Meeting Founder and CEO of O.P.I!!!

Hi Shine and Sparkles Readers!

I just quickly wanted to chat with you about this super exiting beauty event I just went to! I'm so excited I'm even going to break my "one picture" rule... and my "try and pace out your posts" unofficial rule.  Heck, I might break all the rules and give you readers 3 posts this month.  Getting totally crazy up in here! So the inside scoop is that O.P.I* has launched a new nail color collection called "San Francisco Collection by OPI".  There was a super cool event and it was easy for me to get to Peninsula Beauty, where the event was!  I am bubbling over with excitement because being from the Bay Area, I love all the cute name references (the names are one of the most awesome parts of OPI polishes) and colors inspired by my city!  I will try to give you an inside look into the collection and my experience at the event.

Side Note: You might wonder about why I'm so excited since I have often talked about some cheaper nail polishes that are as good, some times better in lasting power than O.P.I (like in this post).  While I always stand behind my posts and reviews, the sheer "coolness" factor of O.P.I can never be denied.  They hands down have the best quality for the color selection.  O.P.I runs like a clothing line with different collections by season. Which for the beauty junkie like me is equivalent to putting a "limited time only quadurple artisan bacon wagyu burger with locally sourced cheese on a hand ground wheat bun" in front of a foodie..wait...I'm a foodie too...I digress...

The pretty flyer for the event!

At the event, George Shaeffer (Founder and CEO of O.P.I) was there in person.  I think it is wonderful that he decided to hold the opening at Peninsula Beauty, which has 12 locations but has been family owned for three generations and is very much the epitome of successful small business. FYI, I adore Peninsula Beauty Stores.  It's so nice to support local businesses. There was a cute table set up with all the new polishes and a raffle to win 2 polishes per month for a year.  I was kind of uncomfortable snapping a lot pictures at the event, but this is a picture of him taken at another event by another blogger with more guts than me:

This picture was taken by "Nail Magazine Blog" if they want me to remove the picture at any time, I'm more than willing.  I think this also demonstrates how personable and down to earth Mr. Shaeffer is.

With purchase of any one nail polish, you got a little mini sampling of the new collection nail polishes.  I didn't see the point of buying a polish that wasn't from the featured collection, so I picked up the pretty color you see on the far left below.

From left to right: "First Date at the Golden Gate", "Muir Muir on the Wall", "In the Cable Car-Pool Lane", "Peace & Love & OPI" and "Embarca-Dare Ya!".

The color is called "Embarca-Dare-Ya!"  It's a gorgeous metalic orchid/magenta color with a rose gold shimmer.  It was my favorite when I tried the swatch in-store.   Both "Embarca-Dare-Ya!" and "Muir Muir on the Wall" (a metallic rich dark purple) were inspired by "the flower gardens at Golden Gate park." Below is "Embarca-Dare Ya!" on my nails.

Yes, I was too excited to wait and do a proper manicure, so I threw it on top of my existing nail polish.  Not too bad a job considering the circumstances.

 Want know how to get salon perfect nails at home? Follow that hyperlink!

Continuing on, "First Date at the Golden Gate" is a red-orange that somewhat approximates the bridge's International Orange, but is less orange in my opinion.  "In the Cable Car-Pool Lane" is a matte burgundy.  These two colors along with "Lost on Lombard" (a matte red) were inspired by the "East meets west coast reds of China town".

The last shade I have is "Peace & Love & OPI" which is definitely a bit out there and psychedelic.  It is a holographic sage and eggplant which looks a bit silver from afar.  Remember those oily stickers as a kid?  It looks like those.  This polish is inspired by "Sky and Sea Shades" along with "Dining al Frisco" (a muted sky blue), "Haven't the Foggiest" (misty metallic grey), "Keeping Suzi at Bay" (a true hyperlink/ #0000FF colored blue--like my geeky reference?), and "Incognito in Sausalito" (an almost black blue).

The San Francisco Collection by O.P.I also has some "chocolatey hues of brown" in "A-Piers to be Tan" (chocolatey latte brown) and "I Knead a Sour-Dough" (warm brown with an almost pink hue).


Note: A lot of this information came with the hand out that explained how the Urban Inspired, Street Chic Style of the polishes were created by Suzi Weiss-Fischmann-- O.P.I Executive Vice President & Artistic Director.  She seems very inspired by strong, intelligent, creative, and highly capable women as well as the city of San Francisco.  I was quite impressed by the thought behind the line.  You know what's even more impressive?  Having a good 5 minute conversation with CEO George Shaeffer!  He was very nice and actually interested in what people thought about his product (not that anyone would say they hated it if they bothered to go to an event like this...)  Needless to say, below is the back of the promotional box of polishes where he was signing them with surprisingly personal messages. 

I was a bit more excited about this signature than a normal person should be....

Shine & Sparkle!

* I am not paid or contacted by any of the companies mentioned in this post.  These are my honest feelings and opinions.