OPI Gelcolor - My Vampire Is Buff

Hi NaiLovlies!

Today I have a swatch to show you of a colour which is well and truly outside of my comfort zone. I don’t think I have ever really worn a colour like this in all my years of polish wearing. My Vampire Is Buff is from the OPI Euro Centrale Collection which was released in spring 2013 and it is available in both regular and Gelcolor formulas.

 This colour first caught my eye a few months ago (several months after its release) when I started noticing it being used as the base in lots of manicures which included a range of different nail art forms including stamping. I was drawn to it as it seemed like a very wearable neutral off-white with complimentary yellow undertones, which I thought would be much easier for my skin tone to pull off rather than a stark white like OPI Alpine Snow.
 

This colour reminds me of vanilla ice-cream and it’s very unique. The closest regular polishes I have to it are Sally Hansen Insta Dri Beige Blast which is very similar and Barry M Lychee which is slightly darker.

Similar polishes

Application of the Gelcolor formula was much the same as with many crème pastel shades in that it was very streaky on the first two coats. There was apparent shrinkage, even though I had warmed my bottle and given it a good shaking with my Robart Paint Shaker. The shrinkage was localised toward the cuticle area, rather than on the tips of the nails. However, I didn’t find that the formula pooled or slid across the nail. I had to apply the gel to each finger in turn, making sure to cap the tips and then go over them again after all fingers had been coated. After the first coat I repeated the process above but before curing I allowed the polish to have approximately10 seconds to self-level before curing in the lamp. Allowing the gel time to self-level gave the manicure a smoother appearance after curing and top-coating. I cured each layer in my Kiss LED lamp for 1 minute and applied over a base of Vitagel Recovery, I actually dry wiped the tacky layer of Vitagel on the right hand which was the second hand I painted and this seemed to help with reducing the shrinkage. 

The pictures show a swatch consisting of three coats and gel topcoat.
 
I mentioned above that this is the perfect base colour for nail art. As part of a Challenge Manicure which I took part in this weekend, I stamped My Vampire Is Buff with Barry M Gold Foil Effects polish and used various images from the MoYou Festive plate 04 which I think look just like Christmas jumpers!

 I am currently wearing My Vampire Is Buff which I have stamped using Konad Special Polish in black utilising two separate images from the MoYou XL Pro 06 plate. I have many manicures planned for this colour.

Gelis Vitagel Recovery Basecoat
OPI Gelcolor My Vampire Is Buff (3 x coats)
Ink Topcoat

 If you’re on the fence about buying this colour I would recommend getting off that fence and purchasing this unique and extremely versatile colour for your collection, whether it be in Gelcolor or regular polish formula.

Ciao 4 Now