

Pink-ing of You has a sheer crelly-like formula that is fluid and thin. It likes to run and pool if you swipe cuticle or skin, but has enough viscosity to it that it will stay where you put it and goes on smoothly with OPI's pro-wide brush. It's quite sheer. I used three coats for this manicure and could still detect some streakiness over my himalayan nail ridges despite the fact that it self-leveled very well. Next time I wear this I'll double up on the ridge-filling basecoat beforehand, which should take care of that issue. Pink-ing of You dries naturally in fairly good time to a glossy finish with the opaque look of a creme.

Photos show three coats of Pink-ing of You over treatment and basecoat with a topcoat of HK Girl to help it settle as evenly as possible over my ridges.

OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI Pink-ing of You

More Than A Glimmer is the limited edition release of this duo and is not generally available outside of the promotional set, but I've seen individual bottles of this for sale and auction on ebay. It's a gorgeous glitter crelly with a baby pink translucent base packed with multi-sized hex glitters in silver and pastel colors: pink, blue, green and yellow. It dries to a matte finish which is super flattering, gives the glitters a soft glow with a silvery sheen and adds an extra soft and airy feel to the look. I love what Marta of ChitChatNails said about it in her review of this duo, here: "Something tells me that this is the exact color of the pillows that Angels sleep on..." She added, "Plus, the name of this LIMITED EDITION shade, instills more than a glimmer of hope in all of us that one day Breast Cancer will stop claiming so many lives." True, and a very cool observation!

This versatile polish can be layered to opacity or layered over the accompanying Pink-ing of You, which is how I chose to wear it. It goes on smoothly with excellent glitter payoff per brushful. I wish I had been a little less generous with this polish as I made quite a mess applying it and ended up with just a little too much glitter on each nail. But this polish is so very pretty that I can't help but love it even if my manicure isn't the tidiest. More Than A Glimmer dries naturally in good time to a lovely matte finish with a surprisingly small amount of texture from the components.

Photos show one coat of More Than A Glimmer over the Pink-ing of You manicure above, no topcoat (although you certainly could add one and wear it shiny). Apologies for the glitters on the skin surrounding my nails. I was too entranced with this polish to pay good attention to clean up!

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

OPI More Than A Glimmer over OPI Pink-ing of You

This combo is especially marvelous in low light, where the matte finish allows the multi-colored glitters to glow softly through the baby pink base and each nail gives off a pinkish silvery sheen. It's magical.

Two of my dearest friends from college are survivors of breast cancer, both of them beautiful, strong, amazing women. Kathye and Patti, this one's for you! I love you!

xo,
Liz