OPNL Universal Loner
Universal Loner was released last month by Connecticut-based indie polish maker Octopus Party Nail Lacquer (OPNL) as part of a new collaborative nail polish box collection called Crème à la Mode. Basically, the creators behind four indie brands -- OPNL, Indigo Bananas, Literary Lacquers and Digital Nails -- got together and decided to produce a quarterly box featuring only creme polishes at a great price. Of course I ordered the inaugural box as soon as it was available. An artisinal creme -- what's not to love? I'm thrilled with the polishes in this first box and will share each of them here over the next few days.
Creator Dave describes Universal Loner as a true red. It's a bright medium-dark creamy Venetian kind of red that's very well balanced between cool and warm. From what I've seen, it's cooler on warmer skins and warmer on cooler skins, so it makes sense that I would see it as ever-so-slightly warm, being of the latter variety. It has a fabulous retro feel to it like many medium-dark reds, with a contemporary twist of morphing decidedly between brighter and deeper depending on the circumstances in which it's viewed. On me, in direct sun, it's got a bright near-tomato vibe that I find exhilarating, and shades to a deeper carmine in low light.
I am always a bit apprehensive about applying darker cremes. They are so easily affected by any less-than-perfect polishing techniques and are often difficult to clean up after. In spite of that, I have to say that application of Universal Loner was pretty darn luscious. It has a fluid, creamy, dense consistency that glides plushly over the nail like heavy silk satin without running or pooling, even if you're like me and have a propensity to overload your brush. Pigmentation is outstanding. With a deft, generous touch, this could be a one coater. I used two coats because I had some fixing to do after the first and while the polish self-levels well I still needed that extra coat to camo my nail ridges completely. Cleanup takes some care, especially if you've made a mess. Don't go at this polish with a dripping cleanup brush! Dampened only, please. There's a bit of residual staining as you may notice if you look for it in the pics, but I didn't think it is glaringly obvious. Universal Loner dries naturally in very good time to a gorgeous glossy finish.
Photos show two coats of Universal Loner over treatment and basecoat with a slightly bubbly topcoat of Seche Vite. Apologies for the rogue glitters lingering around my nail environs and tucked into a cuticle or two. Remnants of yesterday's manicure.
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There's a certain crelly-ish translucence to this polish that I believe accounts for its varying tone. It has a very cherry vibe going on in most of my photos, which I love. Fuzzy called it "sanguine," which is actually quite appropriate, although she blanched a little when I told her it was called Universal Loner. I hadn't thought about the fact that Dave named his blood red polish after one of the characteristic behaviors of serial killers. Did you do this on purpose, Dave?
Tongue in cheek, is what that is. Or irony, one. Only Dave knows for sure.
love,
Liz
I don't know who the Universal Loner is supposed to be, but when I ready your post title, I thought, "hey, it's me!" So from what I gather after reading your words, that probably wasn't a good thing. :/
ReplyDeleteThis looks lovely on you. It looks like tomato soup! Sorta pulpy and juicy. I have exactly one tomato soup red polish, and I absolutely detest it on me. ONL has interested me for a long time. I wish I was wealthy. *sigh*
Universal Loner is such a great name! It's a beautiful word pairing, I think. Perfect name for a song or a poem or even a band. Serial killer was not the first thing that came to mind, I blame Fuzzy. Actually the first thing I thought of was Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, for some reason.
DeleteMan, every summer we always get an invasion of sugar ants in the kitchen. You know, the really tiny ones? Whenever you belly up to the counter next to the sink, which I do every morning to make my ginormous cup of tea and my protein shake breakfast, they surreptitiously make their way onto your person, to be discovered later crawling around on some area they have no business being. So here I am at my desk and I get this little tickling crawly feeling on my neck... sugar ant! ACK!
Back to this polish, it is SO NICE! The longer I wear it, the more I love it. The tone of the red is always changing, but it never wusses out, it's always beautiful. I hope that Dave will offer it in his shop so more people can get it.
Melissa, I'll send this one to you if you'd like to try it. This one and the Synonym Bun. Would you like them? Send me an email with your address again, I'm not sure I can find it from last time.
Red continues to be my favorite nail polish color (although I am seduced time after time by light to medium blues/aquas, I can't count how many of those I have!). This red is so beautiful, just right. I hope he does offer it for sale!
ReplyDeleteI love reds too! I tend to gravitate towards cool-leaning reds as they are best with my pinkage, but I'm trying to hone my aesthetic so that I can learn which warm reds I can wear well. Universal Loner is so nicely balanced -- it looks fantastic in every photo that I've seen of it online.
DeleteI'd love to know what some of your favorite reds are!
LOL, it's weird, but because I am afraid of falling off into the deep end with red polish, I restrain myself from buying it. I only have a few bottles of it. I do have a couple of OPIs (who doesn't!) but I find myself reaching for Sally Hansen Rapid Red. For a darker one, I usually go with Essie Limited Addiction or Lacy Not Racy.
DeleteI am leery of buying reds without seeing them irl first. There is a certain tonal value I like and it is difficult to tell on monitor most of the time. However, between your description and the photos you post, I feel confident I would love it!
What a nice range of reds! I googled them to see swatches. I love the look of that Sally Hansen, so bright and intense! Essie Limited Addiction is one that I've always been curious about. I want to try that one. Lacy Not Racy is so deep and vampy! Seems like for both of those Essies you've got to have an even hand to get the color to be consistent across your nails.
DeleteI believe you would love this OPNL, Lara. Melissa hasn't gotten back to me about wanting it, so if you would like it, it would be my pleasure to send it to you. Send me an email with your mailing address if you'd like it -- krusen2(at)mindspring(dot)com