Saturday, January 22, 2011

A pale girl's must-have - OPI Russian Navy


I photographed this on perhaps the worst day! It was really grey, cold, and almost no light. Rare for North Carolina! Despite it being the worst day, I think this is one of the best polishes that I own. So good in fact, that the last time I wore this, I had the following exchange with my cousin. (Who is male. And a scientist.):

Him: "Can I give you a kind of weird compliment?"
Me: "Uhhhh yeah..."
Him: "Your nail polish is *amazing*. Seriously."
Me: "HA! I thought that was going to be much weirder. Thanks!"

With flash, since there was not a photon of real light to be found:


No flash outside...the best I could do:


Lower level flash...see the pretty shimmer?


Thumbnail close-up so you can (hopefully) see the blue, red and purple shimmer.


I often struggle with my super pale skin. To be honest, most colours look better on people with a little something going on in their skintone. For reference see any polish on Piff - everything looks amazing on her! Complete lack of pigment is simply not that attractive to me. (An odd thing to say, as I'm dating someone even paler than I am - yes, it's possible - but there is an exception to every rule I guess!) Navy blue is one of the few colours that I feel really sets off my skin and makes it look elegant instead of sickly. And this particular navy is so rich and deep! It looks velvety on the nails and just glows thanks to the combination of ultra-fine purple, red and blue shimmer in the polish. I highly recommend this to anyone with a ghostly complexion!

Some people buy this thinking it will be a purple, because the nature of the shimmer is so fine that it sticks to the glass in the bottle very well so that in some cases all you see is purple/blurple. These people complain and hate on this colour for being too blue. To these people I say - it has the word navy in the name. As in navy blue. Stop whining, return it, and go buy OPI Ink or something. Hrmph!

What colour do you think really sets of your skintone?

kittytokaren


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39 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is one of my favorite polishes too! I also have pale skin and Russian Navy always looks amazing! definitely a must-have.

-Lauren

sparris said...

I'm kinda happy with my paleness when it comes to polish actually, since it contrasts nicely with my beloved vampies. It's great there's one category of colors that looks particularly good on really fair people.
I've never seen Russian Navy this close up before, it has really amazing depth. =)

Liz (Beauty Reductionista) said...

Wow, it looks gorgeous!! You have me sold.

karen said...

My ghostly self loves most polishes on me. I have a harder time with pale pinks/purples, but can rock pretty much anything. Gorgeous colour, very deep.

Shieldmaiden96 said...

Now I wish I hadn't put it back; I had Yoga-ta Get This Blue and Russian Navy in my hand at Ulta and I chose the other.

I am also very fair- I like to joke that I stay out of the sun because I'm like a shrimp-- I have two colors, translucent and pink. I like wearing vivid retro red cremes, even if they tempt me to dye my hair black and rock some sort of Bette Page hairdo.

Sia said...

Love this colour!! x

Jenny$1983 said...

I have the Suede version of this and it's flat-out one of my favourite polishes, I'd love to own this, although I have Eyeko Indigo Polish for Sultry Nails and I believe that that's a dupe for this, down to the ultra fine blue, purple and red shimmer. I want Ink and its suede counterpart too, I'm so greedy! :D

I am naturally 'translucent' also, so I stay tanned to stop me looking like I'm consumptive, and I seem to be able to get away with wearing any shade (can't wear pink eye-shadow unless it's blue-based, but nail polish doesn't seem to be a problem), although it does make me sad that gold polishes don't stand out more against my skintone as they were in on the start of my polish obsession (I wore Urban Decay Baked for months straight at one point :). I think your skintone looks amazing with the polishes you display :)

Jeanie said...

Shieldmaiden96: I also have Yoga-ta get this blue!
I'm wondering what the difference is between them... Does anyone have a comparison swatch?

Grace said...

I love navy blues (plus they go great with my wardrobe, since I rarely wear black), but I think dark purple is probably the most flattering color on my skin. I've only got the suede version of this polish, which I'm not too crazy about, and is nothing like the original. The silver shimmer in it is totally overpowering, especially with a topcoat. At least this one is pretty easy to find in stores!

For Me, It Works... said...

I am loving the blues. I will have to add this one to my collection. Just thought I would share with you this Zoyz You Tube video I found just yesterday, on selecting nail colors based on skin tones. HTH.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHPecpNYehc

Nina said...

Gorgeous! I might have to get this for my pale self on my next shopping trip. My favorite pale chick color to wear myself is China Glaze Cherry Pie - it's so bright and vivid, even if it's not quite retro red :)

Libby's Pink Vanity said...

Geez, this is an awesome color. Love it on you!

Rosie said...

I admit- I was one of those people who complained about the color in bottle not translating to the nail :p I know it says Navy- but it looked like such an amazing purple that I thought I would chance it. "Maybe OPI was strapped for names on this one- I'm sure it's really purple- I mean it looks purple!" lol- nope it's a full-fledged blue. At first I was a little disappointed, but then I came to love this color for what it is- a rich, dynamic navy. I love to wear it with a coat of China Glaze Atlantis over it and it looks like I have a deep majestic sea on my nails!

kittytokaren said...

@deathbypolish - I'm glad you agree!! It really is gorg.

@sparris - That's true I feel like vampies are good with my skin. I wish I was as happy with my pale skin as you are!

@Beauty Reductionista - If only I could get a share of the sales!! Haha!

@karen - Ahhh so jealous! Another person who can embrace the paleness!!

@ShieldMaiden - Ahhh the shrimp thing! That's my hubby to a tee. I'm too yellow to be shrimp-like...I look more like a zombie. Yoga-ta is also a great blue though!

@Sia - Thanks, friend!

@Jenny - You are speaking my language with the golds - maybe they dont look the best on me, but I love love love wearing them. And thanks for the nice comment. :)

@Jeanie - I think I can answer your question! Yoga-ta has blue shimmer in it that is lighter in the polish, whereas RN comes across a little dark and has blue/red/purple shimmer. Both are gorgeous.

@Grace - Ahh yes dark purple is nice as well. Yeah the suede version is nothing like the real deal. I'm really glad this is perm as well!

@For Me, It works - Thanks for the vid!

@Nina - I am still struggling with bright reds! Thanks so much and if you do pick this up, let me know how you like it!

@Kimberly - Thank you lovely!

@Rosie - Haha at least you admit you were one of those people! And you now like it for what it is - you are forgiven my friend! :) I think if people didn't expect it to be purple, it would be more popular. But yeah Ink is a good one for it you like how RN looks in the bottle and want that on your nails.

k2k

Honey_lili said...

It's a gorgous color ! I have Yoga-ta get this blue and I love it but I think I'm gonna buy RN also even if it seems to me that they're not so different

Katie said...

This is such a beautiful color! I have the suede version of Russian Navy, but I think you've convinced me that I need this one too! =)

On a random note we are state neighbors. *Waves* from SC. Haha.

Stacie said...

I think it looks like one that should become a staple for me. I agree lots of colours make us pale girls look ill or washed out. Do you think its different enough from China Glaze Drummer Boy to justify purchasing?

MELISENDE said...

I DO know what you mean! I'm super pale, have red pigmentation (in the summer I get freckles and not much more) and blue-green eyes. But I do look good in really dark colours, and the latest couple of years pale have been fashionable so I'm kind of happy anyway cause I think it's nice being pale. But when I was younger it wasn't like that. Some ppl called me "the ghost" but if someone says I'm pale today I say thank you! :)

I have this in matte, if I put on a shiny top coat maybe this will be the result? :) I'll try it for sure!

Lucy said...

I love this. I love navy polish. It really looks good on me also. I have a tiny bottle of navy from Bath & Body Works. It's many years old but I love it. I only have Russian Navy Suede. Think I'd better get the regular one.

Courtney said...

Ahh, this is hands-down one of my favorite polishes! I picked it up on a whim when it came out (I was after An Affair in Red Square), and I just fell in love with it! I actually forgot how much I loved it until I put it on a few months ago. I need to wear this one again. It looks amazing on you!

kittytokaren said...

@Honey - I think they are different enough to own both, but then again I'm polish/colour obsessed!

@Katie - The suede and regular are very different - I definitely think you should at least try this one! And hehe *waves across state lines*!

@Stacie - Hmmm I'm not familiar with Drummer Boy, but in pictures it looks more teal whereas RN is more of a true navy.

@Melisende - You're right - being mega pale has been much more fashionable in the last few years. (Thank you, Dita Von Teese!) Maybe we should just revel in it! And the matte version + topcoat is unfortunately nothing like this version. The opi suedes/mattes are not very close to their original polish inspirations. The mattes have no shimmer at all so it won't be close to this.

@Lucy - I think navy is just always so classic - in clothes too. Glad you love it as well!! Let me know what you think of this if you do end up getting it. <3

k2k

kittytokaren said...

@Courtney - I think you commented while I was just writing the previous comment! Haha!! Sometimes I forget the 'classics' in my collection what with the neverending wave of new collections coming out so it was good for me to re-discover this one just like you did! And thank you!

k2k

Chune said...

I lOve navy blues and this one looks amazing!!

blog Usei Hoje said...

Tinha que ser OPI essa cor linda!!!
Amei. quero um!!!!


bjus.
http://useihoje.blogspot.com

TropicalChrome said...

Your comment about Russian Navy - about looking different/better in the bottle than on the nail - is *exactly* what happened to me with OPI Ink. OPI Ink remains my biggest nail polish disappointment to date and so far has kept me completely soured on OPI polishes because it was so amazing in the bottle and just another navy-leaning blurple on the nail. Nothing special at all. And it's NEVER shined like the swatches on all the blogs. I should have returned it, but it sits here, a reminder of my folly :(.

Russian Navy, on the other hand, is a lovely navy blue, just as I would have expected :).

kittytokaren said...

@Sakurai - I do too! :) And it is!

@Usei Hoje - Voce e um fa OPI, sim? Deixe-me saber se voce comecar o polones! Estou olhando para o seu blog agora ... (my portuguese is awful. apologies.)

@Tropical Chrome - Ahhh I'm so sorry that happened to you!! Swap it! :) And I'm glad you had the appropriate expectations about Russian Navy. Since I love it so much I always take it personally when people rag on it!! You're in good company - Piff hates Ink as well.

k2k

Sandi said...

Gorgeous. I keep telling myself I have enough blues (and several navy blues), but I think I'm going to cave and get this one if I can find it at discount.

kittytokaren said...

@Sandi - Ulta has a 20% off coupon right now if that's an option for you!! :) You can never have enough navy...

k2k

Karla said...

I wasn't going to get RN until hubs insisted. Even then, it sat untried for months. When I finally did wear it, I was sad that I had waited so long. It's BEAUTIFUL! And I'm with everyone else - I'm super pale and love wearing the dark polishes. :) Pale girls rock!

Alison said...

This looks awesome on you, and I agree it sets off pale skintones beautifully. I love most Navy's on me too - I am of the ghostly pale variety - another type of colour I love with my skintone is blackened reds with shimmer eg OPI Royal Rajah Ruby and Chanel Tulipe Noir mmmmm glowy vampy goodness!

kittytokaren said...

@Karla - Haha your hubs has good taste!! And thanks to everyone for encouraging me to embrace my pale.

@Alison - Ahh I think you and I lemmed Royal Rajah Ruby at the same time! I just can't bring myself to wear that one. What is wrong with me!?

k2k

danielle said...

Add me to the list of ghostly gals with an affinity for Russian Navy! I must admit I thought it was purple when I bought it, but that was long before my polish obsession truly bloomed. ;)

marsha said...

This was the first *unconventional* polish I purchased (not red or pink) around three years ago. It is truly gorgeous!

Marsha

kittytokaren said...

@danielle - Yay! I'm glad you love it!!

@marsha - Aww what a nice memory! :)

k2k

Arrianne said...

Hey, kittytokaren, your skin is just as beautiful as Piff's. There's nothing wrong with being super pale, just as there is nothing wrong with being the opposite. Love your skin, girl!

P.S. Most of the colors you complain about not looking good on you, look perfectly fine on you to me! I know it's hard to love our pale skin at times, but don't let yourself or anyone else let you think otherwise!

Wow, that sounded really sappy. :S

Unknown said...

This is pretty much my fave polish...as a matter of fact I did my toes with it just last night!

Unknown said...

This is pretty much my fave polish...as a matter of fact I did my toes with it just last night!

Unknown said...

This is pretty much my fave polish...as a matter of fact I did my toes with it just last night!

Unknown said...

This is pretty much my fave polish...as a matter of fact I did my toes with it just last night!

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